In studies on Near Death Experiences (NDE) data has been collected by using the recently developed scaling methods, the scale developed by Ring and the Greyson NDE Scale. In order to illustrate the problems in the empirical study of NDEs, my intention is to compare the Greyson NDE-scale with the most common theories on NDEs.  After series of modifications the final scale consisted of a questionnaire consisting of sixteen different questions, that yielded into four different areas, Cognitive components, Emotional components, Paranormal components, and Transcendental components. In the end the theory that has the most likely possibility to explain NDEs in the future must be the Dying Brain theory, but one should not disclose the different features of the Afterlife theory (but without the origin explanation).

Nondestructive evaluation of civil structures is of increasing interest to utility owners. Several methods exist to evaluate different properties of concrete, pavement, cemented sands and others. UPVM is the most commonly used ultrasonic technique in civil structures due to its simplicity and ease of use. UPVM is fast and requires minimal skill from operators. It has been used for flaw detection, study of material contents, deduction of general deterioration, determination of elastic properties , measurement of strength, and others. In such applications, accurate measurements of velocity are essential for proper parameter evaluation and thus to increase the validity of conclusions obtained from measurements. Previous research in ultrasonic pulse velocity have found that UPVM are susceptible to specimen size, attenuation and frequency but no clear conclusions have yet to be made on the fundamental reason for the differences. This work seeks to identify the main factors responsible for velocity differences due to specimen size and measuring frequency in civil engineering materials. The effects are investigated by first performing numerical simulations of concrete specimens of varying sizes, and properties, excited by both a low (55 kHz) and high (850 kHz) frequency input source. Simulations are used to model wave propagation in cylindrical concrete specimen. Transducer sound fields are also numerically studied using known analytical solutions. An experimental program is conducted to study variations in UPVM in 12 mortar and 11 concrete cylindrical specimens of varying widths and heights caused by different measuring frequencies. Simulations are completed for 12 specimen of different dimensions having heights of 5,10,20 and 30 cm as well as diameters of 10, 20 and 30 cm. Both a low (f = 55 kHz) and high (f = 850 MHz) frequency input source are used on each specimen. Numerical simulations using low frequencies are made for both a damped and undamped series of specimen. Results from low frequency simulations of damped models indicate that wave attenuation can lead to significant errors in first arrivals when complex wave interference is present. Conditions for wave interference at the receiver location are studied and minimum size conditions for both height and width are derived. These conditions guarantee proper pulse separation for UPVM and are dependent on source size, and source pulse width. It is argued that with proper use these conditions will lead to accuracy of measurement better than one quarter of a period of the main excitation frequency when using a full waveform and a skilled operator. Finally, experiments are performed to assess differences in first arrivals between high and low frequency measurements. Readings are made on 11 mortar and 12 concrete specimen of different heights and widths. Experimentally significant time differences are observed between high and low frequency readings. It is found that differences in first arrivals will increase with specimen length but differences in velocity will decrease with length. Specimens 4 wavelengths in height are deemed sufficient to diminish surface effects to a minimum provided the specimens are healthy (e.g. no internal flaws). Any increase past 4 wavelengths is found to have negligible effects on measured velocity in healthy specimens.

Nondestructive evaluation of civil structures is of increasing interest to utility owners. Several methods exist to evaluate different properties of concrete, pavement, cemented sands and others. UPVM is the most commonly used ultrasonic technique in civil structures due to its simplicity and ease of use. UPVM is fast and requires minimal skill from operators. It has been used for flaw detection, study of material contents, deduction of general deterioration, determination of elastic properties , measurement of strength, and others. In such applications, accurate measurements of velocity are essential for proper parameter evaluation and thus to increase the validity of conclusions obtained from measurements. Previous research in ultrasonic pulse velocity have found that UPVM are susceptible to specimen size, attenuation and frequency but no clear conclusions have yet to be made on the fundamental reason for the differences. This work seeks to identify the main factors responsible for velocity differences due to specimen size and measuring frequency in civil engineering materials. The effects are investigated by first performing numerical simulations of concrete specimens of varying sizes, and properties, excited by both a low (55 kHz) and high (850 kHz) frequency input source. Simulations are used to model wave propagation in cylindrical concrete specimen. Transducer sound fields are also numerically studied using known analytical solutions. An experimental program is conducted to study variations in UPVM in 12 mortar and 11 concrete cylindrical specimens of varying widths and heights caused by different measuring frequencies. Simulations are completed for 12 specimen of different dimensions having heights of 5,10,20 and 30 cm as well as diameters of 10, 20 and 30 cm. Both a low (f = 55 kHz) and high (f = 850 MHz) frequency input source are used on each specimen. Numerical simulations using low frequencies are made for both a damped and undamped series of specimen. Results from low frequency simulations of damped models indicate that wave attenuation can lead to significant errors in first arrivals when complex wave interference is present. Conditions for wave interference at the receiver location are studied and minimum size conditions for both height and width are derived. These conditions guarantee proper pulse separation for UPVM and are dependent on source size, and source pulse width. It is argued that with proper use these conditions will lead to accuracy of measurement better than one quarter of a period of the main excitation frequency when using a full waveform and a skilled operator. Finally, experiments are performed to assess differences in first arrivals between high and low frequency measurements. Readings are made on 11 mortar and 12 concrete specimen of different heights and widths. Experimentally significant time differences are observed between high and low frequency readings. It is found that differences in first arrivals will increase with specimen length but differences in velocity will decrease with length. Specimens 4 wavelengths in height are deemed sufficient to diminish surface effects to a minimum provided the specimens are healthy (e.g. no internal flaws). Any increase past 4 wavelengths is found to have negligible effects on measured velocity in healthy specimens.

Joints represent a design challenge, especially for composite structures. Among the available joining methods, co-curing is an efficient way to integrate parts for some applications. Coates and Armanios have proposed a Single Nested Overlap (SNO) co-cured joint configuration, obtained from a single lap joint through the overlap/interleafing of the adjoining top/bottom adherend plies, respectively. Through a comparative investigation, they have demonstrated joint strength and fatigue life improvements over the single lap joint counterparts for unidirectional and quasi-isotropic adherend lay-ups. This research extends the comparative investigation of Coates and Armanios by focusing upon characterizing and differentiating the damage initiation and progression mechanisms under quasi-static loading. Six specimen configurations are manufactured and tested. It is confirmed that single nested overlap joints show 29.2% and 27.4% average improvement in strength over single lap counterparts for zero-degree unidirectional and quasi-isotropic lay-ups, respectively. Several nondestructive evaluation techniques are used to observe and analyze damage initiation, damage progression and failure modes of the studied specimens and to monitor their mechanical response. Using X-ray Radiography and Optical Microscopy techniques during quasi-static loading, a physical characterization of damage and failure mechanisms is obtained. The acoustic emission data acquired during monotonic loading could reveal the overall picture of AE activities produced by the damage initiation, development and accumulation mechanisms within the specimen via parametric analysis. Further AE analysis by a selected supervised clustering method is carried out and shown successful in differentiating and clustering the AE data. Correlation with physical observations from other techniques suggests that the resulting clusters may be associated to specific damage modes and failure mechanisms.

<p> </p><p>In studies on Near Death Experiences (NDE) data has been collected by using the recently developed scaling methods, the scale developed by Ring and the Greyson NDE Scale. In order to illustrate the problems in the empirical study of NDEs, my intention is to compare the Greyson NDE-scale with the most common theories on NDEs.  After series of modifications the final scale consisted of a questionnaire consisting of sixteen different questions, that yielded into four different areas, <em>Cognitive components, Emotional components, Paranormal components, </em>and<em> Transcendental components</em>.</p><p>In the end the theory that has the most likely possibility to explain NDEs in the future must be the Dying Brain theory, but one should not disclose the different features of the Afterlife theory (but without the origin explanation).</p><p> </p>

Joints provide a path for transfer of load and are important components in an assembly of structures, particularly in translating joint strength improvements directly to significant cost savings. This cost savings is more evident in composite joints since manufacturing of more complex single piece components results in a reduction of both part count and labor. An improvement in joint strength for co-cured composite joints through minimized free-edge delamination was investigated for quasi-isotropic [0/±45/90]s lay-up based on the quantitative assessments of the quasi-static and fatigue strength and qualitative understanding of the fatigue damage initiation and propagation for the [0/±θ/90]s family of co-cured composite joints. A previously proposed co-cured joint concept, the Single Nested Overlap (SNO) joint, was compared against a Straight Laminate (SL) and a single lap joint. The SL represents a "perfect" joint and serves as an upper bound whereas the single lap joint represents the simplest generic joint and is the base design for the SNO joint concept. Three categorized failure types, which represented predominant failure modes in the SL, single lap and SNO joints, along with two different fatigue strength indicators were used for quasi-static and fatigue strength comparison. With fatigue run-out defined at 1 x 106 cycles, the fatigue damage initiation and propagation at high loadings was monitored with an Infrared Thermoelastic Stress Analysis (IR-TSA) technique, while a damage type comparison was used at low loadings. Quasi-static Acoustic Emission (AE) counts were observed to be Fatigue Limit (FL) predictors for [0/±θ/90]s SL and SNO joints. The validity of these FL predictors were also assessed in the damage type comparison.

Ces travaux de thèse visent à l’application de techniques de vibrothermographie pour les matériaux composites tissés. Ces techniques, déjà développées et appliquées aux matériaux métalliques, sont basées sur la détection de l’échauffement généré dans un matériau mis en vibration en conséquence des effets viscoélastiques et des frottements des fissures. Dans la première partie du manuscrit, une technique de type CND est développée pour analyser l’endommagement diffus d’un composite tissé et pour déterminer une relation entre son état d’endommagement et son comportement thermique. Cette partie est aussi importante pour la compréhension des phénomènes qui gouvernent la vibrothermographie grâce à une première estimation des sources thermiques en jeu. Dans la deuxième partie, la vibrothermographie est appliquée à l’étude du comportement en fatigue et pour une estimation d’une limite de fatigue des composites tissés. Cette estimation diffère de l’approche mécanique classique reposant sur l’exploitation des courbes S-N parce qu’elle est effectuée en utilisant un seul échantillon et de manière beaucoup plus rapide. Elle pourra être utilisée pour mieux comprendre l’endommagement en fatigue des matériaux et pour aider les ingénieurs dans le dimensionnement des structures soumises à ce type de sollicitation. / This work aims at applying vibrothermographic techniques to woven composite materials. These techniques, already developed and applied to metallic materials are based on the detection of the heating generated in a vibrating material by viscoelastic effects and friction of the crack surfaces. In the first part of the manuscript an NDT technique is developed to analyse the diffuse damage of a woven composite and to determine a relation between its damage state and its thermal behaviour. This part is important to understand the phenomena that govern vibrothermography with a first estimation of the thermal sources. In the second part, vibrothermography is applied to study the fatigue behaviour and to estimate a fatigue limit of woven composites. This estimation differs from the standard mechanical estimation based on the analysis of the S-N curves because it is carried out on a single, unique sample and over a much shorter duration. It may be used to improve the understanding of the fatigue damage of materials and to help engineers to design structures subjected to this kind of stress.

The purpose of this quantitative and qualitative study was to determine retrospectively marital satisfaction and stability following the near-death experience (NDE) of one of the marital partners, focusing on the role of Gottman's Sound Marital House (1999) in the couple's relationship before and after the NDE. The researcher used the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (1959), the Weiss-Ceretto Marital Status Inventory (1980), and a modification of Gottman's Shared Meanings Questionnaire (1999). The first group of participants included 26 NDErs. To create as comparable a group as possible, the researcher designed a life-changing event (LCE) group of 26 people who used as their referent the non-NDE-related experience they considered their most life-changing one during their marriage. Sixty-five percent of the marriages in which the NDErs were involved at the time of their NDEs ended in divorce. This number is in contrast to the 19 percent of LCE participants whose marriages ended in divorce. Marital adjustment, marital stability, and meanings in marriage between retrospectively based pre-event and post-event composite scores were statistically significantly different between the NDErs and LCErs. Low effect sizes were identified for each of the instruments except the Weiss-Ceretto Marital Status Inventory, which had a moderate effect size. Strong correlations among the scores were identified. Further analysis of the results indicated strongly that the NDErs were less satisfied in their marriages, their marriages were less stable, and they did not have a strong level of shared meaning in the marriage after the NDE occurred as compared to the LCE participants. This study has serious implications for counselors who may work with NDErs. Findings from this study show that NDErs who were married at the time of their experiences have a strong possibility of experiencing marital problems. Encouraging these couples to seek professional help as soon as possible can provide a forum for them to address the potential numerous changes in their relationship. By having more information about the effects of an NDE on a marriage, counselors will be better prepared to assist those couples who are not well prepared to navigate their way through the aftereffects of the event. Through psychoeducation and the application of counseling approaches, counselors can help their clients address specific issues related to their NDEs.

Magnesium (Mg) is the lightest of all structural metals and has tremendous potential for applications in the lightweight industry. However, the corrosion of Mg is a significant barrier towards its wider use. Despite years of research, the fundamental understanding of Mg corrosion still remains short. The enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with anodic polarization, the modeling of galvanic corrosion and the impact of hydrogen bubbles for galvanically coupled Mg are important aspects of Mg corrosion that need to be understood before any mitigation measures can be taken. The results presented in this work provide a key step in that direction. In the first part of the project, we explored how the kinetics of reactions involved in the Mg corrosion was influenced by surface changes. A significant difference in Tafel kinetics between a polished Mg surface and a pre-corroded Mg surface was seen. It was also shown that when the concurrent Mg dissolution was accounted for during the cathodic polarization, the absolute value of Tafel slope decreased by a factor of ~2. The enhanced HER on Mg during high anodic dissolution rate was also investigated. The Mg samples were first pre-corroded at different rates until entire Mg surface was corroded. It was found that the surface roughness decreased with an increased rate of corrosion and therefore did not have any influence in enhancing HER at the Mg surface during the anodic dissolution. In order to observe the catalytic effect of anodic dissolution, the potential was immediately dropped to a constant cathodic potential following the pre-corrosion and the current was observed with the time. A peak current, proportional to the prior dissolution rate, was observed. At longer times, the current decayed and converged to similar values irrespective of the prior pre-corrosion rate providing a strong evidence that the enhanced HER is caused due to the catalytic effect provided by the anodic dissolution. Our results provide new mechanistic insights into the current understanding of enhanced HER.In the second part of the project, a numerical simulation was developed to predict the galvanic corrosion rates of Mg coupled to steel. The simulation showed that the kinetics of HER estimated from the cathodic polarization (where significant anodic dissolution rates were absent) underpredicted the experimental HER rates by two orders of magnitude signifying the catalytic effect of anodic dissolution. The simulation allowed us to independently fit the HER kinetics. The simulation also predicted the galvanic current densities and the corrosion potential within 14% error which is a significant improvement of model precision reported previously for galvanic corrosion of Mg corrosion. For the first time, the influence of HER during galvanic corrosion of Mg was reported. Despite substantial hydrogen evolution observed during the experiment, the influence of hydrogen evolution was found to be only 8-9%.

Digital Laser Speckle Image Correlation (DiLSIC) is a technique that utilizes a laser generated speckle pattern with Digital Image Correlation (DIC). This technology eliminates the need to apply an artifact speckle pattern to the surface of the material of interest, and produces a finer speckle pattern resulting in a more sensitive analysis. This investigation explores the parameters effecting laser speckle patterns for DIC and studies DiLSIC as a tool to measure surface strain and detect subsurface defects on pressure vessels. In this study a 632.8 nm 30 mW neon-helium laser generated the speckle pattern by passing through the objective end of an objective lens. All experiments took place in a lab setting on a high performance laminar flow stabilizer optical table.This investigation began with a deeper look at the camera settings that effect the effectiveness of using laser speckles with DIC. The first studies were concentrated on the aperture size (f-stop), shutter speed, and gain (ISO) of the camera. Through a series of zero-correlation studies, translation tests, and settings studies, it was discovered that, much like white light DIC, an increased gain allowed for more noise and less reliable measurements when using DiLSIC. It was shown that the aperture size and shutter speed will largely depend on the surface composition of the material, and that these factors should be investigated with each new sample of different surface finish.To determine the feasibility of using DiLSIC on pressure vessels two samples were acquired. The first was a standard ASTM filament wound composite pressure vessel (CPV) which had an upper load limit of 40 psi. The second was a plastic vessel that had internal subsurface defects added with the use of an air pencil grinder. Both vessels were put under a pressure load with the use of a modified air compressor that allowed for multiple loading cycles through the use of a pressure relief valve. The CPV was mapped out in 10-degree increments between the 90° and 180° markings that were on the pressure vessel, occurring in three areas, each one inch apart. The CPV had a pressure load applied to at 10, 20, 30,and 40 psi. DiLSIC was able to measure increasing displacement with increased loading on the surface of the CPV, however with a load limit of 40 psi no strains were detected. The plastic vessel had known subsurface defects, and these areas were the focus of the investigation. The plastic vessel was loaded with a pressure load at 5, 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20 psi. The 5 psi loaded image was used as a reference image for the correlation and decorrelation consistently occurred at 20 psi. This investigation proved that DiLSIC can detect and locate subsurface defects through strain measurement. The results were verified with traditional white light DIC, which also showed that the subsurface defects on pressure vessels were detectable. The DIC and DiLSIC results did not agree on maximum strain measurement, with the DiLSIC prediciting much larger strains than traditional DIC. This is due to the larger effect out-of-plane displacement has on DiLSIC. DiLSIC was able to detect subsurface defects on a pressure vessel. The median measured hoop strain was in agreement for DiLSIC, DIC and the predicted hoop strain for a wall thickness of 0.1 inches. However, DiLSIC also produced unreliable maximum strain measurements. This technique shows potential for future applications, but more investigations will be needed to implement it for industrial use. A full investigation into the parameters surrounding this technique, and the factors that contribute the most to added noise and unreliability should be conducted. This technology is being developed by multiple entities and shows promising results, and once further advanced could be a useful tool for rapid surface strain measurement and subsurface defect detection in nondestructive evaluation applications. Therefore, it is recommended to continue further investigations into this technology and its applications.