General Dynamics

About: General Dynamics is a company organization based out in Fairfax, Virginia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Signal & Propellant. The organization has 5722 authors who have published 5819 publications receiving 85768 citations. The organization is also known as: GD & General Dynamics Corporation.

A high frequency photodriven polymer oscillator

Abstract: High frequency and large amplitude oscillations are driven by laser exposure in cantilevers made from a photosensitive liquid crystal polymer.

Electronic Transport in Semimetallic Cerium Sulfide

Abstract: The electrical resistivity $\ensuremath{\rho}$ and Seebeck coefficient $S$ have been measured between 10 and 1000\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K in ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{3\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{S}}_{4}$ with values of $x$ ranging from 0 to 0.30. The electrical behavior is semimetallic and can be fitted, in large measure, to the equations of conventional transport theory for $S(T)$ and $\ensuremath{\rho}(T)$. However, examination of the electrostatic effects of the vacancies shows that they introduce large effective charges which are poorly screened. Consequently, there are wide fluctuations in potential in the crystal which cast doubt on a literal interpretation of the theoretical equations; at present, they must be regarded as providing a largely empirical description of the experimental results. There is a relatively large residual resistivity which indicates a very large cross section per vacancy in samples with small values of $x$. This can be accounted for by the abnormally large screening distance. In the temperature range below 100\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K, anomalies are observed in $S(T)$ and $\ensuremath{\rho}(T)$ in samples with small vacancy concentrations. Anomalies in $S(T)$ seem to be caused by phonon drag. The cause of the resistivity anomalies is not yet clear; we consider the possibilities that they are caused by local lattice vibrations or by spin scattering by electrons in the $4f$ shell of the cerium ions.

Must accidents happen? Lessons from high-reliability organizations

Abstract: Executive Overview In the more than 15 years since the initial publication of Charles Perrow's Normal Accidents, practitioners and academics have contemplated how plane crashes, earthendam collapses, ship collisions, nuclear disasters, and chemical-plant explosions can be prevented, mitigated, or avoided. While no one has yet learned how to make the inevitable avoidable, a literature on high-reliability organizations (HROs) has developed that gives some hope that disasters can be minimized in frequency and severity. The value of this research to practicing executives is to take the lessons learned through the research on HROs and apply them to their own organizations. This article is about how to beat the odds of having an incident or accident that one is unprepared for, regardless of the organization's purpose. Neither the sausage maker nor the chemical-plant manager is immune from errors that can have far-reaching consequences. The three major recommendations we offer are that managers should aggressive...

Meteoritic, solar and terrestrial rare-earth distributions.

Abstract: Meteoritic, solar and terrestrial rare earth distribution abundance in chondritic or ordinary stony meteorites

The Influence of Stacking Sequence on Laminate Strength

Abstract: Based upon considerations relating to the nature of the interlaminar stresses in composite laminates, an approach is presented to predict the detailed stacking sequence of specific layer orientations which leads to optimum protection against delamination under uniaxial static and fatigue loadings. In particular, it is argued that the interlaminar normal stress as well as the interlaminar shear stress, is instrumental in precipitating delamination and subsequent strength degradation. Correlation with existing experimental evidence of the stacking sequence phenomenon is presented.