Engineering Commons^™

Computational Aerodynamic Analysis Of The Flow Field About A Hypervelocity Test Sled, Andrew J. Lofthouse

Theses and Dissertations

The flow field about the nose section of a hypervelocity test sled is computed using computational fluid dynamics. The numerical model of the test sled corresponds to the Nike O/U narrow gage sled used in the upgrade program at the High Speed Test Track facility, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The high temperatures and pressures resulting from the aerodynamic heating and loading affect the sled structure and the performance of the vehicle. The sled transitions from an air environment to a helium environment at a speed of approximately 3,300 feet per second (Mach 3 in air, Mach 1.02 in …

Design And Evaluation Of Processes For Fuel Fabrication: Quarterly Progress Report #2, Georg F. Mauer

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

The second quarter of the project covered the following:

• Project review with Dr. Mitchell Meyer, ANL West: A project review of the transmuter fuels project was conducted during the January 2002 AAA meeting in Las Vegas.

• A second graduate student, Mr. Richard Silva, began working on the project. Rich will develop detailed 3-D process simulation models as his M.Sc. thesis project. Rich is employed with Bechtel at the Yucca Mountain project.

• AAA Seminar Presentation by Mr. Jae-Kyu Lee and G. Mauer. Title: Transmuter Fuel Fabrication Processes.

• More equipment detail and estimates were developed for different manufacturing …

Design And Analysis For Melt Casting Metallic Fuel Pins Incorporating Volatile Actinides: Quarterly Progress Report 11/16/01- 2/15/02, Yitung Chen, Randy Clarksean, Darrell Pepper

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

An important aspect of the Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA) program is the development of a casting process by which volatile actinide element (i.e., americium) can be incorporated into metallic alloy fuel pins. The traditional metal fuel casting process uses an inductively heated crucible.

This process works well for the fabrication of metal fuel pins traditionally composed of alloys of uranium and plutonium, but does not work well when highly volatile actinides are included in the melt. The problem occurs both during the extended time period required to superheat the alloy melt as well as when the chamber must be evacuated. …

First-Principles Theory Of The Temperature And Compositional Dependence Of Atomic Short-Range Order In Disordered Cu-Pd Alloys, R. V. Chepulskii, J. B. Staunton, Ezio Bruno, B. Ginatempo, Duane D. Johnson

Duane D. Johnson

We combine the first-principles, Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker coherent potential approximation based calculations of compositional fluctuations with a statistical mechanical ring approximation to study the temperature (T) and composition (c) dependence of the atomic short-range order (SRO) in disordered, face-centred cubic, Cu-Pd alloys. The fourfold splitting of SRO peaks around the equivalent X(0,1,0) points in reciprocal space is obtained in a wide T−c region. Such splitting is shown to be an “energy” effect caused by the absolute minima of the Fourier transform of the effective atomic interactions and related previously to the existence of nested sheets of the disordered alloy’s Fermi surface. However, …

Radiation Resistance Testing Of Mosfet And Cmos As A Means Of Risk Management, Akira Tokuhiro, Massimo F. Bertino

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Whether for military, research (space, accelerator physics) and/or civilian use, risk avoidance against radiation-induced damage is not possible with COTS parts. Thus the sensible approach is risk management. We recommend a sensible risk management approach as follows: 1) know the radiation environment of the intended application to the extent possible; 2) know the effects of ionizing radiation on the component(s) of interest; 3) know the requirements of the application; 4) identify the candidate or chosen components; 5) test the components; 6) design-in safety factor margins to the extent possible.

Atmospheric Turbulence Conditions Leading To Focused And Folded Sonic Boom Wave Fronts, Andrew A. Piacsek

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The propagation and subsequent distortion of sonic booms with rippled wave fronts are investigated theoretically using a nonlinear time-domain finite-difference scheme. This work seeks to validate the rippled wave front approach as a method for explaining the significant effects of turbulence on sonic booms [A. S. Pierce and D. J. Maglieri, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 51, 702–721 (1971)]. A very simple description of turbulence is employed in which velocity perturbations within a shallow layer of the atmosphere form strings of vortices characterized by their size and speed. Passage of a steady-state plane shock front through such a vortex layer …

Thermoelectric Properties Of Bi2sr2co2o9 Whiskers Under Hydrostatic Pressure, F Chen, Kevin L. Stokes, Ryozi Funahashi

Physics Faculty Publications

We report the temperature dependence of thermopower (S) in the ab plane of Bi2Sr2Co2O9 {BC-222} single crystalline whiskers under high pressure up to 1.2 GPa. Special modifications were made to our high-pressure transport measurement system to improve the measurement accuracy of S for whiskers with high resistance. Pressure improved the contact resistance dramatically. We observed a slight decrease of S and four-wire electrical conductivity (sigma) under high pressure. As a result, the power factor (S2sigma) was decreased less than 20% by pressure. From the temperature dependence of sigma, the band gap of BC-222 whiskers increase very slightly …

Synthesis And Magnetic Properties Of Copt–Poly(Methylmethacrylate) Nanostructured Composite Material, Jiye Fang, Kevin L. Stokes, Jibao He, Weillie L. Zhou, Charles J. O'Connor, Daniela Caruntu

Physics Faculty Publications

We have prepared nanometer-sized CoPt particles dispersed in a poly~methyl methacrylate~PMMA!matrix, as a novel nanostructured magnetic plastic, through a soft chemical processing route. In this work, CoPt nanoparticles were successfully synthesized from a solution phase reduction system in the presence of capping ligands and stabilizing agents at high temperature. The CoPt nanoparticles were annealed at 400 °C for 3 h, and were subsequently re-dispersed inmethylmethacrylate~monomer! . The polymerization was induced by a UV source and the hardness of final product was adjusted by varying the amount of monomeric cross-link agent. Annealed bare CoPt nanoparticles as a ‘‘core’’ material and CoPt–PMMA …

Effect Of Ga Content On Defect States In Cuin1-XGaXSe2 Photovoltaic Devices, Jennifer T. Heath, J. David Cohen, William N. Shafarman, Dongxiang Liao, Angus Rockett

Faculty Publications

Defects in the band gap of CuIn_1-xGa_xSe₂ have been characterized using transient photocapacitance spectroscopy. The measured spectra clearly show response from a band of defects centered around 0.8 eV from the valence band edge as well as an exponential distribution of band tail states. Despite Ga contents ranging from Ga/(In+Ga)=0.0 to 0.8, the defect bandwidth and its position relative to the valence band remain constant. This defect band may act as an important recombination center, contributing to the decrease in device efficiency with increasing Ga content.

Three-Dimensional Landau Theory For Multivariant Stress-Induced Martensitic Phase Transformations. Ii. Multivariant Phase Transformations And Stress Space Analysis, Valery I. Levitas, Dean L. Preston

Valery I. Levitas

In this paper, the three-dimensional Landau model of austenite-martensite transformations constructed in Part I is generalized to include transformations between an arbitrary number of martensitic variants. The model can incorporate all temperature-dependent thermomechanical properties of both phases for arbitrary crystal symmetries, including higher-order elastic constants, and it correctly describes the characteristic features of stress-strain curves for shape-memory alloys and steels, namely, constant transformation strain tensors, constant or weakly temperature dependent stress hysteresis, and transformation at nonzero tangent moduli. Geometric representations of the conditions for phase equilibrium and phase transformations in six-dimensional stress space are developed. For the cubic-tetragonal phase transformation, …

Three-Dimensional Landau Theory For Multivariant Stress-Induced Martensitic Phase Transformations. I. Austenite↔Martensite, Valery I. Levitas, Dean L. Preston

Valery I. Levitas

A three-dimensional Landau theory of stress-induced martensitic phase transformations is presented. It describes transformations between austenite and martensitic variants and transformations between martensitic variants. The Landau free energy incorporates all temperature-dependent thermomechanical properties of both phases. The theory accounts for the principal features of martensitic transformations in shape memory alloys and steels, namely, stress-strain curves with constant transformation strain and constant, or weakly temperature dependent, stress hysteresis, as well as nonzero tangent elastic moduli at the phase transformation point. In part I, the austenite↔martensite phase transformation is treated, while transformations between martensitic variants are considered in part II.

Low-Cost Manufacturing Process For Nanostructured Metals And Alloys, Travis L. Brown, Srinivasan Swaminathan, Srinivasan Chandrasekar, W. Dale Compton, Alexander H. King, Kevin P. Trumble

Alexander H. King

In spite of their interesting properties, nanostructured materials have found limited uses because of the cost of preparation and the limited range of materials that can be synthesized. It has been shown that most of these limitations can be overcome by subjecting a material to large-scale deformation, as occurs during common machining operations. The chips produced during lathe machining of a variety of pure metals, steels, and other alloys are shown to be nanostructured with grain (crystal) sizes between 100 and 800 nm. The hardness of the chips is found to be significantly greater than that of the bulk material.

Nuclear Criticality Analyses Of Separations Processes For The Transmutation Fuel Cycle, William Culbreth, Pang Tao, Denis Beller

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The separation and partitioning of used commercial reactor fuel is a vital component of any reprocessing or transmutation strategy. To process the high actinide fuels required for a transmutation effort, the Chemical Technology Division (CMT) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is developing a pyrochemical separations process. Currently, this work is being done via small experiments. While this is more than sufficient to develop the technologies required to process actinide-bearing fuels, it does not allow for the direct investigation of criticality concerns that would be present in larger systems. As the volume of waste to be treated increases, a higher probability …

Nuclear Criticality, Shielding, And Thermal Analyses Of Separations Processes For The Transmutation Fuel Cycle, William Culbreth, Denis Beller

Separations Campaign (TRP)

The remediation of nuclear waste created by conventional fission reactors will rely upon the separation of the waste products for further treatment. The UREX+ process now under review will involve the use of an aqueous chemical process to separate out depleted uranium resulting in a product containing minor actinides, fission products, cesium, strontium, technetium, and iodine. The radioactive decay of strontium and cesium produces roughly half of the thermal and gamma production in spent fuel and the relatively short halflife of isotopes of both of these elements requires storage for about 300 years before heat and radiation decreases to safe …

Neutron Multiplicity Measurements Of Target/Blanket Materials, Carter D. Hull, William H. Johnson

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

To begin developing the database necessary for the validation and benchmarking of the LAHET component of the MCNPX code suite, the UNLV research program has set forth the following objectives. First, the current MCNPX suite will be used to develop models of multi-element neutron detector systems. These models of the detector systems will be incorporated into the design of detailed models for the entire detector-target system. These models will first be used to help design the irradiation experiments, and then will be used to model the behavior of the system. Irradiation experiments corresponding to the detector-target system models will be …

Corrosion Of Steel By Lead Bismuth Eutectic: Year 1 Annual Report, John Farley

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The goal is to investigate the corrosion of stainless steel by lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE), which has been proposed for use as a blanket coolant and a spallation target in the transmuter.

Corrosion Of Steel By Lead Bismuth Eutectic, John Farley, Dale L. Perry, Allen L. Johnson

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

This research program will analyze various steel samples that have been exposed to LBE as part of the national program to develop LBE and transmutation technologies. This information will be paramount in developing engineering efforts to control, avoid, and/or minimize the effect of corrosion of steels by LBE in transmuter and LBE systems. Additionally, this program provides UNLV researchers with hands-on experience that will be crucial in developing the UNLV LBE program, supporting the University’s mission with the ISTC target complex, and the future development of additional facilities to examine LBE systems.

The research group plans to test the hypothesis …

Project Continuation Proposal: Radiation Transport Modeling Of Beam-Target Experiments For The Aaa Project, William Culbreth

Reactor Campaign (TRP)

The AAA program will rely on the use of an accelerator-based transmuter1 to expose spent nuclear fuel to high-energy neutrons. The neutron flux will be sufficient to activate or fission the long-lived isotopes of Tc, I, Pu, Am, Cm, and Np that present a significant radiological hazard in commercial spent fuel. Transmuter fuel will be subcritical and a high-energy proton accelerator is needed to maintain the necessary neutron flux through the use of a neutron spallation target. The maximum neutron energy produced by spallation (~ 800 MeV) is significantly higher than that produced by a commercial light water reactor (~ …

Design And Analysis Of A Process For Melt Casting Metallic Fuel Pins Incorporating Volatile Actinides, Yitung Chen, Darrell Pepper, Randy Clarksean

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

The Transmutation Research Program requires the incorporation of non-fertile actinides into the fuel matrix for the transmuter blanket. One of three currently proposed candidate matrices for the transmuter blanket is a metallic alloy fuel matrix. Metallic fuels are an outstanding candidate for a transmutation fuel due to excellent irradiation performance and ease of fabrication. However, including a volatile constituent during fabrication of these fuel pins presents a challenge. High vapor pressure actinides, particularly americium, are susceptible to rapid vaporization and transport using traditional metal fuel casting processes. As a result, only a fraction of the desired charge is incorporated into …

University Of Nevada, Las Vegas Transmutation Research Program Annual Report 2001, Anthony Hechanova, Elizabeth Johnson, Gary Cerefice

Transmutation Research Program Reports (TRP)

The UNLV Transmutation Research Program was established in March 2001 as part of the national Advanced Accelerator Applications program to develop the technologies necessary for the ecological and economical treatment of spent nuclear fuel.

The primary role of the UNLV program in the national effort is the training of graduate and undergraduate students in nuclear engineering and other related fields to support the augmentation of the U.S. human infrastructure for transmutation technologies.

To accomplish this role, UNLV has developed the TRP with the primary focus of supporting student research into transmutation and supporting technologies. This focus is realized through the …

A 0.5 Μm Thick Polysilicon Schottky Diode With Rectification Ratio Of 10^6, Elena A. Guliants, Chunhai Ji, Young J. Song, Wayne A. Anderson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Polycrystalline Si films, 0.5-mm thick, were obtained as a result of metal-induced growth by sputtering from a Si target on 25 nm thick Ni prelayers at 525 °C. Silicon grew heteroepitaxially on the NiSi2 layer formed due to the reaction between the sputtered Si atoms and Ni. Schottky diodes were fabricated on the Si films by deposition of a Schottky metal on the front surface of the film while Ni disilicide provided an intimate ohmic contact at the back. A Pd/n-Si diode using an n-Si film annealed for 2 h at 700 °C in forming gas demonstrated a rectification ratio …

Self-Assembly Of Spatially Separated Silicon Structures By Si Heteroepitaxy On Ni Disilicide, Elena A. Guliants, Chunhai Ji, Wayne A. Anderson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A nonlithographic approach to produce self-assembled spatially separated Si structures for nanoelectronic applications was developed, employing the metal-induced silicon growth. Densely packed Si whiskers, 500–800 nm thick and up to 2500 nm long, were obtained by magnetron sputtering of Si on a 25 nm thick Ni prelayer at 575 °C. The nucleation of the NiSi2 compound at the Ni–Si interface followed by the Si heteroepitaxy on the lattice-matched NiSi2 is suggested to be the driving force for the whisker formation.

Implementation Of A Si/Sic Hybrid Optically Controlled High-Power Switching Device, Prashant Bhadri, Kuntao Ye, Elena A. Guliants, Fred R. Beyette Jr.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The ever-increasing performance and economy of operation requirements placed on commercial and military transport aircraft are resulting in very complex systems. As a result, the use of fiber optic component technology has lead to high data throughput, immunity to EMI, reduced certification and maintenance costs and reduced weight features. In particular, in avionic systems, data integrity and high data rates are necessary for stable flight control. Fly-by-Light systems that use optical signals to actuate the flight control surfaces of an aircraft have been suggested as a solution to the EMI problem in avionic systems. Current fly-by-light systems are limited by …

Angular Range For Reflection Of P-Polarized Light At The Surface Of An Absorbing Medium With Reflectance Below That At Normal Incidence, R. M.A. Azzam, Ericson E. Ugbo

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

The range of incidence angle, 0 < φ < φ_e, over which p-polarized light is reflected at interfaces between transparent and absorbing media with reflectance below that at normal incidence is determined. Contours of constant φ_e in the complex plane of the relative dielectric constant ε are presented. A method for determining the real and imaginary parts of the complex refractive index, ε^1/2 = n + jk, which is based on measuring φ_e and the pseudo-Brewster angle φ_pB, is viable in the domain of fractional optical constants, n, k < 1.

Translation Of 'Balika Badhu: A Selected Anthology Of Bengali Short Stories', Monish Ranjan Chatterjee

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This project, which began with the desire to render into English a rather long tale by Bimal Kar about five years ago, eventually grew into a considerably more extended compilation of Bengali short stories by 10 of the most well-known practitioners of that art since the heyday of Rabindranath Tagore. The collection is limited in many ways, not the least of which being that no woman writer has been included, and that it contains only a baker's dozen stories (if we count Bonophool's micro-stories collectively as one ) — a number pitifully small considering the vast and prolific field of …

Fiber Optic Sensor Response To High Levels Of Fat In Cream, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Frederick A. Payne, Clair L. Hicks, M. Pinar Mengüç, Sue E. Nokes

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

A light backscatter technique using optical fibers to deliver and receive light was investigated for measuring the milkfat content of unhomogenized cream. Light backscatter through cream at wavelengths of 450 to 900 nm was measured for fiber separation distances from 2 to 6.5 mm and for cream containing 10 to ~40 weight percent (wt%) milkfat. Unhomogenized cream (~40 wt% milkfat) was mixed with skim milk (~0.05 wt% milkfat) to yield samples with five different milkfat levels. Three optical response models were tested for correlation with milkfat content: one using the light intensity measurement at a single separation distance, the second …

121.6 Nm Radiation Source For Advanced Lithography, Jianxun Yan, Ashraf El-Dakrouri, Mounir Laroussi, Mool C. Gupta

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light source based on a high-pressure cylindrical dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) has been developed. Intense and spectrally clean Lyman-α line at 121.6 nm was obtained by operating a DBD discharge in neon with a small admixture of hydrogen. The spectrum, optical power, stability, and efficiency of the source were measured. The influence of the gas mixture and total gas pressure on the VUV intensity has been investigated. Maximum optical power of 3.2 W and spectral width 0.03 nm was achieved. Power stability of 2% for 100 h of operation has also been obtained. The newly developed …

Advances In Space Radiation Shielding Codes, John W. Wilson, Ram K. Tripathi, Garry D. Qualls, Francis A. Cucinotta, Richard E. Prael, John W. Norbury, John H. Heinbockel, John Tweed, Giovanni De Angelis

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Early space radiation shield code development relied on Monte Carlo methods and made important contributions to the space program. Monte Carlo methods have resorted to restricted one-dimensional problems leading to imperfect representation of appropriate boundary conditions. Even so, intensive computational requirements resulted and shield evaluation was made near the end of the design process. Resolving shielding issues usually had a negative impact on the design. Improved spacecraft shield design requires early entry of radiation constraints into the design process to maximize performance and minimize costs. As a result, we have been investigating high-speed computational procedures to allow shield analysis from …

Flow Patterns In A Two-Roll Mill, Christopher Hills

Articles

The two-dimensional flow of a Newtonian fluid in a rectangular box that contains two disjoint, independently-rotating, circular boundaries is studied. The flow field for this two-roll mill is determined numerically using a finite-difference scheme over a Cartesian grid with variable horizontal and vertical spacing to accommodate satisfactorily the circular boundaries. To make the streamfunction numerically determinate we insist that the pressure field is everywhere single-valued. The physical character, streamline topology and transitions of the flow are discussed for a range of geometries, rotation rates and Reynolds numbers in the underlying seven-parameter space. An account of a preliminary experimental study of …

Effect Of Oxygen Vacancies On The Magnetic Structure Of The La₀.₆Sr₀.₄Feo3-Δ Perovskite: A Neutron Diffraction Study, Zili Chu, William B. Yelon, Jinbo Yang, William Joseph James, Harlan U. Anderson, Yixiang Xie, Satish K. Malik

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Magnetic interactions in perovskite compounds of the type La_1-xSr_xMO_3-δ (M=3d transition such as Mn and Fe) are presumed to arise through a super exchange between 3d electrons of the magnetic ions via oxygen orbitals. The magnetic structure of La_0.6Sr_0.4FeO_3-δ has been studied with neutron diffraction. Oxygen vacancies were created by annealing samples under various gases including N₂, air and mixtures of CO/CO₂. All La_0.6Sr_0.4FeO_3-δ compounds maintain the rhombohedral structure (space group R3̄c). The air- or oxygen-annealed samples have almost no oxygen …