Engineering Science and Materials Commons^™

Influence Of Microstructure On The Propagation Of Fatigue Cracks In Inconel 617, Benjiman Michael Albiston

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Inconel 617 is a candidate material for use in the intermediate heat exchanger of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant. Because of the high temperatures and the fluctuations in stress and temperature, the fatigue behavior of the material is important to understand. The goal of this study was to determine the influences of the microstructure during fatigue crack propagation. For this investigation, Inconel 617 compact tension samples, fatigue tested by Julian Benz at the Idaho National Laboratory, were obtained. The testing conditions included two environments at 650 °C (lab air and impure-He) and varied testing parameters including: loading waveform (triangular, trapezoidal), …

Design And Assembly Of Nanostructured Complex Metal Oxide Materials For The Construction Of Batteries And Thermoelectric Devices, Gautam Ganapati Yadav

Open Access Dissertations

Thermoelectric devices and lithium-ion batteries are among the fastest growing energy technologies. Thermoelectric devices generate energy from waste heat, whereas lithium-ion batteries store energy for use in commercial applications. Two different topics are bound with a common thread in this thesis - nanotechnology! In fact, nanostructuring is a more preferred term for the approach I have taken herein. Another commonality between these two topics is the material system I have used to prove my hypotheses - complex metal oxides.

Complex metal oxides can be used for both energy generation and storage as they are stable at high temperatures, are benign …

Structural, Optical And Electrical Properties Of Yttrium-Doped Hafnium Oxide Nanocrystalline Thin Films, Abhilash Kongu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Hafnium oxide (HfO2) has emerged as the most promising high-k dielectric for Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) devices and has been highlighted as the most suitable dielectric materials to replace silicon oxide because of its comprehensive performance. In the present research, yttrium-doped HfO2 (YDH) thin films were fabricated using RF magnetron sputter deposition onto Si (100) and quartz with a variable thickness. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy coupled with Filmetrics revealed that film thickness values range from 700 A° to 7500 A°. Electrical properties such as AC Resistivity and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of YDH films were studied. YDH films that were relatively thin (<1500 A°) crystallized in monoclinic phase while thicker films crystallized in cubic phase. The band gap (Eg) of the films was calculated from the optical measurements. The band gap was found to be ∼5.60 eV for monoclinic while it is ∼6.05 eV for cubic phase of YDH films. Frequency dependence of the electrical resistivity (ρac) and the total conductivity of the films were measured. Resistivity decreased (by three orders of magnitude) with increasing frequency from 100 Hz to 1 MHz, attributed due to the hopping mechanism in YDH films. Whereas, while ρac∼1Ω-m at low frequencies (100 Hz), it decreased to ∼ 104 Ω-cm at higher frequencies (1 MHz). Aluminum (Al) metal electrodes were deposited to fabricate a thin film capacitor with YDH layer as dielectric film thereby employing Al-YDH-Si capacitor structure. The results indicate that the capacitance of the films decrease with increasing film thickness. A detailed analysis of the electrical characteristics of YDH films is presented.

Non-Equilibrium Pressure Control Of The Height Of A Large-Scale, Ground-Coupled, Rotating Fluid Column, R. L. Ash, I. R. Zardadhkan

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

When a ground-coupled, rotating fluid column is modeled incorporating non-equilibrium pressure forces in the Navier-Stokes equations, a new exact solution results. The solution has been obtained in a similar manner to the classical equilibrium solution. Unlike the infinite-height, classical solution, the non-equilibrium pressure solution yields a ground-coupled rotating fluid column of finite height. A viscous, non-equilibrium Rankine vortex velocity distribution, developed previously, was used to demonstrate how the viscous and non-equilibrium pressure gradient forces, arising in the vicinity of the velocity gradient discontinuity that is present in the classical Rankine vortex model, effectively isolate the rotating central fluid column from …

Crystal Structure, Phase, And Optical Properties Of Yttrium-Doped Hafnium Oxide Nanocrystalline Thin Films, Alejandro Ortega

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Yttrium-doped hafnium oxide (YDH) nanocrystalline films were produced by sputter-deposition at various substrate times and temperatures, to produce YDH films in a wide range of thicknesses, dYDH∼25 to 1100 nm. The deposition was made onto optical grade quartz and sapphire substrates. Samples deposited on sapphire were subject to post-deposition annealing (PDA) at various times (3-24 hr) and temperatures (1100 - 1500 °C). The effect of d[special characters omitted]YDH on the crystal structure, surface/interface morphology and optical properties of YDH films was investigated. X-ray diffraction analyses revealed the formation of monoclinic phase for relatively thin films (<150nm). The evolution towards stabilized cubic phase with increasing dYDH [special characters omitted]is observed. The scanning electron microscopy results indicate the dense, columnar structure of YDH films as a function of dYDH. Spectrophotometry analyses indicate that the grown YDH films are transparent and exhibit interference fringes. The band gap was found to be ∼ 5.60 eV for monoclinic YDH films while distinct separation and an increase in band gap to 6.03 eV is evident with increasing dYDH and formation cubic YDH films. The PDA films band gaps were found to be between 5.31 and 5.72 eV, all of which exhibit secondary gaps. A correlation between growth conditions, annealing, phase evolution, and optical properties of the YDH nanocrystalline thin films is established.

Rbd2po4: Room Temprature Synthesis, Chemical And Structural Stablity Upon Heating, Masoud Mollaee

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Monoclinic RbD2PO4 polycrystals were synthesized via the room temperature crystallization of RbH2PO4 dissolved in D2O. Powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) data collected at T=25 ºC indicate that this deuterated compound crystallizes in space group P21/m with unit cell parameters a=7.688í?, b=6.192í?, c=4.781í? and β=109.02°, and is isomorphic with the intermediate-temperature phase of its hydrogenated counterpart rubidium dihydrogen phosphate (RDP). We found no evidence of previously reported [Phase Transitions 80, 17 (2007)] polymorphic phase transition in rubidium dideuterium phosphate (DRDP) upon heating from room temperature to 210 ºC. All lattice parameters vary smoothly within this temperature range, demonstrating that the P21/m phase …

Active Optimal Control Strategies For Increasing The Efficiency Of Photovoltaic Cells, Sharif Aljoaba

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Energy consumption has increased drastically during the last century. Currently, the worldwide energy consumption is about 17.4 TW and is predicted to reach 25 TW by 2035. Solar energy has emerged as one of the potential renewable energy sources. Since its first physical recognition in 1887 by Adams and Day till nowadays, research in solar energy is continuously developing. This has lead to many achievements and milestones that introduced it as one of the most reliable and sustainable energy sources. Recently, the International Energy Agency declared that solar energy is predicted to be one of the major electricity production energy …

Scaling Of The Coercive Field In Ferroelectrics At The Nanoscale, R. V. Gaynutdinov, M. Minnekaev, S. Mitko, A. L. Tolstikhina, A. Zenkevich, Stephen Ducharme, Vladimir M. Fridkin

Stephen Ducharme Publications

The scaling of the coercive field in ferroelectric films at the nanoscale is investigated experimentally. The scaling in the films of copolymer vinylidene fluoride and BaTiO3 with thickness equal by the order of value to the critical domain nucleus size 1–10 nm reveals deviation from the well-known Kay–Dunn law. At this thickness region coercive field does not depend on thickness and coincides with Landau–Ginzburg–Devonshire value.

Dynamical Properties Of Ferroelectric Perovskites (Ba,Sr)Tio3 And Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 Systems From First Principles, Jeevaka Weerasinghe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A first-principles-based effective Hamiltonian scheme which incorporates coupling between ferroelectric (FE) and antiferrodistortive (AFD) motions is applied to Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ alloys. It validates the existence of two modes of E symmetry (rather than the single E(1TO) soft mode) in the 50-75 cm^-1 range for temperatures smaller than 200 K and for compositions falling within the Rhombohedral R3c phase. Coupling between long-range-ordered FE and AFD motions is shown to be the cause of the additional mode and more insight into its nature is provided. This scheme is further used to reveal a field-induced anticrossing involving FE and AFD degrees of …

Propagation Of Ultrasound Through Freshly Excised Human Calvarium, Armando Garcia Noguera

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The propagation of ultrasound through complex biological media, such as the human calvarium, poses a great challenge for modern medicine. Several ultrasonic techniques commonly used for treatment and diagnosis in most of the human body are still difficult to apply to the human brain, in part, because of the properties of the skull. Moreover, an understanding of the biomechanics of transcranial ultrasound may provide needed insight into the problem of blast wave induced traumatic brain injury (TBI). In the present study, the spatial variability of ultrasonic properties was evaluated for relevant frequencies of 0.5, 1, and 2.25 MHz. A total …

High Pressure Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction Studies Of Superprotonic Transitions In Phosphate Based Solid Acids, Juan Daniel Hermosillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Certain phosphate based solid acids, such as CsH2PO4 and RbH2PO4, have been shown to exhibit an abrupt, several-order-of-magnitude increase in their proton conductivity when heated above a temperature threshold. This so called superprotonic behavior allows the above-mentioned materials to function as fuel cell electrolytes at temperatures between 150C and 300C, a remarkable application that attracted significant interest especially from the automobile industry. Yet, the microscopic structures and dynamic mechanisms responsible for this behavior are not fully understood. In fact, until very recently, the very nature of the superprotonic behavior has been debate, with some groups attributing the steep proton enhancement …

Applications Of Density Functional Theory In Materials Science And Engineering, Manuel Alvarado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Density Functional Theory (DFT) is a powerful tool that can be used to model various systems in materials science. Our research applies DFT to two problems of interest. First, an organic/inorganic complex dye system known as a Mayan pigment is modeled to determine chemical binding sites, verifying each model with physical data such as UV/Vis spectra. Preliminary studies on palygorskite-based mayan pigments (mayacrom blue, mayacrom purple) show excellent agreement with experimental studies when using a dimer dye geometry binding with tetrahedrally-coordinated aluminum impurity sites in palygorksite. This approach is applied to a sepiolite-based organic/inorganic dye system using thioindigo attached to …

Raman And Infrared Study Of Electrospun Plla/Pcl Nanofiber Blends For Use In Tissue Engineering, Jose Luis Enriquez Carrejo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Recently, the biomedical engineering field has developed at a very fast pace as improved techniques and materials become available to promote its growth. Consequently, the research in polymeric biomaterials has been highly stimulated by this trend. The goal of the current research is to demonstrate the usefulness of the Raman scattering, Raman mapping, and infrared absorption spectroscopies to tissue engineering, by spectroscopically characterizing blends of PLLA and PCL polymers, which were prepared by electrospinning with and without cell addition. The proposed use of these blends is as primary biomaterials in biodegradable scaffolds used in tissue engineering. Both Raman and infrared …

A Study Of Wo3 And W0.95ti0.05o3 Thin Films Using Comparative Spectroscopy, James Heyward Howard

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Tungsten oxide (WO3) is important and well-studied in materials science, particularly for sensor applications. In this research work, we consider the innovation of adding Ti to thin films of this material. Since the characteristics of any such material are strongly dependent on the conditions and methods used in its deposition, the main objective of this project is to provide a detailed spectroscopic characterization by Raman scattering, infrared absorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of WO3 and of W0.95Ti0.05O3. This characterization will be based on comparison of the morphology and composition of WO3-based thin films, grown by radio frequency magnetron reactive …

Optical Detection Of Melting Point Depression For Silver Nanoparticles Via In Situ Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, S. A. Little, T. Begou, R. W. Collins, S. Marsillac

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Silver nanoparticle films were deposited by sputtering at room temperature and were annealed while monitoring by real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The nanoparticle dielectric functions (0.75 eV-6.5 eV) obtained by SE were modeled using Lorentz and generalized oscillators for the nanoparticle plasmon polariton (NPP) and interband transitions, respectively. The nanoparticle melting point could be identified from variations in the oscillator parameters during annealing, and this identification was further confirmed after cooling through significant, irreversible changes in these parameters relative to the as-deposited film. The variation in melting point with physical thickness, and thus average nanoparticle diameter, as measured by SE …

Nanozeolites Doped Photopolymer Layers With Reduced Shrinkage, Mohesh Moothanchery, Izabela Naydenova, Svetlana Mintova, Vincent Toal

Articles

An acrylamide based photopolymer doped with pure silica MFI-type zeolite (silicalite-1) nanoparticles has been characterized for holographic recording purposes. The concentrations of the silicalite-1 nanoparticles in the photopolymer layers were 1, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 wt.%. The inclusion of silicalite-1 nanoparticle in the photopolymer has resulted in an increase of the diffraction efficiency by up to 40%, and decrease of the shrinkage from 1.32% to 0.57%. The best results were obtained in layers doped with 5 wt.% silicalite-1 nanoparticles.

Dc Pulsed Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet Image Information, Denis P. Dowling, F T. O'Neill, Vladimir Milosavljevic, Victor J. Law

Articles

This paper presents optical imaging and optical emission spectroscopy (OES) data of an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet. It is shown how the visual information and OES information of the air discharge are related as the blown arc extends from the nozzle (2-4 mm) with a molecular nitrogen rotational temperature on the order of 1700 K and the flowing afterglow beyond this region is dominated by the cooler (300-K) NO-O chemiluminescent reaction that produces NO₂ species.

The Influence Of Pressure Relaxation On The Structure Of An Axial Vortex, Robert L. Ash, Irfan Zardadkhan, Allan J. Zuckerwar

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Governing equations including the effects of pressure relaxation have been utilized to study an incompressible, steady-state viscous axial vortex with specified far-field circulation. When sound generation is attributed to a velocity gradient tensor-pressure gradient product, the modified conservation of momentum equations that result yield an exact solution for a steady, incompressible axial vortex. The vortex velocity profile has been shown to closely approximate experimental vortex measurements in air and water over a wide range of circulation-based Reynolds numbers. The influence of temperature and humidity on the pressure relaxation coefficient in air has been examined using theoretical and empirical approaches, and …

Simulation Of Temperature Distributions In Tissue Upon Laser Pulse Irradiation Including Water Mass Transfer, Deepthi Nagulapally

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Lasers, due to their unique characteristics, have tremendous applications in the medical field. Generally all laser applications in hie-medicine involve the propagation of laser energy through tissue. Energy is deposited giving rise to many physical, hie-chemical, and mechanical effects. Among these are dynamical changes in the local temperature distributions within the tissue. Analysis of the temperature changes requires the creation of an appropriate optical transmission and heat flow model that incorporates user specified laser parameters. Here, a numerical simulation model was developed to study both steady state and time dependent temperature distributions due to pulsed laser radiation within user specified …

An Ab-Initio Study Of The Elastic Properties Of Important Group Iv Diborides At High Temperatures, Manny Gonzales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Presented is an ab-initio Molecular Dynamics (MD) study, employing the Density Functional Theory (DFT), of the lattice parameter, thermal expansion coefficients and elastic constants of ZrB₂, TiB₂ and HfB₂ as a function of temperature. The MD trajectories provide the equilibrium lattice parameters at finite temperatures, and the gradient of the energy from these equilibrium solutions is then used to calculate the components of the stiffness tensor. The results for ZrB₂ are shown to agree well with reported experimental results for the lattice parameters and elastic constants as a function of temperature.

Spectroscopic Study Of The Inhibition Of Calcium Oxalate Calculi By Larrea Tridentata, Luis Alonso Pinales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The causes of urolithiasis include such influences as diet, metabolic disorders, and genetic factors which have been documented as sources that aggravate urinary calculi depositions and aggregations, and, implicitly, as causes of urolithiasis. This study endeavors to detail the scientific mechanisms involved in calcium oxalate calculi formation, and, more importantly, their inhibition under growth conditions imposed by the traditional medicinal approach using the herbal extract, Larrea tridentata. The calculi were synthesized without and with Larrea tridentata infusion by employing the single diffusion gel technique. A visible decrease in calcium oxalate crystal growth with increasing amounts of Larrea tridentata herbal infusion …

Experimental Study Of The Response Of Semiconductor Detectors For Edxrf Analysis., Sunil Kumar Valaparla

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This present work relates to the study and characterization of the response function of an energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer. The problems of energy, efficiency and resolution calibration of the system operating in the energy (5-60 keV) range are discussed. We present the operation characteristics of the portable pyro-electric x-ray generator (COOL-X) and the application of the calibrated response spectrum in the elemental analysis using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF).

We study the response of the Si(Li)-Pin XR-100CR semiconductor detector to low energy photons. The photopeak efficiency was determined experimentally by using radioisotopes and compared against a theoretical efficiency curve. The efficiency for gamma …

Volume Viscosity In Fluids With Multiple Dissipative Processes, Allan J. Zuckerwar, Robert L. Ash

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The variational principle of Hamilton is applied to derive the volume viscosity coefficients of a reacting fluid with multiple dissipative processes. The procedure, as in the case of a single dissipative process, yields two dissipative terms in the Navier-Stokes equation: The first is the traditional volume viscosity term, proportional to the dilatational component of the velocity; the second term is proportional to the material time derivative of the pressure gradient. Each dissipative process is assumed to be independent of the others. In a fluid comprising a single constituent with multiple relaxation processes, the relaxation times of the multiple processes are …

Observed Superspin-Glass Behavior In Ni0.5zn0.5fe2o4 Nanoparticles, Antony Adair

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this investigation we seek to identify the magnetic behavior of Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles though AC-susceptibility and DC-magnetization measurements. Powder x-ray diffraction was performed to determine the purity and average diameter ( ~ 9nm) of the particles. Aditionally, structure was confirmed by comparison through the International Centre for Diffraction Data's Powder Diffraction File [52] (PDF # 08-0234).

Zero-field cooled and field cooled DC magnetization measurements (bifurcation and blocking temperature), as well as M(H) hysteresis (below and above the blocking temperature) lead us to initially suggest that the material may in fact be superparamagnetic. However, further investigation of the real AC susceptibility …

Computational Modeling Studies Of The Structures And Properties Of Organotin(Iv) And Stannyl-Thioether Systems With Comparisons To X-Ray Crystallography, Michelle R. Stem Joseph

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Controlling the toxic effects of organotin(IV) compounds involves engineering the structure of the molecules to optimize their properties. Molecular engineering, coupled with improved capabilities to generate reliable computational optimization models (COMs), will enable researchers to have greater success at harnessing the highly specific cytotoxicity of organotins. For example, as the thio_n ligand phenyl groups were replaced with Cl atoms, the S-Sn intramolecularity was strengthened, the bond distance decreased, and the stannyl tetrahedral structure was deformed from its triphenyl conformation. With each substitution, conformation deformations lowered the damaging bioactivity levels of thio_n. Bonding various ligands to organotin(IV) compounds …

Electronic And Structural Properties Of Molybdenum Thin Films As Determined By Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, J. D. Walker, H. Khatri, V. Ranjan, Jian Li, R. W. Collins, S. Marsillac

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Walker, J.D., Khatri, H., Ranjan, V., Li, J., Collins, R.W., & Marsillac, S. (2009). Electronic and structural properties of molybdenum thin films as determined by real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry. Applied Physics Letters, 94(14). doi: 10.1063/1.3117222

Hand-Held Flyback Driven Coaxial Dielectric Barrier Discharge: Development And Characterization, Victor J. Law, Vladimir Milosavljevic, Neil O’Connor, James F. Lalor, Steven Daniels

Articles

The development of a handheld single and triple chamber atmospheric pressure coaxial dielectric barrier discharge driven by Flyback circuitry for helium and argon discharges is described. The Flyback uses external metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor power switching technology and the transformer operates in the continuous current mode to convert a continuous dc power of 10–33 W to generate a 1.2–1.6 kV 3.5 μs pulse. An argon discharge breakdown voltage of ∼768 V is measured. With a 50 kHz, pulse repetition rate and an argon flow rate of 0.5–10 argon slm (slm denotes standard liters per minute), the electrical power density deposited in …

Hypersonic Boundary Layer Receptivity To Acoustic Disturbances Over Cones, Kursat Kara

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The receptivity mechanisms of hypersonic boundary layers to free stream acoustic disturbances are studied using both linear stability theory (LST) and direct numerical simulations (DNS). A computational code is developed for numerical simulation of steady and unsteady hypersonic flow over cones by combining a fifth-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme with third-order total-variation-diminishing (TVD) Runge-Kutta method. Hypersonic boundary layer receptivity to free-stream acoustic disturbances in slow and fast modes over 5-degree, half-angle blunt cones and wedges are numerically investigated. The free-stream Mach number is 6.0, and the unit Reynolds number is 7.8×106/ft. Both the steady and unsteady solutions are obtained …

Response To "Comment On Variational Approach To The Volume Viscosity Of Fluids" [Phys. Fluids 18, 109101 (2006)], Allen J. Zuckerwar, Robert L. Ash

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

We respond to the Comment of Markus Scholle and therewith revise our material entropy constraint to account for the production of entropy. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Variational Approach To The Volume Viscosity Of Fluids, Allan J. Zuckerwar, Robert L. Ash

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The variational principle of Hamilton is applied to develop an analytical formulation to describe the volume viscosity in fluids. The procedure described here differs from those used in the past in that a dissipative process is represented by the chemical affinity and progress variable (sometimes called "order parameter") of a reacting species. These state variables appear in the variational integral in two places: first, in the expression for the internal energy, and second, in a subsidiary condition accounting for the conservation of the reacting species. As a result of the variational procedure, two dissipative terms appear in the Navier-Stokes equation. …