Thesis (M.Sc. (Physics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

No description available.

Many applications such as automobiles, gyroscopes, machine tools, and transfer systems require orientation control of a rotating shaft. Demands for multi-degree of freedom (DOF) actuators in modern industries have motivated this research to develop a ball-joint-like, brushless, direct-drive spherical wheel motor (SWM) that offers a means to control the orientation of its rotating shaft. This thesis presents a general method for deriving a closed-form magnetic field solution for precise torque calculation. The method, referred here as distributed multi pole (DMP) modeling, inherits many advantages of the dipole model originally conceptualized in the context of physics, but provides an effective means to account for the shape and magnetization of the physical magnet. The DMP modeling method has been validated by comparing simulated fields and calculated forces against data obtained experimentally and numerically; the comparisons show excellent agreement. The DMP models provide a basis to develop a non-contact magnetic sensor for orientation sensing and control of a rotating shaft. Three controllers have been designed and experimentally implemented for the SWM; open-loop and PD with/without an observer. The OL control system, which decouples the spin from the shaft inclination, provides the fundamental design structure for the SWM and serves as a basis for designing feedback controllers with/without an observer. While the observer and controller designs have been developed in the context of a spherical wheel motor, these techniques along with the models and analysis tools developed in this research can be applied to design, analysis and control of most electromagnetic devices. We expect that the analytical method along with the orientation sensor and spherical wheel motor will have broad spectrum of applications.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Justin Schwartz, Florida State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 19, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 43 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: power systems; power transmission; fault location. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-84).

L'étude du champ électromagnétique autour des étoiles à neutrons est l'une des méthodes vitales pour comprendre la physique des pulsars. Alors que la plupart des publications utilisent l'hypothèse d'un champ électromagnétique dipolaire centré standard, des études récentes se sont concentrées sur l'inclusion de composantes de champ multipolaire plus élevées et ont présenté une image plus générale pour les pulsars dans lesquels le moment du dipôle magnétique est décalé du centre de l'étoile. Ce travail discute des conséquences d'un dipôle magnétique rotatif excentré dans le vide en montrant diverses caractéristiques des lignes de champ magnétique et de l'émission de pulsar. Une étude à large bande du spectre du rayonnement pulsar est également présentée par la création de cartes des différentes régions d'émission des pulsars distinguées sur la base de leur fréquence dans le but principal de rechercher l'évolution du profil d'impulsion avec la fréquence. La thèse présente tous les résultats ci-dessus accompagnés des discussions nécessaires pour comprendre les modèles théoriques utilisés et les détails des méthodes numériques appliquées. / Studying the electromagnetic field around neutron stars is one of the vital methods to understand the physics of the pulsars. While major literature uses assumption of a standard centred dipolar electromagnetic field, recent studies have focused on including higher multipolar field components and have presented a more generalized picture for pulsars in which the magnetic dipole moment is shifted off from the centre of the star. This work discusses the consequences of an off centred rotating magnetic dipole in vacuum by showing various characteristic features of magnetic field lines and pulsar emission. A broadband spectrum study of pulsar radiation is also laid out by creating maps of different emission regions of pulsars distinguished on the basis of their frequency with the main aim of looking for the evolution of the pulse profile with frequency. The thesis presents all the above results accompanied by the necessary discussions to understand the theoretical models used and the details of the numerical methods applied.

The focus of this thesis is on using mechanical strain to tailor the electronic properties of graphene. The first half covers the electro-mechanical coupling for graphene in different configurations, namely a hexagonal Y-junction, various shaped bubbles on different substrates, and with kirigami cuts. For all of these cases, a novel combination of tight-binding electronic structure calculations and molecular dynamics is utilized to demonstrate how mechanical loading and deformation impacts the resulting electronic structure and transport. For the Y-junction, a quasi-uniform pseudo magnetic field induced by strain restricts transport to Landau-level and edge-state-assisted resonant tunneling. For the bubbles, the shape and the nature of the substrate emerge as decisive factors determining the effectiveness of the nanoscale pseudo magnetic field tailoring in graphene. Finally, for the kirigami, it is shown that the yield and fracture strains of graphene, a well-known brittle material, can be enhanced by a factor of more than three using the kirigami structure, while also leading to significant enhancements in the localized pseudo magnetic fields. The second part of the thesis focuses on dissipation mechanisms in graphene nanomechanical resonators. Thermalization in nonlinear systems is a central concept in statistical mechanics and has been extensively studied theoretically since the seminal work of Fermi, Pasta, and Ulam (FPU). Using molecular dynamics and continuum modeling of a ring-down setup, it is shown that thermalization due to nonlinear mode coupling intrinsically limits the quality factor of nanomechanical graphene drums and turns them into potential test beds for FPU physics. The relationship between thermalization rate, radius, temperature and prestrain is explored and investigated.

Magnetic hyperthermia (MH) is an anti-cancer treatment which exploits the heat produced by tumour-targeted magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) subjected to an alternating magnetic field (AMF). A problem limiting the clinical use of MH, however, is the inability to adequately localise the MNPs at the tumour site. A cellular approach using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as carriers has been proposed as these cells are believed to home to sites of tissue injury and tumour growth, however problems with MNPs uptake and toxicity retard progress and need to be overcome. The aim of this project was to find an alternative approach in MH treatment, creating engineered human MSCs able to biosynthesise MNPs. To achieve this goal, MSCs were transfected with either, or both, M. magneticum AMB-1 mms6 and mmsF genes. M. magneticum AMB-1 is a genus of magnetotactic bacteria, containing magnetosomes, which are lipidic organelles containing single crystals of magnetite. M. magneticum-AMB1 mms6 and mmsF genes are important for final crystal morphology and are known to play a role in crystal synthesis and growth respectively. The originality of this study was in using mms6 and mmsF genes, which were codon-optimized for mammalian expression, alone or in combination, for transfection of human MSCs, which have known tumour homing capacity. The transfected MNPs-bearing MSCs, able to migrate into the tumour tissue, were subjected to AMF in MH experiments in an attempt to induce cancer cell death. mms6 and mmsF gene expression, following transfection, was investigated in the human osteosarcoma cell line MG63 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The cellular ultrastructure of transfected MG63 cells was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), revealing the presence of nanoparticles. The magnetism of transfected MG63 cells was proved by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and supported by in vitro MH experiments. Then, human MSCs were transfected with mms6 and mmsF genes, alone or in combination. The effect of transfection experiments and MNPs synthesis on MSCs markers of stemness, cell proliferation and differentiation ability were investigated. The MTB genes expression in human MSCs was assessed by RT-PCR and cell magnetism was confirmed by SQUID, in vitro MH experiments and by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). Then, in vitro studies of MH were undertaken to establish whether mms6 transfected MSCs expressing MNPs supported a MH effect when exposed to an AMF. Cells were initially exposed to an AMF of 565.3 kHz frequency in monolayers and in 3D arrangements and cell death/viability was assessed. Subsequently, the effect of the same AMF on 3D models of mixed populations of mms6-expressing MSCs and cancer cells was assessed. The results indicate that viability of MNPs-expressing MSCs and adjacent cancer cells is reduced following AMF exposure. In vivo studies of MH were undertaken following intracardiac injection of mms6-expressing MSCs in tumour-bearing mice (epidermoid carcinoma). The expression of mms6-expressing MSCs inside mice organs was confirmed by RT-PCR, fluorescence microscopy and immunohistochemistry. The effect of the application of an AMF of 565.3 kHz on mice tumours was studied with different techniques (tumour size and volume measurement, multiphoton microscopy, haematoxylin and eosin staining, and activated Caspase 3 expression), to understand if MNPs created inside mms6- expressing MSCs, following AMF exposure, could lead to cancer cell death. Results indicate that mice tolerate the treatment well, however no appreciable tumour reduction or necrosis was evident. Overall the results suggest that mms6 transfection alone confers the highest magnetisation to MSCs compared to mmsF alone or mms6+mmsF co-transfected, and that mms6 expression in human MSCs does not have an adverse effect on important cell functions. mms6-expressing MSCs, when exposed to an AMF, show reduced viability and enhanced cell cytotoxicity in vitro. When co-cultured with cancer cells in 3D models in vitro, mms6-expressing MSCs are able to reduce viability of adjacent cancer cells confirming the potential applicability of mms6- expressing MSCs for MH treatment. In vivo proof of concept experiments show that mms6-expressing MSCs can locate to the tumour tissue, and mms6-expressing intracardiac injected MSCs mice exposed to AMF tolerate the treatment well. However, the number of mms6-expressing MSCs able to localize to the tumour tissue in this experiment was too low to give an appreciable tumour reduction, so more experiments are needed to enhance the experimental protocol. A number of improvements are required to progress this novel technique towards clinical application. Gene transfection and MNPs production need to be optimised, the best frequency for MH needs to be established and MSCs delivery to the tumour has to be significantly increased to allow concentration of MNPs. The study has helped to increase our knowledge on the creation of magnetic human MSCs to potentially use these cells in MH cancer treatment.

Actuellement le prix de l'énergie augmente continuellement. Ainsi, un des grands défis de la société est de limiter au maximum la consommation énergétique. La mise en oeuvre de matériaux pour l’énergie et le développement de leurs propriétés est au coeur de cette problématique.Dans cette optique, ce travail est dédié à l’évaluation d’un nouveau procédé de fabrication thermomagnétique dans le but de développer de nouvelles microstructures et/ou des propriétés améliorées inaccessibles par des traitements thermomécaniques classiques. L’objectif principal est d'étudier l'effet du champ magnétique sur deux principaux alliages, Fe-Co et Fe-Ni en vue d'améliorer leurs propriétés magnétiques douces.Dans les alliages Fe-Co, les températures de transformation de la ferrite vers l’austénite, mesurées jusqu’à16T, sont augmentées par l'application d'un champ magnétique intense. Ce décalage est modélisé en fonction du champ, en se basant sur une analyse thermodynamique. Dans les deux alliages, la phase ferritique eststabilisée par le champ intense à plus haute température ce qui permet le développement d’une microstructure àgros grains. Les propriétés magnétiques douces sont également améliorées par l'application d'un champ magnétique à la fois dans l’alliage Fe-Co27% et dans Fe-Co49%V2% en induisant respectivement le développement d’une texture Goss dans le premier alliage et une forte anisotropie induite dans le second.Dans les alliages Fe - Ni contenant 80% l'utilisation d’un champ magnétique intense pendant le traitement thermique (jusqu'à 7 T) permet d’améliorer le développement de l'anisotropie induite, permettant de« coucher » la forme du cycle d'hystérésis. Le comportement magnétique dynamique du matériau est ainsiamélioré par le champ magnétique.Ces résultats significatifs soutiennent l'idée que l'introduction du champ magnétique dans les techniques defabrication des matériaux conventionnels est une piste prometteuse pour améliorer d’avantage leurs propriétésfonctionnelles. / Energy is becoming increasingly expensive and a major challenge for the society is to minimize energyconsumption. One of the issues of this challenge focuses on the industrial processing of energy related materialand the development of their properties.The overall objective of this work is to evaluate thermo-magnetic processing as a new technology with thegoal of developing novel microstructures and/or improved properties unattainable through conventionalthermo-mechanical processing. This main target is addressed with the study of the effect of magnetic field ontwo main alloys, Fe-Co and Fe-Ni in view of improving their functional soft magnetic properties.In FeCo alloys the non – equilibrium ferrite to austenite phase transformation measured up to 16T is foundto be increased by the application of a high magnetic field. Its evolution with the field intensity is explainedusing a thermodynamic analysis. In both grades, the ferrite phase is found to be stabilized at higher temperaturetogether with a coarse grains microstructure during recrystallization and growth in high field. Soft magneticproperties are also improved by the application of a magnetic field both in the Fe-Co27% and Fe-Co49%-V2%alloys by a field induced Goss texture enhancement and an extended field induced anisotropy respectively.In the Fe – 80%Ni composition the use of high magnetic field during processing (up to 7T) is found toimprove the magnetic induced anisotropy and to tailor the hysteresis loop shape. The dynamic magneticbehavior is greatly improved by high field annealing.These significant results support the idea that introducing the magnetic field application into conventionalmaterials processing is a promising way to improve material properties.

A theory is developed to explain the dependence of carrier transport in a thin semiconducting film on film thickness, magnetic field strength, and the dominant bulk scattering mechanism. This theory is based on the solution of the linearized Boltzmann equation in relaxation time form. The semiconductor is assumed to be bounded and nondegenerate with spherical energy surfaces and a scalar effective mass, It is also assumed to be flat banded with totally diffuse scattering at the surface. Classical Boltzmann statistics are used for equilibrium. The dependence of the relaxation time on the carrier energy is approximated by a power law equation. The principle improvement over similar theories is the treatment of the dependence of the relaxation time on carrier energy. The power law approximation for this dependence is valid for randomizing and elastic scattering mechanisms.