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Fast Flux Measurement By A Single Multi-Threshold Foil, Kenneth Lawrence Cage

Masters Theses

"The purpose of this investigation is to determine the fast neutron spectrum by use of a single multi-threshold foil. The foils and the elements which constituted the foils were selected by the following criteria: availability of adequate cross-section data, energy dependence of the given reaction, gamma radiation emitted during decay and the half-life of the daughter. The two foils selected were an In-Fe- P pellet, and ALCOA 2509 (Al-Ni). The gamma spectrum of each constitute was stripped from the composite spectra using a least-squares fit. The activation results were utilized to calculate the fast flux using the weighted orthonormal method. …

An Automatic Data Acquisition System For Semiconductor Device Testing, Donald L. Bartling

Masters Theses

"An Automatic Data Acquisition System for determining the Voltage/Current characteristics of semiconductor devices is presented. The system is capable of measuring currents in the range from 10^-10 amperes to 200 milliamperes. The system includes various pieces of commercially available equipment plus several pieces of specially designed and fabricated equipment.

The system yields a maximum of 59 data points each for both the base and collector characteristics of the transistor tested. The system is designed to perform a particular sequence of events. These events are controlled by a specially designed and fabricated piece of equipment called the Control Center.

The …

Rc-Tunnel Diode Network Synthesis, Jerry Dale Lee

Masters Theses

"The synthesis of networks having prescribed transfer functions using resistors, capacitors, and one tunnel diode is presented.

The restrictions on the given transfer function are that it be a ratio of two polynomials in s, its poles lie on the finite, negative real axis of the s plane, and its numerator polynomial have only real coefficients, with a positive leading coefficient.

In general, this synthesis results in two two-port networks, each having a common connection between one input and one output terminal, connected either in parallel or series.

Procedures are presented for realizing any one of the several two-port network …

Fluid Flow In Pipes Of Rectangular Cross Sections, Bruce Harold Bradford

Masters Theses

"Head loss due to fluid friction was measured in smooth conduits of rectangular cross section. The data covers the laminar and turbulent range. Results were compared with previous theoretical and empirical data.

The customary practice of calculating head loss in non-circular conduits by use of the friction factor obtained on an “equivalent” circular pipe was discussed. It was found that this practice is successful in square cross sections undergoing turbulent flow. In laminar flow, however, this method is not accurate"--Abstract, page ii.

The Effect Of Initial Moisture Content On The Swelling Characteristics Of Putnam Soil, William Howell Branum

Masters Theses

"The literature on swell and swell pressure in expansive soils was reviewed. The effect of initial moisture content on the swelling properties of untreated Putnam silt loam was investigated by performing free swell and swell pressure tests on specimens with varying initial moisture contents compacted to a constant dry density. The free swell tests were conducted by allowing the samples to swell freely under a low load (the weight of the plunger and the porous stone in the swelling apparatus) and measuring the volume change that resulted. The swell pressure tests were performed using two different procedures: (1) determining the …

Tensile Strength Of Prereacted Porcelain Compositions, Chester Lee Hill

Masters Theses

"The tensile strengths of two porcelain compositions containing prereacted silica and feldspar have been determined with the diametral loading technique. A comparison was made between the strength of the prereacted samples and the strength of samples of the same compositions, but prepared in the conventional manner. At the optimum firing temperature, no significant differences in tensile strengths were observed between the prereacted and control samples for the two compositions studied. At temperatures below and above the optimum firing temperature, the prereacted samples had the higher tensile strengths. The tensile strengths are correlated with the average size of the quartz particles …

A Fluid Control System For Nuclear Reactors, Roger Alan Crane

Masters Theses

"This thesis presents both an experimental and analytical analysis of the scram characteristics of a fluid control system for a nuclear reactor. This control system utilizes a control tube containing a neutron-absorbing fluid. The level of the fluid inside of the tube is then regulated by means of' a pressurized gas and offers a number of unique advantages over the conventional control rod system using linear absorber rods.

The effect of varying the level-control pressure and initial height of the fluid column is determined and evaluated. The time required to complete a scram with the fluid control system is compared …

Turbulence Measurements In Polymer Solutions Using Hot-Film Anemometry, Gary Kent Patterson

Doctoral Dissertations

"Hot-film anemometry was used to study the detailed structure of turbulence (intensities, energy spectra, and auto-correlations) in Newtonian solvents, non-drag reducing polymer solutions, and drag reducing polymer solutions. This was done in two smooth wall tubes with diameters of 1.0 inch and 2.0 inches. A probe traversing mechanism was used for measurements at radial positions from the center to as near the wall as possible for both the film probes (r/a=0.85 in the 2-inch tube) and the impact tubes (r/ a=0.98). The impact tubes were used to measure velocities for film probe calibration.

The solvents used in this investigation were …

The Thermodynamics Of The Zno-Fe₂O₃-Fe₃O₄ System, Dennis George Dreyer

Masters Theses

"A study was made of the ZnO-Fe₂O₃-Fe₃O₄ system at 1200ºC using oxygen pressures between 0.1 and 1x10⁻⁴ atmospheres. The results of this study were used to calculate the activities of ZnO, Fe₂O₄, and Fe₃O₄ in the spinel solid solution region of this ternary system. The activities of ZnFe₂O₄ and Fe₃O₄ across the pseudo-binary system were then calculated. The activities of the components in both the ternar and pseudo-binary systems exhibited large positive deviations from Raoult's Law, being more pronounced at the higher Fe₃O₄ content. The free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of mixing of the pseudo-binary system ZnFe₂O₄-Fe₃O₄ at 1200ºC were …

Aeration Studies In Submerged Fermentations Using A Steam-Sterilizable Dissolved Oxygen Sensor Of Improved Design, Carl J. Wallace

Doctoral Dissertations

"Large-scale submerged fermentations have been important for many years for the production of antibiotics, vitamins, enzymes, etc.; however, aeration studies have been severely restricted in these processes because of the unavailability of adequate oxygen sensing equipment.

A steam-sterilizable oxygen sensor of improved design was developed out of an investigation of several potential sensors. This rapidly responding galvanic probe made use of a lead anode, a silver cathode, an acetate buffer as the electrolyte, and a one mil Teflon® membrane as the diffusion barrier. Its sensitivity was approximately 40 µamps and full response required approximately 5 minutes.

Use was made of …

A Numerical Solution For Beam-Columns On Non-Linear Foundations, Wendelin H. Mueller Iii

Masters Theses

"A program for Matlock's recursive method, a numerical method which will analyze beams and columns with linearly varying spring supports, was modified to enable the solution of such members supported by non-linear springs. This modification was accomplished by an iterative technique. The final result of this paper is a computer program which can be used to solve beams or columns with non-linear spring supports, giving as output the deflection, slope, moment, shear, net load and curvature of the structure at uniformly spaced locations"--Abstract, page ii.

Permeability And Additive Sorption And Extraction In Lubricating Greases, Hsiu-Hsiung Lin

Masters Theses

"An important goal in the study of lubricating greases is the determination of the mechanism of additive action in lubricating greases and the effect of additive concentration on the improvement of particular properties. As a step in this direction, one aim of this investigation was an attempt to determine whether grease additives are sorbed on the thickener surface, or are dissolved in the oil phase, or if a combination of these effects prevails. Exploratory sorption and extraction experiments were run by Tu using greases thickened with lithium hydroxystearate and Baragel and using only one concentration of additive. More detailed studies …

The Shrinkage Characteristics Of Plastic Clay, Edward De Santis

Masters Theses

"This investigation was conducted to determine the shrinkage properties of a clay soil whose structure had been artificially altered in the laboratory. Various percentages of dispersing and flocculating agent were added to the soil and the shrinkage curves plotted.

The shrinkage curves of the chemically treated soil were compared with those of the untreated soil. The values of the theoretical and observed shrinkage limits were also compared to determine the validity of the standard shrinkage limit test which, at present, does not take into consideration the structure of the soil.

An explanation of the differences in the shrinkage characteristics of …

Bending Of Isosceles Right Triangular Plates, Ping-Tung Huang

Masters Theses

"In this thesis the series expansion method is used to obtain the moments and deflections of an isosceles right triangular plate bent by arbitrary transverse loads. The method is based on using an antisymmetric load on a square plate. Two boundary conditions are solved and the numerical results obtained for these cases are tabulated"--Abstract, page ii.

The Development Of The Sonic Pulse Technique And Its Comparison With The Conventional Static Method For Determining The Elastic Moduli Of Rock, James Harold Deatherage

Masters Theses

"The determination of the elastic moduli of rock has long been a problem to the geophysicist, mining engineer and the civil engineer. There is a considerable amount of literature on determining Young's modulus by the sonic pulse technique. However, the use of this technique to determine the three elastic constants, Young's modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio from measurements of both the longitudinal and shear wave velocities presents some difficulties, especially in the method of accurately determining the shear wave velocities.

In this thesis, what is believed to be a new method of measuring shear wave velocities in the laboratory …

A Study Of Stress Distribution And Measurement Of Axial Strain Around A Pilot Hole During Overboring, Varakantham Sreedhar Reddy

Masters Theses

"Stress distribution around a pilot hole during overcoring was investigated. A study of axial strain on the borehole surface was undertaken. Two-dimensional epoxy resin models were prepared and stress frozen in a centrifuge. The stress-frozen models were examined under a direct-viewing polariscope. The magnitude of axial strain and the effect of strain relaxation on the pilot hole were measured on blocks of brittle materials. Factors contributing to discing of core during the overcoring operation were investigated and a mechanism of failure postulated. The loading conditions simulating in situ, core and bit pressures were applied individually to the brittle models and …

The Effect Of Moisture On The Compressive And Tensile Strength On A Variety Of Rock Materials, Richard A. Martin

Masters Theses

"The effect of moisture on the strength characteristics of rock materials has been neglected in the study of rock mechanics. This study was undertaken to determine if there was any effect on the compressive and the tensile strength of rock by varying the moisture content from an oven-dried to a saturated condition.
It was found, by testing eight different rock materials that the compressive strength per unit area decreased with an increasing moisture content. The tensile strengths per unit area, with the exception of the quartzite and the porphyry samples, also decreased with an increase in moisture content. The tensile …

The Effect Of Epoxy Resin In Stone And Slag Concrete, James Chun-Min Chou

Masters Theses

"In concrete construction, the weight of the structure represents a large portion of the total load carried; thus, there is considerable advantage in reducing the weight of the concrete. To obtain this result, there are at least three approaches (1). The first method of producing lightweight concrete is by means of substituting a porous lightweight aggregate of low specific gravity for the ordinary aggregate. The second method relies on introducing large voids within the concrete or mortar mass; this is known as aerated, cellular or gas concrete. The third method is simply to omit the fine aggregate from the mix …

Space-Charge Effects As Determined By Initial-Field Conditions, Tsing-Yih Wang

Masters Theses

"A method for calculating the current density passing between two parallel plane electrodes for different values of positive charges as a function of " field at the emitter to field for no charge ratio " is presented.
The problem of the potential distribution between the electrodes has been solved for one particular case in which the positive charges are assumed to be proportional to the field at the emitter. The expressions for the electric field, the velocity of charges, and the charge density as a function of the potential are also presented and plotted as a function of the distance. …

A Study Of Shear Failures In Footing, Fred V. Cole

Masters Theses

"The purpose of this investigation was to conduct a model study of the basic mechanism of failure in shear of reinforced concrete footings through the use of plaster models.

Sixty-nine models were constructed and loaded to failure on a foundation of sand using various combinations of size and depth of model and column size. Load - deformation data and failure loads were recorded.

It was determined that model studies are a feasible procedure to analyse the mechanism of failure in footings. The perimeter of the loaded area was found to be the critical section in determining the ultimate shearing strength …

A Study Of Molecular Diffusion In Polymer Solutions By A Microinterferometric Method, Girish T. Dalal

Masters Theses

"A microinterferometric method was used to study the effect of solute concentration on the diffusion coefficient in polymer solutions and also to determine the effect of polymer concentration on the diffusion coefficient. The polyacrylonitrile-dimethylformamide system was used as a means of determining the accuracy of the experimental apparatus and procedure. The non-ionic, water soluble polymer, hydroxyethyl cellulose (commercially known as Natrosol), was used to study this effect with urea and D-glucose as the solutes.

The results obtained for the polyacrylonitrile-dimethylformamide system were in close agreement with the results obtained by Secor, which meant that the experimental technique is accurate enough …

A Method For Approximating A Specified Impulsive Response, Charles A. Gross

Masters Theses

"Given a system's time response, y(t), to a unit impulse, a method is presented by which an approximating function y*(t) may be determined. It is inherent in the method that the transform function Y*(s) is rational. The poles of the approximating function are found from the coefficients of a difference equation, which is made to fit the given data in a least mean square error sense. The zeros are determined by a procedure based on the fact that at a given time the given function and its approximate derivatives are known. Accuracy and implementation of the method are investigated primarily …

Some Effects Of Selected Biodegradable Detergents On The Aeration Of Water And Activated Sludge, Donald Ernest Modesitt

Masters Theses

"The purpose of this study was to determine what effects the presence of selected biodegradable detergents have on the aeration of water and the activated sludge process for aerobic wastewater treatment. The detergents studied were LAS #1, Alfol, and Nalkylene. It was of particular interest to determine if these detergents decreased the oxygen absorptive capacities of water and wastewater. If detrimental effects were produced by the detergents it was then desired to determine if these effects were serious enough to create problems with aerobic wastewater treatment and aeration in receiving bodies of water.

A two liter volume of the liquids …

The Effect Of Non-Linearity On A Frequency-Modulated Wave, Tzu-Tien Hung

Masters Theses

"A method is presented for finding the effect of a nonlinear characteristic of a device on a wave which is frequency modulated by only one sinusoidal modulating wave. The distortion in the output has been found by passing a frequency-modulated wave (which is represented by a summation expression for the spectrum components) through a non-linear circuit having a Fourier series represention of its Characteristic. Two cases have been considered: (1) a nonlinear output-input characteristic, and (2) a non-linear amplitude-frequency characteristic"--Abstract, page ii.

Further Studies Of The Catalytic Oxidation Of Ortho-Xylene To Phthalic Anhydride Using A Fluidized Bed Reactor., Richard Shih-Chun Chu

Masters Theses

"This investigation was conducted to further study the vapor-phase oxidation or o-xylene to phthalic anhydride in a fluidized bed catalytic reactor. Parameters investigated during the study were temperature, catalyst volume, and catalyst activated by use or different promoters. Two different vanadium pentoxide catalysts were used. One was a new catalyst(Catalyst I) supported on a silica base and diluted with potassium sulfate. The other catalyst(Catalyst II) was similar to the first one except that it had been used in a commercial fixed bed reactor operated by the Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri, using naphthalene as a reed material. It had been …

A Study Of The Removal Of Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate By Means Of A Column Packed With Sand Coated With Ferric Oxide, Chang I. Fung

Masters Theses

"Iron, precipitated in the form of hydroxides on sand particles (-48 + 65 mesh) and stabilized by drying at 100°C for 10 hours, was utilized to remove alkyl benzene sulfonate (ABS) from aqueous solutions. Solutions containing a maximum of 5 mg/l ABS were passed through a glass column packed with treated sand. The ABS formed a complex with the iron precipitants which adhered to the sand particles.

Preliminary work, in which solutions containing 10 mg/l ABS were treated with various concentrations of FeCl₂ at the equivalence point (pH about 9.5), verified the fact that ABS could be removed by …

The Construction Of A Fermi Neutron Chopper For Cross Section Measurements, Cleon Marion Mobley

Masters Theses

"A Fermi neutron chopper and control system has been constructed and put into operation at the end of the UMR Reactor thermal column.

The operation of the chopper has been demonstrated by reproducing the slow neutron cross section data for aluminum and by measuring the previously undetermined slow cross section of cobalt.

The chopper which is powered by a series DC motor consists of 34 cadmium plated stainless steel blades separated by 1/16 inch aluminum spacers. The design incorporates the better characteristics of the Brookhaven and Argonne slow choppers. Speed regulation is accomplished using a silicon controlled rectifier feed back …

Plastic Design Of Steel Frames For Minimum Weight, I-Chen Hung

Masters Theses

"The purpose of this study was to develop a method for weight minimization of the plastically designed frame, braced normal to its plane of action, and composed of prismatic steel members. The method accounts for the non-linear relationship between weight and moment capacity for both beams and columns. Reduction in the pure-bending fully-plastic moment in the presence of axial loading and both beam-column instability and overall frame instability due to sidesway are taken into account. Provision is made for minimization of frames employing standard sections as well as for frames whose built-up members may be chosen from a continuous spectrum. …

The Effect Of Epoxy Resins On The Durability And Unconfined Compressive Strength Of An A-1b Soil, Guy H. Payne

Masters Theses

"This thesis reports the procedure and results obtained from the stabilization of a clean poorly graded sand with various amounts of epoxy resin. The same soil was also stabilized with varying amounts of Portland cement in order to have a basis for comparison of the results obtained. The sand used in this research came from the Meramec River in Central Missouri and is classed as an A-lb soil by the AASHO classification system. The following tests were performed on the stabilized samples: 1. Specimens were molded and compacted at 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% and 12% portland cement by weight of …

An Analysis Of Neutron Resonance Detectors In Critical Uranyl-Fluoride Heavy Water Systems., William H. Roach

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

The measurement of neutron flux spectra in reactors is a problem which can be approached in several ways, depending on the information desired. For high energy measurements, threshold detectors are often used; if spatial information of the flux is required, some type of fission detector may be employed. For flux magnitude measurements in the epithermal energy range, foils of elements which have strong neutron absorption resonances are commonly utilized. If the resonance is sufficiently isolated from other resonances and the contribution from the resonance to the total resonance absorption integral of the element is large, then it is a fairly …