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At least 91 records · Page 5

Scanning-electron-microscopy observations and mechanical characteristics of ion-beam-sputtered surgical implant alloys

An electron bombardment ion thruster was used as an ion source to sputter the surfaces of orthopedic prosthetic metals. Scanning electron microscopy photomicrographs were made of each ion beam textured surface. The effect of ion texturing an implant surface on its bond to bone cement was investigated. A Co-Cr-W alloy and surgical stainless steel were used as representative hard tissue implant materials to determine effects of ion texturing on bulk mechanical properties. Work was done to determine the effect of substrate temperature on the development of an ion textured surface microstructure. Results indicate that the ultimate strength of the bulk materials is unchanged by ion texturing and that the microstructure will develop more rapidly if the substrate is heated prior to ion texturing.

Weigand, A. J.↗

Mechanical properties and the electronic structure of transition of metal alloys

This interdiscipline research program was undertaken in an effort to investigate the relationship between the mechanical strength of Mo based alloys with their electronic structure. Electronic properties of these alloys were examined through optical studies, and the classical solid solution strengthening mechanisms were considered, based on size and molecular differences to determine if these mechanisms could explain the hardness data.

Arsenault, R. J.↗

Quantum-mechanical treatment of an electron undergoing synchrotron radiation.

The problem of an electron moving perpendicular to an intense magnetic field is approached from the framework of quantum mechanics. A numerical solution to the related rate equations describing the probabilities of occupation of the electron's energy states is put forth along with the expected errors involved. The quantum-mechanical approach is found to predict a significant amount of energy broadening with time for an initially monoenergetic electron beam entering a region of an intense magnetic field as long as the product of initial energy and magnetic field is of order 50 MG BeV or larger.

White, D.↗

The quiet time structure of energetic /35-560 keV/ radiation belt electrons

Detailed Explorer 45 observations of quiet time pitch angle distributions and equatorial radial profiles of energetic radiation belt electrons are presented. The observed pitch angle distributions in the slot region and the outer regions of the plasmasphere are found to agree with the values expected from resonant interactions with the plasmaspheric whistler mode wave band, and Coulomb collisions are found to be the dominant electron loss mechanism in the inner zone. The overall structure of quiet time radial profiles is shown to agree with the equilibrium structure expected to result from a balance between pitch angle scattering losses and radial diffusion from an outer zone source, and this agreement suggests that the dominant quiet time source and loss mechanisms have been correctly identified. Electron fluxes in the inner plasmasphere are found to remain nearly constant during the quiet periods due to their decoupling from magnetic activity variations in the outer plasmasphere.

Lyons, L. R.↗

Electron acceleration by Alfven waves in the magnetosphere

The self-consistent electron kinetics of Alfven waves on the electron inertial scale is studied using a 2D hybrid-kinetic description. The ions follow a fluid description for Alfven waves at frequencies below the ion cyclotron frequency. The parallel electron dynamics is treated kinetically using particle-in-cell techniques. In this model, the electron plasma mode is eliminated, and only the physics of the Alfven waves is retained. At sufficiently large amplitudes, it is found that oblique Alfven waves break due to finite electron inertia in a cold plasma. The consequence of wave breaking is the formation of an electron beam which can be unstable to the beam-plasma instability. The electrons supporting the parallel current thermalize into a non-Maxwellian distribution with an energetic tail up to several keV, assuming a reasonable magnetospheric Alfven speed. In hot plasma simulations, electron trapping is the principal mechanism of electron acceleration. It is proposed that wave breaking or electron trapping of oblique Alfven waves at 1 R(E) can result in electron acceleration and may explain some observed auroral phenomena.

Hui, C.-H.↗

In-Situ Scanning Electron Microscope Experiments for Microscale Mechanical Testing and Validated Modeling of Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics

A novel, in-situ, scanning electron microscope (SEM) mechanical testing capability for materials at the microscale which provides experimental validation to a machine learning (ML) toolset for full-field validation of physics-based micromechanics models is being developed by researchers at NASA Glenn Research Center. These are enabling technologies for the integration of multiscale digital twins for materials into system level models which will result in the improved performance, material discovery, reduced production cost and time, rapid characterization, and prognostic structural health monitoring (SHM) for materials and structures for extreme environments in support of NASA space exploration missions. In order to bridge the material structure-to-system gap for digital twins, physics-based models must be experimentally validated at multiple length scales. Seminal microscale experiments, conducted at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), were limited to transverse compression of single-layer, unidirectional thermoset polymer matrix composite (PMC) micropillar specimens [1]. The early phases of the current project followed those initial results and setup to reproduce the compression testing of PMC material on the custom-built piezoelectric actuated micromechanical testing rig built by MicroTesting Solutions LLC. In this work, samples of thermoplastic PMC material were first machined into 3 mm cubes, and then further machining and final milling was done using a Focused Ion Beam (FIB). The initial experiment was done on a pillar roughly 20 µm x 20 µm x 40 µm tall. Additional pillars were milled with final sizes ranging from 20 µm x 20 µm x 40 µm tall to 40 µm x 40 µm x 65 µm tall. A speckle pattern for in-situ full-field measurements using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) was applied with platinum, which was coated on the surface, and then the FIB was used to mill away some of the coating to produce an irregular pattern of Pt on the pillar surface. The samples were loaded into the custom testing rig and placed into the SEM and loaded under compression until failure. Images were collected in the SEM during testing. Post-processing of the images was conducted using DIC to obtain full-field displacement and strain measurements elucidating the role of the matrix as well as fiber-fiber interaction at the microscale within the composite subjected to compression loading well into the non-linear regime of the material. Moreover, the evolution of fiber-matrix debonding and matrix cracking is observed in-situ at the microscale. This data, along with images segmented with a newly developed ML toolset [2], was used to create and validate physics-based micromechanics models. An image of the failed micropillar is shown in Figure 1. The techniques developed in the initial compression experiment was tailored to the validation needs of the models and expanded to include different sized samples as well as possibly tension and fatigue.

Laura Wilson↗

Critical ionization velocity interaction in the CRIT I rocket experiment

In the rocket experiment CRIT I, launched from Wallops Island on May 13, 1986, two identical Barium-shaped charges were fired from distances of 1.3 km and 3.6 km towards the main experiment payload, which was separated from a sub-payload by a couple of km along the magnetic field. The relevance of earlier proposed mechanisms for electron heating in ionospheric critical velocity experiments is investigated in the light of the CRIT I results. It is concluded that both the 'homogeneous' and the 'ionizing front' models can be applied, in different parts of the stream. It is also possible that a third, entirely different, mechanism may contribute to the electron heating. This mechanism involves direct energization of electrons in the magnetic-field-aligned component of the dc electric field.

Brenning, N.↗

Investigation of the aluminium-aluminium oxide reversible transformation as observed by hot stage electron microscopy.

Thin foils of high purity aluminium and an Al-Al2O3 SAP type of alloy were oxidised in a specially designed hot stage specimen chamber in an electron microscope. Below 450 C, amorphous aluminium oxide formed on the foil surface and was first detectable at foil edges, holes, and pits. Islands of aluminium then nucleated in this amorphous oxide. The aluminium islands displayed either a lateral growth with eventual coalescence with other islands, or a reoxidation process which caused the islands to disappear. The aluminium island formation was determined to be related to the presence of the electron beam. A mechanism based upon electron charging due to the electron beam was proposed to explain the nucleation, growth, coalescence, disappearance, and geometry of the aluminium islands.

Grove, C. A.↗

Comparative characteristics of electron energy spectrum in PIG and arc type discharge plasmas

The electron distribution functions relative to the velocity component directed along the magnetic field are compared for PIG and arc type discharges. The identity of these functions for the plasma region pierced by the primary electron beam and their difference in the peripheral part of the discharge are shown. It is concluded that the electron distribution function in the PIG type discharge is formed during one transit of the primary electron through the discharge gap. The mechanisms of electron energy spectrum formation in both the axis region and the peripheral region of the discharge are discussed.

Romanyuk, L. I.↗

Upper atmosphere of Jupiter - A post Voyager perspective

Some significant upper atmosphere features of Jupiter are discussed with reference to the Voyager observations of 1979. From the time of Pioneer observations in 1973-1974, the Jovian upper atmospheric temperature has increased by about 30%, the eddy diffusion coefficient at the homopause decreased by a factor of 100, the equatorial disk Lyman alpha intensity increased by a factor of 30, and the equatorial ionosphere became more extensive and showed diurnal variation. Important potential candidates for upper atmosphere energetics are thought to be the penetration of the magnetospheric soft electrons, Joule heating mechanism, and auroral electrons.

Atreya, S. K.↗

Mechanical properties of electron-beam-melted molybdenum and dilute molybdenum-rhenium alloys

A study of molybdenum and three dilute molybdenum-rhenium alloys was undertaken to determine the effects of rhenium on the low temperature ductility and other mechanical properties of molybdenum. Alloys containing 3.9, 5.9, and 7.7 atomic percent rhenium exhibited lower ductile-brittle transition temperatures than did the unalloyed molybdenum. The maximum improvement in the annealed condition was observed for molybdenum - 7.7 rhenium, which had a ductile-brittle transition temperature approximately 200 C (360 F) lower than that for unalloyed molybdenum. Rhenium additions also increased the low and high temperature tensile strengths and the high temperature creep strength of molybdenum. The mechanical behavior of dilute molybdenum-rhenium alloys is similar to that observed for dilute tungsten-rhenium alloys.

Klopp, W. D.↗

Mechanical properties of electron-beam-melted molybdenum and dilute Mo-Re alloys.

Study of Mo-Re alloys aimed at examining the effects of small rhenium additions on the low-temperature ductility of molybdenum and determining the mechanical properties of dilute Mo-Re alloys. The results obtained indicate that high-purity Mo-Re alloys have ductile-brittle transition temperatures considerably lower than those for unalloyed molybdenum and that rhenium promotes normal solid-solution strengthening in molybdenum at elevated temperatures.

Klopp, W. D.↗

Mechanisms for the Dissipation of Alfven Waves in Near-Earth Space Plasma

Alfven waves are a major mechanism for the transport of electromagnetic energy from the distant part of the magnetosphere to the near-Earth space. This is especially true for the auroral and polar regions of the Earth. However, the mechanisms for their dissipation have remained illusive. One of the mechanisms is the formation of double layers when the current associated with Alfven waves in the inertial regime interact with density cavities, which either are generated nonlinearly by the waves themselves or are a part of the ambient plasma turbulence. Depending on the strength of the cavities, weak and strong double layers could form. Such double layers are transient; their lifetimes depend on that of the cavities. Thus they impulsively accelerate ions and electrons. Another mechanism is the resonant absorption of broadband Alfven- wave noise by the ions at the ion cyclotron frequencies. But this resonant absorption may not be possible for the very low frequency waves, and it may be more suited for electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves. A third mechanism is the excitation of secondary waves by the drifts of electrons and ions in the Alfven wave fields. It is found that under suitable conditions, the relative drifts between different ion species and/or between electrons and ions are large enough to drive lower hybrid waves, which could cause transverse accelerations of ions and parallel accelerations of electrons. This mechanism is being further studied by means of kinetic simulations using 2.5- and 3-D particle-in-cell codes. The ongoing modeling efforts on space weather require quantitative estimates of energy inputs of various kinds, including the electromagnetic energy. Our studies described here contribute to the methods of determining the estimates of the input from ubiquitous Alfven waves.

Singh, Nagendra↗