Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Surface Characterization Of Accident Tolerant Fuel Claddings Candidates After Prolonged Exposure To Steam Oxidation, Connor F. Donlan

Theses and Dissertations

Accident Tolerant Fuel Claddings are designed to improve fuel performance and safety in abnormal reactor conditions. The development of these cladding materials has become a top priority for the nuclear community, with incidents such as the Three Mile Island accident and the Fukashima Dai-chi accident. The development of these claddings has resulted in 2 subsections: coating current claddings or replacing cladding materials with new materials. The claddings studied in this thesis are a Zircaloy-4 cladding coated with chromium through physical vapor deposition, Zircaloy-4, and a FeCrAl alloy, C26M. This thesis assessed the surface chemistry, roughness, and wettability after extended exposure …

Biomass-Derived Electrode Materials And Sustainable Processes For Supercapacitors, Katelyn M. Shell

Theses and Dissertations

Biomass is one of the most abundant natural resources and has been used as a source of energy for thousands of years. Biomass as a precursor for energy storage materials is still relatively novel and faces several obstacles before becoming commonly used in today’s electrical devices. Currently, energy storage devices, such as batteries, capacitors, and supercapacitors, utilize petroleum-derived graphitic carbons for anodes, generating a need for more sustainable materials. Biomass, as a carbon-rich source for electrode materials, presents a viable and economically feasible alternative due to the prevalent lignocellulosic compounds: lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Preliminary studies on the solid residues …

Perovskite Thin Films Annealed In Supercritical Fluids For Efficient Solar Cells, Gilbert Annohene

Theses and Dissertations

In the field of photovoltaics, scientists and researchers are working fervently to produce a combination of efficient, stable, low cost and scalable devices. Methylammonium lead trihalide perovskite has attracted intense interest due to its high photovoltaic performance, low cost, and ease of manufacture. Their high absorption coefficient, tunable bandgap, low-temperature processing, and abundant elemental constituent provide innumerable advantages over other thin film absorber materials. Since the perovskite film is the most important in the device, morphology, crystallization, compositional and interface engineering have been explored to boost its performance and stability. High temperatures necessary for crystallization of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite films …

Accident Tolerant Fuels Claddings And The Evolution Of Their Surface Characteristics Under Critical Heat Flux, Rajnikant V. Umretiya

Theses and Dissertations

Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATFs) systems for light water reactors require higher temperature oxidation resistance in steam environments than the current UO₂ – zirconium fuel system. Investigating the ATF materials’ surface properties is needed as they have evidenced to affect the Critical Heat Flux (CHF), which is an important parameter of the thermal-hydraulic performance required to provide safety margins. In this dissertation, the surface properties of FeCrAl alloys (APMT and C26M), Zircaloy-2, Zircaloy-4, and Cr-coating on Zircaloy-4 substrates produced by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and Cold Spray (CS) were investigated according to their chemistry, topography, and wettability. The static …

Equations Of State For Warm Dense Carbon From Quantum Espresso, Derek J. Schauss

Theses and Dissertations

Warm dense plasma is the matter that exists, roughly, in the range of 10,000 to 10,000,000 Kelvin and has solid-like densities, typically between 0.1 and 10 grams per centimeter. Warm dense fluids like hydrogen, helium, and carbon are believed to make up the interiors of many planets, white dwarfs, and other stars in our universe. The existence of warm dense matter (WDM) on Earth, however, is very rare, as it can only be created with high-energy sources like a nuclear explosion. In such an event, theoretical and computational models that accurately predict the response of certain materials are thus very …

Impact Dynamics Of Surfactant-Laden Droplets On Non-Wettable Coatings, Amir Esmaeili

Theses and Dissertations

Owing to their excellent water repellency, non-wettable (superhydrophobic) coatings have gained tremendous attention in the past couple of decades. Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD), an inexpensive polymer frequently used in paper industry as a sizing agent, has shown potentials to become superhydrophobic. The formation of a porous structure after curing the solidified AKD for an extra-long time (4–6 days) results in superhydrophobicity, i.e., a static contact angle with water of >150° and a roll-off angle of <10°. In this work, a facile and low-cost method was used to turn the surface of AKD superhydrophobic in a very short period of time by briefly treating the coatings, obtained from isothermally heated molten AKD at 40 °C for 3 min, with ethanol. The resulting superhydrophobicity is due to the formation of porous, entangled irregular micro/nano textures that create air cushions on the surface leading to droplet state transition from Wenzel to Cassie. As a proof of concept, the same material was applied to the co-sputtered nickel-tungsten thin films, commonly used in micro/nano-electro-mechanical systems, to improve their hydrophobicity. According to the results, at least 20% increase was observed in the dynamic contact angles of the treated substrates.

In addition, this work presents a detailed high-speed imaging analysis of the influence of the molecular weight, concentration and ionic nature of surfactants on droplet …

Study And Characterization Of Conductive Elastomers For Biomedical Applications, Hadis Gharacheh

Theses and Dissertations

Health issues have always been one of humankind's biggest challenges. Over the last century, there has been significant and monumental progress in health and biomedical science, with the end goal of alleviating and eliminating illnesses and ailments. For developing biomedical devices, polymers and elastomers group among other types of biomaterials have been highlighted to be used due to high flexibility, stability, biocompatibility, and mechanical and rheological characteristics. In this work, the characterization of acrylated poly glycerol_sebacate (PGSA) polymer conjugated with bio ionic liquid (BIL) was investigated. Results showed high biocompatibility, high printability with tunable mechanical, adhesive, and conductivity properties. For …

Tension-Tension Fatigue Behavior Of Nextel™ 720/Alumina-Mullite Ceramic Composite At 1200°C In Air And In Steam, Sarah A. Witzgall

Theses and Dissertations

Uniaxial tension-tension fatigue performance of an oxide-oxide continuous fiber ceramic composite was studied at 1200°C in laboratory air and in steam. The composite is reinforced with laminated, 0/90 mullite/alumina (NEXTEL™720) fibers woven in an eight-harness satin weave and has a porous alumina/mullite matrix. There is no interphase between the fiber and matrix. The composite relies on the porous matrix for crack deflection and flaw tolerance. Tension-tension fatigue was examined for maximum stresses of 45 – 136 MPa in air and in steam. To assess the effects of the steam environment on fatigue performance, experimental results obtained in air are compared …

Wideband Metasurface Antenna, Thomas A. Lepley

Theses and Dissertations

This effort explored design of metasurface antennas and evaluated their suitability for ultra-wideband applications (2 to 18 GHz). Six unit cell types were characterized. Eigenmode simulations produced frequency vs. phase data for the unit cells, from which impedance vs. gap size data was computed. A holographic design equation was used to generate the metasurface antenna designs. The unit cell simulations revealed that the assumption of single mode operation is a constraint for wideband designs. An 8" by 8" metasurface antenna with a Rogers 3010 dielectric and a design frequency of 10 GHz was fabricated and tested. It had a 1.5:1 …

Alternate Materials For High-Speed Projectile Casing, Andrew W. Beard

Theses and Dissertations

A high-speed projectile impact is a highly complex dynamic problem that can be simplified with the use of finite element analysis solvers. Abaqus/Explicit was used to evaluate the impact of various projectiles using a plane strain setup. Using a baseline stainless steel projectile, the proposed sandwich construction design was analyzed and compared to the baseline projectile. The overall goal was to see if a new composite casing could perform similarly to the simple baseline projectile. The sandwich construction used stainless steel, tungsten, and silicon-carbide reinforce aluminum as outer and inner shell materials. The core material was created using additive manufacturing …

Investigation Of Ultem 9085 For Use In Printed Orbital Structures, William R. Gallagher

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing is revolutionizing industries ranging from medicine to space. However, the structural characteristics of plastic parts created by these methods are not as well understood as their more established counterparts. This research explored two relevant areas: how the structural characteristics of ULTEM 9085 plastic behaved after exposure to orbital conditions and the design of the cross-sectional area of a beam to be 3-D printed in microgravity based on the expected loads from the printer. To study orbital effects, ULTEM 9085 was printed into 1/4th scale ASTM D638- 14 dogbones using a Stratasys 450mc printer. These dogbones were placed in …

Dynamic Micromechanical Fabry-Perot Cavity Sensors Fabricated By Multiphoton Absorption Onto Optical Fiber Tips, Jeremiah C. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

This research leveraged two-photon polymerization microfabrication to integrate dynamic mechanical components with Fabry-Perot resonators onto the ends of low-loss optical fibers to prototype 3 micro-optic devices. The first device featured a multi-positional mirror that enabled thin-film deposition onto cavities of any length with mirrors of significant curvature, for refractive index sensing. The second device combined an FP cavity with a spring body featuring easily scalable stiffness for pressure sensing. The third device presented a high-speed rotating micro-anemometer for measuring a wide range of gas flows. All devices represent a significant reduction in size and weight over commercially available devices.

The Design Of A Continuous Wave Molecular Nitrogen Stimulated Raman Laser In The Visible Spectrum, Timothy J. Bate

Theses and Dissertations

Hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HCPCFs) shows promise as a hybrid laser with higher nonlinear process limits and small beam size over long gain lengths. This work focuses on the design of a CW molecular nitrogen (N₂) stimulated Raman laser. N₂ offers Raman gains scaling up to 900 amg, scaling higher than H₂. The cavity experiment showed the need to include Rayleigh scattering in the high pressure required for N₂ Raman lasing. Even at relatively low pressure ssuch as 1,500 psi, high conversion percentages should be found if the fiber length is chosen based on …

Modeling Hybrid Composites Using Tsai-Wu And Hashin Failure Criterion, Candice R. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Hybrid composites require further study and testing for future use in various fields. This study focuses on simulating a Hybrid Composite using IM7-977-3 laminae with steel foils in Abaqus under bolt loading by using Hashin and Tsai-Wu failure criterion. Initial simulations contain only the IM7-977-3 composite with cohesive layers. Foil samples were then tested for accurate material properties from which the simulations were then updated to include steel foils. The two models show that Tsai-Wu failure criterion, while great for anisotropic material in tension, does not prove accuracy around the hole of the composite material which is in compression. Hashin …

Solution Anneal Heat Treatments To Enhance Mechanical Performance Of Additively Manufactured Inconel 718, David J. Newell

Theses and Dissertations

The nickel-based superalloy Inconel 718 (IN718) is an excellent candidate among aerospace alloys for laser powder-bed fusion (LPBF) manufacturing. As-built LPBF IN718 has a vertically aligned columnar (001) microstructure which translates into orthotropic mechanical behavior. The post-process heat treatments for IN718 were developed 60 years ago for wrought and cast processes and do not mitigate the columnar microstructure of the LPBF process. Recrystallization is required to remove the columnar microstructure, which would allow for parts to be fabricated on different machines or in different orientations but still achieve the same properties. This research investigated the microstructure of LPBF IN718 as …

Cn And C2 Spectroscopy On The Pulsed Ablation Of Graphite In The Visible Spectrum, Brandon A. Pierce

Theses and Dissertations

An experimental study was conducted on the nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of graphite using a KrF laser at a fluence of 3.8 J/cm² in Air, Ar, He, and N₂. Optical emissions spectroscopy revealed the C₂ Swan sequences and the CN Violet sequences. A spectroscopic model was developed to extract the molecular rotational and vibrational temperatures of each excited species for t=0.5-10 microseconds after laser irradiation. The rovibrational temperatures were found to vary with background gas for the CN Violet; however, only the vibrational temperature varied between He and the other background gases for C₂ Swan. …

Design, Development, And Testing Of A Low Cost, Additively-Manufactured, Centrifugal Compressor, Aaron P. Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

The three objectives of this research were to: 1.) design, build, and test AM compressors to substitute into COTS micro-gas turbine engines, 2.) provide initial correlations between FEA and compressor failure speed, and 3.) characterize the effects of AM on compressor performance. These goals improved the design cycle cost and the design-validation time cycle. ULTEM 9085, 300-AMB, and Onyx-Kevlar temperature-dependent tensile properties were measured. FEA-predicted failure speeds of stock compressor designs led design improvements, potentially fulfilling the original compressor requirements. Physical testing of the stock and ULTEM 9085 compressors occurred. Comparing these compressors' performances demonstrated that low cost, AM materials …

Fatigue Behavior Of An Advanced Melt-Infiltrated Sic/Sic Composite With Environmental Barrier Coating At 1200°C In Air And In Steam, Thaddeus M. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Advanced aerospace applications such as aircraft turbine engine components, hypersonic flight vehicles, and spacecraft reentry thermal protection systems require structural materials that have superior long-term mechanical properties under high temperature, high pressure, and varying environmental factors, such as moisture. Because of their low density, high strength and fracture toughness at high temperatures SiC fiber-reinforced SiC matrix composites are being evaluated for aircraft engine hot-section components. In these applications the composites will be subjected to various types of mechanical loadings at elevated temperatures in oxidizing environments. Because their constituents are intrinsically oxidation-prone, the most significant problem hindering SiC/SiC composites is oxidation …

Mechanical And Structural Behavior Of As-Built And Post Treated Ti6al4v Lattice Structures Fabricated By Selective Laser Melting (Slm), Hala Ahmed Salem

Theses and Dissertations

Lattice structure is a type of cellular structures that is composed of repeatable unit cells, each of which is formed of interconnect network of struts. Lattices with different structures are gaining attention for their good mechanical properties for light weight applications. Selective laser melting (SLM), is one of the AM powder-bed fusion fabrication techniques. SLM is widely known for its capability for fabricating complex metallic structures such as lattice structures with high resolution. SLM process influence the microstructure and mechanical properties of fabricated parts. The used processing parameters influence the level of internal porosity within the fabricated parts which directly …

Development Of An Anatomically And Electrically Conductive Brain Phantom For Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Hamzah A. Magsood

Theses and Dissertations

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive technique for diagnostics, prognostic, and treatments of various neurological diseases. However, the lack of anatomically realistic brain phantoms has made the experimental verification of stimulation strength in the form of induced electric fields/voltages in the brain tissues an impediment to developing new TMS coils, stimulators, and treatment protocols. There are significant technological, safety, and ethical limitations to test the potential TMS treatment procedures or develop enhancements and refine them on humans or animals. This work aims to bridge the gap by introducing and developing an innovative manufacturing and fabrications process to produce a …

Redox-Active Porous Organic Materials For Electrochemical Energy Storage Applications, K. Shamara Weeraratne

Theses and Dissertations

As the demand for renewable energy technologies grows, so does the need for cheaper, more efficient rechargeable batteries to store the energy. While lithium-ion battery (LIBs) technology is well established, it suffers from limited lithium supplies. Furthermore, the highly toxic transition metals used in the electrodes places a huge burden on the environment. Therefore, replacing lithium with more economical sodium metal in rechargeable batteries (i.e. sodium-ion batteries, SIBs) has garnered considerable attention. Despite the fact that sodium and lithium share similar electrochemical properties, which may cause the transition from lithium to sodium easier, the larger ionic radius of Na^{+ …}

Generation Of Warm Dense Plasma On Solar Panel Infrastructure In Exo-Atmospheric Conditions, Harrison C. Wenzel

Theses and Dissertations

The use of a weaponized thermo-nuclear device in exo-atmospheric conditions would be of great impact on the material integrity of orbiting satellite infrastructure. Particular damage would occur to the multi-layered, solar cell components of such satellites. The rapid absorption of X-ray radiation originating from a nuclear blast into these layers occurs over a picosecond time scale and leads to the generation of Warm Dense Plasma (WDP). While incredibly difficult and costly to replicate in a laboratory setting, a collection of computational techniques and software libraries may be utilized to simulate the intricate atomic and subatomic physics characteristics of such an …

Magnetic Refrigerator Device Based On La (Fexcoysi1-X-Y)13, Khushar Javed

Theses and Dissertations

Particles of Lanthanum-iron-silicide, La (Fe_xCo_ySi_1-x-y)₁₃exhibit different magnetic properties when stored in air compared to the same stored in water. The sample with a nominal composition of La(Fe0_.842Co_0.073Si_0.084)₁₃was prepared by arc-melting from elements under argon atmosphere. In recent years, there has been research conducted on different processes that could drastically reduce energy costs of cooling and replacing gas compressors with magnetocaloric materials. Magnetization measurements were carried out on this magnetocaloric material to characterize it in order to design magnetic refrigerator device based on it. The …

Structure, Morphology And Composition-Property Elucidation Of Ni–Mo And Ni−Mo−P Nanocrystals For Water Splitting Reactions And Group Iv Alloy And Silicate Nanocrystals For Visible To Near Ir Optoelectronics, Ebtesam Hassan Abuelenein Eladgham

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Structure, Morphology and Composition-Property Elucidation of Ni–Mo and Ni−Mo−P Nanocrystals for Water Splitting Reactions and Group IV Alloy and Silicate Nanocrystals for Visible to Near IR Optoelectronics

by

Ebtesam Hassan Abuelenein Eladgham

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Advisor: Indika U Arachchige

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry

Nanomaterials have gained a great attention because of their unique physical properties with size intermediate between molecular materials and extended solids. They have a large surface to volume ratio and display size tunable physical properties that was not …

Cuo/Cu Core/Shell Nanostructured Photoconductive Devices By Hwt And Hips, Khalidah Hussein Habeeb Al-Mayalee

Theses and Dissertations

Over recent years, great efforts are being dedicated to developing low cost and high-efficiency nanostructured design for optoelectronic applications. Nanostructured semiconductor materials have demonstrated superior performance as compared to bulk materials. Core/shell nanostructured geometries have received a great deal of attention not only in the area of synthesis and characterization but also in their potential applications. These structures have been used in abundance in various areas such as electronics, sensors, catalysis, biomedical, and optical devices. Well-controlled core/shell nanostructured geometries can offer a significant improvement in the devices' performance. Therefore, the fabrication of complex 3D core/shell architectures with controlled morphology, homogeneous …

Nonlinear Characterizing Of A New Titanium Nitride On Aluminum Oxide Metalens, Michael A. Cumming

Theses and Dissertations

A sample metalens generated from Titanium Nitride deposited onto Aluminum Oxide was designed to focus at 10 microns with a beam centered at 800nm, and when analyzed with high intensity illumination was found to have a focal length of 9.650 ±.003µm at an intensity of 16.93[MW/cm² ]. Analyzing this change by comparing it to a Fresnel Lens’ physics shows that for this lens, the effective nonlinear index of refraction is certainly greater than the nonlinear index of just Titanium Nitride itself, at −1.6239 × 10⁻¹⁵[m²/W] compared to the materials −1.3 × 10⁻¹⁵[m^{2 …}

Laboratory Evaluation Of Cold In-Place Recycling Asphalt Mixtures Using A Balanced Mix Design, Ahmed Saidi

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research study is to present a procedure for designing Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR) mixtures through balancing cracking and rutting for these mixtures. Eight CIR mixtures were prepared using two recycling agents (foamed and emulsified asphalts), then cured for three days at two temperatures (140oF and 50oF), and compacted at two gyration levels (30 and 70 gyrations). The CIR mixtures were prepared at constant dosages of water and cement, 3% and 1%, respectively. Air void of each CIR performance test specimen was determined using the CoreLok device. The rutting susceptibility of these mixtures was then evaluated using …

Long-Term Performance Of Sustainable Pavements Using Ternary Blended Concrete With Recycled Aggregates, Seth M. Wagner

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to (a) design concrete pavement mixtures with recycled concrete aggregates using ternary blends of cementitious materials and a low water-to-binder ratio, (b) measure the fresh and hardened properties of the proposed concrete mixtures and (c) assess the long-term performance of the concrete implementing the use of recycled coarse aggregates. Preliminary investigation into ternary blend combinations via the compressive testing of mortar cubes and isothermal calorimetry was used to predict an optimal blend of cementitious material. Mixes using recycled concrete aggregates at varying replacement rates were tested for fresh and hardened properties using the proposed …

Functional Porous Polydimethlysiloxane As Piezoresistive And Piezoelectric Materials, Taissa Rose Michel

Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and zinc oxide (ZnO) were combined to create functionalized piezoresistive and piezoelectric sensors for pressure sensing and energy harvesting. Samples were foamed to show that the increased deformability of the foam sensors makes them suitable for a range of applications including dexterous robotics, tactile sensing, energy harvesting, and biosensing. Uniform dispersion of CNTs was achieved with chloroform as the solvent. Samples were foamed using chemical blowing and scaffolding but granulated sugar at 70% porosity resulted in foamed samples with the most consistent mechanical properties. Samples underwent tensile and compressive testing for their …

3-D Multifunctional Sensors Fabricated On Fiber Tips Using A Two-Photon Polymerization Process, Jonathan W. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis conducts research involving designing, fabricating, and testing optical fiber tip refractive index sensors. The fabrication process used for these sensors is a two-photon polymerization process utilizing a photo sensitive polymer. Unlike planar lithography, this fabrication process allows the creation of arbitrary shapes with a great degree of freedom. Three different fiber tip sensors were fabricated and tested. The first is a flat surfaced single cavity Fabry-Pérot interferometer (FPI) device, the second is a flat surfaced double cavity FPI device, and the final is a confocal surfaced double cavity FPI device. These sensors are tested for thermal radiation and …