Reaction sintered silicon nitride (RSSN) was studied as a substitute coating material on the carbon-carbon material (RCC) presently used as a heat shield on the space shuttle, and on advanced carbon-carbon (ACC), a later development. On RCC, RSSN showed potential in a 538°C (1000°F) screening test in which silicon carbide coated material exhibits its highest oxidation rate; RSSN afforded less protection to ACC because of a larger thermal expansion mismatch. Organosilicon densification and metallic silicon sealing methods were studied as means of further increasing the oxidation resistance of the coating, and some improvement was noted when these methods were employed. / Master of Science

Switch mode power supplies are widely used in different applications. High efficiency and high power density are two driving forces for power supply systems. However, high dv/dt and di/dt in switch mode power supplies will cause severe EMI noise issue. In a typical front-end converter, the EMI filter usually occupies 1/3 to 1/4 volume of total converter. Hence, reducing the EMI noise of power converter can help reduce the volume of EMI filter and improving the total power density of the converter. For off-line switch mode power supplies, DM noise is dominated by PFC converter. CM noise is a more complicated issue. It is contributed by both PFC converter and DC/DC converter. While many researches have focused on reducing CM noise for PFC converter, the CM noise of DC/DC converter still remains a challenge. The main objective of this thesis is provide a solution to have best CM noise reduction for DC/DC converters. The shielding concept and balance concept are combined to propose a novel balance double shielding technique. This method can have an effective CM noise reduction in the circuit level. In addition it is easy to design and implement in the real production. The balance condition is easily controlled and guarantees effective CM noise reduction in mass production. Then, a novel one-layer shielding method for PCB winding transformer is provided. This shielding technique can block CM noise from primary side and also cancel the CM noise from secondary side. In addition, shielding does not increase the loss of converter too much. Furthermore, this shielding technique can be applied to matrix transformer structure. For matrix transformer LLC converter, the inter-winding capacitor is very large and will cause severe CM noise problem. By adding shielding layer, CM noise has been greatly reduced. In addition, by modifying the secondary winding, the loss on shielding layer is minimized and experiments show that the total efficiency of converter has almost no impact. Furthermore, although this thesis uses flyback and LLC resonant converter as example to demonstrate the concept, the novel shielding technique can also be applied to other topologies that have similar transformer structure. / Master of Science

The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), has been tasked to design a shielded enclosure to be incorporated in an enclosed mast made of compos materials. This enclosure will house processing equipment which is known to be susceptible to electromagnetic energy. In addition to electromagnetic considerations, the design must accommodate the structural, fire prevention/control, signature, ballistics, and weight requirements which have been developed for the composite mast. Some preliminary work has ready been done by NSWCDD and other supporting organizations. Studies to determine the electromagnetic environment, lightning and erostatic discharge requirements, and available shielding materials are being conducted by NSWCDD and contractor personnel. Preliminary design requirements for the shielded room were developed based on these studies. During this project, systems engineering principles were applied to ion of shielding materials for the shielded room. The previously developed requirements as well as system performance, cost, maintenance, and other life cycle issues were considered during the selection process. / Master of Science

The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of kenaf bast fiber based composites with different iron oxide impregnation levels was investigated. The kenaf fibers were retted to remove the lignin and extractives from the pores in fibers, and then magnetized. Using the unsaturated polyester and the magnetized fibers, kenaf fiber based composites were manufactured by compression molding process. The transmission energies of the composites were characterized when the composite samples were exposed under the irradiation of electromagnetic (EM) wave with a changing frequency from 9 GHz to 11 GHz. Using the scanning electron microscope (SEM), the iron oxide nanoparticles were observed on the surfaces and inside the micropore structures of single fibers. The SEM images revealed that the composite’s EM shielding effectiveness was increased due to the adhesion of the iron oxide crystals to the kenaf fiber surfaces. As the Fe content increased from 0% to 6.8%, 15.9% and 18.0%, the total surface free energy of kenaf fibers with magnetizing treat increased from 44.77 mJ/m2 to 46.07 mJ/m2, 48.78 mJ/m2 and 53.02 mJ/m2, respectively, while the modulus of elasticity (MOE) reduced from 2,875 MPa to 2,729 MPa, 2,487 MPa and 2,007 MPa, respectively. Meanwhile, the shielding effectiveness was increased from 30-50% to 60-70%, 65-75% and 70-80%, respectively.

In this thesis, determination of the shielding effectiveness of a rectangular shielding box with apertures on its walls by using electromagnetic topology (EMT) technique based on Baum-Liu-Tesche (BLT) equation is presented. The presented technique is applied to determine the field penetration into various rectangular shielding boxes with different sizes and aperture dimensions. An HP branded computer case is also analysed as a rectangular shielding box with a CD driver slot as an aperture. Results on electromagnetic field penetration through the apertures into the boxes at different frequencies are obtained by using the presented method and compared with the results obtained by using CST MICROWAVE STUDIO&reg / software simulation.

In the welding of more sensitive metals such as stainless steel, titanium and some specific nickel alloys, the presence and application of a protective gas is essential. Without the use of a nonreactive shielding gas, defects occur in or adjacent to the weld joint, which vary from light discoloration of the weld bead to the direct onset and propagation of cracks. The supply of shielding gas is usually via the welding tool. Unfortunately, when it comes to welding pipes, the problem arises when the root bead comes into contact with the oxygen present within the pipe. Since the shielding gas supplied from the welding tool has no possibility of penetrating into the pipe and protecting the melt from the oxygen, the result consequence will be defects in the weld bead. To prevent this from happening, the pipes are sealed before welding and the oxygen in the pipe is purged and replaced with protective gas. Due to the fact that pipe welding operations concern a vast spectrum of pipe dimensions, complications arise for the welding operator as the solutions available have a low degree of adaptability. Thus, the purpose of this project is to investigate the possibility of designing and developing a new method of supplying root gas protection that can be adapted to several pipe diameters. Field studies at welding companies resulted in the clarification of which diameter spans the root gas protection solution should comply with, the pipe diameter span to cater for was identified as 25-100 mm in diameter. Requests were also made regarding the robustness of the product, with expressed desire for the product to withstand the strenuous working environment often encountered during welding operations. Solution proposals were produced which later developed into six separate concepts. From these six concepts, one was selected as the foremost solution and further developed for construction. The concept was sketched out and reproduced using CAD and a model was made using 3D printers. The model showed a need for modifications as it was not of a sufficiently adaptable nature. A modified model was thus developed and manufactured using a 3D printer, this modified model showed better results of adaptation to different pipe diameters. Furthermore, a flow analysis of the gas as it enters via the root gas plug and into the pipe was conducted, to verify total distribution of the gas within the pipe. The material with which to construct the concept with will be silicone infused with additives to make it more heat resistant and more resistant to wear. However, the exact mixture of silicone and additives in question was not available for this project but is something that is intended for future work. The concept meets the specified requirements of being applicable to multiple pipe diameters, more specifically so meeting the wishes of those active within the industry, covering a pipe span of 25- 100 mm. / Vid svetsning av mer känsliga metaller såsom rostfritt stål, titan och vissa specifika nickellegeringar är närvaron och tillämpningen av en skyddsgas väsentligt. Utan nyttjandet av en icke reaktiv skyddsgas uppkommer defekter i eller intill svetsfogen, vilka varierar från lätta missfärgningar av svetssträngen till den direkta uppkomsten och propageringen av sprickor. Tillförseln av skyddsgas sker vanligtvis via svetsverktyget. När det kommer till svetsning av rör uppstår dessvärre problemet att rotsträngen kommer i kontakt med syret som finns på insidan av röret. Eftersom att den skyddsgas som tillförs från svetsverktyget inte har någon möjlighet att tränga sig in i röret och skydda smältan från syret kommer det resultera i en svetssträng med defekter. För att förhindra detta från att ske tätas rören innan svetsning och syret i röret ersätts med skyddsgas. Eftersom att de rör som skall sammanfogas förekommer i flera dimensioner uppstår komplikationer för svetsoperatören ty de lösningar som finns tillgängliga har låg anpassningsgrad. Därmed är syftet med detta projekt att undersöka möjligheten att designa och utveckla ett nytt rotgasskydd som kan anpassas till flera diametrar. Fältstudier hos svetsföretag resulterade i ett tydligt spann för vilka diametrar som bör tillgodoses med sagda rotgasskydd, detta spann av rördiametrar var 25-100 mm. Det uppgavs även önskemål om säkerställning av att produkterna är robusta nog att klara den påfrestande arbetsmiljö som ofta förekommer vid svetsning. Lösningsförslag lades fram vilket senare utvecklades till sex separata koncept. Från dessa sex koncept utsågs en som den främsta lösningen och togs vidare till konstruktion. Konceptet skissades upp i CAD och en modell gjordes i 3D-skrivare. Modellen visade upp behov på modifieringar då den inte var av tillräckligt anpassningsbar karaktär. En modifierad modell togs därmed fram och tillverkades i en 3D-skrivare, denna modifierade modell visade bättre prov på anpassning till olika  rördiametrar. Vidare gjordes en flödesanalys av gasen då den färdas in via rotgaspluggen, vilket visade att gasen fyller röret som önskat. Materialet som konceptet kommer tillverkas i är silikon med tillförda additiv för att göra det mer värmebeständigt och mer resistent mot slitage. Den exakta blandningen av silikon och additiv i fråga var dock inte tillgängliga till detta projekt utan är något som får gå till vidare arbete. Konceptet uppfyller kraven på anpassning till flera rördiametrar och möter mer specifikt även önskemålet från branschaktiva med dess spann på 25-100 mm.

Στην παρούσα Μεταπτυχιακή Διπλωματική Εργασία μελετάται το πρόβλημα των θωρακίσεων ακτινοπροστασίας σε τρεις χαρακτηριστικούς χώρους ενός εργαστηρίου Πυρηνικής Ιατρικής, σύμφωνα με τους Κανονισμούς Ακτινοπροστασίας. Οι υπολογισμοί έγιναν με την εφαρμογή λογιστικών φύλλων Microsoft Excel. Ο σκοπός των κάθε είδους θωρακίσεων ιοντιζουσών ακτινοβολιών είναι η μείωση της δόσης της ακτινοβολίας στην οποία εκτίθενται και απορροφούν οι εργαζόμενοι, οι ασθενείς/εξεταζόμενοι αλλά και οι απλοί επισκέπτες σε χώρους ακτινοβόλησης ή γειτονικών, μέσα στα επιτρεπτά όρια. Στην μελέτη αυτή υπολογίζεται το πάχος θωράκισης που χρειάζεται να τοποθετηθεί σε έναν χώρο έτσι ώστε να μην γίνεται υπέρβαση των Περιοριστικών Επιπέδων Δόσεων (Π.Ε.Δ.). Τα πιο κοινά υλικά θωράκισης είναι ο μόλυβδος, το μπετό/σκυρόδεμα και ο σίδηρος. Ο πρώτος χώρος περιέχει ένα ραδιοϊσότοπο, μέσα σε κρύπτη, ενώ υπολογίζεται και ο ρυθμός δόσης σε ένα άτομο, το οποίο μπορεί να βρίσκεται είτε μέσα στον ίδιο χώρο είτε σε παρακείμενο. Ο δεύτερος χώρος περιέχει δύο ραδιοϊσότοπα, και υπολογίζεται η συνολική θωράκιση που απαιτείται. Ο τρίτος χώρος είναι ο χώρος αναμονής ενός πραγματικού εργαστηρίου Πυρηνικής Ιατρικής, μέσα στον οποίο μπορούν να υπάρχουν ταυτόχρονα μέχρι επτά ασθενείς, σε κάθε έναν από τους οποίους έχει χορηγηθεί το απαραίτητο ραδιοφάρμακο για την δική του εξέταση. Επιπλέον, λαμβάνεται υπ’ όψιν η ενδοαπορρόφηση σε κάθε ασθενή, θεωρώντας ότι αποτελείται από έναν κύλινδρο (το σώμα) και μια σφαίρα (το κεφάλι). Ο χώρος αναμονής περιβάλλεται από τον διάδρομο, την αίθουσα αιμοληψιών, το θερμό εργαστήριο, το δωμάτιο εφαρμογής και ο χώρος της γ-κάμερας. Η εφαρμογή λογιστικών φύλλων Microsoft Excel επελέγη για την υλοποίηση των υπολογισμών, ούτως ώστε οι εξισώσεις και οι υπολογισμοί να είναι ανοικτοί και εύκολα επαληθεύσιμοι από τον χρήστη. Επιπλέον, το πακέτο Microsoft Excel καθώς και η λειτουργία του είναι ευρέως διαδεδομένα. Ο χρήστης έχει πλήρη έλεγχο σε κάθε παράμετρο του κάθε χώρου, όπως π.χ. διαστάσεις του χώρου, ραδιοϊσότοπο και ενεργότητα, εξέταση, μέγεθος ασθενούς, κατηγορία παρακείμενων χώρων, υλικό θωράκισης κτλ. Η εφαρμογή διαβάζει αυτόματα ό,τι πληροφορίες απαιτούνται (π.χ. Περιοριστικά Επίπεδα Δόσης, Half-Value Layer κτλ.) από τον πίνακα δεδομένων, ο οποίος και αυτός μπορεί να ενημερωθεί ή εμπλουτιστεί από τον χρήστη, και υπολογίζει τις ζητούμενες θωρακίσεις. Τέλος, η εφαρμογή έχει σχεδιαστεί έτσι ώστε να είναι ευέλικτη και να μπορεί εύκολα να χρησιμοποιηθεί για άλλους χώρους και εργαστήρια, είτε ως έχει είτε με μικρές τροποποιήσεις. / This Master Thesis studies the problem of radiation protection shielding in three typical areas of a Nuclear Medicine Laboratory, in accordance with Radiation Protection Regulations. The actual calculations are performed using the spreadsheet software package Microsoft Excel. The purpose of any type of ionizing radiation shielding is to reduce to within the allowable limits the dose of radiation that workers, patients and ordinary visitors are exposed to and absorb either in radiation areas or in adjacent ones. In this study the thickness of shielding which needs to be placed in an area so as not to exceed the Dose Constraints is calculated. The most common shielding materials are lead, concrete and iron. The first area contains a radioisotope within a crypt, and the dose rate is calculated to an individual, who may be located either within the same room or in an adjacent one. The second area contains two radioisotopes, and the required total shielding is calculated. The third area is the waiting room of an actual Nuclear Medicine laboratory, in which up to seven patients, each of whom has been administered the necessary radiopharmaceutical for his examination, can exist simultaneously. The internal absorption of each patient is taken into account, modeling the patient as consisting of a cylinder (the body) and a sphere (the head). The waiting room is surrounded by a corridor, the blood sampling room, the hot lab, the radionuclide administration area, and the gamma camera area. The spreadsheet application Microsoft Excel was chosen for the implementation of the calculations, so that the equations and calculations be open and easily verifiable by the user. In addition, Microsoft Excel and its use are widespread. The user has full control over every aspect of each area, e.g. dimensions of space, radioisotope and activity, examination, patient size, category of adjacent area, shielding material etc. The application automatically reads the required information (e.g. Dose Constraints, Half-Value Layer etc.) from the data table, which may also be updated and enriched by the user, and calculates the required shielding. Finally, the application is designed to be flexible and can easily be used for other areas and laboratories, either as it is or with minor modifications.

Thermal Protection System (TPS) is required to shield an atmospheric entry vehicle against the high surface heating environment experienced during hypersonic flight. There are significant uncertainties in the tools and models currently used for the prediction of entry aeroheating and TPS material thermal response. These uncertainties can be reduced using experimental data. Analysis of TPS ground and flight data has been traditionally performed in a direct fashion. Direct analyses center upon comparison of the computational model predictions to data. Qualitative conclusions about model validity may be drawn based on this comparison and a limited number of model parameters may be iteratively adjusted to obtain a better match between predictions and data. The goal of this thesis is to develop a more rigorous methodology for the estimation of surface heating and TPS material response using inverse estimation theory. Built on theoretical developments made in related fields, this methodology enables the estimation of uncertainties in both the aeroheating environment and material properties from experimental temperature data. Unlike direct methods, the methodology developed here is capable of estimating a large number of independent parameters simultaneously and reconstructing the time-dependent surface heating profile in an automated fashion. This methodology is applied to flight data obtained from thermocouples embedded in the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Science Laboratory entry vehicle heatshields.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:51:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:08:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 11345.PDF: 3947420 bytes, checksum: a67742a2939ab92c6ea3c83950452caf (MD5) / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:51:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:08:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 11345.PDF: 3947420 bytes, checksum: a67742a2939ab92c6ea3c83950452caf (MD5) / Este estudo tem por objetivo formular um composto cerâmico para revestimento de paredes visando contribuir para a otimização da blindagem de salas de diagnóstico. O trabalho foi baseado em medidas experimentais de atenuação da radiação X (80 e 100 kV) empregando materiais cerâmicos de revestimento contendo diferentes suportes cerâmicos (vermelho, branco, grês, porcelanatos, etc). Dentre os suportes cerâmicos avaliados, o grês branco apresentou melhores propriedades atenuadoras, e foi considerado o mais adequado para a proposta deste trabalho. Diferentes formulações de grês branco foram estudadas e alteradas a fim de obter melhores propriedades atenuadoras. Foram efetuadas simulações de composições cerâmicas de revestimento grês dentro das porcentagens de matérias-primas necessárias na composição que são 12-20% argila; 6-18% caulim; 12-25% filito; 8-14% quartzo; 10-18% feldspato; 32- 40% pegmatito; 6-8% talco. As composições químicas quantitativas e qualitativas destes materiais foram também avaliadas, e os elementos constituintes mais comuns são SiO2, Fe2O3, Al2O3, CaO e Ti2O3. Considerando que o CaO pode ser substituído pelo PbO ou BaO, foram estudadas formulações com maiores teores de óxidos de Pb e Ba. O comportamento destes materiais como atenuadores para a radiação X foi investigado por meio de simulações computacionais que levaram em consideração os espectros de raios X incidentes e transmitidos através das diferentes composições estudadas e comparado com os materiais de referência Pb, Ba e BaSO4 (barita). Os resultados obtidos nas simulações indicaram as formulações do composto de suporte cerâmico grês que demonstram melhores propriedades de atenuação levando-se em conta as energias usadas em raios X diagnóstico (80, 100 e 150 kV). Placas cerâmicas baseadas na composição formulada que apresentou menor diferença percentual em relação ao Pb foram produzidas em laboratório e testadas fisicamente como revestimento de parede e barreira protetora. Propriedades como módulo de resistência à flexão, densidade, carga de ruptura, absorção de água e atenuação da radiação X foram avaliadas para todas as placas produzidas. / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP