Continued development of highly compact and powerful electronic components has led to the need for a simple and effective method for controlling the thermal characteristics of these devices. One proposed method for thermal control involves the use of a micro heat pipe system containing a working fluid with physical properties having been speciffcally selected such that the heat pipes, as a whole, vary in effective thermal conductance, thereby providing a level of temperature regulation. To further explore this possibility, a design scenario with appropriate constraints was established and a model developed to solve for the effective thermal conductance of individual heat pipes as a function of evaporator-end temperature. From the results of this analysis, several working fluids were identified and selected from a list over thirteen hundred that were initially analyzed. Next, a thermal circuit model was developed that translated the individual heat pipe operating characteristics into the system as a whole to determine the system level effects. It was found that none of the prospective fluids could completely satisfy the established design requirements to regulate the device temperature over the entire range of operating conditions. This failure to fully satisfy design requirements was due, in large part, to the highly constrained nature of problem definition. Several fluids, however, did provide for an improved level of thermal control when compared to the unmodified design. Suggestions for improvements that may lead to enhanced levels of thermal control are offered as well as areas that are in need of further research.

The objective of this research was to determine the effect of thermal cycling combined with mechanical loading on the development of microcracks in M40J/PMR-II- 50, the second generation aerospace application material. The objective was pursued by finding the critical controlling parameters for microcrack formation from mechanical stress-thermal cycling test. Three different in-plane strains (0%, 0.175~0.350%, and 0.325~0.650%) were applied to the composites by clamping composite specimens (M40J/PMR-II-50, [0,90]s, a unitape cross-ply) on the radial sides of half cylinders having two different radii (78.74mm and 37.96mm). Three different thermal loading experiments, 1) 23oC to –196oC to 250oC, 2) 23oC to 250oC, and 3) 23oC to -196oC, were performed as a function of mechanical inplane strain levels, heating rates, and number of thermal cycles. The apparatus generated cracks related to the in-plane stresses (or strains) on plies. The design and analysis concept of the synergistic stress-thermal cycling experiment was simplified to obtain main and interaction factors by applying 2k factorial design from the various factors affecting microcrack density of M40J/PMR-II-50. Observations indicate that the higher temperature portion of the cycle under load causes fiber/matrix interface failure. Subsequent exposure to higher stresses in the cryogenic temperature region results in composite matrix microcracking due to the additional stresses associated with the fiber-matrix thermal expansion mismatch.

Increased land use change near fragile ecosystems can affect the ecosystem energy balance leading to increased global warming. One component of surface energy balance is soil storage heat flux. In past work, a complex thermal behavior was noticed in the shrink-swell sediment of the upper Nueces Delta (upper Rincon) during summer months as it dried. Soil storage heat flux was found to first increase, then decrease, as the soil dried. It was suggested that the complex behavior was due to the relationship between thermal diffusivity and soil moisture, where thermal diffusivity increases to a local maximum before decreasing with respect to decreasing soil moisture. This study explores the observed phenomenon in a controlled laboratory environment by relating the sediment shrinkage curve to changing heat transfer properties. Due to the complicated nature of the drying-shrinking sediment, it was necessary to measure the sediment shrinkage curve and heat transfer properties in separate experiments. The shrinkage curve was found by correlating measured sample volume with gravimetric moisture content. Heat transfer properties were found using a single needle heat pulse probe. A normalized gravimetric moisture content was used as a common variable to relate the shrinkage curve and heat transfer data. Data suggests that the shrink-swell Rincon sediment portrays different behavior in drying than that which occurs for a non-shrink-swell soil. For the shrink-swell Rincon sediment, thermal conductivity is seen to increase with decreasing moisture, the suggested mechanism being increased surface area contact between particles as the shrinking sediment dries.

The thermal conductivity, thermopower, and electrical resistivity of (R1.5Ce0.5)RuSr2Cu2O10-delta (R=Gd, Eu) polycrystalline samples with different oxygen doping level are investigated in temperature range 1.8-300 K. Much attention is focused on the dependence of the effect of the annealing in high oxygen pressures as well as the effect of aging on transport coefficients in normal and superconducting states. It was found that the process of deoxydation goes faster for Ru-1222(Eu) samples than for Ru- 1222(Gd) samples, which results in more pronounced granular effects in Ru-1222(Eu) samples. The relative contribution to the thermal conductivity due to electrons and phonons was estimated by using the Wiedemann-Franz relation and the resistivity data. The calculation showed that the maximum electron contribution for Ru-1222(Eu) is about 0.75% and that for Ru-1222(Gd) samples is around 4 %.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 1964. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Mayor, James Rhett; Committee Member: Garimella, Srinivas; Committee Member: Jeter, Sheldon. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (MTech (Mechanical Engineering))--Peninsula Technikon, 1998. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-96). Also available online.

Several studies have been conducted in the past which determined that some near-infrared (NIR) sources are capable of inducing a thermal lens within ocular media of rhesus and, potentially, human subjects. Typically, the role of thermal lensing in the eye was explored in terms of its influence on damage thresholds for these NIR lasers entering the eye. However, the effect of a thermal lens on visible wavefronts entering the eye has yet to be explored. In recent years military and law enforcement agencies in the United States and elsewhere have devoted considerable resources to the area of "non-lethal weapons." Devices such as tasers, spike strips and ocular interruption (OI) devices provide the user with an escalation of force while minimizing casualties and collateral damage. One particular form of OI device, the laser dazzler, employs a visible laser capable of saturating retinal receptors causing a temporary flash blindness effect. While these visible devices have proven safe and effective in the field, an inherent risk exists when any light source is used to saturate retinal tissue. By adding the use of a thermal lens, these OI devices would create significant distortions in the visible wavefront to alter vision and/or increase the diameter of a focused visible dazzler at the retina to both improve safety and effectiveness of the visible device. This dissertation describes experiments involving artificial eye, human subject, and computational modeling which were conducted to quantify the impact of thermal lensing on visual acuity. / text

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Master / Master of Dental Surgery

The hydration of cement in concrete is exothermic, which means it gives off heat. In large elements, the heat caused by hydration can dissipate at the surface, but is trapped in the interior, resulting in potentially large thermal gradients. The thermal expansion of concrete is greater at higher temperatures, so if the temperature differential between the surface and the interior becomes too great, the interior will expand more than the exterior. When the thermal stress from this mis-matched expansion exceeds the tensile strength of the material, the concrete will crack. This phenomenon is referred to as thermal cracking. Accurate characterization of the progress of hydration of a concrete mixture is necessary to predict temperature gradients, maximum concrete temperature, thermal stresses, and relevant mechanical properties of concrete that will influence the thermal cracking risk of concrete. Calorimetry is the most direct test method to quantify the heat evolution from a concrete mixture. There is currently no model, based solely on calorimetry, which completely describes the effects of mixture proportions, cement and SCM chemistry, and chemical admixture dosages on the temperature sensitivity and adiabatic temperature rise of concrete. The objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive model to describe these effects. First, the temperature sensitivity of the hydration reaction (described with activation energy, E[subscript a]) is needed to accurately predict the behavior of concrete under a variety of temperature conditions. A multivariate regression model is from isothermal calorimetry testing to describe the effects of water-cementitious materials ratio, cement chemistry, supplementary cementing materials, and chemical admixtures on the E[subscript a] of portland cement pastes. Next, a multivariate regression model is developed from semiadiabatic calorimetry testing that predicts the temperature development of concrete mixtures based on mixture proportions, cement and SCM chemistry, and chemical admixture dosages. The results of the models are validated using data from literature. The final model provides a useful tool to assess the temperature development of concrete mixtures, and thereby reduce the thermal cracking risk of the concrete structure.