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Measurements of the top - anti-top Production Cross Section at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV and Top Mass in the Dielectron Channel (open access)

Measurements of the top - anti-top Production Cross Section at s**(1/2) = 1.96-TeV and Top Mass in the Dielectron Channel

The first measurement of the top-antitop production cross section in proton-antiproton collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV using 243 pb{sup -1} of data collected with the D0 detector at Fermilab is presented. In this analysis, only the dielectron final state is considered. Five events are observed, and 0.93 background events are expected. The measured cross section, after accounting for the expected branching ratio to the dielectron channel, is {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} = 14.9{sub -7.0}{sup +9.4}(stat){sub -1.8}{sup +2.5}(syst) {+-} 1.0 (lumi) pb, which agrees with the predicted cross section for top quarks with a mass of 175 GeV. In addition, a first-pass at a measurement of the top mass using the neutrino-weighting method is presented. This measurement is also performed in the dielectron channel using the five events observed in the cross section measurement.
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Kozminski, Joseph Francis
System: The UNT Digital Library
High Transverse Momentum Direct Photon Production at Fermilab Fixed-Target Energies (open access)

High Transverse Momentum Direct Photon Production at Fermilab Fixed-Target Energies

This thesis describes a study of the production of high transverse momentum direct photons and {pi}{sup 0} mesons by proton beams at 530 and 800 GeV/c and {pi}{sup -} beams at 515 GeV/c incident on beryllium, copper, and liquid hydrogen targets. The data were collected by Fermilab experiment E706 during the 1990 and 1991-92 fixed target runs. The apparatus included a large, finely segmented lead and liquid argon electromagnetic calorimeter and a charged particle spectrometer featuring silicon strip detectors in the target region and proportional wire chambers and drift tubes downstream of a large aperture analysis magnet. The inclusive cross sections are presented as functions of transverse momentum and rapidity. The measurements are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and to results from previous experiments.
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Apanasevich, Leonard
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Measurement of the Neutrino Neutral Current Pi0 Cross Section at MiniBooNE (open access)

A Measurement of the Neutrino Neutral Current Pi0 Cross Section at MiniBooNE

The MiniBooNE neutrino beam and detector at Fermilab are used to study the production of neutral current {pi}{sup 0} events. The cross sections for neutrino interactions with mineral oil (CH{sub 2}) are reported for resonantly produced and coherently produced single {pi}{sup 0} events. We measure a resonant single {pi}{sup 0} cross section of {sigma}({nu}{sub {mu}} N {pi}{sup 0}) = (0.0129 {+-} 0.0011(stat.) {+-} 0.0043(syst.)) x 10{sup -36} cm{sup 2}/CH{sub 2} at a mean neutrino energy of 1.26 GeV. We measure a coherent single {pi}{sup 0} cross section of {sigma}({nu}{sub {mu}} A {yields} {nu}{sub {mu}} A {pi}{sup 0}) = (0.00077 {+-} 0.00016 (stat.) {+-} 0.00036 (syst.)) x 10{sup -36} cm{sup 2}/CH{sub 2} at mean neutrino energy 1.12 GeV.
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Raaf, Jennifer Lynne & U., /Cincinnati
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Precision Measurement of the Top Quark Mass (open access)

A Precision Measurement of the Top Quark Mass

This dissertation describes the measurement of the top quark mass using events recorded during a {approx} 230 pb{sup -1} exposure of the D0 detector to proton-anti-proton (p{bar p}) collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts that the top quark will decay into a bottom quark and a W boson close to 100% of the time. The bottom quark will hadronize (bind with another quark) and produce a jet of hadronic particles. The W bosons can decay either into a charged lepton and a neutrino or a pair of quarks. this dissertation focuses on the top quark (t{bar t}) events in which one W decays hadronically and the other decays leptonically. Two methods of identifying t{bar t} events from the large number of events produced are used. The first is based on the unique topology of the final state particles of a heavy particle. By using the topological information of the event, the t{bar t} events can be efficiently extracted from the background. The second method relies on the identification of the remnants of the long lived bottom quarks that are expected to be produced in the decay of almost every …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Black, Kevin Matthew & U., /Boston
System: The UNT Digital Library
Measurement of differential cross sections and Cx and Cz for gamma photon-proton going to kaon-lambda baryon and gamma photon-proton going to kaon-sigma baryon using CLAS at Jefferson Lab (open access)

Measurement of differential cross sections and Cx and Cz for gamma photon-proton going to kaon-lambda baryon and gamma photon-proton going to kaon-sigma baryon using CLAS at Jefferson Lab

This work presents several observables for the reactions γ<italic> p</italic> → <italic>K</italic><super>+</super>Λ and γ<italic> p</italic> → <italic>K</italic><super>+</super>Σ°. In addition to measuring differential cross sections, we have made first measurements of the double polarization observables <italic>C<sub>x</sub></italic> and <italic> C<sub>z</sub></italic>. <italic>C<sub>x</sub></italic> and <italic>C<sub> z</sub></italic> characterize the transfer of polarization from the incident photon to the produced hyperons. Data were obtained at Jefferson Lab using a circularly polarized photon beam at endpoint energies of 2.4, 2.9, and 3.1 GeV. Events were detected with the CLAS spectrometer. In the Λ channel, the cross sections support the recent observation of new resonant structure at <italic>W</italic> = 1900 MeV. Studies of the invariant cross section, <math> <f> <fr><nu>d<g>s</g></nu><de>dd</de></fr></f> </math> show scaling behavior suggesting that the production mechanism becomes <italic> t</italic>-channel dominated near threshold at forward kaon angles. The double polarization observables show that the recoiling Λ is almost maximally polarized along the direction of the incident photon from mid to forward kaon angles. While Σ<super>o</super> differential cross sections are of the same magnitude as the Λ differential cross sections, there is evidence of different physics dominating the production mechanism. The Σ° invariant cross sections do not show the same <italic>t</italic>-scaling behavior present in the Λ results. …
Date: May 11, 2005
Creator: Bradford, Robert
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biomolecular Assembly of Gold Nanocrystals (open access)

Biomolecular Assembly of Gold Nanocrystals

Over the past ten years, methods have been developed to construct discrete nanostructures using nanocrystals and biomolecules. While these frequently consist of gold nanocrystals and DNA, semiconductor nanocrystals as well as antibodies and enzymes have also been used. One example of discrete nanostructures is dimers of gold nanocrystals linked together with complementary DNA. This type of nanostructure is also known as a nanocrystal molecule. Discrete nanostructures of this kind have a number of potential applications, from highly parallel self-assembly of electronics components and rapid read-out of DNA computations to biological imaging and a variety of bioassays. My research focused in three main areas. The first area, the refinement of electrophoresis as a purification and characterization method, included application of agarose gel electrophoresis to the purification of discrete gold nanocrystal/DNA conjugates and nanocrystal molecules, as well as development of a more detailed understanding of the hydrodynamic behavior of these materials in gels. The second area, the development of methods for quantitative analysis of transmission electron microscope data, used computer programs written to find pair correlations as well as higher order correlations. With these programs, it is possible to reliably locate and measure nanocrystal molecules in TEM images. The final area of …
Date: May 20, 2005
Creator: Micheel, Christine Marya
System: The UNT Digital Library
Systematic Comparison of the MINOS Near and Far Detector Readout Systems (open access)

Systematic Comparison of the MINOS Near and Far Detector Readout Systems

The MINOS experiment is a neutrino oscillation baseline experiment intending to use high resolution L/E neutrinos to measure the atmospheric neutrino oscillations parameters to unprecedented precision. Two detectors have been built to realize the measurements, a Near detector, located about 1km downstream from the beam target at the Fermi Laboratory, and a Far detector, located at 736km, at the Soudan Laboratory. The technique relies on the Near detector to measure the un-oscillated neutrino spectrum, while the Far detector measures the neutrino spectrum once oscillated. The comparison between the two measurements is expected to allow MINOS to measure {Delta}m{sup 2} beyond 10% precision level. The Near and Far detectors have been built similarly to minimize possible systematic effects. Both detectors have been endowed with different readout systems, as the beam event rates are very different. The MINOS calibration detector (CalDet), installed at CERN, was instrumented with both readout systems such that they can simultaneously measure and characterize the energy deposition (response and event topology) of incident known particle from test-beams. This thesis presents the investigations to quantify the impact of the performance of both readout systems on the MINOS results using the measurements obtained with CalDet. The relative comparison of the …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Cabrera, Anatael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Length-Limited Data Transformation and Compression (open access)

Length-Limited Data Transformation and Compression

Scientific computation is used for the simulation of increasingly complex phenomena, and generates data sets of ever increasing size, often on the order of terabytes. All of this data creates difficulties. Several problems that have been identified are (1) the inability to effectively handle the massive amounts of data created, (2) the inability to get the data off the computer and into storage fast enough, and (3) the inability of a remote user to easily obtain a rendered image of the data resulting from a simulation run. This dissertation presents several techniques that were developed to address these issues. The first is a prototype bin coder based on variable-to-variable length codes. The codes utilized are created through a process of parse tree leaf merging, rather than the common practice of leaf extension. This coder is very fast and its compression efficiency is comparable to other state-of-the-art coders. The second contribution is the Piecewise-Linear Haar (PLHaar) transform, a reversible n-bit to n-bit wavelet-like transform. PLHaar is simple to implement, ideal for environments where transform coefficients must be kept the same size as the original data, and is the only n-bit to n-bit transform suitable for both lossy and lossless coding.
Date: May 17, 2005
Creator: Senecal, J G
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fragmentation of quark and gluon jets in proton-antiproton collisions at center-of-mass energy of 1.8-TeV (open access)

Fragmentation of quark and gluon jets in proton-antiproton collisions at center-of-mass energy of 1.8-TeV

The author reports the first model independent measurement of charged particle multiplicities in quark and gluon jets, N{sub q} and N{sub g}, produced at the Tevatron in p{bar p} collisions with center-of-mass energy 1.8 TeV and recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The measurements are made for jets with average energies 41 and 53 GeV by counting charged particle tracks in cones with opening angle of {theta}{sub c} = 0.28, 0.36, and 0.47 rad around the jet axis. The corresponding jet hardness Q = E{sub jet}{theta}{sub c} varies in the range from 12 GeV to 25 GeV. At Q = 19.2 GeV, the ratio of multiplicities r = N{sub g}/N{sub q} is found to be 1.64 {+-} 0.17, where statistical and systematic uncertainties are added in quadrature. The results are in agreement with re-summed perturbative QCD calculations and are consistent with recent e{sup +}e{sup -} measurements.
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Pronko, Alexandre P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Search for the electroweak production of the top quark in the D0 experiment (open access)

Search for the electroweak production of the top quark in the D0 experiment

None
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Agelou, Mathieu
System: The UNT Digital Library
Measurements of CP Violation and Neutral Kaon Charge Radius using K(L) --> pi+pi-e+e- Decays. (open access)

Measurements of CP Violation and Neutral Kaon Charge Radius using K(L) --> pi+pi-e+e- Decays.

CP violation and K{sup 0} charge radius were measured using K{sub L} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}e{sup +}e{sup -} decays. Specifically, a unique CP-violating decay-plane asymmetry was measured along with the parameters of individual contributions to the decay invariant amplitude: (1) CP-conserving magnetic dipole direct emission form factor, (2) CP-conserving K{sup 0} charge radius transition amplitude and (3) an upper limit for the CP-violating electric dipole direct emission amplitude. The measurements were obtained from the data sample accumulated by KTeV experiment at Fermilab. KTeV had two major goals: the measurement of direct CP violation parameter Re({var_epsilon}{prime}/{var_epsilon}) and the study of rare kaon decays. The state of the art detector was constructed, commissioned, operated and maintained by an international collaboration of scientists from fourteen institutions. The K{sub L} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} e{sup +}e{sup -} data was accumulated over the 1997 and 1999 running periods. During that time hundreds of billions K{sub L} decays took place in the KTeV fiducial decay region.
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Golossanov, Alexander & U., /Virginia
System: The UNT Digital Library
Study of the Asymmetric Photoproduction of Charmed Mesons using Data from the FOCUS Experiment (open access)

Study of the Asymmetric Photoproduction of Charmed Mesons using Data from the FOCUS Experiment

Using data from the fixed target charm-photoproduction experiment, Fermilab FOCUS/E831, they studied the asymmetric production of the mesons: D{sup 0}, D{sup +} y D{sub s}{sup +}. Even when the asymmetry in the production of charm particles, defined as the ratio between particles and antiparticles, at next leading order in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is almost zero, in data we observe asymmetries probably associate dto the fragmentation processes. Since these are the less understood phenomena in QCD, the results in the present work could be of great importance to understand them. We found asymmetries in the production of the mesons D{sup +} and D{sup 0} (statistic significant), for the D{sub s}{sup +} we only observed an asymmetry not conclusive. We also report a study of the production asymmetries vs. the kinematic variables: p{sub T}{sup 2} (square transversal momentum of the particles), p{sub L} or p{sub Z} (longitudinal momentum), x{sub F} (Feynman x) and E{sub {gamma}} (photon beam energy).
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Vazquez-Valencia, Elsa Fabiola
System: The UNT Digital Library
Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity ofbis(1,2,4-tri-t-butylcyclopentadienyl) Complexes of Cerium (open access)

Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity ofbis(1,2,4-tri-t-butylcyclopentadienyl) Complexes of Cerium

The sterically demanding 1,2,4-tri-t-butylcyclopentadienylligand (1,2,4-(Me3C)3C5H2, hereafter Cp') has been used to preparemonomeric cerium metallocenes, Cp 2CeX (X = Cl, I, OSO2CF3), which areused to synthesize the benzyl, Cp'2CeCH2C6H5. The benzyl is a usefulstarting material for preparing other complexes in the Cp'2CeZ system (Z= BF4, F, NH2, C6H5, H). X-ray crystal structures of Cp'2CeOSO2CF3,Cp'2CeF, Cp'2CeCH2C6H5, and Cp'2CeH are presented. The benzyl slowlydecomposes in solution to toluene and a metallacycle,[Cp'][(Me3C)2C5H2(CMe2CH2)]Ce. The ring CMe3 groups of both themetallacycle and the hydride, Cp'2CeH, can be fully deuterated byprolonged exposure to C6D6, providing a useful labeling tool inmechanistic studies.The hydride activates C-F and/or C-H bonds influorobenzenes, C6HxF6-x , x = 0-5. The reactions are selective, with theselectivity depending on the presence of two fluorines ortho to thereaction site more than on the type of bond activated. Complexes of thetype Cp'2CeC6HxF5-x , x = 0-4, are formed as intermediates, which slowlydecompose in solution to Cp'2CeF and fluorobenzynes, C6HxF4-x, x = 0-4,which are trapped. The rate at which Cp'2CeC6HxF5-x complexes decomposeincreases as the number of fluorines decreases. Complexes with oneortho-fluorine decompose much faster than those with two ortho-fluorines.The metallacycle activates only C-H bonds in fluorobenzenes, permittingthe synthesis of specific Cp'2CeC6HxF5-x complexes. The crystal structureof Cp'2CeC6F5 is presented. …
Date: May 19, 2005
Creator: Werkema, Evan L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preparation, crystallography, magnetic and magnetothermal properties of Ce5SiGe4-x alloys (open access)

Preparation, crystallography, magnetic and magnetothermal properties of Ce5SiGe4-x alloys

An investigation of the crystal structure and the phase relationships in the Ce{sub 5}Si{sub 4-x}Ge{sub x} system has been carried out. The crystal structures of the single phase intermetallics were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction and subsequent refinement employing the Rietveld analysis technique was performed. The intermetallic system was found to crystallize in three distinct crystal structures. The Ce{sub 5}Si{sub 4}-based solid solution extends from x = 0 to x = 2.15 and it was found to crystallize in the well-known Zr{sub 5}Si{sub 4}-type tetragonal structure. The germanium rich alloys, where 3.1 {le} x {le} 4, crystallized in the Sm{sub 5}Ge{sub 4}-type orthorhombic structure. The crystal structure of the intermediate phase, when 2.35 {le} x {le} 2.8, was found out to be of the Gd{sub 5}Si{sub 2}Ge{sub 2}-type monoclinic structure. Microhardness tests were conducted on the samples in order to probe the trend in mechanical properties in this alloy system as a function of Ge concentration. The magnetic, thermal and magnetocaloric properties of the Ce{sub 5}Si{sub 4-x}Ge{sub x} alloy system have been investigated for x = 0, 1.0, 1.8, 2.5, 2.8, 3.5, 3.8 and 4.0. The phases with x = 0, 1.0 and 1.8 crystallize in the tetragonal Zr{sub 5}Si{sub …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Vijayaraghavan, Rangarajan
System: The UNT Digital Library
I. Excluded Volume Effects in Ising Cluster Distributions and Nuclear Multifragmentation II. Multiple-Chance Effects in Alpha-Particle Evaporation (open access)

I. Excluded Volume Effects in Ising Cluster Distributions and Nuclear Multifragmentation II. Multiple-Chance Effects in Alpha-Particle Evaporation

In Part 1, geometric clusters of the Ising model are studied as possible model clusters for nuclear multifragmentation. These clusters may not be considered as non-interacting (ideal gas) due to excluded volume effect which predominantly is the artifact of the cluster's finite size. Interaction significantly complicates the use of clusters in the analysis of thermodynamic systems. Stillinger's theory is used as a basis for the analysis, which within the RFL (Reiss, Frisch, Lebowitz) fluid-of-spheres approximation produces a prediction for cluster concentrations well obeyed by geometric clusters of the Ising model. If thermodynamic condition of phase coexistence is met, these concentrations can be incorporated into a differential equation procedure of moderate complexity to elucidate the liquid-vapor phase diagram of the system with cluster interaction included. The drawback of increased complexity is outweighted by the reward of greater accuracy of the phase diagram, as it is demonstrated by the Ising model. A novel nuclear-cluster analysis procedure is developed by modifying Fisher's model to contain cluster interaction and employing the differential equation procedure to obtain thermodynamic variables. With this procedure applied to geometric clusters, the guidelines are developed to look for excluded volume effect in nuclear multifragmentation. In part 2, an explanation is …
Date: May 16, 2005
Creator: Breus, Dimitry E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Theory for dynamical self arrest and gelation in microemulsions and the block copolymer systems (open access)

Theory for dynamical self arrest and gelation in microemulsions and the block copolymer systems

The main purpose of this work is to investigate the glassy behavior of microemulsions and block copolymers. The origin of glassy behavior in microemulsions and block copolymers is frustration due to a competition between short-range interaction and long range interaction. According to the charge frustrated Ising model, the competition between ferromagnetic interaction and antiferromagnetic interaction is the origin of frustration in microemulsions. The competition between entropic effects and stoichiometric constraints responsible for the formation of micelles in microemulsions can lead to the emergence of a self generated glassy behavior in these systems. In the block copolymer, the competition between the repulsive short range interaction between monomers in polymer chains and the long range interaction by chemical bonds can lead to the emergence of a self generated glassy behavior. The criteria for the fluctuation induced first order transition and our microemulsion and block copolymer glasses are essentially the same. Both are a consequence of the large phase space of low energy excitations (14) (62) (all states with momenta q which fulfill |q| = q{sub m}) and are of at the most a moderate supercooling of the liquid state is required. This is strongly supported by the observation in Ref. (14) that …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Wu, Sangwook
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electromagnetic methods for measuring materials properties of cylindrical rods and array probes for rapid flaw inspection (open access)

Electromagnetic methods for measuring materials properties of cylindrical rods and array probes for rapid flaw inspection

The case-hardening process modifies the near-surface permeability and conductivity of steel, as can be observed through changes in alternating current potential drop (ACPD) along a rod. In order to evaluate case depth of case hardened steel rods, analytical expressions are derived for the alternating current potential drop on the surface of a homogeneous rod, a two-layered and a three-layered rod. The case-hardened rod is first modeled by a two-layer rod that has a homogeneous substrate with a single, uniformly thick, homogeneous surface layer, in which the conductivity and permeability values differ from those in the substrate. By fitting model results to multi-frequency ACPD experimental data, estimates of conductivity, permeability and case depth are found. Although the estimated case depth by the two-layer model is in reasonable agreement with the effective case depth from the hardness profile, it is consistently higher than the effective case depth. This led to the development of the three-layer model. It is anticipated that the new three-layered model will improve the results and thus makes the ACPD method a novel technique in nondestructive measurement of case depth. Another way to evaluate case depth of a case hardened steel rod is to use induction coils. Integral form …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Sun, Haiyan
System: The UNT Digital Library
High-resolution flurescence spectroscopy in immunoanalysis (open access)

High-resolution flurescence spectroscopy in immunoanalysis

The work presented in this dissertation combines highly sensitive and selective fluorescence line-narrowing spectroscopy (FLNS) detection with various modes of immunoanalytical techniques. It has been shown that FLNS is capable of directly probing molecules immunocomplexed with antibodies, eliminating analytical ambiguities that may arise from interferences that accompany traditional immunochemical techniques. Moreover, the utilization of highly cross-reactive antibodies for highly specific analyte determination has been demonstrated. Finally, they demonstrate the first example of the spectral resolution of diastereomeric analytes based on their interaction with a cross-reactive antibody.
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Grubor, Nenad M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Structural studies of two novel La-Sn compounds: La30Sn30 and La32Ni2Sn35 (open access)

Structural studies of two novel La-Sn compounds: La30Sn30 and La32Ni2Sn35

Two novel intermetallic compounds containing lanthanum and tin have been obtained for the first time. Single crystal structures of these two phases, La{sub 30}Sn{sub 30} and La{sub 32}Ni{sub 2}Sn{sub 35} have been studied by X-ray crystallography. La{sub 30}Sn{sub 30} is a new 1:1 binary containing La and Sn and has been refined in the Cmmm space group. This phase was made at high temperatures (&lt;1200 C) from a loaded composition of La{sub 68}Sn{sub 70}. Unlike the reported 1:1 binary, LaSn which crystallizes in the Cmcm space group (only powder X-ray diffraction studies reported), La{sub 30}Sn{sub 30} forms good crystals for structural determination. The crystal structure of La{sub 30}Sn{sub 30} show Sn-Sn dimers and Sn-centered, face-sharing biaugmented triangular prisms composed of La atoms. La{sub 30}Sn{sub 30} does not belong to any known structure-type. La{sub 32}Ni{sub 2}Sn{sub 35} was obtained in high yields at high temperatures (&gt; 1200 C) and refined in the 14/mmm space group. It belongs to the USi structure type in which the Ni/Sn atoms occupy the Si sites, and La/Sn atoms occupy the U sites. The crystal structure of La{sub 32}Ni{sub 2}Sn{sub 35} consists of buckled sheets made from La-centered, corner-shared octahedra of Sn. These sheets are intraconnected …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Yang, Amie S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Rumpling phenomenon in platinum modified Ni-Al alloys (open access)

Rumpling phenomenon in platinum modified Ni-Al alloys

Surface undulations known as rumpling have been shown to develop at the surface of bond coats used in advanced thermal barrier coating systems. Rumpling can result in cracking and eventual spallation of the top coat. Many mechanisms to explain rumpling have been proposed, and among them is a martensitic transformation. High-temperature x-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and potentiometry were used to investigate the nature of the martensitic transformation in bulk platinum-modified nickel aluminides. It was found that the martensitic transformation has strong time dependence and can form over a range of temperatures. Cyclic oxidation experiments were performed on the bulk alloys to investigate the effect of the martensitic transformation on surface rumpling. It was found that the occurrence of rumpling was associated with the martensitic transformation. The degree of rumpling was found to increase with an increasing number of cycles and was independent of the heating and cooling rates used. The thickness of the oxide layer at the surface of the samples had a significant impact on the amplitude of the resulting undulations, with amplitude increasing with increasing oxide-layer thickness. Rumpling was also observed in an alloy based on the {gamma}-{gamma}' region of the nickel-aluminum-platinum phase diagram. Rumpling in this …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Zimmerman, Benjamin Joseph
System: The UNT Digital Library
A texture-based framework for improving CFD data visualization in a virtual environment (open access)

A texture-based framework for improving CFD data visualization in a virtual environment

In the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) accurate representations of fluid phenomena can be simulated hut require large amounts of data to represent the flow domain. Most datasets generated from a CFD simulation can be coarse, {approx}10,000 nodes or cells, or very fine with node counts on the order of 1,000,000. A typical dataset solution can also contain multiple solutions for each node, pertaining to various properties of the flow at a particular node. Scalar properties such as density, temperature, pressure, and velocity magnitude are properties that are typically calculated and stored in a dataset solution. Solutions are not limited to just scalar properties. Vector quantities, such as velocity, are also often calculated and stored for a CFD simulation. Accessing all of this data efficiently during runtime is a key problem for visualization in an interactive application. Understanding simulation solutions requires a post-processing tool to convert the data into something more meaningful. Ideally, the application would present an interactive visual representation of the numerical data for any dataset that was simulated while maintaining the accuracy of the calculated solution. Most CFD applications currently sacrifice interactivity for accuracy, yielding highly detailed flow descriptions hut limiting interaction for investigating the field.
Date: May 5, 2005
Creator: Bivins, Gerrick O'Ron
System: The UNT Digital Library
An improved multiscale model for dilute turbulent gas particle flows based on the equilibration of energy concept (open access)

An improved multiscale model for dilute turbulent gas particle flows based on the equilibration of energy concept

Many particle-laden flows in engineering applications involve turbulent gas flows. Modeling multiphase turbulent flows is an important research topic with applications in fluidized beds and particle conveying. A predictive multiphase turbulence model can help CFD codes to be more useful for engineering applications, such as the scale-up in the design of circulating fluidized combustor and coal gasifications. In engineering applications, the particle volume fraction can vary from dilute (&lt;10{sup -4}) to dense ({approx} 50%). It is reasonable to expect that multiphase turbulence models should at least satisfy some basic modeling and performance criteria and give reasonable predictions for the canonical problems in dilute particle-laden turbulent flows. In this research, a comparative assessment of predictions from Simonin and Ahmadi's turbulence models is performed with direct numerical simulation (DNS) for two canonical problems in particle-laden turbulent flows. Based on the comparative assessment, some criteria and the areas for model improvement are identified: (1) model for interphase TKE transfer, especially the time scale of interphase TKE transfer, and (2) correct prediction of TKE evolution with variation of particle Stokes number. Some deficiencies that are identified in the Simonin and Ahmadi models, limit the applicability. A new multiphase turbulence model, the Equilibration of Energy …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Xu, Ying
System: The UNT Digital Library
Electrochemically modulated liquid chromatography: Theoretical investigations and applications from the perspectives of chromatography and interfacial electrochemistry (open access)

Electrochemically modulated liquid chromatography: Theoretical investigations and applications from the perspectives of chromatography and interfacial electrochemistry

Electrochemically modulated liquid chromatography (EMLC) employs a conductive material as both a stationary phase for chromatographic separations and as a working electrode for performing electrochemistry experiments. This dual functionality gives EMLC the capacity to manipulate chromatographic separations by changing the potential applied (E{sub app}) to the stationary phase with respect to an external reference. The ability to monitor retention as a function of E{sub app} provides a means to chromatographically monitor electrosorption processes at solid-liquid interfaces. In this dissertation, the retention mechanism for EMLC is examined from the perspective of electrical double layer theory and interfacial thermodynamics. From the chromatographic data, it is possible to determine the interfacial excess ({Lambda}) of a solute and changes in interfacial tension (d{gamma}) as a function of both E{sub app} and the supporting electrolyte concentration. Taken together, these two experimentally manipulated parameters can be examined within the context of the Gibbs adsorption equation to delineate the contribution of a variety of interfacial properties, including the charge of solute on the stationary phase and the potential of zero charge (PZC), to the mechanism behind EMLC-based retention. The chromatographic probing of interfacial phenomena is complemented by electroanalytical experiments that exploit the ability to monitor the electronic …
Date: May 1, 2005
Creator: Keller, David W.
System: The UNT Digital Library