The Effects of Just World Beliefs and Behavioral vs. Characterological Self-Blame on College Student’s Functioning Following Parental Divorce (open access)

The Effects of Just World Beliefs and Behavioral vs. Characterological Self-Blame on College Student’s Functioning Following Parental Divorce

This paper discusses the impact of self-blame on college students who have experienced parental divorce and determines whether separating this blame into behavioral and characterological manifestations can provide useful information for research purposes. Bryce E. Taylor explains the study that was conducted with 220 female college students who completed questionnaires for the project, and the results of the study.
Date: September 1991
Creator: Taylor, Bryce E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Carbon doping of III-V compound semiconductors (open access)

Carbon doping of III-V compound semiconductors

Focus of the study is C acceptor doping of GaAs, since C diffusion coefficient is at least one order of magnitude lower than that of other common p-type dopants in GaAs. C ion implantation results in a concentration of free holes in the valence band < 10% of that of the implanted C atoms for doses > 10{sup 14}/cm{sup 2}. Rutherford backscattering, electrical measurements, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were amonth the techniques used. Ga co-implantation increased the C activation in two steps: first, the additional radiation damage creates vacant As sites that the implanted C can occupy, and second, it maintains the stoichiometry of the implanted layer, reducing the number of compensating native defects. In InP, the behavior of C was different from that in GaAs. C acts as n-type dopant in the In site; however, its incorporation by implantation was difficult to control; experiments using P co-implants were inconsistent. The lattice position of inactive C in GaAs in implanted and epitaxial layers is discussed; evidence for formation of C precipitates in GaAs and InP was found. Correlation of the results with literature on C doping in III-V semiconductors led to a phenomenological description of C in …
Date: September 1, 1994
Creator: Moll, A. J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Laser trapping of {sup 21}Na atoms (open access)

Laser trapping of {sup 21}Na atoms

This thesis describes an experiment in which about four thousand radioactive {sup 21}Na (t{sub l/2} = 22 sec) atoms were trapped in a magneto-optical trap with laser beams. Trapped {sup 21}Na atoms can be used as a beta source in a precision measurement of the beta-asymmetry parameter of the decay of {sup 21}Na {yields} {sup 21}Ne + {Beta}{sup +} + v{sub e}, which is a promising way to search for an anomalous right-handed current coupling in charged weak interactions. Although the number o trapped atoms that we have achieved is still about two orders of magnitude lower than what is needed to conduct a measurement of the beta-asymmetry parameter at 1% of precision level, the result of this experiment proved the feasibility of trapping short-lived radioactive atoms. In this experiment, {sup 21}Na atoms were produced by bombarding {sup 24}Mg with protons of 25 MeV at the 88 in. Cyclotron of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. A few recently developed techniques of laser manipulation of neutral atoms were applied in this experiment. The {sup 21}Na atoms emerging from a heated oven were first transversely cooled. As a result, the on-axis atomic beam intensity was increased by a factor of 16. The atoms in …
Date: September 1, 1994
Creator: Lu, Zheng-Tian
System: The UNT Digital Library
Straddle-packer determination of the vertical distribution of hydraulic properties in the Snake River Plain Aquifer at well USGS-44, Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, INEL (open access)

Straddle-packer determination of the vertical distribution of hydraulic properties in the Snake River Plain Aquifer at well USGS-44, Idaho Chemical Processing Plant, INEL

Many of the monitor wells that penetrate the upper portion of the Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) are open over large intervals that include multiple water-bearing zones. Most of these wells are equipped with dedicated submersible pumps. Water of varying quality from different water-bearing zones is mixed within the wells. The hydrologic properties of individual water bearing zones are difficult to determine. Water quality and water-level data on organic, heavy metal, and radioactive contaminants have been collected, reported, and interpreted from these monitor wells for more than forty years. The problems associated with well completions over large intervals through multiple water-bearing zones raise significant questions about the data. A straddle-packer system was developed and applied at the INEL site to investigate the monitor well network. The straddle-packer system, hydraulic testing methods, data analysis procedures, and testing results are described in this report. The straddle-packer system and the straddle-packer testing and data evaluation procedures can be improved for future testing at the INEL site. Recommended improvements to the straddle-packer system are: (1) improved transducer pressure sensing systems, (2) faster opening riser valve, and (3) an in-line flowmeter in the riser pipe. Testing and data evaluation …
Date: September 23, 1994
Creator: Monks, J. I.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Mirrortron experiment: A proof of principle test for a method of generating high transient potentials (open access)

The Mirrortron experiment: A proof of principle test for a method of generating high transient potentials

The Mirrortron is a concept in which heavy ions are accelerated by a large local transient space potential that is produced in a hot electron plasma. The purpose of this experiment is to begin a proof of principle experiment to investigate the feasibility of producing this space potential and its associated electric field. If a large magnetic field is suddenly generated in a hot electron plasma with a loss-cone distribution, then potentials on the order of the electron temperature are expected. This potential lasts a few tens of nanoseconds. The investigation begins with a theoretical analysis of this phenomenon giving the space potential as a function of the applied magnetic field. The theory is further extended to cases of relativistic electron distributions. This is then followed by design work on a mirror confinement system for hot electrons. In this experiment a 50--100 keV electron temperature plasma is created with electron cyclotron resonance heating using two frequencies of relatively low microwave power. The microwaves are coupled to resonant frequencies of the vacuum chamber. The volume averaged plasma density is measured to be in the 10{sup 9} cm{sup {minus}3} range. A strap coil and a flat Blumlein transmission line pulse generator were …
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Douglass, S. R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Application of an Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance to the study of electrocatalytic films (open access)

Application of an Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance to the study of electrocatalytic films

The EQCM was used to study the deposition and composition of electrodeposited pure PbO{sub 2} and Bi-doped PbO{sub 2} active toward anodic oxygen-transfer reactions. Within the doped films, Bi is incorporated as Bi{sup +5} in the form of BiO{sub 2}A, where A is ClO{sub 4}{sup {minus}} or NO{sub 3}{sup {minus}}. For deposition of these 2 materials, changes in hydration between the Au oxide and the depositing film resulted in higher mass-to-charge ratios. XRD and XPS were used to study the films; the rutile structure of PbO{sub 2} is retained even with the Bi doping. The EQCM was also used to study the formation and dissolution of Au oxide and preoxide structures formed on the Au substrate electrodes in acidic media. The preoxide structures were AuOH and increased the surface mass. For the formation of stable Au films on quartz wafers, Ti interlayers between Au and quartz was found to be very effective.
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Gordon, J. S., Jr.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The synthesis and structural characterization of novel transition metal fluorides (open access)

The synthesis and structural characterization of novel transition metal fluorides

High purity KMF{sub 6} and K{sub 2}MF{sub 6} salts (M = Mo,Re, Ru, Os, Ir, Pt) are obtained from reduction hexafluorides. A rhombohedral unit cell is observed for KReF{sub 6}. Fluoride ion capture by Lewis acids from the hexafluorometallate (IV) salts affords high purity tetrafluorides for M = Mo, Re, Ru, Os, and Pd. The structure of RuF{sub 4} is determined from X-ray synchrotron and neutron powder data. Unit cells based on theorthorhombic PdF{sub 4} type cell are derived from X-ray powder data for ReF{sub 4} and OsF{sub 4}. Fluoride ion capture from KAgF{sub 4} provides the thermally unstable trifluoride as a bright, red, diamagnetic solid. The structure solution of AgF{sub 3} and redetermination of the AuF{sub 3} structure from X-ray synchrotron and neutron powder data demonstrate that the two are isostnictural. Thermal decomposition product of AgF{sub 3} is the mixed valence compound Ag{sup II}Ag{sub 2}{sup III}F{sub 8}. Several new salts containing the (Ag - F){sub n}{sup n+} chain cation are prepared. The first linear (Ag - F){sub n}{sup n+} chain is observed in AgF{sup +}BF{sub 4 {sup {minus}}} which crystallizes in a tetragonal unit. AgFAuF{sub 4} has a triclinic unit cell and is isostructural with CuFAuF{sub 4}. AgFAuF{sub 6} …
Date: September 1, 1992
Creator: Casteel, W. J. Jr.
System: The UNT Digital Library
CCM Continuity Constraint Method: A finite-element computational fluid dynamics algorithm for incompressible Navier-Stokes fluid flows (open access)

CCM Continuity Constraint Method: A finite-element computational fluid dynamics algorithm for incompressible Navier-Stokes fluid flows

As the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) continues to mature, algorithms are required to exploit the most recent advances in approximation theory, numerical mathematics, computing architectures, and hardware. Meeting this requirement is particularly challenging in incompressible fluid mechanics, where primitive-variable CFD formulations that are robust, while also accurate and efficient in three dimensions, remain an elusive goal. This dissertation asserts that one key to accomplishing this goal is recognition of the dual role assumed by the pressure, i.e., a mechanism for instantaneously enforcing conservation of mass and a force in the mechanical balance law for conservation of momentum. Proving this assertion has motivated the development of a new, primitive-variable, incompressible, CFD algorithm called the Continuity Constraint Method (CCM). The theoretical basis for the CCM consists of a finite-element spatial semi-discretization of a Galerkin weak statement, equal-order interpolation for all state-variables, a 0-implicit time-integration scheme, and a quasi-Newton iterative procedure extended by a Taylor Weak Statement (TWS) formulation for dispersion error control. Original contributions to algorithmic theory include: (a) formulation of the unsteady evolution of the divergence error, (b) investigation of the role of non-smoothness in the discretized continuity-constraint function, (c) development of a uniformly H{sup 1} Galerkin weak statement …
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Williams, P. T.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Quantitative evaluation of material composition of composites using x-ray energy-dispersive NDE technique (open access)

Quantitative evaluation of material composition of composites using x-ray energy-dispersive NDE technique

This technique worked well for determining the thickness and densities for composite components having the higher linear attenuation coefficient; it accurately determined thickness of epoxy-resin and Al metal, and the denisty of bone, to {le} 4% in the graphite-epoxy, bone-plexiglas, and Al-Al corrosion composites. Accuracy is dictated by the magnitude and uncertainty of the linear attenuation coefficient. Use of Ge detector and multichannel analyzer are limited by inspection time (1 day for point measurement) and access limitation. Immediate development of a rapid in-service inspection tool is limited by the amplifier and MCA systems. The MCA should be replaced with a single-channel analyzer, and an electronic device should be built for monitoring the incoming signal for Pile-Up-Rejection.
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Ting, J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The incongruent melting and melt textured solidification process of Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8} (open access)

The incongruent melting and melt textured solidification process of Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8}

The melting and solidification was studied using in-situ high temperature XRD from melting point to 900{degree}C in 0.2, 0.1, 0.02 atm O{sub 2} and pure N{sub 2}. The incongruent melting point of Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8} was lowered by decreasing the partial O{sub 2} pressure from 870C (in .2 atm O{sub 2}) to 830C (in pure N{sub 2} atmosphere). As temperature was increased the incongruent melting of Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8} followed a phase sequence in which (Ca, Sr)CuO{sub 2} {r_arrow} (Ca, Sr)CuO{sub 2} {r_arrow} (Ca,Sr)O occur in presence of Bi-rich liquid. At 900C, the only crystalline phase present in the melt was (Ca,Sr)O. This phase sequence remained the same for all four different partial O{sub 2} pressures. During the solidification of Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8}, from 10C below the melting point to 760C, the major phases that form depend on the partial O{sub 2} pressure. As partial O{sub 2} pressures was lowered from 0.2 to 0 atm, the major second phase formation out of the melt follows the sequence of (Ca, Sr)CuO{sub 2} {r_arrow} (Ca, Sr)CuO{sub 2} {r_arrow} (Ca,Sr)O respectively. At 0.1 Atm partial O{sub 2} pressure and below, Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8} solidified out …
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Polonka, J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reduction of plyatomic ion interferences in indictively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with cryogenic desolvation (open access)

Reduction of plyatomic ion interferences in indictively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with cryogenic desolvation

A desolvation scheme for introducing aqueous and organic samples into an argon inductively coupled plasma is described; the aerosol generated by nebulizer is heated (+140 C) and cooled ({minus}80 C) repeatedly, and the dried aerosol is then injected into the mass spectrometer. Polyatomic ions are greatly suppressed. This scheme was validated with analysis of seawater and urine reference samples. Finally, the removal of organic solvents by cryogenic desolvation was studied.
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Alves, L. C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Thermally-generated reactive intermediates: Trapping of the parent ferrocene-based o-quinodimethane and reactions of diradicals generated by hydrogen-atom transfers (open access)

Thermally-generated reactive intermediates: Trapping of the parent ferrocene-based o-quinodimethane and reactions of diradicals generated by hydrogen-atom transfers

Ferrocenocyclobutene is prepared by flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) of the N-amino-2-phenylaziridine hydrazone of 2-methylferrocenealdehyde. In the second section of this dissertation, a series of hydrocarbon rearrangements were observed. FVP of o-allyltoluene at 0.1 Torr (700--900 C) gives 2-methylindan and indene, accompanied by o-propenyltoluene. FVP of 2-methyl-2`-vinylbiphenyl gives 9-methyl-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene, which fits the proposed mechanism. However, FVP of 2-(o-methylbenzyl)styrene gives mainly anthracene and 1-methylanthracene. This cyclization reaction was also successful with o-allylphenol and o-(2-methylallyl)phenol.
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Ferguson, J. M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chaos and simple determinism in reversed field pinch plasmas: Nonlinear analysis of numerical simulation and experimental data (open access)

Chaos and simple determinism in reversed field pinch plasmas: Nonlinear analysis of numerical simulation and experimental data

In this dissertation the possibility that chaos and simple determinism are governing the dynamics of reversed field pinch (RFP) plasmas is investigated. To properly assess this possibility, data from both numerical simulations and experiment are analyzed. A large repertoire of nonlinear analysis techniques is used to identify low dimensional chaos in the data. These tools include phase portraits and Poincare sections, correlation dimension, the spectrum of Lyapunov exponents and short term predictability. In addition, nonlinear noise reduction techniques are applied to the experimental data in an attempt to extract any underlying deterministic dynamics. Two model systems are used to simulate the plasma dynamics. These are the DEBS code, which models global RFP dynamics, and the dissipative trapped electron mode (DTEM) model, which models drift wave turbulence. Data from both simulations show strong indications of low dimensional chaos and simple determinism. Experimental date were obtained from the Madison Symmetric Torus RFP and consist of a wide array of both global and local diagnostic signals. None of the signals shows any indication of low dimensional chaos or low simple determinism. Moreover, most of the analysis tools indicate the experimental system is very high dimensional with properties similar to noise. Nonlinear noise reduction …
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Watts, C. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mean carrier transport properties and charge collection dynamics of single-crystal, natural type IIa diamonds from ion-induced conductivity measurements (open access)

Mean carrier transport properties and charge collection dynamics of single-crystal, natural type IIa diamonds from ion-induced conductivity measurements

Ion-induced conductivity has been used to investigate the detector characteristics of diamond detectors. Both integrated-charge, and time-resolved current measurements were performed to examine the mean carrier transport properties of diamond and the dynamics of charge collection under highly-localized and high-density excitation conditions. The integrated-charge measurements were conducted with a standard pulse-counting system with {sup 241}Am radioactivity as the excitation source for the detectors. The time-resolved current measurements were performed using a 70 GHz random sampling oscilloscope with the detectors incorporated into high-speed microstrip transmission lines and the excitation source for these measurements was an ion beam of either 5-MeV He{sup +} or 10-MeV Si{sup 3+}. The detectors used in both experiments can be described as metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) devices where a volume of the detector material is sandwiched between two metal plates. A charge collection model was developed to interpret the integrated-charge measurements which enabled estimation of the energy required to produce an electron-hole pair ({epsilon}{sub di}) and the mean carrier transport properties in diamond, such as carrier mobility and lifetime, and the behavior of the electrical contacts to diamond.
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Han, S. S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Localization from near-source quasi-static electromagnetic fields (open access)

Localization from near-source quasi-static electromagnetic fields

A wide range of research has been published on the problem of estimating the parameters of electromagnetic and acoustical sources from measurements of signals measured at an array of sensors. In the quasi-static electromagnetic cases examined here, the signal variation from a point source is relatively slow with respect to the signal propagation and the spacing of the array of sensors. As such, the location of the point sources can only be determined from the spatial diversity of the received signal across the array. The inverse source localization problem is complicated by unknown model order and strong local minima. The nonlinear optimization problem is posed for solving for the parameters of the quasi-static source model. The transient nature of the sources can be exploited to allow subspace approaches to separate out the signal portion of the spatial correlation matrix. Decomposition techniques are examined for improved processing, and an adaptation of MUtiple SIgnal Characterization (MUSIC) is presented for solving the source localization problem. Recent results on calculating the Cramer-Rao error lower bounds are extended to the multidimensional problem here. This thesis focuses on the problem of source localization in magnetoencephalography (MEG), with a secondary application to thunderstorm source localization. Comparisons are …
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Mosher, J. C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The effect of spacer ribs on Ledinegg type flow instabilities (open access)

The effect of spacer ribs on Ledinegg type flow instabilities

An experimental program has been completed which evaluated the effect of a flow obstruction in a heated channel on the onset of flow instability (OBI). The test channel was rectangular (80 {times} 3 mm), heated on one surface, and equipped with view ports. Tests were conducted in a flow controlled mode at heat fluxes of 370 kW/M{sup 2}, and 610 kW/m{sup 2}. Direct comparisons were made between the demand curve minimum for the unobstructed channel and a channel equipped with a 2.07 mm wide rib that was parallel to the flow and in contact with the heated surface. Data at OFI is presented in the nondimensional terms Of Q{sub ratio} (ratio of heat flux applied to heat flux required to achieve saturated liquid conditions at the exit), and the local Stanton number at the channel exit for each channel arrangement. The Q{sub ratio} and Stanton number values for the unobstructed channel and the rib equipped channel are then compared to produce an estimate of the rib effect.
Date: September 9, 1993
Creator: Coutts, D. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Study of the effect of humidity, particle hygroscopicity and size on the mass loading capacity of HEPA filters (open access)

Study of the effect of humidity, particle hygroscopicity and size on the mass loading capacity of HEPA filters

The effect of humidity, particle hygroscopicity and size on the mass loading capacity of glass fiber HEPA filters has been studied. At humidifies above the deliquescent point, the pressure drop across the HEPA filter increased non-linearly with the areal loading density (mass collected/filtration area) of NaCl aerosol, thus significantly reducing the mass loading capacity of the filter compared to dry hygroscopic or non-hygroscopic particle mass loadings. The specific cake resistance, K{sub 2}, has been computed for different test conditions and used as a measure of the mass loading capacity. K. was found to decrease with increasing humidity for the non-hygroscopic aluminum oxide particles and the hygroscopic NaCl particles (at humidities below the deliquescent point). It is postulated that an increase in humidity leads to the formation of a more open particulate cake which lowers the pressure drop for a given mass loading. A formula for predicting K{sub 2} for lognormally distributed aerosols (parameters obtained from impactor data) is derived. The resistance factor, R, calculated using this formula was compared to the theoretical R calculated using the Rudnick-Happel expression. For the non-hygroscopic aluminum oxide the agreement was good but for the hygroscopic sodium chloride, due to large variation in the cake …
Date: September 1, 1992
Creator: Gupta, A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Design and construction of a imaging instrument for studying ion emission from pure ion emitters (open access)

Design and construction of a imaging instrument for studying ion emission from pure ion emitters

The development of new ion sources is important in the area of surface analysis to make it easier to perform more sensitive and accurate analyses. In surface analysis a primary ion beam composed of a single species can help when predicting and interpreting the results. Therefore, much interest and effort has been focused on producing pure ion emitters. An instrument has been designed and constructed to view the current densities of the ions being emitted from pure ion emitters. The instrument electrostatically accelerates and focuses the ion beam onto a microchannel plate detector equipped with a phosphor screen for viewing the images. These images are used to identify areas of enhanced ion emission. Once these areas are identified, the investigator can use other instruments to analyze them, and hopefully develop a better understanding of the chemistry and physics involved in the ion emission process. A computer based control system has been integrated into the system to simplify the operation of the instrument and provide safety features to protect the hardware from damage. A closed-circuit video camera system is used to allow the images to be remotely viewed during imaging procedures. Experiments show that the instrument has a lower detection limit …
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Olson, J. E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
On the hypothesis that quantum mechanism manifests classical mechanics: Numerical approach to the correspondence in search of quantum chaos (open access)

On the hypothesis that quantum mechanism manifests classical mechanics: Numerical approach to the correspondence in search of quantum chaos

Quantum manifestation of classical chaos has been one of the extensively studied subjects for more than a decade. Yet clear understanding of its nature still remains to be an open question partly due to the lack of a canonical definition of quantum chaos. The classical definition seems to be unsuitable in quantum mechanics partly because of the Heisenberg quantum uncertainty. In this regard, quantum chaos is somewhat misleading and needs to be clarified at the very fundamental level of physics. Since it is well known that quantum mechanics is more fundamental than classical mechanics, the quantum description of classically chaotic nature should be attainable in the limit of large quantum numbers. The focus of my research, therefore, lies on the correspondence principle for classically chaotic systems. The chaotic damped driven pendulum is mainly studied numerically using the split operator method that solves the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. For classically dissipative chaotic systems in which (multi)fractal strange attractors often emerge, several quantum dissipative mechanisms are also considered. For instance, Hoover`s and Kubo-Fox-Keizer`s approaches are studied with some computational analyses. But the notion of complex energy with non-Hermiticity is extensively applied. Moreover, the Wigner and Husimi distribution functions are examined with an equivalent …
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Lee, Sang-Bong
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reaction and reorientation of electronically excited H{sub 2}(B) (open access)

Reaction and reorientation of electronically excited H{sub 2}(B)

The room temperature rate (TR) constants for fluorescence quenching fluorescence of H{sub 2}, HD, and D{sub 2} B {sup 1}{Sigma}{sub u}{sup +} by {sup 4}He were measured as a function of the initially excited rotational and vibrational level of the hydrogen molecule, and the RT rate constants for molecular angular momentum reorientation of H{sub 2}, HD and D{sub 2} (B {sup 1}{Sigma}{sub u}{sup +}. v{prime}=0, J{prime}=1, M{sub J}=0) in collisions with He, Ne, Ar and H{sub 2}(X {sup 1}{Sigma}{sub g}{sup +}) were also measured. Vibrational state dependence of the quenching cross sections fits a vibrationally adiabatic model of the quenching process. From the vibrational state dependence of the quenching cross section, the barrier height for the quenching reaction is found to be 250{plus_minus}40 cm{sup {minus}1}, and the difference in the H-H stretching frequencies between H{sub 2}(B) and the H{sub 2}-He complex at the barrier to reaction is 140{plus_minus}80 cm{sup {minus}1}. The effective cross sections for angular momentum reorientation in collisions of H{sub 2}, HD, D{sub 2} with He and Ne were found to be about 30 {Angstrom}{sup 2} and were nearly the same for each isotope and with He and Ne as collision partners. Cross sections forreorientation of HD and …
Date: September 1, 1992
Creator: Pibel, C. D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Enhanced algorithms for stochastic programming (open access)

Enhanced algorithms for stochastic programming

In this dissertation, we present some of the recent advances made in solving two-stage stochastic linear programming problems of large size and complexity. Decomposition and sampling are two fundamental components of techniques to solve stochastic optimization problems. We describe improvements to the current techniques in both these areas. We studied different ways of using importance sampling techniques in the context of Stochastic programming, by varying the choice of approximation functions used in this method. We have concluded that approximating the recourse function by a computationally inexpensive piecewise-linear function is highly efficient. This reduced the problem from finding the mean of a computationally expensive functions to finding that of a computationally inexpensive function. Then we implemented various variance reduction techniques to estimate the mean of a piecewise-linear function. This method achieved similar variance reductions in orders of magnitude less time than, when we directly applied variance-reduction techniques directly on the given problem. In solving a stochastic linear program, the expected value problem is usually solved before a stochastic solution and also to speed-up the algorithm by making use of the information obtained from the solution of the expected value problem. We have devised a new decomposition scheme to improve the convergence …
Date: September 1, 1993
Creator: Krishna, A. S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cubic to tetragonal crystal lattice reconstruction during ordering or decomposition (open access)

Cubic to tetragonal crystal lattice reconstruction during ordering or decomposition

This thesis studied thermodynamic stability and morphology of product phases in diffusional phase transformations involving cubic-to-tetragonal crystal lattice reconstructions. Two different kinds of diffusional transformations were examined: L1{sub 0} ordering (fcc to fct lattice change) and decomposition of off-stoichiometric B2 ordering alloys accompanying bcc to fcc Bain transformation. In the first case, Fe-45 at.% Pd alloys were studied by TEM; in the second, the Bain strain relaxation during decomposition of hyper-eutectoid Cu-9.04 wt% Be alloy was studied. CuAu and InMg were also studied.
Date: September 1, 1992
Creator: Cheong, Byung-kl
System: The UNT Digital Library
Laser cooling of a stored ion beam: A first step towards crystalline beams (open access)

Laser cooling of a stored ion beam: A first step towards crystalline beams

This report discusses: a brief introduction to storage rings; crystalline beams; laser cooling of ion beams; description of astrid-the experimental setup; first experiments with lithium 7 ion beam; experiments with erbium 166 ion beams; further experiments with lithium 7 ion beams; beam dynamics, laser cooling,and crystalline beams in astrid; possibilities for further study in astrid.
Date: September 1, 1992
Creator: Hangst, J. S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A quasi-static polynomial nodal method for nuclear reactor analysis (open access)

A quasi-static polynomial nodal method for nuclear reactor analysis

Modern nodal methods are currently available which can accurately and efficiently solve the static and transient neutron diffusion equations. Most of the methods, however, are limited to two energy groups for practical application. The objective of this research is the development of a static and transient, multidimensional nodal method which allows more than two energy groups and uses a non-linear iterative method for efficient solution of the nodal equations. For both the static and transient methods, finite-difference equations which are corrected by the use of discontinuity factors are derived. The discontinuity factors are computed from a polynomial nodal method using a non-linear iteration technique. The polynomial nodal method is based upon a quartic approximation and utilizes a quadratic transverse-leakage approximation. The solution of the time-dependent equations is performed by the use of a quasi-static method in which the node-averaged fluxes are factored into shape and amplitude functions. The application of the quasi-static polynomial method to several benchmark problems demonstrates that the accuracy is consistent with that of other nodal methods. The use of the quasi-static method is shown to substantially reduce the computation time over the traditional fully-implicit time-integration method. Problems involving thermal-hydraulic feedback are accurately, and efficiently, solved by …
Date: September 1, 1992
Creator: Gehin, Jess C.
System: The UNT Digital Library