Intravenous application of a high dose of endotoxin, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), results in endotoxemia and sepsis in experimental animals. LPS induces production of cytokines and free radicals, plasma leakage and systemic inflammation. But the relationship between LPS-induced plasma leakage and endothelial gap formation is still unknown. Under normal physiological and pathological conditions, the mucus of intestine plays an important role in host defense mechanism as a barrier to prevent invasion of bacteria and endotoxin. The integrity of the intestinal epithelium is an important determinant of clinical outcome in septic patients. It is reported that, after LPS application, ileal mucosa is injured consequently. Necrosis of epithelial cells is also prominent feature in the villus epithelium. However, the response of mucin-secreting goblet cells is often ignored. The present study was designed to prove (1) whether LPS application increased plasma leakage by endothelial gap formation in rat intestinal tract, (2) whether LPS application increased goblet cell secretion by compound exocytotic activity in mucosal villi of small intestine; and (3) whether hydroxyl radicals were involved in LPS-induced compound exocytosis in goblet cells and plasma leakage. First, the microcirculation of large intestine in rats was shown by using silver nitrate staining method, and India ink was used to label the leaky microvessels to express the magnitude of plasma leakage. Endothelial gaps formed between endothelial cells in the venules after LPS-induced inflammation were investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy. In saline control, the number of endothelial gaps per 1000 £gm2 endothelium of postcapillary and collecting venules was 0.2 ¡Ó 0.1 ~ 0.4 ¡Ó 0.1 / 1000 £gm2 (n = 5). At 5 minutes after LPS application, the endothelial gap density drastically increased to 12.1 ¡Ó 1.6 ~ 27.5 ¡Ó 2.2 / 1000 £gm2 (n = 5 or 6), about 43-69 times (P < 0.01) as much as control. At the same time, the magnitude of plasma leakage, expressed by area density of India ink-labeled blood vessels, in the cecum and colon of LPS-treated rats increased to 7.8-8.2 times (P < 0.01) as much as control. Unusually high degree of plasma leakage and high number of endothelial gaps persisted for at least 30 minutes after treatment. Then, a significant reduction to the baseline level occurred at 60 minutes after LPS application (P > 0.05). The results evidently indicated that LPS-induced intestinal plasma leakage and the endothelial gap formation of venules were closely related. In the following experiment, in order to obtain an actual number of goblet cells in the mucosal epithelium, an innovative and effective experimental method was developed and adopted to prepare small intestine specimens in this study. Tissue pieces with two rows of mucosal villi were taken under a dissecting microscope. Then, scanning electron microscope was used to observe goblet cells and histochemistry staining was applied to further identify mucosubstance. The degree of goblet cell secretion in the villus epithelium of the duodenum and ileum was expressed by the number of cavitated goblet cells undergoing compound exocytosis. Digital morphometric software SimplePCI was employed to measure the epithelial surface area of sampled villi and to count the number of goblet cells. In addition, hydroxyl radical scavenger ¡V dimethylthiourea (DMTU) was also applied to explore the role of hydroxyl radicals involving in LPS-induced goblet cells secretion and plasma leakage. From scanning electron microscopy study, the numbers of cavitated goblet cells per mm2 of ileal villus epithelium in rats at 5 and 30 minutes after LPS injection were 693 ¡Ó 196 (n = 6) and 547 ¡Ó 213 (n = 6), respectively, which were 5.1 and 8.4 times (P < 0.05) compared with the number of saline control. The percentage of villus cavitated goblet cell numbers, in both duodenum and ileum 5 minutes after LPS and in the ileum 30 minutes after LPS, increased significantly (P < 0.05). When DMTU was given prior to LPS, the number of cavitated goblet cells and the amount of plasma leakage was inhibited and remained at the level as control (P > 0.05). It is concluded that the mechanism of the LPS-induced increase in compound exocytotic activity of goblet cells and increase in plasma leakage during acute phases of inflammatory response in rat small intestine was associated with hydroxyl radicals.

<p>A magnetostrictive material elongates when it is subjected to a magnetic field. This effect can then be used to design powerful actuators. The department of electromagnetic engineering has been working with magnetostricitve material and their applications since the 1980s and is presently engaged in a project focusing on magnetostrictive transducer utilisation for the aeronautic field.</p><p>The focus of the presented work has been to develop and improve methods and tools supporting the development of magnetostrictive actuators.</p><p>The axial-radial model was previously developed at the department and is well suited for circular cross sections of magnetostrictive rods. It is, however, common to laminate the magnetostrictive rods resulting in rectangular cross sections. The use of Cauer circuits allows modelling of the shielding effect. This shielding effect results in non-homogenous magnetisation and stress in both rectangular and circular cross sections of the rod. A model based on Cauer circuits, including a hysteresis model based on experimental data, was developed during the project. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how figures of merit and the use of finite element methods can be used to find optimised designs in a systematic and computational efficient way. The<i> modified generalised Fabry factor</i> <i>and the magnetisation inhomogeneity coefficient</i> are two proposed new figures of merit.</p><p>A Magnetostricitve material is characterised through an experimental procedure. Usually, magnetostrictive material exhibit large hysteresis. An important part of the material characterisation is the post-processing of the measurement data, including a de-hysterisation procedure. In the thesis, a de-hysterisation method which ensures energy consistent data is presented. Energy consistent material data is essential to achieve energy consistent simulations of magnetostrictive systems.</p><p>It is also demonstrated how the knowledge at the department can be utilised in international projects. In an ongoing project, the department is engaged in two sub tasks. In one of these sub tasks a high torque actuator is to be developed for the helicopter industry. The developed magnetostrictive models are used to perform system simulations of such actuator systems. In the other sub task a device for power harvesting from vibrations is analysed. It has now been shown how to adapt the load impedance in order to extract maximal electric power from the device.</p>

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 124 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: As technology scales down and CMOS circuits are powered by lower supply voltages, standby leakage current becomes significant. A behavioral level framework for the synthesis of data-paths with low leakage power is presented. There has been minimal work done on the behavioral synthesis of low leakage datapaths. We present a fast architectural simulator for leakage (FASL) to estimate the leakage power dissipated by a system described hierarchically in VHDL. FASL uses a leakage power model embedded into VHDL leafcells. These leafcells are characterized for leakage accurately using HSPICE. We present results which show that FASL measures leakage power significantly faster than HSPICE, with less than a 5% loss in accuracy, compared to HSPICE. We present a comprehensive framework for synthesizing low leakage power data-paths using a parameterized Multi-threshold CMOS (MTCMOS) component library. / ABSTRACT: The component library has been characterized for leakage power and delay as a function of sleep transistor width. We propose four techniques for minimization of leakage power during behavioral synthesis: (1) leakage power management using MTCMOS modules; (2) an allocation and binding algorithm for low leakage based on clique partitioning; (3) selective binding to MTCMOS technology, allowing the designer to have control over the area overhead; and (4) a performance recovery technique based on multi-cycling and introduction of slack, to alleviate the loss in performance attributed to the introduction of MTCMOS modules in the data-path. Finally, we propose two iterative search based techniques, based on Tabu search, to synthesize low leakage data-paths. The first technique searches for low leakage scheduling options. The second technique simultaneously searches for a low leakage schedule and binding. It is shown that the latter technique of unified search is more robust. / ABSTRACT: The quality of results generated bytabu-based technique are superior to those generated by simulated annealing (SA) search technique. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 61 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-61).

After the injection of CO₂ into a subsurface formation, various storage mechanisms help immobilize the CO₂. Injection strategies that promote the buoyant movement of CO₂ during the post-injection period can increase immobilization by the mechanisms of dissolution and residual phase trapping. In this work, we argue that the heterogeneity intrinsic to sedimentary rocks gives rise to another category of trapping, which we call local capillary trapping. In a heterogeneous storage formation where capillary entry pressure of the rock is correlated with other petrophysical properties, numerous local capillary barriers exist and can trap rising CO₂ below them. The size of barriers depends on the correlation length, i.e., the characteristic size of regions having similar values of capillary entry pressure. This dissertation evaluates the dynamics of the local capillary trapping and its effectiveness to add an element of increased capacity and containment security in carbon storage in heterogeneous permeable media. The overall objective is to obtain the rigorous assessment of the amount and extent of local capillary trapping expected to occur in typical storage formations. A series of detailed numerical simulations are used to quantify the amount of local capillary trapping and to study the effect of local capillary barriers on CO₂ leakage from the storage formation. Also, a research code is developed for finding clusters of local capillary trapping from capillary entry pressure field based on the assumption that in post-injection period the viscous forces are negligible and the process is governed solely by capillary forces. The code is used to make a quantitative assessment of an upper bound for local capillary trapping capacity in heterogeneous domains using the geologic data, which is especially useful for field projects since it is very fast compared to flow simulation. The results show that capillary heterogeneity decreases the threshold capacity for non-leakable storage of CO₂. However, in cases where the injected volume is more than threshold capacity, capillary heterogeneity adds an element of security to the structural seal, regardless of how CO₂ is accumulated under the seal, either by injection or by buoyancy. In other words, ignoring heterogeneity gives the worst-case estimate of the risk. Nevertheless, during a potential leakage through failed seals, a range of CO₂ leakage amounts may occur depending on heterogeneity and the location of the leak. In geologic CO₂ storage in typical saline aquifers, the local capillary trapping can result in large volumes that are sufficiently trapped and immobilized. In fact, this behavior has significant implications for estimates of permanence of storage, for assessments of leakage rates, and for predicting ultimate consequences of leakage. / text

Perfluorocarbon tracers (PFTs) are commonly proposed tracers for use in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) leak detection and vadose zone monitoring programs. Tracers are co-injected with supercritical CO₂ and monitored in the vadose zone to identify leakage and calculate leakage rates. These calculations assume PFTs exhibit “ideal” tracer behavior (i.e. do not sorb onto or react with porous media, partition into liquid phases or undergo decay). This assumption has been brought into question by lab and field evaluations showing PFT partitioning into soil contaminants and sorbing onto clay. The objective of this study is to identify substrates in which PFTs behave conservatively and quantify non-conservative behavior. PFT breakthrough curves are compared to those of a second, conservative tracer, sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆). Breakthrough curves are generated in 1D flow-through columns packed with 5 different substrates: silica beads, quartz sand, illite, organic-rich soil, and organic-poor soil. Constant flow rate of carrier gas, N₂, is maintained. A known mass of tracer is injected at the head of the columns and the effluent analyzed at regular intervals for tracers at picogram levels by gas chromatography. PFT is expected to behave conservatively with respect to SF₆ in silica beads or quartz sand and non-conservatively in columns with clay or organics. However, results demonstrate PFT retardation with respect to SF₆ in all media (retardation factor is 1.1 in silica beads and quartz sand, 2.5 in organic-rich soil, >20 in organic-poor soil, and >100 in illite). Retardation is most likely due to sorption onto clays and soil organic matter or condensation to the liquid phase. Sorption onto clays appears to be the most significant factor. Experimental data are consistent with an analytical advection/diffusion model. These results show that PFT retardation in the vadose zone has not been adequately considered for interpretation of PFT data for CCS monitoring. These results are preliminary and do not take into account more realistic vadose zone conditions such as the presence of water, in which PFTs are insoluble. Increased moisture content will likely decrease sorption onto porous media and retardation in the vadose zone may be less than determined in these experiments. / text

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Στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή, διερευνήθηκε η συμπεριφορά μονωτήρων πορσελάνης και μονωτήρων πορσελάνης με επικάλυψη από RTV SIR, σε πραγματικές και εργαστηριακές συνθήκες, με μετρήσεις του ρεύματος διαρροής. Στην περίπτωση των μετρήσεων σε πραγματικές συνθήκες, με την χρήση κατάλληλου εξοπλισμού, κατέστη δυνατή η συνεχής καταγραφή της συμπεριφοράς δώδεκα μονωτήρων πορσελάνης 150kV, οι οποίοι αποτελούσαν ενεργές συνιστώσες δύο υποσταθμών του Συστήματος Μεταφοράς Κρήτης. Από αυτούς σε δέκα είχαν τοποθετηθεί επικαλύψεις από RTV SIR. Παράλληλα πραγματοποιήθηκαν και μετεωρολογικές μετρήσεις, σε συγχρονισμό με αυτές του ρεύματος διαρροής, δίνοντας την δυνατότητα συσχέτισης των μετεωρολογικών παραμέτρων με την αντίστοιχη συμπεριφορά των μονωτήρων. Οι μετρήσεις του ρεύματος διαρροής ανέδειξαν δύο περιόδους δραστηριότητας. Στην περίπτωση των μονωτήρων πορσελάνης η περίοδος αιχμής καταγράφεται στο τέλος της καλοκαιρινής περιόδου, από τον μήνα Αύγουστο μέχρι και τον Οκτώβριο. Τον υπόλοιπο χρόνο καταγράφεται δραστηριότητα, ιδιαίτερα την άνοιξη, σε σημαντικά χαμηλότερα επίπεδα όμως. Η συμπεριφορά αυτή είναι σε συμφωνία με την μηνιαία κατανομή των σφαλμάτων λόγω ρύπανσης στο Σύστημα Κρήτης, την περίοδο 1969 – 2005. Αντίθετα, στην περίπτωση των μονωτήρων με επικάλυψη από RTV SIR, την περίοδο από τον Αύγουστο μέχρι και τον Οκτώβριο, κατεγράφησαν εξαιρετικά χαμηλά ως και μηδενικά επίπεδα δραστηριότητας. Για τα υλικά αυτά, η αιχμή της επιφανειακής δραστηριότητας καταγράφεται κατά την χειμερινή περίοδο. Βέβαια πρέπει να σημειωθεί ότι ακόμη και τότε, η δραστηριότητα στην επιφάνεια των επικαλύψεων από RTV SIR είναι σαφώς ασθενέστερη σε σχέση με αυτήν των μονωτήρων πορσελάνης, το αντίστοιχο χρονικό διάστημα. Η ταυτόχρονη καταγραφή των μετεωρολογικών παραμέτρων ανέδειξε ως παράμετρο κλειδί τον παρατηρούμενο μηχανισμό ύγρανσης σε κάθε περίοδο. Η καλοκαιρινή αιχμή των μονωτήρων πορσελάνης αποδίδεται στην υγροσκοπική συμπεριφορά των ρύπων και στον μηχανισμό της συμπύκνωσης. Είναι σημαντικό ότι οι δύο αυτοί μηχανισμοί δεν μπορούν να μεταβάλουν την κατάσταση της επιφάνειας, ενώ προσβάλλουν το συνολικό μήκος ερπυσμού. Έτσι απουσία βροχοπτώσεων, ο φυσικός καθαρισμός των μονωτήρων το καλοκαίρι είναι δύσκολος, επιτρέποντας την προοδευτική συγκέντρωση της κρίσιμης ποσότητας ρύπανσης. Αντίθετα στους μονωτήρες με RTV SIR, παρά την παρουσία υγρασίας, διατηρείται η υδρόφοβη συμπεριφορά της επιφάνειας, η οποία επιβάλει τελικά την καταστολή της επιφανειακής δραστηριότητας. Αντίθετα τον χειμώνα, η εμφάνιση ασθενών βροχοπτώσεων μπορεί να οδηγήσει σε μεταβολή της κατάστασης της επιφάνειας των μονωτήρων. Στην περίπτωση της πορσελάνης προκύπτει ο καθαρισμός αυτής, ενώ στις επικαλύψεις από RTV SIR, όπου ο καθαρισμός είναι δυσκολότερος, παρατηρείται απώλεια της επιφανειακής υδροφοβίας, με αποτέλεσμα την καταγεγραμμένη δραστηριότητα. Είναι πάντως σημαντικό ότι σε κάθε περίπτωση, τα επίπεδα επιφανειακής δραστηριότητας στις επικαλύψεις από RTV SIR ήταν σαφώς χαμηλότερα από αυτά των μονωτήρων πορσελάνης. Στα πλαίσια των μετρήσεων σε πραγματικές συνθήκες, κατέστη δυνατή και η καταγραφή στιγμιότυπων του ρεύματος διαρροής. Στην περίπτωση των μονωτήρων πορσελάνης, προέκυψε ότι το απαιτούμενο ρεύμα για τον σχηματισμό ξηρών ζωνών, εξαρτάται από τον μηχανισμό ύγρανσης. Στην περίπτωση μηχανισμών όπως η συμπύκνωση, ένα ρεύμα της τάξης των 2mA αρκεί. Αντίθετα στην περίπτωση των βροχοπτώσεων έχουν καταγραφεί ρεύματα της τάξης των 15mA, χωρίς σημάδια ανάπτυξης ξηρών ζωνών. Η ανάπτυξη ξηρών ζωνών υποδηλώνεται στην κυματομορφή του ρεύματος από την εμφάνιση διαστημάτων μηδενικού ρεύματος σε κάθε ημιπερίοδο, τα οποία μάλιστα μεσολαβώντας μεταξύ των διαδοχικών εκκενώσεων υποδεικνύουν την ανεξαρτησία αυτών. Τα μη γραμμικά χαρακτηριστικά του ρεύματος στην περίπτωση αυτή αντικατοπτρίζονται στην εμφάνισης μιας συνιστώσας του ρεύματος στα 150Hz. Αυτά ισχύουν για το εύρος των τιμών ρεύματος που κατεγράφησαν στην περίπτωση αυτή (14mA<ILC<140mA). Αντίστοιχα χαρακτηριστικά προκύπτουν και στην περίπτωση των μονωτήρων με επικάλυψη από RTV SIR. Επιπλέον όμως στην περίπτωση αυτή, κατεγράφησαν εκκενώσεις που δεν σχετίζονται με ξηρές ζώνες, αλλά περισσότερο με το ενδεχόμενο διατήρησης υδρόφοβης συμπεριφοράς για τμήματα της επιφάνειας του μονωτήρα. Επιπλέον η αλλοίωση της κυματομορφής του ρεύματος είναι εντονότερη στην περίπτωση αυτή, κάτι που συνεπάγεται υψηλότερα επίπεδα στην αρμονική των 150Hz. Παράλληλα με τις μετρήσεις σε πραγματικές συνθήκες, οι συνθέσεις των υλικών RTV SIR που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν, αξιολογήθηκαν και σε εργαστηριακές συνθήκες. Πραγματοποιήθηκαν δύο δοκιμές σε θάλαμο υδατονέφωσης άλατος, όπου οι συνθήκες καταπόνησης μοιάζουν με το ενδεχόμενο της βροχόπτωσης σε πραγματικές συνθήκες. Από την συμπεριφορά των υλικών στις συγκεκριμένες συνθήκες και τις μετρήσεις που έγιναν, προκύπτει ότι οι συνθέσεις με ΑΤΗ είναι περισσότερο ανθεκτικές, τόσο όσον αφορά το φαινόμενο corona (υδρόφοβη επιφάνεια), όσο και την καταπόνηση από ξηρές ζώνες, στην περίπτωση απώλειας της υδροφοβίας, σε σχέση με αυτές όπου χρησιμοποιείται silica. Η διαφορά οφείλεται στον τρόπο προστασίας που προσφέρει ο κάθε τύπος πρόσμιξης. Πάντως πρέπει να σημειωθεί ότι είναι απαραίτητη η περαιτέρω εργαστηριακή διερεύνηση της επίδρασης του τύπου της πρόσμιξης, όσον αφορά την επίδραση τόσο των εκκενώσεων corona όσο και των εκκενώσεων ξηρών ζωνών. / In the present study the performance of porcelain and RTV SIR coated porcelain insulators has been investigated in field and laboratory conditions, by leakage current measurements. In field conditions, by the use of the appropriate equipment it was possible to continuously monitor a group of twelve 150kV porcelain insulators, installed in two high voltage substations, of the Transmission System in Crete. Ten of them were coated with RTV SIR. In addition simultaneous measurements of meteorological parameters were performed, allowing the correlation of the LC measurements to the environmental conditions. The leakage current measurements performed indicated two periods of intense surface activity. In the case of porcelain, the summer period and especially the months From August to October, represent the period of intense surface activity. During the rest of the year the recorded LC levels are remarkably lower. This monthly distribution comes in agreement with the observed pollution flashovers distribution, for the period 1969-2005. The opposite activity distribution is observed for the RTV SIR coated insulators. In this case the levels of surface activity in the summer period are remarkably low and the period of intense activity for the coatings is observed during the winter. It is worth mentioning however that even in this case the levels of activity are remarkably lower than the corresponding levels in the case of porcelain, for the same time period. The opposite behavior of porcelain and coated porcelain insulators can be correlated to the environmental conditions and especially the wetting mechanism present. During the summer, insulator wetting is possible as the result of two mechanisms, the hydroscopic behavior of the pollution layer and condensation. Both mechanisms are capable of wetting the total leakage creepage distance, without cleaning the insulators surface in the same time. As a result a critical amount of pollution can be formed on the insulator surface, considering also the low levels of precipitation. So in the case of porcelain the formation of surface conductivity is possible in contradiction to the RTV SIR coated insulator, where the formed surface hydrophobicity is maintained. On the other hand during the winter, light precipitation can support the development of surface activity, since it is possible to disturb the surface condition. In the case of porcelain this will result to the cleaning of the surface. However in the case of RTV SIR coatings a loss of hydrophobicity is observed which allows the development of surface activity, considering also that cleaning is more difficult in this case. It is worth noticing however that in all cases the observed activity on the RTV SIR coated insulators is remarkably lower than the corresponding activity in the case of uncoated porcelain insulators. The leakage current waveforms for finite time periods are also included in the information provided by the field measurements performed. In the case of porcelain insulators, the analysis of the corresponding waveforms indicated that the current required for the formation of dry bands depends on the wetting mechanism present. In the case of mechanisms such as condensation, a current in the range of 1 – 2mA is capable to support the formation of dry bands. However in the case of precipitation the necessary current is higher, reaching a level of 15mA. Further the formation of dry bands is reflected to the leakage current waveform by zero current periods which are observed between the current conduction periods. This behavior indicates that the observed activity can be considered as a sequence of independent current pulses. Additionally the FFT analysis correlates the non linear current behavior to an increased 150Hz component. These characteristics have been traced in all the waveforms recorded, in the range from 14mA to 150mA. In the case of RTV SIR coated insulators the recorded waveforms are in large extent similar to the waveforms on the porcelain insulators. However additional phenomena, correlated with the existence of areas which maintain the hydrophobic behavior. In addition the non linear behavior is enhanced in this case, something that results in higher levels of a current component at 150Hz. The performance of the employed RTV SIR coatings was also investigated in laboratory conditions. Two tests were performed in a salt fog chamber, were the stress conditions are similar to the conditions observed in the case of light rain. The material performance observed and the corresponding measurements performed in both tests, indicate that the formulations tested, the endurance of the ATH filled coatings is higher than the silica filled, both in the case of corona and dry band discharge stress. The difference observed can be correlated with the action of each filler type. However the influence of the filler action needs to be further investigated.

This thesis presents numerical predictions for the leakage and direct stiffness coefficients of pocket damper seals. Modifications made to earlier flow-prediction models are discussed. Leakage and static pressure measurements on straight-through and diverging configurations of eight-bladed and twelve-bladed seals were used for code validation and for calculation of seal discharge coefficients. Higher than expected leakage rates were measured in the case of the twelve-bladed seal, while the leakage rates for the eight-bladed seals were predicted reasonably accurately. Results are presented for shake tests conducted on the seals at pressures of up to 1000 Psi (6.90 MPa). Test variables included pressure drop across the seals and rotor speed. The experimentally obtained stiffness coefficients are compared to results of a rotordynamic damper seal code, which uses the corrected mass flow-rate calculation method. Results show that the code under-predicts the magnitude of the seal's stiffness for most test cases. However, general trends in the frequency dependency of the direct stiffness are more accurately predicted. The expectation of high values of negative stiffness in diverging seals is confirmed by the results, but the frequency at which the sign of the stiffness becomes positive is considerably lower than is predicted. In addition to presenting high-pressure test data, this thesis also attempts to provide some insight into how seal parameters can be modified to obtain desired changes in seal stiffness.

A study of gouges and dents in the context of pipelines has been completed, using the non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques of magnetic flux leakage (MFL) and magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN). The research is part of an ongoing effort by the Applied Magnetics Group (AMG) at Queen's University to improve the interpretation of the MFL signal, which is used extensively by industry for defect detection and evaluation. The gouges were found to have distinctive MFL signatures depending on their orientation relative to the magnetization axis. Features in the MFL signal were identified as superpositions of geometry-related effects and strain or work hardening of the surface material. A qualitative magnetic permeability distribution in the material near a gouge has been proposed. The distribution is expected to vary in magnitude and extent according to the defect severity. The MFL results of the dent studies, on samples made available by Gaz de France (GdF), largely agreed qualitatively with previous research of dents. However, the differences pointed to the need for study of more varied dent shapes; new signal features were observed that suggested tensile residual strain in the dent rim is more prominent than earlier studies and modeling have predicted. Additionally, upgrades made to the MFL scanning system used by the AMG and a novel approach for building computer models are detailed. / Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-24 17:13:12.775