A static electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) tester, where the tungsten needle is used as the cathode and the platinum as the anode and the glass as the specimen, and the depth of electrode is set to be 1mm in the aqueous electrolyte of 30wt% KOH at the test time of 10s, is employed to investigate the influence of geometry and size of the electrode, supply voltage and gap on the characteristic of electrochemical discharge machining. According to the current/voltage measurements combined with the photographs of the bubble layer on the cathode and the behavior of discharge under different geometry and size of the electrode during the ECDM process, three regimes have been identified as: (I): non-machining. (II): glow discharge. (III): spark discharge. From the observation on the surface of machined glass specimen by using SEM, the experimental result show that damage of the glass increases with the increase of supply voltage.

Gas bubbles that form within water treatment plants can disrupt drinking water treatment processes. Bubbles may form whenever the total dissolved gas pressure exceeds the local solution pressure, a condition termed dissolved gas "supersaturation." This project investigated how bubble formation affects conventional drinking water treatment and examined factors that can reduce these problems. Gas bubbles attached to coagulated floc particles can reduce settling efficiency and create "floating floc." In laboratory experiments, bubbles formed on the surface of the mixing paddle, since this was the location of minimum pressure within the system. The formation and stability of floating floc was dependent on many different factors including the amount and type of dissolved gas supersaturation and surface chemistry of the mixing paddle. The intensity and duration of rapid mixing also controlled the amount of floating floc. Bubbles forming in filter media can block pore spaces and create headloss, a process popularly termed "air binding." During benchscale filtration experiments, bubbles were released upwards from the media in a burping phenomenon, and bubbles could also be pushed downwards by fluid flow. Burping is beneficial since it partly alleviates the bubble induced headloss, but the media disruptions might also decrease filter efficiency (particle capture). Bubble formation within filters can be reduced by increasing the pressure inside the filter via greater submergence (water head above the media), lower hydraulic flow rate, or use of a more porous media. The mode of filter operation (declining or constant flow rate) will also affect the local filter pressure profile. Dissolved gas supersaturation and bubble formation are detected in on-line turbidity devices and particle counters causing spurious measurements. The use of bubble traps usually reduced these problems, but one device worsened turbidity spikes. Flow disturbances may also release bubbles upstream of the on-line turbidimeter, which can cause spikes in turbidity readings. / Ph. D.

The gas assisted injection moulding process is an important extension to conventional injection moulding. Gas assist can be applied in a number of ways, but here the penetration of a gas bubble through the polymer melt is of interest. A 3D fi nite element implementation of a pseudo concentration method is employed to simulate the primary penetration of the gas bubble. The wall thickness prediction is an important result since the extent of bubble penetration is sensitive to the remaining melt fraction. A number of methods for experimental measurement are developed to measure characteristics of the gas assisted injection moulding process dynamics and product. Key process variables, on an industrial gas-assist machine, were measured and analysed, leading to an empirical model for wall thickness prediction. Gas delay time and injection velocity are shown to be most influential in controlling residual wall thickness. Simulation results are evaluated against the empirical model. The trends observed, for simulation and experiment, in wall thickness after changes in process variable settings are found to agree qualitatively. The wall thickness prediction is found to be within 10% of the experimentally obtained measurements.

No description available.

Uranium-zirconium alloy nuclear fuels have many advantages as compared with ceramic fuels, especially for fast reactor systems. However, metallic fuels aren’t currently used in commercial power production due in part to issues with fuel swelling during irradiation. A major contributor to this expansion issue, the formation of fission gasses into bubbles, is examined here. Methods to evaluate evolution of fission gas bubbles within a U-Zr alloy are discussed and refined. Specifically, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for viewing bubbles within the interior of the alloy is investigated. One constraint on the use of the TEM is the lack of literature pertaining to what thinning techniques are successful for U-10Zr alloy. Both initial and final thinning techniques were investigated. After thinning was complete, the specimens were viewed via TEM to determine their suitability. In addition, samples of U-Zr alloy were irradiated with gas atoms in an accelerator to simulate bubble initiation and formation and viewed via TEM. Only preliminary investigations were completed. Evaluated electrolyte solutions included one part phosphoric acid to two parts sulfuric acid and two parts water (A), one part phosphoric acid to one part ethanol and one part glycerol (B), one part hydrochloric acid to one part water (C), two parts methanol to 13 parts phosphoric acid (D), and one part perchloric acid to nine parts acetic acid (G). Positive responses were received from the solutions A, C, and G which generated electron transparent areas with few to no process induced artifacts. TEM trials with each electrolyte were performed on un-irradiated U-10Zr alloy. These trials indicated that the polishing methods would work but are not yet optimal. In addition, U-10Zr alloy was irradiated and viewed in the TEM where those polished with electrolyte A consistently included the presence of large circular features that could indicate bubbles or voids. The foundation was laid for further study to be done on this topic through the use of electropolishing solutions as final thinning techniques. Additional work that is recommended includes: electropolishing parameter refinement; implantation of heavier gas atoms or at elevated temperatures; annealing of the implanted alloy; and computer modeling of resulting first principles phenomena.

Effervescent atomization has been a topic of considerable investigation in the literature due to its important advantages over other atomization mechanisms. This work contributes to the development of both effervescent atomizers and also laser-based techniques for spray investigation In order to develop non-intrusive measurement techniques for spray applications, a procedure is suggested to characterize the shape of droplets using image-based droplet analyzers. Image discretization which is a major source of error in droplet shape measurement is evaluated using a simulation. The accuracy of StereoPIV system in conducting droplet velocity measurement in a spray field is also investigated. To assist in the design of effervescent atomizers, bubble formation during gas injection from a micro-tube into liquid cross-flow is investigated using a Shadow-PIV/PTV system. The generated spray fields of two effervescent atomizers which operate using a porous and a typical multi-hole air injector are compared using qualitative images and Shadow-PTV measurement.

The gas assisted injection moulding process is an important extension to conventional injection moulding. Gas assist can be applied in a number of ways, but here the penetration of a gas bubble through the polymer melt is of interest. A 3D fi nite element implementation of a pseudo concentration method is employed to simulate the primary penetration of the gas bubble. The wall thickness prediction is an important result since the extent of bubble penetration is sensitive to the remaining melt fraction. A number of methods for experimental measurement are developed to measure characteristics of the gas assisted injection moulding process dynamics and product. Key process variables, on an industrial gas-assist machine, were measured and analysed, leading to an empirical model for wall thickness prediction. Gas delay time and injection velocity are shown to be most influential in controlling residual wall thickness. Simulation results are evaluated against the empirical model. The trends observed, for simulation and experiment, in wall thickness after changes in process variable settings are found to agree qualitatively. The wall thickness prediction is found to be within 10% of the experimentally obtained measurements. / EPSRC

Thin film cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology is the most important competitor for silicon (Si) based solar cells. Pulsed direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering is a new technique has been developed for thin film CdTe deposition. This technique is industrially scalable and provides uniform coating. It is also possible to deposit thin films at low substrate temperatures. A series of experiments are presented for the optimisation of the cadmium chloride (CdCl2) activation process. Thin film CdTe solar cells require CdCl2 activation process to improve conversion efficiencies. The role of this activation process is to increase the grain size by recrystallisation and to remove stacking faults. Compaan and Bohn [1] used the radio-frequency (RF) sputtering technique for CdTe solar cell deposition and they observed small blisters on CdTe layer surface. They reported that blistering occurred after the CdCl2 treatment during the annealing process. Moreover, void formation was observed in the CdTe layer after the CdCl2 activation process. Voids at the cadmium sulphide (CdS)/CdTe junction caused delamination hence quality of the junction is poor. This issue has been known for more than two decades but the mechanisms of the blister formation have not been understood. One reason may be the stress formation during CdTe solar cells deposition or during the CdCl2 treatment. Therefore, the stress analysis was performed to remove the defects observed after the CdCl2 treatment. This was followed by the rapid thermal annealing to isolate the CdCl2 effect by simply annealing. Small bubbles observed in the CdTe layer which is the first step of the blister formation. Using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), it has been discovered that argon (Ar) working gas trapped during the deposition process diffuses in the lattice which merge and form the bubbles during the annealing process and grow agglomeration mainly at interfaces and grain boundaries (GBs). Blister and void formation were observed in the CdTe devices after the CdCl2 treatment. Therefore, krypton (Kr), neon (Ne) gases were used as the magnetron working gas during the deposition of CdTe layer. The results presented in this thesis indicated that blister and void formation were still existing with the use of Kr an Ne. Xe, which has a higher atomic mass than Kr, Ne, Ar, Cd and Te, was used as the magnetron working gas and it resulted in surface blister and void free devices.

The bubble flow is used for different application in steel production and refining processes. It plays in indispensable role in the ladle refining process such as for homogenization and inclusion removal. Hence, it is important to understand the effect of the nozzle outlet geometry on the bubble formation. Three different nozzles with different outlet geometries were examined using a physical model. These geometries were: a) Circle, b) Square with round edges and c) Elliptical. All three nozzles had the same nozzle design and similar outlet cross-section areas. Therefore, the only tested parameter was the outlet geometry. The physical model is a water/air model, that consist of water tank ,the nozzles, gas gauge and a high speed camera. Each nozzle was tested under five different gas flow rates: starting from 10 L/min of air gas flow rate, until a 30 L/min of gas flow rate by incriminating with 5 L/min per experimental trial. Therefore, each nozzle was studied using a 5 experimental sets, so in total 15 experiments were made. For each set, 3000 photos were captured by the high speed camera. The photos were then analyzed using mainly the ImageJ software and the naked eye. After analyzing the photos for the experimental sets the following were found: a) The frequency of bubble formation was for the most part constant with an average of 11 bubbles per second. b) The elliptical nozzle produced for the most part the largest bubbles, while the circular produced the smallest ones. The square nozzle had similar bubble sizes comparable to the elliptical nozzle. c) The circular nozzle resulted in the bubbles with most stable surface, while the elliptical nozzle had the most unstable bubble boundary. The study had a drawback, which is the presence of a jetting flow which reduced the accuracy of the results. Thus, it is recommend that future work can solve this issue by finding at which gas flow rate pure bubbling flow stops for each nozzle geometry. / Bubbelinjektion används för olika tillämpningar inom stålproduktion och raffineringsprocesser. Det spelar en oumbärlig roll i raffineringsprocesser som homogenisering och borttagning av inneslutningar. Därför är det viktigt att förstå effekten av utloppsgeometrin hos munstycket på bubbelbildningen. Tre olika munstycken med olika utloppsgeometrier undersöktes med hjälp av en fysisk modell. Dessa geometrier är: a) Cirkel, b) Fyrkantig med rundade kanter och c) Elliptisk. Alla tre munstyckena har samma munstycksdesign och liknande utloppstvärsnittsarea. Därför är den enda parametern som testas utloppsgeometrin. Den fysiska modellen bestod av en vattentank, munstyckena där var och en undersöks separat, en gasmätare, en höghastighetskamera och modellen använde vatten/luft. Varje munstycke testades under fem olika gasflöden: startande från 10 L/min luftgasflöde, tills 30 L/min gasflöde stegvis 5 L/min per experimentuppsättning. Därför har varje munstycke 5 experimentuppsättningar, så totalt 15 experiment togs. För varje uppsättning togs 3000 bilder med höghastighetskameran. Bilderna analyserades sedan med främst ImageJ-programvara och blotta ögat. Efter att ha analyserat bilderna från experimenten så visade resultaten följande: a) Frekvensen av bubbelbildning var mestadels konstant med ett genomsnitt på 11 bubblor per sekund. b) Det elliptiska munstycket producerade mestadels de största bubblorna, medan det cirkulära producerade de minsta bubblorna. Det fyrkantiga munstycket resulterade i en liknande bubbelstorlek som det elliptiska munstycket. c) Det cirkulära munstycket resulterade i bubblorna med den mest stabila ytan, medan det elliptiska munstycket hade den mest instabila bubbelgränsen. Studien hade en nackdel, vilket är närvaron av ett jetflöde som minskade noggrannheten i resultatet. Det rekommenderas att framtida arbete kan lösa detta problem genom att hitta vid vilken gasflödeshastighet rent bubblande flöde stoppar för varje munstycke

The main object of this thesis is the diagnostics of the diaphragm discharge generated in water solutions containing supporting electrolytes (mostly NaCl), and description of particular processes before and after discharge breakdown by DC non-pulsed voltage up to 2 kV. Although many applications of electric discharge in liquids have been developed during the last years, the exact mechanism of the discharge ignition is not sufficiently known up to now. Based on this reason, this work is focused on the investigation of processes before the discharge ignition, breakdown parameters and the discharge itself both in the irregular and stable regime. The theoretical part of the work presents proposed mechanisms of the discharge generation in water solutions including the description of particular kinds of known discharges. Diaphragm discharge is one of many possible configurations of electrical discharges in liquids. In fact, electrical discharge in water forms non-thermal plasma, which is generated by high voltage, and many physical and chemical processes are started in plasma channels (so-called streamers). Among physical processes, high electrical field, shock waves and last but not least emission of electromagnetic radiation in visible and ultra-violet radiation belongs. The most important chemical processes are generation of various active species as hydrogen peroxide, and OH radical. Three batch plasma reactors using a diaphragm configuration with different total volume (4 l, 100 ml and 50 ml) are employed in the presented work. The discharge is created in an orifice (a pin-hole) in the dielectric barrier separating two electrode parts of the reactor. DC non-pulsed high voltage up to 4 kV is used for the discharge generation. Electrodes are made of stainless steel or platinum, and they are installed in parallel to the diaphragm in a variable distance from the dielectric barrier in each reactor part. The dielectric barrier is made of PET or Shapal-MTM ceramics with the variable thickness (0.2?2 mm). One pin hole st the diaphragm center with diameter of 0.2?1.5 mm are used in contemporary experiments. Time resolved characteristics of current and voltage are recorded using four-channel oscilloscope which detected their output values. Parameters are measured by the constantly increasing DC voltage with a step of 100 V. The solutions containing sodium chloride electrolyte are used at five different conductivities. Recorded time resolved characteristics determine breakdown moment, and describe current and voltage in particular parts within the static current-voltage curve. The breakdown appeared at lower applied voltage when the electrode distance is enhanced. However, the electrode distances higher than 4 cm does not induce any significant change of the breakdown voltage. The influence of pin-hole diameter is less obvious in the studied range, but a slight enhancement of breakdown voltage is observed with the increasing pin-hole diameter. Current-voltage characteristic curve moves towards lower voltage with the diaphragm thickness enhancement. The work compares the influence of conductivity change on current-voltage characteristics as well as the effect of inorganic salt kind. By the conductivity enhancement, the measured current-voltage curve moves towards lower voltage which means that the breakdown voltage is decreased. Sizes of the reactors do not have any effect on the processes before and after discharge breakdown.