The report of intimate violence is often taken on face value in research. With no gold standard existing, one partner?s report is often an accepted measure of violence in the relationship. This discrepancy in reporting between intimate partners has been thoroughly examined, yet researchers still debate the reliability of single partner reporting. The current study extends upon the Archer (1999) meta-analysis of intimate violence discrepancy reporting, and includes current studies, instruments and research methods in the analysis. This study examines the discrepancy effect among thirty-four samples from studies of heterosexual intimate violence, finding that the discrepancy in general was sizeable for men?s violence, and that different study conditions yield differing levels of discrepancy. This discrepancy level is a major issue when conducting quantitative research, especially typological studies, which utilise estimation and extrapolation of prevalence levels, and when violence data is used to evaluate recidivism. The current study identifies situations where the discrepancy is likely to be high and makes recommendations to improve the accuracy of the data being used to advise government policy and spending.

The creep of materials is a research topic of major significance in the life assessment and design of many modern engineering components of advance technology such as: power generation plant, chemical plant, gas turbines, jet engines, spacecrafts, components made of plastics and polymers, etc. To predict the creep lives of such components, one necessary ingredient is a creep damage model. The current creep damage models are either too cumbersome to be readily employed and/or not sufficiently accurate for practical applications. This thesis describes a new creep damage model to overcome some of the major shortcomings in current creep damage/life prediction methods. The proposed model is relatively simple and readily applicable to industrial cases yet it is sufficiently accurate. The proposed model assumes that, on a macroscopic level, the energy dissipated in the material may be taken as a measure of creep damage induced in the material. In another words, creep damage is directly proportional to the absorbed internal energy density (IED), i.e., the internal energy per unit of volume. In this way, the model takes into account both multiaxial loading and deformation. The model is formulated when the creep constitutive relationships may be expressed by primary plus steadystate or steady-state alone (IED-SS) as well as for the cases when the material behaviour includes the creep tertiary region (IED-T). The proposed model has been verified by applying it to various components for which the experimental creep lives are available from literature including thick/thin cylindrical vessels, notch bars with various notch-root radii and materials, multi-material cross welds bars, and perforated biaxial plates. The predicted creep lives of these components by the proposed model (IED-SS and IED-T) are compared with the experimental results and those obtained by the Reference Stress Method (RSM). It is shown that the maximum errors in relation to the creep lives of the above-mentioned components are: 18% when IED-SS is applied, 38% when IED-T is applied, and 301% when RSM is applied. To estimate the effects of uncertainties in material data on the predicted creep life, a sensitivity analysis has been conducted. To this end and in relation to Norton creep law, material parameters such as creep stress coefficient and stress exponent are considered. In addition, the sensitivity analysis included the uncertainties related to the uniaxial creep rupture data. As might be expected, the results suggest that the predicted creep life is most sensitive to the creep stress. Finally, the present research reveals that the proposed model is simple, practical and can be used in conjunction with any commercial finite element code with creep analysis capabilities.

The rapid settling nature of some industrial mineral slurries can cause problems in the measurement of their rheological properties. To address this problem a flow rheometer based on the principles of helical flow was developed. The rheometer designed, is a modified Couette flow system, whereby slurries are circulated through the concentric cylinders by the addition of an axial flow. The purpose of this axial flow is to prevent particles from settling and to maintain a homogeneous suspension. However, the addition of an axial flow component to Couette flow complicates the analysis procedure for non-Newtonian fluids particularly in wide gap geometries. Thus a specific emphasis in this study was placed on developing a correct analysis procedure for helical flow that eliminated the need for rudimentary calibration procedures. Experimental measurements with different liquids, including those with Newtonian and non-Newtonian flow properties showed good agreement between data obtained from the flow rheometer and data obtained using other standard laboratory instruments. Typical differences between the results from the flow rheometer and results from other laboratory instrument varied between 1-2%, with standard deviations in the flow rheometer data of between 2-4%. The flow properties of several non-Newtonian slow settling slurries were examined using the flow rheometer and also with a specially modified tube rheometer. As with the pure liquid results good agreement was obtained between the results from the flow rheometer and those obtained with the modified tube rheometer. Several rapid settling slurries were examined using the flow rheometer, but due to the rapid settling nature of these slurries they could not be examined with any other laboratory instruments. However, internally consistent results were obtained from different tests with the flow rheometer using different values of axial flow rate. These results demonstrate that the correct data analysis method was developed for the helical flow of non-Newtonian fluids Particle migration is a phenomenon known to affect the results of both rotational and axial flow rheological equipment. Whilst the motion of particles within the helical The University of Adelaide Continuous Flow Rheometry for Settling Slurries flow geometry could not be directly observed, careful examination of the results from several experiments with slurries showed that the effects of particle migration were minimal or non-existent within the flow rheometer. It is presumed that the circulation of the fluid through the geometry minimises the residence time in the geometry, which reduces the likelihood of particle migration. The development of Taylor vortices in a Couette type geometry can cause substantial errors in any rheological measurements. The flow rheometer is based on helical flow, which is a combination of both Couette and axial flow and as such may also suffer from measurement errors if instabilities develop in the flow. A stability criterion for the helical flow of non-Newtonian fluids is therefore required to ensure measurements from the flow rheometer were obtained in the laminar flow region. The stability criterion for laminar Couette flow of a Newtonian fluid was well known, as was the effect of imposing axial flow on Newtonian Couette flow. However, the effect of the rate of acceleration of the inner cylinder and the effect of non-Newtonian fluids on the onset of Taylor vortices was unknown. An increase in the rate of acceleration of the inner cylinder was found to have a destabilising effect on Couette flow. A modified Taylor number was developed for non-Newtonian fluids using the power-law model and was experimentally validated for a range of non-Newtonian fluids. These results were then used to develop a laminar flow stability criterion for rheological measurements of non-Newtonian fluids in the flow rheometer. To test the suitability of the results from the flow rheometer for use in the design and optimisation of process units, the power requirements to turn an impeller in a small baffled mixing vessel were investigated. Good agreement was obtained in the laminar and turbulent flow regions for a variety of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids between measured values of impeller power and those predicted using rheological measurements from the flow rheometer. Altering the density of the solid particles in a slurry is known to affect the overall rheological properties of the slurry. However, the effects of changing the liquid density were not so clearly defined and thus several artificial slurries of PMMA (poly-methylmethacrylate) spheres in water/NaCl and water/glycerol solutions were used to investigate this phenomenon. It was found that the slurry rheology was altered by The University of Adelaide Continuous Flow Rheometry for Settling Slurries changes in the suspending liquid density, however, these changes could be entirely attributed to changes in the liquid viscosity associated with the changes in liquid density. To summarise, the work presented in this Thesis provides a fundamental approach for the absolute measurement of the rheological properties of settling slurries, under conditions that more accurately represent those found in actual mineral processing operations. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Chemical Engineering, 2004.

Bibliography: p. 198-233. Results presented highlight the complexity of the task of postulating theoretical models on the basis of simple relationships between chemical constitution and mechanical properties, and more basic research is required to clearly define the roles of microfibril and matrix proteins on the mechanical characteristics of wool fibres.

Graduation date: 1987

A novel, portable, filter fluorometer was developed for the determination of chloroform and TCE at environmentally-relevant levels when coupled with improved sampling techniques and reagents. Reagents selective for the TCE or chloroform convert these toxic species into fluorescent species that can be monitored. The fluorometer is based on LED excitation light sources, a battery-operated photomultiplier tube as a radiation detector, and appropriate excitation and emission filters. A unique low-power, miniature heater inside the cell holder of the fluorometer provides control of the temperature of the reagent solution above ambient temperature. The fluorometer and the sampling systems, including a miniature air pump, are portable and can be operated from a small lead battery over an entire day. Sparging, passive transfer, and membrane sampling techniques were used to transfer TCE or chloroform from the sample solution as a vapor into the appropriate reagent and to provide preconcentration. The apparatus for membrane sampling was improved to be applicable for continuous sampling of water in the field situations with minimal sample manipulation. Each of the three sampling techniques provides a transfer rate of the analyte of ~1 ng/min per ng/mL of analyte in the sample. The optimized reagent based on 1-(3-pyridylmethyl)urea provides high selectivity to chloroform and the reagent based on isonicotinamide has excellent selectivity to TCE. These two reagents serve as an alternative to the more common pyridine reagent for the determination of chloroform or TCE in water and eliminate the exposure of the user to toxic pyridine vapor. The developed filter fluorometer, the optimized reagents, and the membrane sampling technique provide a detection limit for chloroform of 0.2 and 10 ng/mL, respectively, with the pyridine and 1-(3-pyridylmethyl)urea reagent. The detection limit for TCE is 0.3 ng/mL with the isonicotinamide reagent. For TCE, the detection limit is almost two orders of magnitude better than obtained previously with a fluorometric technique. Analysis times vary from 15 to 30 min. / Graduation date: 2003

Scanning surveys of building surfaces and land areas are performed with radiation detection equipment to identify areas of elevated radioactivity. To quantify the extent and magnitude of the contamination, follow-up radiation surveys and soil sampling are usually required. The ability to accurately quantify discrete locations or "hot particles" of contamination requires a full understanding of the scanning detection efficiency of the instrument being used. A cylindrical sodium iodide detector's scanning detection efficiency was examined theoretically using the Monte Carlo N-Particle Code, version 4b, and examined experimentally using the Marianno Research Sled located in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Oregon State University. A method is described for predicting instrument scanning detection efficiency for a 1 s observation interval over a range of scanning speeds using a series of static detection efficiency measurements. Testing of the prediction method and accuracy of predicted values was performed by comparison to experimentally determined values of scanning detection efficiency. Additionally, the validity of the predicted scanning detection efficiency values was tested by quantifying a radioactive source at a number of scanning speeds to quantitatively determine its activity. Activity values determined by scanning the source were compared against an activity value determined a by high purity germanium detection system. Results indicate that the method is both easy to perform and provides statistically accurate scanning detection efficiency values that can be utilized for the quantification of discrete locations or "hot particles" of radioactive contamination. / Graduation date: 2002

Graduation date: 1997

Graduation date: 1998

Until recently, the viscoamylograph had been the primary method for measuring starch as it relates to noodle quality in wheat. This method requires a large sample of flour and is time consuming. With the introduction of the rapid visco-analyser (RVA) in 1986 and the more recent flour swelling volume procedure, both the time to determine starch quality and the sample size required have been reduced Parents, reciprocal F���, and backcross generations from a cross involving two white wheat lines were space-planted to study the association among the three procedures for measuring noodle starch quality. Grain protein and hardness and plant height also were measured. Differences among the generations were observed for the viscoamylograph, flour swelling volume, and plant height. Coefficients of variation were low for both flour swelling volume and plant height. A significant positive association was found between the viscoamylograph and the RVA (r=0.61). This indicates that for the populations evaluated in this study the RVA can be used in place of the viscoamylograph to measure starch quality. The RVA values, however, varied greatly between years suggesting a large environmental influence. There was also evidence for a genotype by environment interaction. No maternal effects were noted between reciprocal crosses. Conflicting results were found for the association between the flour swelling volume procedure and the RVA and viscoamylograph. Further experiments are required to clarify the possible association between flour swelling volume and other starch quality tests. Such experiments may have to be delayed until the F��� or F��� generations when adequate amounts of flour can be obtained from more genetically uniform lines. / Graduation date: 1997