Drug delivery to the nasal and ocular mucosa faces several obstacles. One of these is from the effective clearance mechanisms present in the nose and eye. Polymer gels with suitable rheological properties can facilitate the absorption of poorly absorbed drugs by increasing the contact time of the drug with the mucosa. This has been attributed to the rheological and mucoadhesive properties of the gel. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the importance of these features for the anticipated in vivo contact time, here exemplified by the ocular and nasal routes of administration. The in situ gelling polymer gellan gum was found to have a favourable rheological and in vivo performance. When administered in the nasal cavity of rats, a gel was formed that could remain at the site of administration for up to 4 hours. In addition, the epithelial uptake and transfer of a 3 kDa fluorescein dextran was higher than for a mannitol solution. Therefore, it was concluded that a gellan gum formulation should be a promising strategy for nasal drug delivery. The potential mucoadhesive properties of a variety of polymer gels were investigated using a rheological method and by measuring the tensile force required to detach the gel from a mucosa. With both methods the rheological properties of the gel were a determining factor for the results obtained. The rheological method was found to have several limitations. One of these was that a positive response, interpreted as mucoadhesion, was only seen with weak gels. The tensile method could, in contrast, detect strengthening of the mucus only for strong gels. However, this method reflects the in vivo performance of the gel better than the rheological method. Finally, dielectric spectroscopy was explored as a tool for investigating the likelihood of intimate surface contact between the gel and the mucus layer. This novel approach involved determining the ease with which a charged particle can pass the gel-mucus interface layer, and may enable the study of the events at the interface closer to the molecular level, than is possible with the rheological and tensile strength methods.

The aim of this thesis was to identify some functionality related characteristics of pharmaceutically relevant solid materials and to study the effect of their variation on processing behaviour and product performance. For this purpose, particles with different characteristics were prepared under a variety of conditions by crystal agglomeration, wet granulation and spray drying. The effect of particle size distribution on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during and after compression was investigated. The compression behaviour of particles with different nominal strength and degrees of agglomeration was studied and the influence of the surfactant concentration of amorphous particles on the compression behaviour was examined. The response of the powders to compression was described with the help of various techniques characterising the microstructure and tensile strength of the tablets produced. Furthermore, a method suitable for observing drug release from single matrix granules was developed and used to study the effect of granule porosity and compaction pressure on the drug release process. The particle size distribution did not influence the evolution of the tablet porosity or the tensile strength during compression, but it could have an effect on the evolution of the tablet microstructure during short-term storage, depending on the instability mechanism. The compression behaviour of particles prepared by crystal agglomeration and wet granulation was dependent on their degree of agglomeration and their failure strength. For particles with similar solid state properties and compression behaviour, the surface energy appears to have an effect on the bonding strength of adsorption bonds acting at interparticulate junctions. Using the method developed to observe the drug release from single matrix granules, reproducible data was obtained enabling the drug release process to be characterised. Depending on the type of matrix and the compaction pressure, the drug release rate could be enhanced or retarded.

As the environmental concern grows, researchers try to find material which can be environmental friendly and biodegradable to some extent. At present, flax fibre cannot fully replace glass fibre. Some attempts have been made to replace the glass fibre.<p> Studies show the physical and mechanical properties of natural fibres are comparable with glass fibre, so it can replace glass fibre in the process of making biocomposites. <p> The properties of biocomposites depend on the fibre used. Research shows that to get a better biocomposite, the fibre has to be chemically treated to improve adhesion between fibre and polymer matrix. After the chemical treatment, the fibre has to be dried to minimum moisture content so the drying of flax fibre is essential in the process of making biocomposites. <p> In this research, oilseed flax fibre is dried and drying characteristics were investigated. After drying, the physical properties of the fibre were tested and analysed.<p> The fibre was dried using three different drying methods, namely, microwave, microwave-convection, and microwave-vacuum environments. Curve fitting with four empirical methods has been carried out to determine the drying constant, coefficient of determination and standard error values. The results showed that microwave-vacuum drying method is more efficient (in terms of final moisture content) than microwave and microwave-convection drying. Although microwave-vacuum drying took the most time and did not result in promising colour values, the maximum moisture removal is achieved because fibres can be dried for a longer period of time with a comparatively low temperature.<p> The results of physical properties were analysed for untreated and treated and dried flax fibre. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of untreated and treated fibre did not show any significant change. Because the diameter of flax fibre cannot be consistent, a range of values can be obtained. The diameter range of fibre bundle 30-300 µm was examined for these tests. The tensile strength obtained from these fibre bundles ranged between 16 to 667 MPa and elastic modulus values were 2 GPa up to 63 GPa.<p> The scanning electron micrograph (SEM) was also analysed for untreated and treated-dried fibre. The fibre which was dried with high power or longer period of time showed black spots, probably due to local heating. The fibre dried with microwave-vacuum developed some black spots which were clearly seen in the SEM.<p> Differential scanning calorimetric data showed a shift in temperature of degradation. In this research, degradation temperature of cellulose was found 350(+/-10)°C for the treated and dried flax fibre.<p> In conclusion, the flax fibre has a potential to be used in biocomposite production. The microwave-vacuum works best for drying where the fibre can be dried up to a less than 1% of moisture content.

Sammanfattning I en pappersrulle är de yttre lagren utsatta för dragspänning. Om det finns variationer i rullens diameter i form av valkar finns det risk för att papperet förlängs irreversibelt i dessa positioner och orsaka slappa stråk. Den deformation som uppstår vid långvarig belastning av papper kallas krypning. Uppgiften i detta arbete var, att på lab., simulera valkar genom att utsätta pappersremsor för konstant dragspänning av olika storlekar. En av frågeställningarna var om egenskapsförändringar kan påvisas när papper utsätts för konstant inspänningskraft under en längre tid. De parametrar som undersökts var töjning, kryphastighet och relaxation, även mätningar på papperets mekaniska egenskaper dragstyrka, brottöjning och dragstyvhet har utförts i detta arbete. De papperskvalitéer som undersöktes var 71g/m2 MG-papper, 80g/m2 optisk liner och 135g/m2 liner. Inspänningskraften som papperet utsattes för motsvarade 10 %, 30 % och 50 % av dragstyrkan hos varje kvalité. Provremsor belastades under ett, fyra och sju dygn, för att sedan relaxeras. Resultaten visar att dragstyrkan och dragstyvheten inte påverkas av att papperet varit utsatt för en inspänningskraft. Däremot blev brottöjningen mindre ju större den irreversibla förlängningen hos papperet var. Samtliga papperskvalitéer relaxerar tillbaka till ursprungslängd efter fyra dygn när belastningen var 10 %. Om belastningen däremot var 30 % och 50 % uppstod en irreversibel förlängning redan efter ett dygn. Vid belastning under sju dygn uppstod permanent förlängning hos samtliga kvalitéer och belastningar utom MG-papper 10 % som relaxerade till ursprungslängd. MG-papper är därmed den papperskvalité som står emot krypning bäst och är på så sätt minst känslig för valkar i pappersrullen. En högre belastning ger en högre kryphastighet och större irreversibel förlängning. För att undvika uppkomsten av slappa stråk bör därför banspänningen som används vid upprullningen av papperet inte vara större än 10 % av dragstyrkan hos papperskvalitén. Hur länge papperet är belastat påverkar också den slutliga irreversibla förlängningen. Det innebär att lagring ökar risken för att slappa stråk kommer att uppstå i efterbearbetningen. / Abstract In a paper roll the outer layers are under tensile stress. If there are variations in the roll diameter there is a risk that the thicker parts of the roll will make the paper elongate more in these regions, because they will be under a higher tensile stress. This may cause baggy webs. The deformation that occurs during a long time under tensile stress is called creep. Experiments have been performed with strips of paper that have been exposed to a constant load and constant climate (50 % RH, 23°C). The properties that have been examined are creep strain, creep rate and relaxation after creep. Studies of tensile strength, tensile stiffness and strain at break have also been made. The paper qualities that have been examined were 71g/m2 MG-paper, 80g/m2 liner and 135g/m2 liner. The paper qualities in this study are exposed to loads that correspond to 10 %, 30 % and 50 % of their tensile strength. The paper strips were under load during 24h, four and seven days. The results in these studies show that tensile strength and tensile stiffness remains the same after the paper has been exposed to a constant load. The strain at break, on the other hand, decreases with increasing irreversible elongation of the paper strips. All paper qualities recover to the initial length after four days under a load of 10 % of the tensile strength. If the load corresponds to 30 % or 50 % of the tensile strength a permanent elongation arose as early as after 24h. After seven days, only the MG-paper recovered to the initial length if the load corresponded to 10 % of the tensile strength. This means that MG-paper is more resistant to creep then the liner qualities. Consequently, MG-paper is the paper quality that is least sensitive to ridges. A higher load gives a higher creep rate and larger irreversible elongation of the paper. To avoid baggy webs to arise, the load should not exceed 10 % of the paper’s tensile strength when winding the paper roll. The time under which the paper is under load also influence the final irreversible elongation. Therefore, to avoid baggy webs the paper roll shouldn’t be stored for too long.

As the environmental concern grows, researchers try to find material which can be environmental friendly and biodegradable to some extent. At present, flax fibre cannot fully replace glass fibre. Some attempts have been made to replace the glass fibre.<p> Studies show the physical and mechanical properties of natural fibres are comparable with glass fibre, so it can replace glass fibre in the process of making biocomposites. <p> The properties of biocomposites depend on the fibre used. Research shows that to get a better biocomposite, the fibre has to be chemically treated to improve adhesion between fibre and polymer matrix. After the chemical treatment, the fibre has to be dried to minimum moisture content so the drying of flax fibre is essential in the process of making biocomposites. <p> In this research, oilseed flax fibre is dried and drying characteristics were investigated. After drying, the physical properties of the fibre were tested and analysed.<p> The fibre was dried using three different drying methods, namely, microwave, microwave-convection, and microwave-vacuum environments. Curve fitting with four empirical methods has been carried out to determine the drying constant, coefficient of determination and standard error values. The results showed that microwave-vacuum drying method is more efficient (in terms of final moisture content) than microwave and microwave-convection drying. Although microwave-vacuum drying took the most time and did not result in promising colour values, the maximum moisture removal is achieved because fibres can be dried for a longer period of time with a comparatively low temperature.<p> The results of physical properties were analysed for untreated and treated and dried flax fibre. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of untreated and treated fibre did not show any significant change. Because the diameter of flax fibre cannot be consistent, a range of values can be obtained. The diameter range of fibre bundle 30-300 µm was examined for these tests. The tensile strength obtained from these fibre bundles ranged between 16 to 667 MPa and elastic modulus values were 2 GPa up to 63 GPa.<p> The scanning electron micrograph (SEM) was also analysed for untreated and treated-dried fibre. The fibre which was dried with high power or longer period of time showed black spots, probably due to local heating. The fibre dried with microwave-vacuum developed some black spots which were clearly seen in the SEM.<p> Differential scanning calorimetric data showed a shift in temperature of degradation. In this research, degradation temperature of cellulose was found 350(+/-10)°C for the treated and dried flax fibre.<p> In conclusion, the flax fibre has a potential to be used in biocomposite production. The microwave-vacuum works best for drying where the fibre can be dried up to a less than 1% of moisture content.

ABSTRACT AN INVESTIGATION OF COMPACTED GRAPHITE IRON PRODUCTION BY MEANS OF THERMAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE AND OTHER PROCESS CONTROL WINDOWS El-mabrouk, Omar PhD, Metallurgical and Material Engineering Department Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ali Kalkanli January 2007, 123 pages Compacted graphite irons have been proved valuable in many applications such as exhaust manifolds, hydraulic valves, and diesel engine blocks, the process of producing compacted graphite irons is not a straight forward process because of its narrow processing windows and its high sensitivity to the section thickness, treatment reaction time, pouring temperatures and charge composition. In this thesis, compacted graphite was produced with minimum variations through all section thickness and the effect of Mg/S ratio, section thickness, and treatment agents on the graphite morphology, electrical resistivity property and fracture strength at high temperatures was investigated. The range of Mg/S ratio and the section thickness was from 2/3 to 7/1 and 5 mm to 40 mm respectively. FeSiMg and FeSiMg cermish metal were used as a treatment agent. Optical metallographic method was implemented to investigate the graphite morphology change. For being a distinguishable characteristic for compacted graphite iron over ductile iron, thermal conductivity changes at high temperatures ranging from room temperature to 500 0C was examined by a suitable electrical setup in the manner of electrical conductivity changes by measuring the electrical resistance. On the other hand, due to the higher values of mechanical properties of compacted graphite iron over those of gray iron, tensile strength was also examined by means of tensile test. The relation between the compacted graphite shape and the alloy properties such as fracture strength and thermal conductivity was investigated. The most important controlling parameters to produce compacted graphite are Mg/S ratio and oxygen activity. The relation between these parameters with both fracture strength and thermal conductivity was established by means of multiple regression analysis technique.

The development of fluid mechanics during the twentieth century has been affected by intense research in order to fathom numerous practically relevant hydrodynamic effects, to understand the physical processes and correlations and to describe them mathematically. This became necessary because employing only the fundamental hydrodynamic equations, the description of certain phenomena in fluid flows caused by fluid properties was impossible. In order to assess the quality of fluids regarding their gas contents and their nuclei distributions, various measuring methods and devices have been developed and constructed since the beginning of the twentieth century. This historical development could be described nearly completely in this work, particularly the development of devices to determine the total gas content. Apart from the mostly difficult handling of these measurement methods and devices, only the influence of single parameters such as the total gas content, the dissolved oxygen content, nucleus content, nucleus distribution and the distribution of nucleus sizes on hydrodynamic effects was examined. However, the correlations between these single parameters, as they occur in real flows, could not be taken into consideration. As early as the end of the ninetieth century the development of methods and devices began to determine the tensile strength of fluids. The initially static methods have been followed by the developments of dynamic methods since the beginning of the 1970s. While for specially prepared fluids, tensile strengths of several hundred bar were measured under static conditions, the typical values for water, measured with the eddy and swirl nozzle, range between zero and two bar. This illustrates the strong influence of interactions between all parameters on the tensile strength in flowing fluids. Except for sound velocity and pressure distribution at profiles, water quality particularly affects certain cavitation phenomena. Various cavitation tests around the world have shown that without determining the actual tensile strength of the test water, it is impossible to obtain reproducible results regarding cavitation inception. In experiments concerning cavitation erosion, the correlation between water quality, erosive aggressiveness and erosion rate was proven unmistakably. Evidently, permanent measurement of the test fluid?s tensile stress during cavitation experiments with model bodies is compulsory in order to be able to interpret measurement results correctly. Cavitation phenomena at profiles or other parts affected by flow cause changes of lift, drag and loss coefficients depending on the degree of the cavitation progress. The influence of transition, detachment, obstruction and pressure distribution plays a special role. The quality of electrically conductive fluids is determined by their conductivity. By means of electromagnetic fields Lorentz-forces are generated, whose effect can be observed in lessening of flow detachment, drag reduction and increased lift. Manifold experimental research results in the area of fluid mechanics have proven that the fluid quality must be taken into account when describing real flow processes. Since the many flow parameters are subject to permanent interaction, ultimately, the sum of all single parameters lead to the effects mentioned. For the determination of the water quality such as in cavitation experiments, the tensile stress of the water can be measured making the mathematical description of cavitation inception possible. / Die Entwicklung der Strömungsmechanik im 20. Jahrhundert wurde auch durch intensive Forschungen geprägt, um die zahlreichen in der Praxis auftretenden hydrodynamischen Effekte zu ergründen, die physikalischen Abläufe und Zusammenhänge zu verstehen und diese mathematisch zu beschreiben. Dies wurde notwendig, da mit den hydrodynamischen Grundgleichungen allein keine Beschreibung der aus den Fluideigenschaften resultierenden Erscheinungen in Flüssigkeitsströmungen möglich war. Um die Qualität der Flüssigkeiten bezüglich ihres Gasgehaltes und ihrer Keimverteilung beurteilen zu können, wurden mit Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts unterschiedliche Messmethoden und Apparaturen entwickelt und gebaut. Diese Entwicklung ließ sich annähernd vollständig darstellen, hierbei besonders die Entwicklungen von Apparaturen zur Bestimmung des Gesamtgasgehaltes. Neben der zumeist schwierigen Handhabung dieser Messgeräte und Methoden wird dabei nur der Einfluss einzelner Messgrößen, wie Gesamtgasgehalt, Gelöstsauerstoffgehalt, Keimgehalt, Keimverteilung und Keimgrößenverteilung auf hydrodynamische Effekte untersucht. Die aber in realen Strömungen auftretenden Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Einflussgrößen werden nicht berücksichtigt. Schon am Ende des 19. Jahrhundert begann die Entwicklung von Geräten und Methoden zur Bestimmung von Zugspannungen in Flüssigkeiten. Den anfänglich statischen Methoden folgten mit Beginn der 70er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts die bis heute andauernden Entwicklungen dynamischer Methoden. Während für speziell behandelte Flüssigkeiten unter statischen Bedingungen Zugspannungen von einigen hundert bar gemessen wurden, liegen die typischen Werte für Wasser mit der Wirbel- oder Dralldüse gemessen, zwischen null und zwei bar. Das zeigt den starken Einfluss der Wechselwirkungen aller Einflussgrößen auf die Zugspannung in strömenden Flüssigkeiten. Außer auf die Schallgeschwindigkeit und die Druckverteilung an Profilen hat die Wasserqualität einen besonders starken Einfluss auf bestimmte Kavitationserscheinungen. Weltweite Kavitationstests zeigten, dass ohne Bestimmung der aktuellen Zugspannung des Testwassers keine reproduzierbaren Ergebnisse bezüglich des Kavitationsbeginns möglich sind. Bei Untersuchungen zur Kavitationserosion wurde der Zusammenhang zwischen Wasserqualität und erosiver Aggressivität und Erosionsrate eindeutig nachgewiesen. Die permanente Messung der Zugspannung der Testflüssigkeit ist bei Kavitationsexperimenten an Modellkörpern offensichtlich zwingend notwendig, um die Messergebnisse korrekt interpretieren zu können. Kavitationserscheinungen an Profilen oder Durchströmteilen bewirken Änderungen von Auftriebs-, Widerstands- und Verlustbeiwerten in Abhängigkeit vom Fortschrittsgrad der Kavitation. Hierbei spielen die Beeinflussung der Transition, Ablösung, Versperrung und Druckverteilung eine besondere Rolle. Bei elektrisch leitfähigen Fluiden ist die Qualität durch die Leitfähigkeit bestimmt. Mittels elektromagnetischer Felder werden Lorentzkräfte erzeugt, deren Wirkung sich zeigt in der Unterdrückung von Strömungsablösung, Widerstandsverringerung und stärkerem Auftrieb. Vielfältige experimentelle Forschungsergebnisse auf dem Gebiet der Strömungsmechanik haben gezeigt, dass für die Beschreibung realer Strömungsvorgänge die Qualität des Fluides berücksichtigt werden muss. Da die vielen Einflussgrößen in der Strömung permanenten Wechselwirkungen unterliegen, führt letztlich die Summe aller Einzeleinflüsse auf die genannten Effekte. Für die Bestimmung der Wasserqualität z.B. bei Kavitationsexperimenten kann die Zugspannung des Testwassers gemessen werden, wodurch die genauere mathematische Beschreibung des Kavitationsbeginns möglich wird. - (Diese Arbeit liegt auch in englischer Sprache unter dem Titel &amp;quot;Hydro-dynamic effects with particular consideration of water quality an their measurement methods&amp;quot; in elektronischer Form vor - http://hsss.slub-dresden.de/hsss/servlet/hsss.urlmapping.MappingServlet?id=1141217614058-7645)

Die Entwicklung der Strömungsmechanik im 20. Jahrhundert wurde auch durch intensive Forschungen geprägt, um die zahlreichen in der Praxis auftretenden hydrodynamischen Effekte zu ergründen, die physikalischen Abläufe und Zusammenhänge zu verstehen und diese mathematisch zu beschreiben. Dies wurde notwendig, da mit den hydrodynamischen Grundgleichungen allein keine Beschreibung der aus den Fluideigenschaften resultierenden Erscheinungen in Flüssigkeitsströmungen möglich war. Um die Qualität der Flüssigkeiten bezüglich ihres Gasgehaltes und ihrer Keimverteilung beurteilen zu können, wurden mit Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts unterschiedliche Messmethoden und Apparaturen entwickelt und gebaut. Diese Entwicklung ließ sich annähernd vollständig darstellen, hierbei besonders die Entwicklungen von Apparaturen zur Bestimmung des Gesamtgasgehaltes. Neben der zumeist schwierigen Handhabung dieser Messgeräte und Methoden wird dabei nur der Einfluss einzelner Messgrößen, wie Gesamtgasgehalt, Gelöstsauerstoffgehalt, Keimgehalt, Keimverteilung und Keimgrößenverteilung auf hydrodynamische Effekte untersucht. Die aber in realen Strömungen auftretenden Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Einflussgrößen werden nicht berücksichtigt. Schon am Ende des 19. Jahrhundert begann die Entwicklung von Geräten und Methoden zur Bestimmung von Zugspannungen in Flüssigkeiten. Den anfänglich statischen Methoden folgten mit Beginn der 70-er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts die bis heute andauernden Entwicklungen dynamischer Methoden. Während für speziell behandelte Flüssigkeiten unter statischen Bedingungen Zugspannungen von einigen hundert bar gemessen wurden, liegen die typischen Werte für Wasser mit der Wirbel- oder Dralldüse gemessen, zwischen null und zwei bar. Das zeigt den starken Einfluss der Wechselwirkungen aller Einflussgrößen auf die Zugspannung in strömenden Flüssigkeiten. Außer auf die Schallgeschwindigkeit und die Druckverteilung an Profilen hat die Wasserqualität einen besonders starken Einfluss auf bestimmte Kavitationserscheinungen. Weltweite Kavitationstests zeigten, dass ohne Bestimmung der aktuellen Zugspannung des Testwassers keine reproduzierbaren Ergebnisse bezüglich des Kavitationsbeginns möglich sind. Bei Untersuchungen zur Kavitationserosion wurde der Zusammenhang zwischen Wasserqualität und erosiver Aggressivität und Erosionsrate eindeutig nachgewiesen. Die permanente Messung der Zugspannung der Testflüssigkeit ist bei Kavitationsexperimenten an Modellkörpern offensichtlich zwingend notwendig, um die Messergebnisse korrekt interpretieren zu können. Kavitationserscheinungen an Profilen oder Durchströmteilen bewirken Änderungen von Auftriebs-, Widerstands- und Verlustbeiwerten in Abhängigkeit vom Fortschrittsgrad der Kavitation. Hierbei spielen die Beeinflussung der Transition, Ablösung, Versperrung und Druckverteilung eine besondere Rolle. Bei elektrisch leitfähigen Fluiden ist die Qualität durch die Leitfähigkeit bestimmt. Mittels elektromagnetischer Felder werden Lorentzkräfte erzeugt, deren Wirkung sich zeigt in der Unterdrückung von Strömungsablösung, Widerstandsverringerung und stärkerem Auftrieb. Vielfältige experimentelle Forschungsergebnisse auf dem Gebiet der Strömungsmechanik haben gezeigt, dass für die Beschreibung realer Strömungsvorgänge die Qualität des Fluides berücksichtigt werden muss. Da die vielen Einflussgrößen in der Strömung permanenten Wechselwirkungen unterliegen, führt letztlich die Summe aller Einzeleinflüsse auf die genannten Effekte. Für die Bestimmung der Wasserqualität z.B. bei Kavitationsexperimenten kann die Zugspannung des Testwassers gemessen werden, wodurch die genauere mathematische Beschreibung des Kavitationsbeginns möglich wird. / The development of fluid mechanics during the twentieth century has been affected by intense research in order to fathom numerous practically relevant hydrodynamic effects, to understand the physical processes and correlations and to describe them mathematically. This became necessary because employing only the fundamental hydrodynamic equations, the description of certain phenomena in fluid flows caused by fluid properties was impossible. In order to assess the quality of fluids regarding their gas contents and their nuclei distributions, various measuring methods and devices have been developed and constructed since the beginning of the twentieth century. This historical development could be described nearly completely in this work, particularly the development of devices to determine the total gas content. Apart from the mostly difficult handling of these measurement methods and devices, only the influence of single parameters such as the total gas content, the dissolved oxygen content, nucleus content, nucleus distribution and the distribution of nucleus sizes on hydrodynamic effects was examined. However, the correlations between these single parameters, as they occur in real flows, could not be taken into consideration. As early as the end of the ninetieth century the development of methods and devices began to determine the tensile strength of fluids. The initially static methods have been followed by the developments of dynamic methods since the beginning of the 1970s. While for specially prepared fluids, tensile strengths of several hundred bar were measured under static conditions, the typical values for water, measured with the eddy and swirl nozzle, range between zero and two bar. This illustrates the strong influence of interactions between all parameters on the tensile strength in flowing fluids. Except for sound velocity and pressure distribution at profiles, water quality particularly affects certain cavitation phenomena. Various cavitation tests around the world have shown that without determining the actual tensile strength of the test water, it is impossible to obtain reproducible results regarding cavitation inception. In experiments concerning cavitation erosion, the correlation between water quality, erosive aggressiveness and erosion rate was proven unmistakably. Evidently, permanent measurement of the test fluid?s tensile stress during cavitation experiments with model bodies is compulsory in order to be able to interpret measurement results correctly. Cavitation phenomena at profiles or other parts affected by flow cause changes of lift, drag and loss coefficients depending on the degree of the cavitation progress. The influence of transition, detachment, obstruction and pressure distribution plays a special role. The quality of electrically conductive fluids is determined by their conductivity. By means of electromagnetic fields Lorentz-forces are generated, whose effect can be observed in lessening of flow detachment, drag reduction and increased lift. Manifold experimental research results in the area of fluid mechanics have proven that the fluid quality must be taken into account when describing real flow processes. Since the many flow parameters are subject to permanent interaction, ultimately, the sum of all single parameters lead to the effects mentioned. For the determination of the water quality such as in cavitation experiments, the tensile stress of the water can be measured making the mathematical description of cavitation inception possible. - (The German online version of this thesis for qualification as university teacher has been published under the titel &amp;quot;Hydrodynamische Effekte unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Wasserqualität und ihre Messverfahren&amp;quot; - http://hsss.slub-dresden.de/hsss/servlet/hsss.urlmapping.MappingServlet?id=1141215758714-7391)

Wood is a complex material and the mechanical properties are influencedby a number of structural parameters. The objective of this study has been toinvestigate the relationship between the structure and the mechanical propertiesof hardwood. Two levels were of special interest, viz. the cellular structureand morphology of the wood, and the ultra-structure of the cell wall. In thenext step, it was of interest to examine how the mechanical properties ofhardwood change with spontaneous/induced changes in morphology and/orchemical composition beyond the natural variation found in nature. Together, this constituted the framework and basis for two larger projects,one on European aspen (Populus tremula) and hybrid aspen (Populus tremulax Populus tremuloides), and one on European oak (Quercus robur). Amethodology was developed where the concept of relative density and compositemechanics rules served as two useful tools to assess the properties ofthe cell wall. Tensile testing in the longitudinal direction was combined withchemical examination of the material. This approach made it possible to revealthe mechanical role of the lignin in the cell wall of transgenic aspen trees,and investigate the consequences of holocellulose degradation in archaeologicaloak from the Vasa ship. The study on transgenic aspen showed that a major reduction in lignin inPopulus leads to a small but significant reduction in the longitudinal stiffness.The longitudinal tensile strength was not reduced. The results are explainableby the fact that the load-bearing cellulose in the transgenic aspen retained itscrystallinity, aggregate size, microfibril angle, and absolute content per unitvolume. The results can contribute to the ongoing task of investigating andpinpointing the precise function of lignin in the cell wall of trees. The mechanical property study on Vasa oak showed that the longitudinaltensile strength is severely reduced in several regions of the ship, andthat the reduction correlates with reduced average molecular weight of theholocellulose. This could not have been foreseen without a thorough mechanicaland chemical investigation, since the Vasa wood (with exception fromthe bacterially degraded surface regions) is morphologically intact and witha micro-structure comparable to that of recent oak. The results can be usedin the ongoing task of mapping the condition of the Vasa wood. / QC 20110420

Zur Herstellung von Stabstahl der Sorte 15MnCrMoV4-8 ist die thermomechanische Behandlung erprobt worden. Diese erfolgte in Kombination mit der kosten- und energiesparenden Wärmebehandlung aus der Walzhitze. Dabei wurde besondere Aufmerksamkeit der chemischen Zusammensetzung gewidmet. Sie wird aus der Sicht kostenintensiver Legierungselemente, wie sie in Kombination mit Umformung und Abkühlung zum Erreichen eines mechanischen Eigenschaftsprofils führen, betrachtet. Das erforderliche Niveau der mechanischen Eigenschaften ist aus der Anwendung dieser Stahlsorte für die Fertigung von Pumpenstangen aus dem Bereich der Ölfördernden Industrie abgeleitet worden. Bei den entwickelten und erprobten Herstellungstechnologien haben ein Teil der Stahlstäbe der gewählten Legierungen das geforderte Eigenschaftsniveau von Halbzeugen für die ölfördernde Industrie erreicht. Ein Teil davon hat sogar das Eigenschaftsprofil einer höheren Festigkeitsklasse, die zu Gewichts- und Energieeinsparungen führt. Die angestrebte Lebensdauer, ermittelt durch Schwingfestigkeitstests unter atmosphärischen Bedingungen sowie im korrosiv-wässrigen 3%NaCl-Medium, ist bei fast allen untersuchten Werkstoffen erreicht worden.