Zinc Oxide (ZnO)is a wide band gap semiconductor which has attracted great attention because of its wide applicability. In order to obtain semiconductor devices with stable and reproducible properties further study of deep level defects is essential. DLTS (Deep level Transient Spectroscopy) is a direct and straightforward techniqueto determine the energy level of the deep level defects. Other information such as activation energy and capture cross section of the defect can also be obtained through this method. In our study ZnO single crystal samples were implanted by oxygen with the energy of 150keV. After the pretreatment of hydrogen peroxide, Schottky contacts were fabricated with Au film deposited by thermal evaporation. Deep level defects were studied by deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). Single peak spectra were observed in the as-implanted sample and samples anneal at 350oC, 650oC and 750oC with the corresponding activation energy decreasing with the annealing temperature from ~0.29eV as found in theas-implanted sample. Three peaks were identified in the DLTS spectra of the 900oC sample, with the activation energies of 0.11eV, 0.16eV and 0.37eV respectively.After analysis in detail we found some peaks in the DLTS spectra were the combination of two other peaks, dominated in different temperature range. The thermal evolutions of the deep levels up to the temperature of 1200oC were also investigated. / published_or_final_version / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

A sudden change in flow in a confined system results in the formation of a series of pressure pulses known as a water hammer. Pump shutdown at the conclusion of a hydraulic fracture treatment frequently generates a water hammer, which sends a pressure pulse down the wellbore that interacts with the created fracture before returning towards the surface. This study confirms that created hydraulic fractures alter the period, amplitude, and duration of the water hammer signal. Water hammer pressure signals were simulated with a previously presented numerical model that combined the continuity and momentum equations of the wellbore with a created hydraulic fracture represented by a RCI series circuit. Field data from several multi-stage stimulation treatments were history matched with the numerical model by iteratively altering R, C, and I until an appropriate match was obtained. Equivalent fracture dimensions were calculated from R, C, and I, and were in agreement with acquired micro-seismic SRV. Finally, the obtained R, C, and I values were compared to SRV and production log data. Capacitance was directly correlated with SRV, while resistance was inversely correlated with SRV, and no correlations with production data were observed. / text

Swelling of a polymer gel is a kinetic process coupling mass transport and mechanical deformation. A comparison between a nonlinear theory for polymer gels and the classical theory of linear poroelasticity is presented. It is shown that the two theories are consistent within the linear regime under the condition of a small perturbation from an isotropically swollen state of the gel. The relationships between the material properties in the linear theory and those in the nonlinear theory are established by a linearization procedure. Both linear and nonlinear solutions are presented for swelling kinetics of substrate-constrained and freestanding hydrogel layers. A new procedure is suggested to fit the experimental data with the nonlinear theory. A nonlinear, transient finite element formulation is presented for initial boundary value problems associated with swelling and deformation of hydrogels, based on nonlinear continuum theories for hydrogels with compressible and incompressible constituents. The incompressible instantaneous response of the aggregate imposes a constraint to the finite element discretization in order to satisfy the LBB condition for numerical stability of the mixed method. Three problems of practical interests are considered: constrained swelling, flat-punch indentation, and fracture of hydrogels. Constrained swelling may lead to instantaneous surface instability. Indentation relaxation of hydrogels is simulated beyond the linear regime under plane strain conditions, and is compared with two elastic limits for the instantaneous and equilibrium states. The effects of Poisson’s ratio and loading rate are discussed. On the study of hydrogel fracture, a method for calculating the transient energy release rate for crack growth in hydrogels, based on a modified path-independent J-integral, is presented. The transient energy release rate takes into account the energy dissipation due to diffusion. Numerical simulations are performed for a stationary center crack loaded in mode I, with both immersed and non-immersed chemical boundary conditions. Both sharp crack and blunted notch crack models are analyzed over a wide range of applied remote tensile strains. Comparisons to linear elastic fracture mechanics are presented. A critical condition is proposed for crack growth in hydrogels based on the transient energy release rate. The applicability of this growth condition for simulating concomitant crack propagation and solvent diffusion in hydrogels is discussed. / text

Two-phase flow occurs during the production of oil and gas in the wellbores. Modeling this phenomenon is important for monitoring well productivity and designing surface facilities. Since the transient time period in the wellbore is usually shorter than reservoir time steps, stabilized flow is assumed in the wellbore. As such, semi-steady state models are used for modeling wellbore flow dynamics. However, in the case that flow variations happen in a short period of time (i.e., a gas kick during drilling) the use of a transient two-phase model is crucial. Over the last few years, a number of numerical and analytical wellbore simulators have been developed to mimic wellbore-reservoir interaction. However, some issues still remain a concern in these studies. The main issues surrounding a comprehensive wellbore model consist of fluid property calculations, such as black-oil or compositional models, governing equations, such as mechanistic or correlation-based models, effect of temperature variation and non-isothermal assumption, and methods for coupling the wellbore to the reservoir. In most cases, only standalone wellbore models for blackoil have been used to simulate reservoir and wellbore dynamic interactions. Those models are based on simplified assumptions that lead to an unrealistic estimation of pressure and temperature distributions inside the well. In addition, most reservoir simulators use rough estimates for the perforation pressure as a coupling condition between the wellbore and the reservoir, neglecting pressure drops in the horizontal section. In this study, we present an implementation of a compositional, pseudo steady-state, non-isothermal, coupled wellbore-reservoir simulator for fluid flow in wellbores with a vertical section and a horizontal section embedded on the producing reservoir. In addition, we present the implementation of a pseudo-compositional, fully implicit, transient two-fluid model for two-phase flow in wellbores. In this model, we solve gas/liquid mass balance, gas/liquid momentum balance, and two-phase energy equations in order to obtain the five primary variables: liquid velocity, gas velocity, pressure, holdup and temperature. In our simulation, we compared stratified, bubbly, intermittent flow effects on pressure and temperature distributions in either a transient or steady-state condition. We found that flow geometry variation in different regimes can significantly affect the flow parameters. We also observed that there are significant differences in flow rate prediction between a coupled wellbore-reservoir simulator and a stand-alone reservoir simulator, at the early stages of production. The outcome of this research leads to a more accurate and reliable simulation of multiphase flow in the wellbore, which can be applied to surface facility design, well performance optimization, and wellbore damage estimation. / text

published_or_final_version / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

Transient deformation has been observed in a number of different types of tectonic environments. These transient deformation signals are often observed using continuous GPS (CGPS) position time-series observations. Examining transient deformation using CGPS time-series is problematic due to the, often, low signal-to-noise ratios and variability in duration of transient motions observed. A technique to estimate a continuous velocity function from noisy CGPS coordinate time-series of is examined. The resolution of this technique is dependent on the signal-to-noise ratio and the duration or frequency content of the transient signal being modeled. Short period signals require greater signal-to-noise ratios for effective resolution of the actual transient signal. The technique presented here is similar to a low-pass filter but with a number of advantages when working with CGPS data. Data gaps do not adversely impact the technique but limit resolution near the gap epochs, if there is some a priori knowledge of the noise contained within the time-series this information can be included in the model, and model parameter uncertainties provide information on the uncertainty of instantaneous velocity through time. A large transient has been observed in the North-American stable continental interior as a significant increase in the number and moment release of earthquakes through time. This increase in the number of earthquakes has been suggested to be largely related changes in oil and gas production activities within the region as triggered or induced seismicity, primarily from fluid injection. One of the first observed cases of triggered earthquakes from hydraulic fracturing where the earthquakes were large enough to be felt by local residents is documented. The multiple strong temporal and spatial correlations between these earthquakes indicate that hydraulic fracturing in a nearby well likely triggered the earthquake sequence. The largest magnitude earthquake in this sequence was a magnitude 2.9 with 16 earthquakes greater than magnitude 2. The earthquakes in this sequence occurred within 2.5 km of the hydraulic fracturing operation and focal depths are similar to the depths of hydraulic fracturing treatment depths. In addition to the documentation of a transient earthquake signal associated with hydraulic fracturing, the observed focal mechanisms throughout Oklahoma are documented. These focal mechanisms were used to examine the maximum horizontal stress orientations and active fault orientations associated with the increased rates of seismicity observed in the region. Generally, active-fault orientations and the stresses are consistent through broad portions of Oklahoma with one exception, the ongoing Jones earthquake sequence in central Oklahoma that started in 2009. In the Jones earthquake sequence a bi-modal distribution of focal mechanisms are observed. One orientation of active faults observed in the Jones earthquake sequence would not be expected to be active in the observed regional stress field. This unfavorably oriented set of faults appear to be pre-existing structures and activity on these structures may suggest that pore-pressure increases in the sub-surface due to fluid injection in the area make it possible for faults that are not optimally oriented within the regional stress-field to reactivate.

A new algorithm for modeling and simulation of lossy interconnect structures modeled by transmission lines with Frequency Independent Line Parameters (FILP) or Frequency Dependent Line Parameters (FDLP) is developed in this research. Since frequency-dependent RLGC parameters must be employed to correctly model skin effects and dielectric losses for high-performance interconnects, we first study the behaviors of various lossy interconnects that are characterized by FILP and FDLP. Current general macromodeling methods and Model Order Reduction (MOR) algorithms are discussed. Next, some canonical integrals that are associated with transient responses of lossy transmission lines with FILP are presented. By using contour integration techniques, these integrals can be represented as closed-form expressions involving special functions, i.e., Incomplete Lipshitz-Hankel Integrals (ILHIs) and Complementary Incomplete Lipshitz-Hankel Integrals (CILHIs). Various input signals, such as ramp signals and the exponentially decaying sine signals, are used to test the expressions involving ILHIs and CILHIs. Excellent agreements are observed between the closed-form expressions involving ILHIs and CILHIs and simulation results from commercial simulation tools. We then developed a frequency-domain Dispersive Hybrid Phase-Pole Macromodel (DHPPM) for lossy transmission lines with FDLP, which consists of a constant RLGC propagation function multiplied by a residue series. The basic idea is to first extract the dominant physical phenomenology by using a propagation function in the frequency domain that is modeled by FILP. A rational function approximation is then used to account for the remaining effects of FDLP lines. By using a partial fraction expansion and analytically evaluating the required inverse Fourier transform integrals, the time-domain DHPPM can be decomposed as a sum of canonical transient responses for lines with FILP for various excitations (e.g., trapezoidal and unit-step). These canonical transient responses are then expressed analytically as closed-form expressions involving ILHIs, CILHIs, and Bessel functions. The DHPPM simulator can simulate transient results for various input waveforms on both single and coupled interconnect structures. Comparisons between the DHPPM results and the results produced by commercial simulation tools like HSPICE and a numerical Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) show that the DHPPM results are very accurate.

Deflocculation is a common upset event in biological wastewater treatment plants and causes significant problems in biosolids discharge and environmental management. However, fundamental understanding of deflocculation is limited. The overall objective of this work was to explore the fundamentals for deflocculation under transients of short-term low dissolved oxygen (DO). The investigation was carried out in a sequence of batch and continuous experiments on activated sludge, followed by batch experiments on E. coli suspensions. Both batch and continuous experiments on activated sludge demonstrated deflocculation of bioflocs under the transients of low DO (< 0.5 mg/L). Under the short-term low DO (in hours), turbidity increased by 20 times in the batch system and by 1-2 times in the continuous system, concentrations of suspended solids increased by 1-2 times, number of small particles (< 12.5 mm) increased by 2 times, more soluble EPS (proteins and humic substances) were released into supernatant or treated effluents, the removal efficiency of organic compounds was reduced by 50-70%. A 40% of increase in bulk K+ but a 30% of decrease in bulk Ca2+ under the DO limitation were observed in the batch experiments. There were significant increases in bulk K+ and decreases in bulk Ca2+ in the continuous experiments. Reversible changes were observed within 24 hours once the DO stress was removed. Floc strength of the remaining bioflocs after deflocculation increased. Deflocculation under the short-term low DO was consistent with an erosion process. The addition of selected chemicals (i.e., Ca2+, tetraethylammonium chloride, glibenclamide, and valinomycin) did not prevent deflocculation under the short-term low DO. It is proposed that a DO stress causes an efflux of cellular K+ but an influx of extracellular Ca2+, resulting in a decreasing ratio of Ca2+/K+ in extracellular solution and thereby causing deflocculation. The E. coli tests supported that increasing bulk K+ under the DO limit was due to the release of cellular K+ and was a stress response to the DO limitation.

Water and wastewater conveyance research is steeply based in advancements of numerical methods and models. Design engineers need more than refinements in analysis methods to evolve the standards of practice and the related design guidelines. In an effort to improve the design efficiency and operating reliability of pipeline systems, design guidelines have been developed to enfold the various technological advancements and elevate the standard of care used in the pipeline design process. In this respect, the guidelines have been successful. However, design engineers, manufacturers, and owners have developed a level of dependency on the success of the guidelines. The guidelines, which were developed as and are clearly still held to be by the various publishing associations, a minimum standard of care, have become the default standard of care. Such statements are, of course, gross generalizations, but this thesis is dedicated to move the standard of care forward through an integrated design approach that provides a roadmap to inter-relate the independent design guidelines into a composite design approach based on hydrodynamic loading. Hydrodynamic loading introduces of a temporal parameter into the design process. With the temporal parameter this work demonstrates how the consideration of both the frequency and the influence of acceleration head on the magnitude of the hydraulic loading can be used to integrate and evolve the individual component designs into a more efficient, cost effective, reliable composite design result. With a temporal parameter present in design, many opportunities present themselves to advance the current design procedures outlined in the present design guidelines. This thesis identifies some of the present shortcomings found in the modern pipeline and appurtenance design standards and introduces a recommended path forward. Specific changes to the present standards are proposed in this work and a unique analysis procedure to identify the failure potential of cement mortar lining has been developed. Introducing the integrated design approach will allow for a significant evolution to the present standard of practice in water and wastewater conveyance system designs.

Water and wastewater conveyance research is steeply based in advancements of numerical methods and models. Design engineers need more than refinements in analysis methods to evolve the standards of practice and the related design guidelines. In an effort to improve the design efficiency and operating reliability of pipeline systems, design guidelines have been developed to enfold the various technological advancements and elevate the standard of care used in the pipeline design process. In this respect, the guidelines have been successful. However, design engineers, manufacturers, and owners have developed a level of dependency on the success of the guidelines. The guidelines, which were developed as and are clearly still held to be by the various publishing associations, a minimum standard of care, have become the default standard of care. Such statements are, of course, gross generalizations, but this thesis is dedicated to move the standard of care forward through an integrated design approach that provides a roadmap to inter-relate the independent design guidelines into a composite design approach based on hydrodynamic loading. Hydrodynamic loading introduces of a temporal parameter into the design process. With the temporal parameter this work demonstrates how the consideration of both the frequency and the influence of acceleration head on the magnitude of the hydraulic loading can be used to integrate and evolve the individual component designs into a more efficient, cost effective, reliable composite design result. With a temporal parameter present in design, many opportunities present themselves to advance the current design procedures outlined in the present design guidelines. This thesis identifies some of the present shortcomings found in the modern pipeline and appurtenance design standards and introduces a recommended path forward. Specific changes to the present standards are proposed in this work and a unique analysis procedure to identify the failure potential of cement mortar lining has been developed. Introducing the integrated design approach will allow for a significant evolution to the present standard of practice in water and wastewater conveyance system designs.