Engineering Commons^™

Effect Of Moisture Absorption On The Sinter Quality Of Central Solenoid (Cs) Coil Pack, Zeshaan Sher Mohammed

Masters Theses

Fusion energy has been said to be the solution to all the world’s energy problems. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is the flagship project to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy. The Central Solenoid (CS), an important component of the reactor, is needed to induce plasma current, initiate, ramp-up, ramp-down, and sustain plasma in a very controlled manner. In order to achieve this, the CS coil packs must be manufactured under controlled conditions. The CS conductor is an advanced cable-in-conduit Nb3Sn superconductor. The CS cable will be made in long continuous sections but with thousands of meter of cable …

Radiation-Curable Adhesives For Wood Composites, Timothy H. Starr

Masters Theses

Wood composites are widely used in construction applications because of their superior dimensional and structural attributes over raw wood products. However, current wood composite manufacturing practices, which rely on thermal-curing of adhesives, are expensive, energy intensive, time consuming and are prone to manufacturing defects. Use of radiation curable adhesives (RCAs) could potentially answer all of these issues. Specifically, use of electron-beam (e-beam) radiation has been increasing in areas of research and industry where rapid, low-temperature polymerization is required and low energy consumption is desired. For e-beams to be used in wood composites, however, it must be determined whether or not …

Nonlinear Acoustics Of Piston-Driven Gas-Column Oscillations, Andrew William Wilson

Masters Theses

The piston-driven oscillator is traditionally modeled by directly applying boundary conditions to the acoustic wave equations; with better models re-deriving the wave equations but retaining nonlinear and viscous effects. These better models are required as the acoustic solution exhibits singularity near the natural frequencies of the cavity, with an unbounded (and therefore unphysical) solution. Recently, a technique has been developed to model general pressure oscillations in propulsion systems and combustion devices. Here, it is shown that this technique applies equally well to the piston-driven gas-column oscillator; and that the piston experiment provides strong evidence for the validity of the general …

Methods For Characterizing Mechanical Properties Of Wood Cell Walls Via Nanoindentation, Yujie Meng

Masters Theses

Nanoindentation is a method of contacting a material whose mechanical properties are unknown with another material whose properties are known. Nanoindentation has the advantage of being able to probe a material’s microstructure while being sensitive enough to detect variations in mechanical properties. However, nanoindentation has some limitations as a testing technique due to the specific formation and structure of some biomaterials. The main objective of this research is to identify any factors that influence the nanoindentation measurement of wood cell walls (a typical biomaterial).

The function of the embedding media in describing the properties of wood cells is poorly understood. …

Naturally Occurring Nanoparticles From English Ivy: An Alternative To Metal-Based Nanoparticles For Uv Protection, Lijin Xia, Scott C. Lenaghan, Mingjun Zhang, Zhili Zhang, Quanshui Li

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering/Engineering Science (MAES) (UTSI)

Background

Over the last decade safety concerns have arisen about the use of metal-based nanoparticles in the cosmetics field. Metal-based nanoparticles have been linked to both environmental and animal toxicity in a variety of studies. Perhaps the greatest concern involves the large amounts of TiO₂ nanoparticles that are used in commercial sunscreens. As an alternative to using these potentially hazardous metal-based nanoparticles, we have isolated organic nanoparticles from English ivy (Hedera helix). In this study, ivy nanoparticles were evaluated for their potential use in sunscreens based on four criteria: 1) ability to absorb and scatter ultraviolet light, …