Over the past several decades, the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) has become one of the analytical chemist’s most popular tools. The principal use of the ICP has been as an excitation cell for atomic emission spectrometry (AES). More recently, it has been used as an atomization cell for atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). Since the ICP is an energetic source, the vaporization process is efficient. This high temperature promotes transitions of the analyte and the argon support gas making spectral interference a problem. To alleviate this problem in AFS, it was necessary to look higher in the plasma tail, now the entrainment of oxygen and the formation of metal oxides was thought to be occurring. It was proposed that the addition of an organic gas may reduce the metal oxides, thus increasing the free atom concentration. The addition of propane produced enhancements of AFS signals in the ICP. In this study, the addition of propane and butane depressed many AES signals. In an attempt to elucidate a mechanism for the observed discrepancies, electron number density, excitation temperature, ion temperatures, atomic emission and atomic absorption measurements were considered. The system used enabled observations to be made on the effects of organic species in the plasma without altering the analyte transport efficiency. Using atomic absorption, scatter free data was obtained for the effects of propane on the ground state atom population, and it was observed to increase the ground state atom concentration for all elements attempted, with the exception of silver. With slurry introduction into the ICP, it was possible to control the composition of the plasma tail plume. The results from the slurries indicated that molecular formations can occur in the ICP. Finally, it was determined that a relationship between excitation energy and the effects of propane existed, and the increased ground state was due to propane hindering the excitation process of the plasma. / Ph. D.

Coaxial plasma accelerators have been the subject of experimental and theoretical analysis since the 1950s. Theories have evolved that predict subsets of the measured data. This work separates coaxial plasma accelerator research into two broad categories classified by the ratio of accelerator discharge current to input gas flow rate. Devices that operate with this ratio above a particular threshold are called "starved" and the acceleration process is termed "“deflagration". Devices that operate below the threshold are called “over-fed" and the plasma undergoes a compressive energy conversion process termed "detonation". Over-fed (detonation) plasma accelerators add energy to the plasma through plasma heating and compression. The plasma exhaust velocity is limited to the magneto-sonic velocity which is nearly identical to the plasma Alfven velocity. Measured energy conversion efficiencies for detonation plasma accelerators have been typically less than 10%. Starved (deflagration) plasma accelerators add energy to the plasma by increasing the plasma kinetic energy. Thus, the plasma exhaust velocities measured in the deflagration accelerator exceed the plasma Alfven velocity by two orders of magnitude. Measured energy conversion efficiencies for the deflagration mode exceed 40%. Two additional sub-categories have been defined. The first is based on the number of acceleration stages. A single stage device processes neutral gas into the accelerated plasma. Multi-stage devices first ionize the neutral gas and then accelerate it to the final velocity. Finally, plasma accelerators with coaxial electrodes are classified by the interval in which the electrical energy is transformed into plasma energy. A new theory was developed to explain the deflagration plasma accelerator operation by examining the failures of previous magneto-hydro-dynamic based theories. The new theoretical treatment was used to develop a computer simulation of the deflagration plasma accelerator process. The theory and model were tested against experimental data for single and dual stage deflagration accelerator devices. With successful correlation achieved between the theory, computer model and experimental measurements, changes were made to the original accelerator, guided by modeling results. The new deflagration plasma accelerator was tested and the results closely matched the predictions for all key accelerator performance parameters. / Ph. D.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis presents an improved feedback system on HBT-EP and suppression of the fast rotating kink mode using this system. HBT-EP is an experimental tokamak at Columbia University designed to study the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in confined fusion. The most damaging instabilities are global long wavelength kink modes, which break the toroidal symmetry of the magnetic structure and lead to plasma disruption and termination. When a tokamak is surrounded by a close fitting conducting wall, then the single helicity linear dispersion relation of the kink instability has two ominating branches: one is the "slow mode", rotating at the time scale of wall time, known as resistive wall mode (RWM), the other is the fast mode, that becomes unstable near the ideal wall stability limit. Both instabilities are required to be controlled by the feedback system in HBT-EP. In this thesis, improvements have been made upon the previous GPU-based system to enhance the feedback performance and obtain clear evidence of the feedback suppression effect. Specifically, a new algorithm is implemented that maintains an accurate phase shift between the applied perturbation and the unstable mode. This prevents the excitation of the slow kink mode observed in previous studies and results in high gain suppression for fast mode control at all frequency for the first time. When the system is turned off, suppression is lost and the fast mode is observed to grow back. The feedback performance is tested with several wall configurations including the presence of ferritic material. This provides the first comparison of feedback control between the ferritic and stainless wall. The effect of plasma rotation on feedback control is tested by applying a static voltage on a bias probe. As the mode rotation being slowed by the radial current flow, a higher gain on the kink mode is required to achieve feedback suppression. The change in plasma rotation also modifies the plasma response to the external perturbation. The optimal phase shift for suppression changes with the modified response and these observations are consistent with the predictions of the single helicity model.

Ng, Siu Fai = 溫暖稠密物質及高能量密度物理的研究 / 吳肇輝. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-133). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Ng, Siu Fai = Wen nuan chou mi wu zhi ji gao neng liang mi du wu li de yan jiu / Wu Zhaohui. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.16 / Chapter 1.1 --- General review of high energy density physics --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2 --- General review of warm dense matter --- p.20 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Physics of warm dense matter --- p.20 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Uncertainties of warm dense matter --- p.23 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Challenges of warm dense matter studies --- p.25 / Chapter 1.3 --- Use of intense heavy ion beam --- p.27 / Chapter 1.4 --- Motivation and structure of this thesis --- p.32 / Chapter 2 --- Hydrodynamic simulations --- p.34 / Chapter 2.1 --- Lagrangian hydrodynamic code --- p.34 / Chapter 2.2 --- Hydrodynamic equations --- p.35 / Chapter 2.3 --- Artificial viscosity --- p.36 / Chapter 3 --- Equations of state --- p.38 / Chapter 3.1 --- Van der Waals' equation of state --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2 --- Quotidian equation of state --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3 --- Saha-based equation of state --- p.41 / Chapter 3.4 --- Inverse power potentials equation of state --- p.48 / Chapter 3.5 --- Gruneisen-type equation of state --- p.53 / Chapter 3.6 --- Discussion --- p.59 / Chapter 4 --- Single bubble sonoluminescence --- p.63 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.63 / Chapter 4.2 --- Theory of sonoluminescence --- p.65 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Bubble wall dynamics --- p.66 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Radiation transport --- p.67 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Diffusive stability --- p.68 / Chapter 4.3 --- Numerical simulation --- p.68 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Determination of the ambient radius --- p.69 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Simulations using SEOS --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Simulations using QEOS --- p.77 / Chapter 4.4 --- Conclusion --- p.82 / Chapter 5 --- Collapsing bubble in ion-beam-heated metal --- p.83 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.83 / Chapter 5.2 --- Bubble collapse --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- First step of collapse --- p.88 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Stagnation point and bubble size --- p.89 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Outer boundary and metal thickness --- p.91 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Metal layer just outside bubble --- p.93 / Chapter 5.3 --- Effect of equation of state used --- p.95 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Inverse power potentials equation of state --- p.95 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Effect of ionization --- p.97 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Effect of hard core --- p.97 / Chapter 5.3.4 --- Effect of EOS for metal --- p.97 / Chapter 5.4 --- Effect of proposed experimental parameters --- p.102 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Initial gas density --- p.102 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Energy deposition rate --- p.102 / Chapter 5.5 --- Conclusion and discussion --- p.105 / Chapter 6 --- High coupling efficiency compression by intense ion beams --- p.108 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.108 / Chapter 6.2 --- Ion stopping formulation --- p.111 / Chapter 6.3 --- Numerical simulation --- p.112 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Lithium hydride target --- p.112 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Underdense aluminum foam --- p.118 / Chapter 6.4 --- Conclusion --- p.119 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusion --- p.121 / Chapter 7.1 --- Summary --- p.121 / Chapter 7.2 --- Suggestions for future work --- p.123 / Bibliography --- p.126

Orientador: Herman Jacobus Cornelis Voorwald / Coorientadora: Kelly Cristina Coelho de Carvalho Benini / Banca: Marcos Yutaka Shiino / Banca: Daniela Rgina Mulinari / Resumo: Maior conscientização em relação as questões ambientais, atrelada a escassez de recursos, problemas ambientais globais e a políticas ambientais cada vez mais fortes influenciaram indústrias e pesquisadores a apreciar, estudar e desenvolver novos materiais a partir de fontes renováveis e novas tecnologias de fabricação. Entretanto, na literatura é reportado que a adesão interfacial entre fibras naturais e matriz polimérica é um fator que afeta as propriedades mecânicas do biocompósito, podendo ser melhorada por diversos tipos de tratamentos superficiais. Assim sendo, mantas de fibra de coco foram tratadas superficialmente por jato de plasma atmosférico, considerado menos agressivo ao meio ambiente quando comparado a tratamentos químicos, com o intuito de melhorar a adesão interfacial do biocompósitos. As fibras de coco foram caracterizadas com o objetivo de verificar a influência do tratamento nas propriedades físicas, químicas e térmicas. Verificou-se que o tratamento modificou a superfície das fibras e, consequentemente, sua hidrofilicidade e energia superficial, diminuindo o valor da permeabilidade. Parâmetros de processamento e o ciclo de cura mais adequado foram determinados como 80 ºC por 210 min, 135 ºC por 180 min e 160 ºC por 120 min, sem a aplicação de vácuo durante o processo e com fração volumétrica de fibras de aproximadamente 40 %. Inspeção acústica por ultrassom permitiu avaliar o processamento das placas dos biocompósitos verificando possíveis imperfeições caus... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Greater awareness regarding environmental issues, coupled with scarcity of resources, global environmental problems, and increasingly strong environmental policies have influenced industries and researchers to appreciate, study and develop new materials from renewable resources and new manufacturing technologies. However, literature reports that interfacial adhesion between natural fibers and polymeric matrix is a factor that affects the biocomposite mechanical properties, able to be improved by several types of surface treatments. Thus, coconut fiber mats were surface treated by atmospheric plasma jet, considered less aggressive to the environment when compared to chemical treatments, in order to improve interfacial adhesion with the polymer matrix to obtain biocomposites. Data from coconut fiber characterization shown that the treatment modified the fibers surface and consequently their hydrophilicity and surface energy, decreasing their permeability value. Processing parameters and most appropriate curing cycle were determined and defined as 80 °C for 210 min, 135 °C for 180 min and 160 °C for 120 min, without application of vacuum during the process and approximately 40 % fiber volume fraction. Ultrasonic acoustic inspection allowed evaluating the biocomposite plates processing by verifying possible imperfections caused by impregnation of the coconut fiber by the resin and its homogeneity. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the initial biocomposite degradation temp... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Deformation of a Gaussian beam is observed when it propagates through a plasma. Self-focusing of the beam may be observed when the intensity of the laser increases the index of refraction of plasma gas. Due to the difficulties in solving the nonlinear partial differential equation in Maxwell's wave equation, a numerical technique has been developed in favor of the traditional analytical method. Result of numerical solution shows consistency with the analytical method. This further suggests the validity of the numerical technique employed. A three dimensional graphics package was used to depict the numerical data obtained from the calculation. Plots from the data further show the deformation of the Gaussian beam as it propagates through the plasma gas.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

"MIT-3221-19." / Bibliography: p. 78-81. / Contract AT(30-1)-3221.