This research demonstrated the usefulness of tomographic techniques for determining the physical properties of slurry suspensions. Of particular interest was the measurement of the viscosity of suspensions in complex liquids and modeling these. We undertook a long rage program that used two techniques, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasonic pulsed Doppler velocimetry. Our laboratory originally developed both of these for the measurement of viscosity of complex liquids and suspensions. We have shown that the relationship between shear viscosity and shear rate can be determined over a wide range of shear rates from a single measurement. We have also demonstrated these techniques for many non-Newtonian fluids which demonstrate highly shear thinning behavior. This technique was extended to determine the yield stress with systems of interacting particles. To model complex slurries that may be found in wastes applications, we have also used complex slurries that are found in industrial applications

In order to improve the melt rate of high level waste slurry feed being vitrified in the Savannah River Site's (SRS) Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) Melter, a melter glass pump (pump 1) was installed in the DWPF Melter on February 10, 2004. The glass pump increased melt rate by generating a forced convection within the molten glass pool, thereby increasing the heat transfer from the molten glass to the unmolten feed cold cap that is on top of the glass pool. After operating for over four months, the pump was removed on June 22, 2004 due to indications that it had failed. The removed pump exhibited obvious signs of corrosion, had collapsed inward at the glass exit slots at the melt line, and was dog-legged in the same area. This lead to the pump being redesigned to improve its mechanical integrity (increased wall thickness and strength) while maintaining its hydraulic diameter as large as possible. The improved DWPF glass pump (pump 2) was installed on September 15, 2004. The impact of the new design on pump life, along with analysis of the glass pump's impact on melt rate in the DWPF Melter is discussed in this paper.

The goal of this project is to develop a method for fabricating SiC-reinforced high-strength steel. We are developing a metal-matrix composite (MMC) in which SiC fibers are be embedded within a metal matrix of steel, with adequate interfacial bonding to deliver the full benefit of the tensile strength of the SiC fibers in the composite.