Scintillation properties of Cs2LiLaBr6 (CLLB) crystals with varying Ce concentration

Investigations of Ce³⁺-doped Cs₂LiLaBr₆ (CLLB) crystals show a systematic trend in their scintillation properties with varying Ce concentrations. The concentration studies provide input in the optimization of growth of the CLLB crystals. Scintillation properties viz. radioluminescence, energy resolution, light yield, decay times, and non-proportionality are discussed for samples from 0% to 20% Ce concentration.     

Steady boundary layer slip flow and heat transfer over a flat porous plate embedded in a porous media

A mathematical model is presented for analyzing the boundary layer forced convective flow and heat transfer of an incompressible fluid past a porous plate embedded in a Darcy porous medium. Velocity and thermal slips are considered instead of no-slip conditions at the boundary. The similarity solutions for the problem are obtained and the reduced nonlinear ordinary differential equations are solved numerically. In case of porous plate, fluid velocity increases whereas non-dimensional temperature decreases for increasing values of suction parameter but it increases with increasing blowing parameter. Our analysis reveals that the increase of velocity slip parameter reduces the momentum boundary layer thickness and also enhances the heat transfer from the plate. On the other hand, heat transfer decreases with thermal slip parameter.     

A scaling analysis to characterize thermomagnetic convection

Thermomagnetic convection is characterized using scaling arguments. We consider a square enclosure filled with a ferrofluid that is under the influence of an external magnetic field created by a line dipole. The height-averaged Nusselt number scales with the magnetic Rayleigh number as . This result is in excellent agreement with predictions obtained from detailed numerical simulations. Use of the Langevin equation of ferrofluid magnetization identifies an optimum enclosure height for which the Nusselt number reaches a maximum value for a given line dipole strength.     

tert-Butyl Nitrite Promoted Visible-Light-Induced Steric-Hindrance-Regulated Concurrent Cross-Coupling and Regioselective Nitration of 3-Alkylidene-2-oxindoles

A tert-butyl nitrite (TBN) promoted visible-light-induced one-pot C−N cross coupling reaction of 3-alkylidene-2-oxindoles with benzene-1,2-diamine was explored. Simultaneously, the indoline motif of 3-alkylidene-2-oxindoles as well as 3-ylidene oxindoles are regioselectively nitrated at the C-6 position by in-situ formed NO₂ radical. (E)-3-(2-(aryl)-2-oxoethylidene)oxindole and (E)-3-ylidene oxindole produce distinct nitrated diastereomeric coupling products, a phenomenon influenced by the steric bulk of the functional group. The experimental findings suggest the potential involvement of a radical pathway in this reaction.     

Severe accident management strategy verification for VVER-1000 (V320) reactor

Severe accident analysis of a reactor is an important aspect in evaluation of source term. This in turn helps in emergency planning and Severe Accident Management (SAM). The use of the Severe Accident Management Guideline (SAMG) is required for accident situation which is not handled adequately through the use of Emergency Operating Procedures (EOP), thus leading to a partial or a total core melt. Actions recommended in the SAMG aim at limiting the risk of radiologically significant radioactive releases in the short- and mid-term (a few hours to a few days). Initiation of SAMG for VVER-1000 is considered at two core exit temperatures viz. 650 °C as a desirable entry temperature and 980 °C as a backup action. Analyses have been carried out for VVER-1000 (V320) for verification of some of the strategies namely water injection in primary and secondary circuit. These strategies are analysed for a high and low pressure primary circuit transients. Station Black Out (SBO) is one such high pressure transient for which core heat can be removed by natural circulation of the primary circuit inventory by maintaining the secondary side inventory. This strategy has been verified where the feed water injection to secondary side of SG is considered from external power sources (e.g. mobile DG sets) as suggested in SAM guidelines. The second transient, a low pressure event is analysed for verification of the SG flooding and core flooding strategies. The analysis shows that SG flooding is not adequate to arrest the degradation of the core. In case of core flooding strategy, the analyses show that core flooding is not adequate to arrest the degradation of the core for the large break LOCA where as for small break LOCA the injections through available safety systems are adequate. The assessments are carried out with integral severe accident computer code ASTEC V1.3.     

Laser-Tuned Surface Wettability Modification and Incorporation of Aluminum Nitride (AlN) Ceramics in Thermal Management Devices

Aluminum nitride (AlN), a versatile ceramic with high thermal conductivity, high electrical resistivity, and a coefficient of thermal expansion compatible with silicon, is well-suited for direct-to-chip cooling applications of electronics, implementation in wide bandgap semiconductors, and for high-temperature heat exchangers. Despite multiple advantages, AlN's implementation in liquid-cooling applications is often hindered by surface-degrading effects of working-fluid-induced hydrolysis. Herein, a scalable -but highly tunable- wettability engineering approach is introduced, that allows effective implementation of bulk AlN substrates in enhanced two-phase cooling of electronics. The approach prevents hydrolysis of AlN by aqueous media and establishes control over surface roughness, all the while maintaining bulk integrity and material properties of the underlying substrate. Demonstration of the new approach is presented in spontaneous, pumpless, surface liquid transport, a necessity if such ceramics are to play an integral role as components of sealed, phase-change, wickless thermal-management devices (e.g., vapor chambers or heat pipes) that require rapid working-fluid transport in their multi-phase interior. The novelty of this work lies in establishing a scalable methodology for utilizing and further enhancing the properties of this non-oxide ceramic material for phase-change heat-transfer hermetic devices, thereby paving the way toward the implementation of this intriguing material in next-generation heat spreaders.     

Influence of self-heating on the millimeter-wave and terahertz performance of MBE grown silicon IMPATT diodes

The influence of self-heating on the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) and terahertz (THz) performance of double-drift region (DDR) impact avalanche transit time (IMPATT) sources based on silicon (Si) has been investigated in this paper. The dependences of static and large-signal parameters on junction temperature are estimated using a non-sinusoidal voltage excited (NSVE) large-signal simulation technique developed by the authors, which is based on the quantum-corrected drift-diffusion (QCDD) model. Linear variations of static parameters and non-linear variations of large-signal parameters with temperature have been observed. Analytical expressions representing the temperature dependences of static and large-signal parameters of the diodes are developed using linear and 2nd degree polynomial curve fitting techniques, which will be highly useful for optimizing the thermal design of the oscillators. Finally, the simulated results are found to be in close agreement with the experimentally measured data.     

FMS machine loading: A simulated annealing approach

In this paper the problem of FMS machine loading is considered with the objective of minimizing the system imbalance using a simulated annealing (SA) approach. New job sequences are generated with a proposed perturbation scheme named the 'modified insertion scheme' (MIS). These sequences are used in the proposed simulated annealing algorithm to arrive at a near global optimum solution. A new approach for temperature variation in the SA algorithm is also suggested in which temperature is assumed to be parabolic. The SA algorithm using the proposed MIS and the assumed temperature variation proved to be giving substantial improvement in system imbalance as against conventional sequences.     

A Petri Net based approach to determine the disassembly strategy of a product

In order to protect the environment and regain value added to products, a process known as disassembly has come into the limelight. This process is to be applied to reuse abandoned goods and materials. Manufacturers are being forced to establish disassembly plants and to develop their products' designs so as to maintain the government's dictate to dispose off their products in an environmentally responsible manner. This research presents a cost-based heuristic analysis for a circuit board assembly. Various components of the product and their assembly relationships are represented by a Petri Net diagram. Firing the transitions of the disassembly Petri Net is integrated with cost-based indices to develop an effective disassembly strategy. The methodology discussed here simplifies the decisionmaking process involved in disassembly planning. A comprehensive disassembly process planning system is proposed here and is exemplified by a case study of circuit board assembly.     

Electron microscopy of shock deformation in alumina

Shock recovered samples of a coarse grain (10 μm), high density (>99.9% theoretical) alumina from asymmetric impact tests conducted at 6.5 GPa (e.g. 3.2 times its Hugoniot Elastic Limit) in a single stage gas gun and characterized by X-ray diffractometry, scanning and field emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy showed prolific presence of reduced crystallite size, higher average microstrain, grain localized micro/nano-scale deformations, micro-cleavages, grain-boundary microcracks, micro-wing crack formation, extensive shear induced deformations and fractures localized at grains, grain boundaries and triple grain junctions, grain localized entanglement of dislocations and their pile up impeded at grain boundaries. A new qualitative model based on micro-shear and micro-twist induced deformation and fracture in single and/or multiple planes in suitably oriented grain and/or grain assembly was developed to explain the experimentally observed damage evolution process.