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The model consists of four phases: single electron dynamics, single electron avalanche, negative streamer development, and tree formation. Numerical algorithms and computer code implementations are presented for the first three phases. An approach to developing a code description of fourth phase is discussed. Numerical results are presented for a crude material model of Teflon.
Applying a magnetic field in the hexagonal plane of YMn 6 Sn 6 leads to a complex magnetic phase diagram of commensurate and incommensurate phases, one of which coexists with the topological Hall effect (THE) generated by a unique fluctuation-driven mechanism. Using unpolarized neutron diffraction, we report on the solved magnetic structure for two previously identified, but unknown, commensurate phases. These include a low-temperature, high-field fanlike phase and a room-temperature, low-field canted antiferromagnetic phase. Here, an intermediate incommensurate phase between the fanlike and forced ferromagnetic phases is also identified as the last known phase of the in-plane field-temperature diagram. Additional characterization using synchrotron powder diffraction reveals extremely high-quality, single-phase crystals, which suggests that the presence of two incommensurate magnetic structures throughout much of the phase diagram is an intrinsic property of the system. Interestingly, polarized neutron diffraction shows that the centrosymmetric system hosts preferential chirality in the zero-field double-flat-spiral phase, which, along with the THE, is a topologically nontrivial characteristic.
This study examines two pegmatitic monazite samples (2a and 4b, these numbers are related to a previous study) to determine their crystal chemistry and effects of internal radiation damage using synchrotron high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction and electron-probe micro-analysis. Both the huttonite and cheralite substitutions are discussed. Rietveld structure refinement of sample 2a shows three different phases [2a = monazite-(Ce), 2b = monazite-(Ce), and 2c = xenotime-(Y)] with distinct structural parameters. The changes among the unit-cell parameters between the two monazite-(Ce) phases is more pronounced in the a followed by the b and c unit-cell parameters. Sample 4a is a single-phase monazite-(Sm) that contains 0.164 apfu Th. Phase 2c with space group I41/amd arises from redistribution of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Si, and Y atoms from those in monazite (space group P21/n). A possible cause for the phase transition from monazite-(Ce) to xenotime-(Y) is α-radiation events over a long geological time. However, other chemical processes cannot be ruled out as a cause for the transition.
A new skutterudite phase Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3 was prepared. This new phase adds to a large number of already known materials with the skutterudite structure which have shown good potential for thermoelectric applications. Single phase, polycrystalline samples were prepared and characterized by x-ray analysis, electron probe microanalysis, density, sound velocity, thermal-expansion coefficient, and differential thermal analysis measurements. Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3 has a cubic lattice, space group Im3 (T(sup 5, sub h)), with a = 9.298 A and decomposes at about 920 K. The Seebeck coefficient, the electrical resistivity, the Hall effect, and the thermal conductivity were measured on hot-pressed samples over a wide range of temperatures. Preliminary results show that Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3 behaves as a heavily doped semiconductor with an estimated band gap of about 0.6 eV. The lattice thermal conductivity of Ru(0.5)Pd(0.5)Sb3 is substantially lower than that of the binary isostructural compounds CoSb3 and IrSb3. The unusually low thermal conductivity might be explained by additional hole and charge transfer phonon scattering in this material. The potential of this material for thermoelectric applications is discussed.
In order to accommodate the growing thermal management needs of future space platforms, several two-phase active thermal control systems (ATCSs) have evolved and were included in the designs of space stations. Compared to the pumped single-phase liquid loops used in the conventional Space Transportation System and Spacelab, ATCSs offer significant benefits that may be realized by adopting a two-phase fluid-loop system. Alternately, dynamic power systems (DPSs), based on the Rankine cycle, seem inevitably to be required to supply the electrical power requirements of expanding space activities. Boiling heat transfer is one of the key technologies for both ATCSs and DPSs. Nucleate boiling near critical heat flux (CHF) can transport very large thermal loads with much smaller device size and much lower pumping power. However, boiling performance deteriorates in a reduced gravity environment and operation in the CHF regime is precarious because any slight overload will cause the heat transfer to suddenly move to the film boiling regime, which in turn, will result in burnout of the heat transfer surfaces. New materials, such as micro-configured metal-graphite composites, can provide a solution for boiling enhancement. It has been shown experimentally that this type of material manifests outstanding boiling heat transfer performance and their CHF is also extended to higher values. Due to the high thermal conductivity of graphite fiber (up to 1,200 W/m-K in the fiber direction), the composite surfaces are non-isothermal during the boiling process. The composite surfaces are believed to have a much wider safe operating region (a more uniform boiling curve in the CHF regime) because non-isothermal surfaces have been found to be less sensitive to variations of wall superheat in the CHF regime. The thermocapillary forces formed by the temperature difference between the fiber tips and the metal matrix play a more important role than the buoyancy in the bubble detachment, for the bubble detachment manifests itself by a necking process which should not be weakened by reduced gravity. In addition, the composite surfaces introduce no extra pressure drop, no fouling and do not impose significant primary or maintenance costs. All of these suggest that this type of composite is an ideal material for the challenge of accounting for both reliability and economy of the relevant components applied in the ATCSs, the DPSs and other devices in future space missions. The aim of the proposed work is to experimentally investigate high nucleate pool boiling performance on a micro-configured metal-graphite composite surface and to determine the mechanisms of the nucleate boiling heat transfer both experimentally and theoretically. Freon-113 and water will be used as the test liquids to investigate wettability effects on boiling characteristics. The Cu-Gr and Al-Gr composites with various volume fractions of graphite fibers will be tested to obtain the heat transfer characteristic data in the nucleate boiling region and in the CHF regime. In the experiments, the bubble emission and coalescence processes will be recorded by a video camera with a magnifying borescope probe immersed in the working fluid. The temperature profile in the thermal boundary layer on the composite surfaces will be measured by a group of micro thermocouples consisting of four ultra fine micro thermocouples. This instrument was developed and successfully used to measure the temperature profile of evaporating liquid thin layers by the proposers in a study performed at the NASA/Lewis Research Center. A two tier model to explain the nucleate boiling process and the performance enhancement on the composite surfaces has been suggested by the authors. According to the model, the thicknesses of the microlayer and the macrolayer underneath the bubbles and mushrooms, can be estimated by the geometry of the composite surface. The experimental results will be compared to the predictions from the model, and in turn, to revise and improve it.
Image pyramids provide useful information in determining structural response at low cost using commercially available cameras. The current effort applies previous work on the complex steerable pyramid to analyze and identify imperceptible linear motions in video. Instead of implicitly computing motion spectra through phase analysis of the complex steerable pyramid and magnifying the associated motions, instead present a visual technique and the necessary software to display the phase changes of high frequency signals within video. The present technique quickly identifies regions of largest motion within a video with a single phase visualization and without the artifacts of motion magnification, but requires use of the computationally intensive Fourier transform. While Riesz pyramids present an alternative to the computationally intensive complex steerable pyramid for motion magnification, the Riesz formulation contains significant noise, and motion magnification still presents large amounts of data that cannot be quickly assessed by the human eye. Thus, user-friendly software is presented for quickly identifying structural response through optical flow and phase visualization in both Python and MATLAB.
The synthesis of UC using carbothermic reduction of UO 2 and C mixtures has been well studied at high temperatures. However, the product phase behavior of carbothermic reduction at low temperatures (≤1773 K) is not well studied. Such a study is important as low temperatures permit single phase UC synthesis without forming secondary higher carbides, and it further supports the knowledge base of the process that needs to be used for transuranic elements such as plutonium that have high vapor pressures at elevated temperatures. Therefore, a low temperature carbothermic reduction of two different C/UO 2 molar ratios under inert and reducing environments have been studied here. Two different sample holding crucibles, alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) and graphite, were also used here to differentiate the hypostoichiometric (UC 1-a ) and oxygen dissolved (UC 1-x O x ) uranium monocarbide phases adding more details on the two systems. Also, the reaction kinetics involved in the formation of UC via the carbothermic reduction of UO 2 +C using product phases instead of evolved gases such as carbon monoxide is reported here. Under inert atmospheres but with significant oxygen partial pressures, the low temperature carbothermic reduction of UO 2 +C produced up to 90 wt.% UC 1-x O x type oxycarbides as was confirmed by Xray powder diffraction. Reducing Ar-4%H 2 environments at these temperatures were not successful in synthesizing UC as it reduces the amount of C required for the carbothermic reduction, leaving UC phase at a non-equilibrium state. Inert atmospheres with low or negligible oxygen partial pressures on the other hand produced near stoichiometric UC at high phase purity, especially at 1673 – 1773 K temperature range. An activation energy of 377±75 kJmol -1 was also calculated using product phase concentrations of the carbothermic reduction of UO 2 +C under these inert Ar (g) atmospheres.
Sm2Fe17C3 phase (2:17) is metastable and exhibits excellent intrinsic hard magnetic properties. Doping elements such as Ga facilitate the formation of a single-phase 2:17 structure in arc-melted Sm2Fe17Cx alloys, which opens a promising route for fabricating fully dense bulk Sm2Fe17Cx magnets via high-temperature techniques such as melting and sintering. First-principles electronic structure calculation indicates that Ga prefers to partially replace Fe at the 9d and 18h crystallographic sites in Sm2Fe17C3 and Sm2Fe17, respectively. This difference in site preference is attributed to the distinct chemical environments surrounding the Fe atoms in the two compounds. Ga substitution favors the Sm–Ga bonding formation while avoiding Ga–C interactions. Doped Ga atoms result in more negative formation energy in Sm2(Fe, Ga)17C3, indicating improved structural stability. Crystal Orbital Hamilton Population analysis reveals that carbon insertion weakens the bonding of Sm-Fe (18h) and Sm-Fe (18f) in Sm2Fe17C3. Ga doping facilitates electron redistribution across chemical bonds, thereby reinforcing Fe(18h)–Sm and Fe(18f)–Sm interactions and stabilizing the carbon-centered octahedral local structure. This synergistic effect contributes significantly to the observed enhancement in phase stability of Sm2(Fe, Ga)17Cx. These findings suggest that chemical bond engineering through the selective doping of Ga can enhance phase stability and facilitate the synthesis of Sm2Fe17C3, providing a viable strategy for developing advanced magnets.
This paper presents the magnetic design of a high-frequency three-phase rotary transformer for Wound Rotor Synchronous Motors (WRSM). The traditional DC field excitation of the WRSM is highly challenging as it relies on the brushed connection. The brush/slipring-based connections need cooling, sealing and prone to wear and tear requiring regular maintenance. The proposed three-phase rotary transformer replaces the traditional brushed excitation by a high-power density polyphase wireless excitation. Furthermore, compared to a traditional single-phase rotary transformer, the proposed three-phase rotary transformer significantly enhances the power density, and reduces the eddy current losses and the output voltage ripples.
Recent efforts to characterize small ( M w < 3 ) seismic events at local distances have become more important because of the increased observation of human-triggered and induced seismicity and the need to advance nuclear explosion monitoring capabilities. The signals generated by low-magnitude seismic sources necessitate the use of nearby short-period observations, which are sensitive to local geological heterogeneity. Local to near-regional distance ( < 300 km ) surface and shear waves can dominate short-period observations from small, shallow seismic sources. In this work, we utilize these observations to estimate precise, relative locations and magnitudes of ~ 700 industrial mining events in Wyoming, using nearly 360,000 observations. The precise, relative location estimates (with formal location uncertainty estimates of less than 1 km) collapse a diffuse collection of mining events into discrete clusters associated with individual blasting operations. We also invert the cross-correlation amplitudes to estimate precise, relative moment magnitude estimates, which help validate and identify disparities in the event sizes reported by regional network catalogs. Joint use of multiple phases allows for the inclusion of more seismic events due to the increase in the number of observations. In some cases, using a single phase allowed us to relocate only 50% of the original reported seismic events within a cluster. Combining shear- and surface-wave phases increased the number of events to above 90% of the original events, allowing us to characterize a broader range of event sizes, source to station distances, and event distributions. This analysis takes a step toward making a fuller characterization of small industrial seismic events observed at local distances.
Two condensers designed for use in dissipating heat carried by working fluids feature two-phase, self-adjusting configurations such that their working lengths automatically vary to suit their input power levels and/or heat-sink temperatures. A key advantage of these condensers is that they can function even if the temperatures of their heat sinks fall below the freezing temperatures of their working fluids and the fluids freeze. The condensers can even be restarted from the frozen condition. The top part of the figure depicts the layout of the first condenser. A two-phase (liquid and vapor) condenser/vapor tube is thermally connected to a heat sink typically, a radiatively or convectively cooled metal panel. A single-phase (liquid) condensate-return tube (return artery) is also thermally connected to the heat sink. At intervals along their lengths, the condenser/vapor tube and the return artery are interconnected through porous plugs. This condenser configuration affords tolerance of freezing, variable effective thermal conductance (such that the return temperature remains nearly constant, independently of the ultimate sink temperature), and overall pressure drop smaller than it would be without the porous interconnections. An additional benefit of this configuration is that the condenser can be made to recover from the completely frozen condition either without using heaters, or else with the help of heaters much smaller than would otherwise be needed. The second condenser affords the same advantages and is based on a similar principle, but it has a different configuration that affords improved flow of working fluid, simplified construction, reduced weight, and faster recovery from a frozen condition.
A single-shot, phase-diversity phase-retrieval method is demonstrated for directly characterizing the on-target focal spot at kilojoule energy in the OMEGA 60-beam laser. A 2D holographic grating that introduces diversity focal spots is installed in an existing on-target focal-spot diagnostic to obtain a single-shot diversity focal-spot image. A nonlinear optimization phase-retrieval algorithm with four diversity focal spots is employed to determine modal coefficients for the incident wavefront. The agreement between the measured and calculated focal spots is excellent. Furthermore, this approach can be easily adapted for other high-energy focal-spot diagnostics.
Traditional metallic alloys are mixtures of elements in which the atoms of minority species tend to be distributed randomly if they are below their solubility limit, or to form secondary phases if they are above it. The concept of multiple-principal-element alloys has recently expanded this view, as these materials are single-phase solid solutions of generally equiatomic mixtures of metallic elements. This group of materials has received much interest owing to their enhanced mechanical properties 1,2,3,4,5 . They are usually called medium-entropy alloys in ternary systems and high-entropy alloys in quaternary or quinary systems, alluding to their high degree of configurational entropy. However, the question has remained as to how random these solid solutions actually are, with the influence of short-range order being suggested in computational simulations but not seen experimentally 6,7 . In this paper we report the observation, using energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy, of structural features attributable to short-range order in the CrCoNi medium-entropy alloy. Increasing amounts of such order give rise to both higher stacking-fault energy and hardness. These findings suggest that the degree of local ordering at the nanometre scale can be tailored through thermomechanical processing, providing a new avenue for tuning the mechanical properties of medium- and high-entropy alloys.
As an mRNA-based vaccine, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has stringent cold storage requirements to preserve functionality of the mRNA active ingredient. To this end, lipid components of the vaccine formulation play an important role in stabilizing and protecting the mRNA molecule for long-term storage. The purpose of the current study was to measure molecular-level dynamics as a function of temperature in the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to gain microscopic insight into its thermal stability. Materials and Methods: We used quasielastic and inelastic neutron scattering to probe (1) the vaccine extracted from the manufacturer-supplied vials and (2) unperturbed vaccine in the original manufacturer-supplied vials. The latter measurement was possible due to the high penetrative power of neutrons. Upon warming from the low-temperature frozen state, the vaccine in its original form exhibits two-step melting, indicative of a two-phase morphology. Once the melting is completed (above 0 °C), vaccine re-freezing cannot restore its original two-phase state. This observation is corroborated by the changes in the molecular vibrational spectra. The molecular-level mobility measured in the resulting single-phase state of the re-frozen vaccine greatly exceeds the mobility measured in the original vaccine. Even a brief melting (above 0 °C) leads to an irreversible alteration of the two-phase morphology of the original vaccine formulation. Re-freezing of the vaccine results in a one-phase morphology with much increased molecular-level mobility compared to that in the original vaccine, suggesting irreversible deterioration of the vaccine’s in-storage stability. Neutron scattering can be used to distinguish between the vibrational spectra characteristic of the original and deteriorated vaccines contained in the unperturbed original manufacturer-supplied vials.
Mariner 10 images of Venus taken at several phase angles were photometrically reduced. The analysis shows that the phase function of the cloud particles is not isotropic, as had been deduced earlier from the brightness distribution on spacecraft images taken at a single phase angle, but has a broad minimum near 60 deg and is forward-scattering. The scattering properties are in quantitative agreement with previous deductions from earth-based polarization measurements by Hansen and his associates.
A new skutterudite phase Ru0.5Pd0.5 Sb3 was prepared. It adds to the many materials with the skutterudite structure that have shown a good potential for thermoelectric applications. Single- phase polycrystalline samples were prepared and characterized by x-ray analysis, electron probe microanalysis, density, sound velocity, thermal expansion coefficient, and differential thermal analysis measurements.
A theoretical and experimental investigation of single-phase and particle-laden weakly swirling jets was conducted. The jets were injected vertically downward from a 19 mm diameter tube with swirl numbers ranging from 0 to 0.33. The particle-laden jets had a single loading ratio (0.2) with particles having a SMD of 39 microns. Mean and fluctuating properties of both phases were measured using nonintrusive laser based methods while particle mass flux was measured using an isokinetic sampling probe. The continuous phase was analyzed using both a baseline kappa-epsilon turbulence model and an extended version with modifications based on the flux Richardson number to account for effects of streamline curvature. To highlight effects of interphase transport rates and particle/turbulence interactions, effects of the particles were analyzed as follows: (1) locally homogeneous flow (LHF) analysis, where interphase transport rates are assumed to be infinitely fast; (2) deterministic separated flow (DSF) analysis, where finite interphase transport rates are considered but particle/turbulence interactions are ignored; and (3) stochastic separated flow (SSF) analysis, where both effects are considered using random-walk computations.
A theoretical and experimental investigation of single-phase and particle-laden weakly swirling jets was conducted. The jets were injected vertically downward from a 19 mm diameter tube with swirl numbers ranging from 0 to 0.33. The particle-laden jets had a single loading ratio (0.2) with particles having an SMD of 39 micrometers. Mean and fluctuating properties of both phases were measured using nonintrusive laser based methods while particle mass flux was measured using an isokinetic sampling probe. The continuous phase was analyzed using both a baseline k-epsilon turbulence model and an extended version with modifications based on the flux Richardson number to account for effects of streamline curvature. To highlight effects of interphase transport rates and particle/turbulence interactions, effects of the particles were analyzed as follows: (1) locally homogeneous flow (LHF) analysis, where interphase transport rates are assumed to be infinitely fast; (2) deterministic separated flow (DSF) analysis, where finite interphase transport rates are considered but particle/turbulence interactions are ignored; and (3) stochastic separated flow (SSF) analysis, where both effects are considered using random-walk computations.