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This dissertation examines the response of piezoelectric material strain to electron flux influence. A plate of PZT5h is prepared as the specimen. The positive electrode is removed, and the negative electrode is connected to a power amplifier. Sixteen strain gages are attached as the strain sensor. The specimen is placed in a vacuum chamber, then the positive side is illuminated by electron beam. The characteristic of the static strain response is predicted by deriving the equation strain/deflection of the plate. Two methods are used, the Electro-Mechanical Equations and numerical analysis using Finite Element Method. The settings of the electron gun system (energy and emission current), along with the electric potential of the negative electrode (back-pressure), are varied to examine piezoelectric material responses under various conditions. Several material characteristics are examined: current flow to and from the material, time response of material strain, charge and strain distribution, and blooming. Results from these experiments suggest several conditions control the strain development in piezoelectric material. The current flow and strain on the material is stable if the backpressure voltage is positive. As a comparison, the current flow is small and the strain drifts down if the backpressure voltage is significantly negative. The material needs only 1 second to follow a positive step in backpressure voltage, but needs almost 1 minute to respond to a negative step backpressure change. This phenomenon is a result of secondary electron emission change and the energy transfer from the primary electrons to the local electrons on the material. The time needed to achieve steady state condition is also a dependent of emission current. After a period of time the primary electron incidence induces strain throughout the 7.5-cm-by-5-cm plate despite the fact that the beam diameter is only 1 cm2. One possibility is blooming due to electron movement under intense electric fields in the dielectric material.

The use of multiple antennas at the transmitter and/or the receiver promises greatly increased capacity. This can be useful to meet the ever growing demand of wireless connectivity, provided we can find techniques to efficiently exploit the advantages of the Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) system. This work explores the MIMO system in a flat quasi-static fading scenario. Such a channel occurs, for example, in packet data systems, where the channel fade is constant for the duration of a codeword and changes independently from one transmission to another. We first show why it is hard to compute the true constrained modulation outage capacity. As an alternative, we present achievable lower bounds to this capacity based on existing space-time codes. The bounds we compute are the fundamental limits to the performance of these space-time codes under maximum-likelihood decoding, optimal outer codes and asymptotically long lengths. These bounds also indicate that MIMO systems have different behavior under Gaussian signaling (unconstrained input) and under the finite alphabet setting. Our results naturally suggest the use of concatenated codes to approach near-capacity performance. However, we show that a system utilizing an iterative decoder has a fundamental limit – it cannot be universal and therefore it cannot perform arbitrarily close to its outage limit. Next, we propose two different transceiver structures that have good performance. The first structure is based on a novel BCJR-decision feedback decoder which results in performance within a dB of the outage limit. The second structure is based on recursive realizations of space-time trellis codes and uses iterative decoding at the receiver. This recursive structure has impressive performance even when the channel has time diversity. Thus, it forms the basis of a very flexible and robust MIMO transceiver structure.

General Relativity (GR) is one theory amongst a wider range of plausible descriptions of the Universe. The aim of this thesis is to examine the behaviour of so-called screened theories, which are designed to avoid local tests of modified gravity (MG). We establish that these theories may be treated in a unified manner in the context of halo formation. A prerequisite for this is the clarification that the quasi-static approximation can be applied in cosmologically-plausible scenarios. Amongst the plethora of MG theories, we select three, each of which exhibit a different form of screening. This describes a self-concealing property whereby each theory behaves like GR in the conditions of the local Universe. Only at regions of high energy density (chameleon), large coupling to matter (symmetron) or large derivatives of the scalar field (Vainshtein) does their modified behaviour emerge. We examine f(R), symmetron and DGP gravity in the context of non-linear gravitational collapse for the remainder of the thesis. Relativistic scalar fields are ubiquitous in our modern understanding of structure formation. They arise as candidates for dark energy and are at the heart of many modified theories of gravity. While there has been tremendous progress in calculating their effects on large scales there are still open questions on how to best quantify their effects on smaller scales where non-linear collapse becomes important. In these regimes, it has become the norm to use the quasi-static approximation in which the time evolution of perturbations in the scalar fields are discarded, akin to what is done in the context of non-relativistic fields in cosmology and the corresponding Newtonian limit. We show that considerable care must be taken in this regime by studying linearly perturbed scalar field cosmologies and quantifying the error that arise from taking the quasi-static limit. We focus on f(R) and chameleon models to assess the impact of the quasi-static approximation and discuss how it might affect studying the non-linear growth of structure in N-body numerical simulations. The halo mass function (HMF) n(M) dM is the number of haloes with mass in the range [ M, M+dM ] per unit volume. It has two remarkable properties which render it a useful probe of extensions to general relativity (GR). On the one hand, it is (nearly-)universal, in the sense that it can be written in a form (f(v) which is (practically) insensitive to changes in redshift and cosmological parameters and redshift. We develop a method to generalise fitting functions derived in GR to a variety of screened MG theories, in order to examine whether they are universal in the sense of being insensitive to MG. On the other hand, the HMF is sensitive to both the expansion history of the universe and the non-linear behaviour of spherical collapse via the critical density parameter and the matter power spectrum via the halo resolution. This greatly complicates the theoretical framework required to calculate the HMF, particularly given the sensitivity of chameleon MG to the surrounding environment. We explore a variety of new and existing methods to do so. Finally we re-calibrate the MG halo mass functions with the same rigour as has been done in GR. An important indicator of modified gravity is the effect of the local environment on halo properties. This paper examines the influence of the local tidal structure on the halo mass function, the halo orientation, spin and the concentration-mass relation. We generalise the excursion set formalism to produce a halo mass function conditional on large-scale structure. Our model agrees well with simulations on large scales at which the density field is linear or weakly non-linear. Beyond this, our principal result is that f(R does affect halo abundances, the halo spin parameter and the concentration-mass relationship in an environment-independent way, whereas we find no appreciable deviation from LCDM for the mass function with fixed environment density, nor the alignment of the orientation and spin vectors of the halo to the eigenvectors of the local cosmic web. There is a general trend for greater deviation from LCDM in under-dense environments and for high-mass haloes, as expected from chameleon screening. Given the broad spectrum of MG theories, it is important to design new probes of MG. Despite the fact that we examine only three theories of MG, the techniques and methodology developed in this thesis can be applied to a wide variety of theories and can be extended to improve the results in this work.

High transmission data rate, spectral efficiency, and reliability are necessary for future wireless communications systems. In a multipath-rich wireless channel, deploying multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver achieves high data rate, without increasing the total transmission power or bandwidth. When perfect knowledge of the wireless channel conditions is available at the receiver, the capacity has been shown to grow linearly with the number of antennas. However, the channel conditions must be estimated since perfect channel knowledge is never known a priori. In practice, the channel estimation procedure can be aided by transmitting pilot symbols that are known at the receiver. System performance depends on the quality of channel estimate, and the number of pilot symbols. It is desirable to limit the number of transmitted pilot symbols because pilot symbols reduce spectral efficiency. This thesis analyzes the system performance of coded multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems for the quasi-static fading channel. The assumption that perfect channel knowledge is available at the receiver must be removed, in order to more accurately examine the system performance. Emphasis is placed on developing channel estimation strategies for an iterative Vertical Bell-Labs Layered Space Time (V-BLAST) architecture. The channel estimate can be sequentially improved between successive iterations of the iterative V-BLAST algorithm. For both the coded and uncoded systems, at high signal to noise ratio only a minimum number of pilot symbols per transmit antenna are required to achieve perfect channel knowledge performance. / Master of Science

The issue of eddy currents induced by the rapid switching of magnetic field gradients is a long-standing problem in magnetic resonance imaging. A new method for dealing with this problem is presented whereby spatial harmonic components of the magnetic field are continuously sensed, through their temporal rates of change, and corrected. In this way, the effects of the eddy currents on multiple spatial harmonic components of the magnetic field can be detected and corrections applied during the rise time of the gradients. Sensing the temporal changes in each spatial harmonic is made possible with specially designed detection coils. However to make the design of these coils possible, general relationships between the spatial harmonics of the field, scalar potential, and vector potential are found within the quasi-static approximation. These relationships allow the vector potential to be found from the field – an inverse curl operation – and may be of use beyond the specific problem of detection coil design. Using the detection coils as sensors, methods are developed for designing a negative feedback system to control the eddy current effects and optimizing that system with respect to image noise and distortion. The design methods are successfully tested in a series of proof-of-principle experiments which lead to a discussion of how to incorporate similar designs into an operational MRI.

The issue of eddy currents induced by the rapid switching of magnetic field gradients is a long-standing problem in magnetic resonance imaging. A new method for dealing with this problem is presented whereby spatial harmonic components of the magnetic field are continuously sensed, through their temporal rates of change, and corrected. In this way, the effects of the eddy currents on multiple spatial harmonic components of the magnetic field can be detected and corrections applied during the rise time of the gradients. Sensing the temporal changes in each spatial harmonic is made possible with specially designed detection coils. However to make the design of these coils possible, general relationships between the spatial harmonics of the field, scalar potential, and vector potential are found within the quasi-static approximation. These relationships allow the vector potential to be found from the field – an inverse curl operation – and may be of use beyond the specific problem of detection coil design. Using the detection coils as sensors, methods are developed for designing a negative feedback system to control the eddy current effects and optimizing that system with respect to image noise and distortion. The design methods are successfully tested in a series of proof-of-principle experiments which lead to a discussion of how to incorporate similar designs into an operational MRI.

Herein, we study the contact damage performance of two armour ceramics, alumina and silicon carbide, with varying microstructures and one particle-reinforced ceramic nanocomposite, alumina/silicon carbide, in an attempt to understand the microstructural mechanisms that affect plasticity and cracking under quasi-static and dynamic conditions. Quasi-static contact damage was imitated using Vickers indentation over a varying load regime. Numerical analysis of the indentation size effect, performed using the proportional specimen resistance model, allowed the contributions of plastic deformation and cracking to be separated into two individual values. In all three samples, higher levels of surface energy were found to correlate with increased amounts of cracking per unit area of indentation impression. Analytical modelling of crack initiation during Vickers indentation together with quantitative measurements of surface flaw populations revealed that such an increase in cracking damage was the result of higher densities of larger flaws. The hardness of the monolithic ceramics was found vary based on grain size and porosity levels, a smaller average grain size and lower porosity levels resulting in higher hardness values. In the nanocomposite materials, hardening was found to occur with further additions of silicon carbide nanoparticles. Such an effect has been attributed to the increased dislocation densities, as measured using Cr3+/Al2O3 fluorescence spectroscopy, and the impedance of dislocation movement within the lattice due to the presence of silicon carbide nanoparticles. In order to simulate dynamic contact damage, a low velocity, scaled-down drop-weight test was designed and developed. The dynamic contact damage resistance was determined based on the depth of penetration of a blunt indenter. In the monolithic ceramics, the indenter penetration was found to be shallower in materials of higher hardness. However, the nanocomposite materials displayed an opposing trend, the indenter penetration becoming deeper in the samples of higher hardness. The macro-scale fracture patterns produced during drop-weight impacts were seen to vary based on flaw populations and indenter penetration. In certain microstructures, extensive micro-cracking was also observed.

Mechanical conditioning has been shown to promote tissue formation in a wide variety of tissue engineering efforts. However the underlying mechanisms by which external mechanical stimuli regulate cells and tissues are not known. This is particularly relevant in the area of heart valve tissue engineering owing to the intense hemodynamic environments that surround native valves. Some studies suggest that oscillatory shear stress (OSS) caused by time-varying flow environments, play a critical role in engineered tissue formation derived from bone marrow derived stem cells (BMSCs). There is strong evidence to support this hypothesis in tissue engineering studies of bone. From observing native heart valve dynamics, OSS can be created by means of pulsatility or by cyclic specimen geometry changes. However, quantification of the individual or combined effects of these variables for the maximization of OSS environments in vitro is to date, not known. Accordingly, in this study we examined and quantified the role that i) physiologically relevant scales of pulsatility and ii) changes in geometry as a function of specimen flexure, have in creating OSS conditions for dynamic culture of tissue. A u-shaped custom made bioreactor capable of producing flow stretch and flexure was used. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations were performed through Ansys CFX (Ansys, Pittsburgh, PA) for both steady and pulsatile flow. We have shown that OSS can be maximized by inducing pulsatile flow over straight scaffolds. We believe that OSS promotes BMSCs tissue formation.

In recent years, repetitive traumatic brain injuries have been linked to the progressive neurodegenerative disorder termed chronic traumatic encephalopathy. However, the mechanical characteristics of brain tissue exposed to repetitive loading still lack understanding. This research evaluated the response of porcine brain tissue undergoing cyclic, compressive loading in reference to three impact parameters: cycle number (N25, N50, N100, N150, and N200), strain level (15, 30, and 40%), and strain rate (0.00625, 0.025, 0.10, and 1.0/s). Following mechanical testing, tissue samples were processed for hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Stress values, hysteresis energy, and decreases in hysteresis energy for all parameters were compared. The data suggest that microstructural brain tissue damage is highly dependent on strain level and cycle number, whereas strain rate did not appear to cause permanent damage in the quasi-static range applied. The onset of permanent microstructural tissue damage may relate to movement of fluid molecules within the tissue.