No description available.

No description available.

Os aceleradores lineares vêm substituindo gradativamente os irradiadores de fontes gama nos Serviços de Radioterapia no Brasil. Consequentemente, existe a necessidade de aquisição de câmaras de ionização para uso em dosimetria dos feixes de radiação X e de elétrons dos aceleradores lineares. Entretanto, as câmaras de ionização comerciais para radioterapia apresentam alto custo e todas são importadas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal projetar, construir e caracterizar câmaras de ionização de placas paralelas em dosimetria de feixes de elétrons de aceleradores clínicos. Foram desenvolvidas cinco câmaras de ionização utilizando-se acrílico como material principal e tintas de grafite e de prata para a confecção dos eletrodos coletores. Uma das câmaras de ionização é a prova dágua. Todas as câmaras de ionização foram submetidas a feixes de radiação no Laboratório de Calibração de Instrumentos do IPEN e em três Serviços de Radioterapia na cidade de São Paulo onde foram realizados testes, como: tempo de estabilização, repetibilidade da resposta, estabilidade a médio prazo, corrente de fuga, corrente de saturação, eficiência de coleção de íons, linearidade de resposta, variação da resposta com a distância fonte-detector, efeito de polaridade, efeito cabo, simetria das câmaras de ionização, dependência angular. Além disso, as cinco câmaras de ionização foram calibradas em feixes padronizados de radiação gama, para aplicação em aceleradores clínicos de radioterapia. Os resultados foram satisfatórios para todos os testes realizados, mesmo para o efeito de polaridade no qual o resultado não foi menor que 1%; está de acordo com as câmaras comerciais reportadas na literatura. Assim, as câmaras de ionização desenvolvidas neste trabalho representam a possibilidade de uso em dosimetria de feixes de elétrons de aceleradores lineares em Serviços de Radioterapia. / Linear accelerators are gradually replacing the gamma radiation sources in the Brazilian Radiotherapy Services. Consequently, there is a need for the acquisition of ionization chambers for dosimetry of X-ray and electron beams of linear accelerators. However, the commercial radiotherapy ionization chambers are expensive and they all are imported. The objectives of this work were to design, build and characterize parallel plates ionization chambers to be used in electron beam dosimetry of clinical accelerators. Five ionization chambers were developed using acrylic as main material, and their collecting electrodes were made using graphite and silver paint. One of the ionization chambers is waterproof. All the ionization chambers were tested in the radiation beams of the Calibration Laboratory of Instruments of IPEN, and they were also tested in three Radiotherapy Services of the São Paulo city. The testes performed were: stabilization time, short-term and mediu-term stability tests, leakage current, saturation curve, ion collection efficiency, linearity curve, response in relation to the distance variation, polarity effect, cable effect, symmetry test and angular dependence test. Furthermore, the ionization chambers were calibrated in gamma radiation standard beams, for application in the radiotherapy clinical accelerators. The results of the ionization chambers were satisfactory for all the tests applied, even for the polarity effect test where the response was higher than 1%; this result agrees with the results of commercial ionization chambers reported in literature. The developed ionization chambers in this work show the possibility of their application in dosimetry of electron beams of linear accelerators of Radiotherapy Services.

Os aceleradores lineares vêm substituindo gradativamente os irradiadores de fontes gama nos Serviços de Radioterapia no Brasil. Consequentemente, existe a necessidade de aquisição de câmaras de ionização para uso em dosimetria dos feixes de radiação X e de elétrons dos aceleradores lineares. Entretanto, as câmaras de ionização comerciais para radioterapia apresentam alto custo e todas são importadas. Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal projetar, construir e caracterizar câmaras de ionização de placas paralelas em dosimetria de feixes de elétrons de aceleradores clínicos. Foram desenvolvidas cinco câmaras de ionização utilizando-se acrílico como material principal e tintas de grafite e de prata para a confecção dos eletrodos coletores. Uma das câmaras de ionização é a prova dágua. Todas as câmaras de ionização foram submetidas a feixes de radiação no Laboratório de Calibração de Instrumentos do IPEN e em três Serviços de Radioterapia na cidade de São Paulo onde foram realizados testes, como: tempo de estabilização, repetibilidade da resposta, estabilidade a médio prazo, corrente de fuga, corrente de saturação, eficiência de coleção de íons, linearidade de resposta, variação da resposta com a distância fonte-detector, efeito de polaridade, efeito cabo, simetria das câmaras de ionização, dependência angular. Além disso, as cinco câmaras de ionização foram calibradas em feixes padronizados de radiação gama, para aplicação em aceleradores clínicos de radioterapia. Os resultados foram satisfatórios para todos os testes realizados, mesmo para o efeito de polaridade no qual o resultado não foi menor que 1%; está de acordo com as câmaras comerciais reportadas na literatura. Assim, as câmaras de ionização desenvolvidas neste trabalho representam a possibilidade de uso em dosimetria de feixes de elétrons de aceleradores lineares em Serviços de Radioterapia. / Linear accelerators are gradually replacing the gamma radiation sources in the Brazilian Radiotherapy Services. Consequently, there is a need for the acquisition of ionization chambers for dosimetry of X-ray and electron beams of linear accelerators. However, the commercial radiotherapy ionization chambers are expensive and they all are imported. The objectives of this work were to design, build and characterize parallel plates ionization chambers to be used in electron beam dosimetry of clinical accelerators. Five ionization chambers were developed using acrylic as main material, and their collecting electrodes were made using graphite and silver paint. One of the ionization chambers is waterproof. All the ionization chambers were tested in the radiation beams of the Calibration Laboratory of Instruments of IPEN, and they were also tested in three Radiotherapy Services of the São Paulo city. The testes performed were: stabilization time, short-term and mediu-term stability tests, leakage current, saturation curve, ion collection efficiency, linearity curve, response in relation to the distance variation, polarity effect, cable effect, symmetry test and angular dependence test. Furthermore, the ionization chambers were calibrated in gamma radiation standard beams, for application in the radiotherapy clinical accelerators. The results of the ionization chambers were satisfactory for all the tests applied, even for the polarity effect test where the response was higher than 1%; this result agrees with the results of commercial ionization chambers reported in literature. The developed ionization chambers in this work show the possibility of their application in dosimetry of electron beams of linear accelerators of Radiotherapy Services.

In recent years, additive manufacturing (AM) has become an increasingly promising method used for the production of structural metallic components. There are a number of reasons why AM methods are attractive, including the ability to produce complex geometries into a near-net shape and the rapid transition from design to production. Ti-6Al-4V is a titanium alloy frequently used in the aerospace industry which is receiving considerable attention as a good candidate for processing via electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM). The Sciaky EBAM method combines a high-powered electron beam, weld-wire feedstock, and a large build chamber, enabling the production of large structural components. In order to gain wide acceptance of EBAM of Ti-6Al-4V as a viable manufacturing method, it is important to understand broadly the microstructural features that are present in large-scale depositions, including specifically: the morphology, distribution and texture of the phases present. To achieve such an understanding, stereological methods were used to populate a database quantifying key microstructural features in Ti-6Al-4V including volume fraction of phases, a lath width, colony scale factor, and volume fraction of basket weave type microstructure. Microstructural features unique to AM, such as elongated grains and banded structures, were also characterized. Hardness and tensile testing were conducted and the results were related to the microstructural morphology and sample orientation. Lastly, fractured surfaces and defects were investigated. The results of these activities provide insight into the process-structure-properties relationships found in EBAM processed Ti-6Al-4V.

No description available.

Plant cell walls compose the largest source of sugars on earth and are a potential source after conversion for liquid transportation fuels. However, the crystalline region of cellulose and the lignin that incases it present significant obstacles for enzymes to digest. This lowers the sugar yield, which ultimately decreases the production efficiency of bioethanol. A pretreatment that could help lowering the amount of crystallinity; meanwhile, breakdown the matrix of lignin and polysaccharides that cover cellulose fibers would be ideal. Here we propose a physical pretreatment strategy of electron beam irradiation that could potentially decrease cellulose crystallinity as well as unzip the lignin structure. Four types of biomass: cellulose, yellow pine, yellow poplar, and switchgrass were irradiated with a 12 MeV electron beam (Sterigenics, Inc.) at dosages of 0, 54, 80, 148 and 403 kGy. By combining the result from the wet chemical analysis of percent weight glucose/ cellulose from the HPLC, percent crystallinity from the Wide Angle X-Ray Diffraction (WAX) and the change of chemical functionality from Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), a promising effect is obtained in pine and yellow poplar but not in cellulose and switchgrass. A significant increase in percent glucose is observed for pine at higher doses as shown by (r = 0.97, P< 0.0076) which are 9.4 and 27% at 0 and 403 kGy. The amount of glucose considerably changes from all different types of biomass over time (P< 0.0001). A strong correlation of decreasing in percent crystallinity was found in poplar (r = -0.89, P< 0.05) from 32.4% to 17.4% and related to an average increase in percent glucose produced from 30 to 55% comparing between 0 and 403 kGy.

Plant cell walls compose the largest source of sugars on earth and are a potential source after conversion for liquid transportation fuels. However, the crystalline region of cellulose and the lignin that incases it present significant obstacles for enzymes to digest. This lowers the sugar yield, which ultimately decreases the production efficiency of bioethanol. A pretreatment that could help lowering the amount of crystallinity; meanwhile, breakdown the matrix of lignin and polysaccharides that cover cellulose fibers would be ideal. Here we propose a physical pretreatment strategy of electron beam irradiation that could potentially decrease cellulose crystallinity as well as unzip the lignin structure. Four types of biomass: cellulose, yellow pine, yellow poplar, and switchgrass were irradiated with a 12 MeV electron beam (Sterigenics, Inc.) at dosages of 0, 54, 80, 148 and 403 kGy. By combining the result from the wet chemical analysis of percent weight glucose/ cellulose from the HPLC, percent crystallinity from the Wide Angle X-Ray Diffraction (WAX) and the change of chemical functionality from Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), a promising effect is obtained in pine and yellow poplar but not in cellulose and switchgrass. A significant increase in percent glucose is observed for pine at higher doses as shown by (r = 0.97, P< 0.0076) which are 9.4 and 27% at 0 and 403 kGy. The amount of glucose considerably changes from all different types of biomass over time (P< 0.0001). A strong correlation of decreasing in percent crystallinity was found in poplar (r = -0.89, P< 0.05) from 32.4% to 17.4% and related to an average increase in percent glucose produced from 30 to 55% comparing between 0 and 403 kGy.

This thesis covers the design and development of a modulated Pierce electron gun used in the construction of experimental travelling wave tube (TWT) amplifiers. The gun incorporated an open aperture switching electrode, positioned mid-way between anode and cathode, to pulse the beam. This method of modulation did not have the same adverse effects on electron trajectories as in the case of a conventional mesh grid, but rather the electrode could be used to alter the focus conditions within the gun and subsequently improve certain beam characteristics. Ion focusing effects could also be eliminated with the electrode, allowing dual mode operation of the guns without the complications normally associated with such a practice. The switching electrode was simulated to ascertain its effect on electron trajectories within the gun, using finite element analysis as well as an electron optics design program. A test gun was constructed in a glass envelope in order to investigate the performance of the new design. The glass gun allowed a beam analysis to be performed, as well as thermal measurements to be made. Results from this gun compared favourably with earlier simulations. The results of two metal/ceramic construction TWTs are presented, showing the beneficial effects of the switching electrode on the performance of the tubes as a whole, and the electrode's potential to compensate for constructional anomalies. The joining of metals to ceramic using active brazing techniques is also an important aspect tackled by the thesis, with several innovative ideas being implemented in the construction of the devices. A simple yet reliable electrical feed-through was developed for those guns having a ceramic envelope. Extensive work was also performed on the manufacture of impregnated tungsten cathodes for use in the electron guns. Several test diodes, including a water-cooled demountable test vehicle, were constructed to test the performance of the cathodes. An analysis was performed on the patchy behaviour of some of the initial cathodes to improve the preparation methods used in the laboratory. The emission results obtained from the cathodes are documented, as is the successful incorporation of several of them into the new modulated gun design. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-Univesity of Natal, Durban, 1994.

Treatment delivery verification is an essential step of radiotherapy. The purpose of this thesis is to develop new methods to improve the verification of photon and electron beam radiotherapy treatments. This is achieved through developing and testing (1) a way to acquire portal images during electron beam treatments, (2) a method to reconstruct the dose delivered to patients during photon beam treatments and (3) a technique to improve image quality in kilovoltage (kV) cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) by correcting for scattered radiation. The portal images were acquired using the Varian CL21EX linac and the Varian aS500 electronic portal imaging device (EPID). The EGSnrc code was used to model fully the CL21EX, the aS500 and the kV CBCT system. / We demonstrate that portal images of electron beam treatments with adequate contrast and resolution can be produced using the bremsstrahlung photons portion of the electron beam. Monte Carlo (MC) calculations were used to characterize the bremsstrahlung photons and to obtain predicted images of various phantoms. The technique was applied on a head and neck patient. / An algorithm to reconstruct the dose given to patients during photon beam radiotherapy was developed and validated. The algorithm uses portal images and MC simulations. The primary fluence at the detector is back-projected through the patient. CT geometry to obtain a reconstructed phase space file. The reconstructed phase space file is used to calculate the reconstructed dose to the patient using MC simulations. The reconstruction method was validated in homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms for conventional and IMRT fields. / The scattered radiation present in kV CBCT images was evaluated using MC simulations. Simulated predictions of the scatter distribution were subtracted from CBCT projection images prior to the reconstruction to improve the reconstructed image quality. Reducing the scattered radiation was found to improve contrast and reduce shading artifacts. / MC simulations, in combination with experimental techniques, have been shown to be valuable tools in the development of treatment verification methods. The three novel methods presented in this thesis contribute to the improvement of radiotherapy treatment verification. They can potentially improve treatment outcome by ensuring a better target coverage.