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At least 73 records · Page 4

Growth morphology with anisotropic surface kinetics

The morphological evolution of crystals growing from an incongruent vapor phase is studied using a Monte Carlo model, and the full range of growth morphologies is recovered. The diffusion in the bulk nutrient and the anisotropy in the interface kinetics are morphologically destabilizing and stabilizing, respectively. For a given set of simulation parameters and lattice symmetries there is a critical size, which scales linearly with the mean free path in the vapor, beyond which a crystal cannot retain its stable, macroscopically faceted growth shape. Surface diffusion stabilizes faceted growth on the shorter scale of the mean surface diffusion length. In simulations with a uniform drift superimposed on the random walk nutrient transport, crystal faces oriented toward the drift show enhanced morphological stability compared to the purely diffusive situation. Rotational drifts with periodic reversal of direction are morphologically stabilizing for all crystal facets.

Xiao, Rong-Fu↗

Role of calcium in growth inhibition induced by a novel cell surface sialoglycopeptide

Our laboratory has purified an 18 kDa cell surface sialoglycopeptide growth inhibitor (CeReS-18) from intact bovine cerebral cortex cells. Evidence presented here demonstrates that sensitivity to CeReS-18-induced growth inhibition in BALB-c 3T3 cells is influenced by calcium, such that a decrease in the calcium concentration in the growth medium results in an increase in sensitivity to CeReS-18. Calcium did not alter CeReS-18 binding to its cell surface receptor and CeReS-18 does not bind calcium directly. Addition of calcium, but not magnesium, to CeReS-18-inhibited 3T3 cells results in reentry into the cell cycle. A greater than 3-hour exposure to increased calcium is required for escape from CeReS-18-induced growth inhibition. The calcium ionophore ionomycin could partially mimic the effect of increasing extracellular calcium, but thapsigargin was ineffective in inducing escape from growth inhibition. Increasing extracellular calcium 10-fold resulted in an approximately 7-fold increase in total cell-associated 45Ca+2, while free intracellular calcium only increased approximately 30%. However, addition of CeReS-18 did not affect total cell-associated calcium or the increase in total cell-associated calcium observed with an increase in extracellular calcium. Serum addition induced mobilization of intracellular calcium and influx across the plasma membrane in 3T3 cells, and pretreatment of 3T3 cells with CeReS-18 appeared to inhibit these calcium mobilization events. These results suggest that a calcium-sensitive step exists in the recovery from CeReS-18-induced growth inhibition. CeReS-18 may inhibit cell proliferation through a novel mechanism involving altering the intracellular calcium mobilization/regulation necessary for cell cycle progression.

Non-NASA Center↗

Surface spikes - A perturbation of growth steps.

During the growth of NiBr 2 crystals by sublimation, it has been observed that in addition to the mechanism of growth spirals a secondary mode of nucleation can occur. This is an accelerated growth which appears in the form of surface spikes on growth steps. The surface spikes may move as much as 50 times faster than the unperturbed growth steps. The mechanism of formation is believed to begin with the nucleation of a liquid droplet which wets the growth step and produces the accelerated growth from the liquid phase. The growth occurs at 500°C below the melting point of NiBr 2 . It is believed that the nucleation of the liquid phase at these temperatures is impurity controlled.

Nickel compound↗

Growth and stability of interacting surface flaws of arbitrary shape

Growth regimes of interacting surface flaws of arbitrary shape are analyzed with the aid of the body force method, and the stability of the process is assessed on the basis of the variation of the load during the growth. It is shown that irregularly shaped flaws are often associated with very high stress intensity factors locally, which tend to change as the flaws grow into more regular shapes. Several examples of various flaw shapes are worked out for illustration, and it is shown that a simple formula seems to provide an accurate estimate of the maximum stress intensity factor for surface flaws of various shapes, which are not very slender. The formula involves the overall maximum tension, as well as the area of the projection of the flaw on the plane normal to the maximum tension.

Murakami, Y.↗

Removal of ice and marine growth from ship surfaces: A concept

Proposed surface is structured from sections of low-melting-point alloy. Sections are separated by network of passages for compressed air. Ice or barnacles are removed by passing electrical current through alloy and bursts of compressed air through passages.

Bauman, A. J.↗

Microbial Characterization of Heat Melt Compaction for Treatment of Space Generated Solid Wastes

One treatment process in development for solid waste management in space has been the Trash Compaction Processing System (TCPS). Human space mission wastes typically contain large percentages of contaminated wet solid waste. The Heat Melt Compactor (HMC) is being developed to be a multi-function means of water recovery, volume reduction, and the making safe of contaminant-rich trash with the potential for waste stabilization and/or sterilization. To determine the efficacy of the HMC treatment to kill microorganisms in solid waste and remain biologically stable, testing was conducted on three tiles produced by HMC-Gen 2 at Ames Research Center. Samples were shipped to Kennedy Space Center to test for microbial viability after compaction, determine the bio-stability of the HMC disks during storage (43 days), and assess potential airborne contaminate microbial growth on surfaces at low and high humidity conditions. In addition to the products of solid waste processing technologies, there is a concern that the crew might come into contact with hardware surfaces that have been contaminated by microorganisms during waste processing. The extent of microbial surface contamination of waste processing hardware was determined by surface sample swabbing and analysis for total bacterial and yeast counts and cultivable counts of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, spore-forming bacteria, and fungi. Results indicate that trash processing increased bacterial counts on the surfaces of the compacter. All but one biological indicator spore strip imbedded in the HMC produced tiles were negative for growth after incubation for five days indicating effective sterilization through the heat melt compaction process. Analysis of core samples as well as surface growth of tiles inoculated with Aspergillus niger fungal spores incubated at three levels of humidity indicate that HMC created tiles did not support the proliferation of bacterial and fungal growth.

Mary E Hummerick↗

Cone formation as a result of whisker growth on ion bombarded metal surfaces

It is shown experimentally that the seed metals which can cause cone development on ion bombarded metal targets need not to have a lower sputtering yield as widely believed but rather a higher melting point. By lowering the bombarding ion energy to near sputtering threshold values (less than 100 eV) the growth of genuine single crystal whiskers which point in all directions not related to the direction of ion incidence is observed. It is concluded that (intentional or unintentional) seed cones are the result of an interplay among whisker growth, surface movement of atoms, and the effects of sputtering.

Wehner, G. K.↗

Instability and sound emission from a flow over a curved surface

The growth and decay of a wavepacket convecting in a boundary layer over a concave-convex surface is studied numerically using direct computations of the Navier-Stokes equations. The resulting sound radiation is computed using the linearized Euler equations with the pressure from the Navier-Stokes solution as a time-dependent boundary condition. It is shown that on the concave portion the amplitude of the wavepacket increases and its bandwidth broadens while on the convex portion some of the components in the packet are stabilized. The pressure field decays exponentially away from the surface and then algebraically exhibits a decay characteristic of acoustic waves in two dimensions. The far-field acoustic pressure exhibits a peak at a frequency corresponding to the inflow instability frequency.

Maestrello, L.↗

Influence of electrolytes on growth, phototropism, nutation and surface potential in etiolated cucumber seedlings

A variety of electrolytes (10-30 mol m-3) increased the relative growth rate of etiolated cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Burpee's Pickler) hypocotyls by 20-50% relative to water-only controls. The nonelectrolyte mannitol inhibited growth by 10%. All salts tested were effective, regardless of chemical composition or valence. Measurements of cell-sap osmolality ruled out an osmotic mechanism for the growth stimulation by electrolytes. This, and the nonspecificity of the response, indicate that an electrical property of the solutions was responsible for their growth-stimulating activity. Measurements of surface electrical potential supported this reasoning. Treatment with electrolytes also enhanced nutation and altered the pattern of phototropic curvature development. A novel analytical method for quantitating these effects on growth was developed. The evidence indicates that electrolytes influence an electrophysiological parameter that is involved in the control of cell expansion and the coordination of growth underlying tropisms and nutations.

Non-NASA Center↗

Mechanism for diamond nucleation and growth on single crystal copper surfaces implanted with carbon

The nucleation and growth of diamond crystals on single-crystal copper surfaces implanted with carbon ions is studied. Microwave plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition is used for diamond growth. The single-crystal copper substrates were implanted either at room or elevated temperature with carbon ions prior to diamond nucleation. This procedure leads to the formation of a graphite film on the copper surface which greatly enhances diamond crystallite nucleation. A simple lattice model is constructed for diamond growth on graphite as 111 line (diamond) parallel to 0001 line (graphite) and 110 line (diamond) parallel to 1 1 -2 0 (graphite).

Ong, T. P.↗

Crack-closure and crack-growth measurements in surface-flawed titanium alloy Ti6Al-4V

The crack-closure and crack-growth characteristics of the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V were determined experimentally on surface-flawed plate specimens. Under cyclic loading from zero to tension, cracks deeper than 1 mm opened at approximately 50 percent of the maximum load. Cracks shallower than 1 mm opened at higher loads. The correlation between crack-growth rate and the total stress-intensity range showed a lower threshold behavior. This behavior was attributed to the high crack-opening loads at short cracks because the lower threshold was much less evident in correlations between the crack-growth rates and the effective stress-intensity range.

Elber, W.↗

Observations of and a new model for fetch-limited wave growth

The Surface Contour Radar (SCR) is a 36-GHz computer-controlled airborne radar which generates a false-color coded elevation map of the sea surface below the aircraft in real time. In the present paper, SCR observations are discussed which demonstrate the existence of a full developed sea state. These observations are used to judge the validity of growth rates for fetch-limited wave spectrum development and lead to new refinements in the modeling of wave generation by wind. It is noted that the observations have resolved an apparent paradox in the JONSWAP and Donelan et al. (1985) fetch-limited algorithms.

Walsh, E. J.↗

Effect of surface topography on structural growth of thick sputtered films

Primarily thick sputtered S-Monel, silver, and 304 stainless steel coatings were deposited on mica, glass, and metal substrates with various surface finishes to investigate the structural growth of the coating by scanning electron microscopy. Compositional changes within the coating were analyzed by X-ray dispersion microscopy. Defects in the surface finish act as preferential nucleation sites and form isolated and complex nodules and various surface overgrowths in the coating. These nodules do not disappear after full annealing. Further, they have undesirable effects on mechanial properties; cracks are initiated at the nodules when the coating is stressed by mechanical forces. These effects are illustrated by micrographs. Nodular growth within a coating can be minimized or eliminated by reducing the surface roughness.

Spalvins, T.↗