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In technique to detect surface contamination, object inspected illuminated by ultraviolet light to make contaminants fluoresce; low-light-level video camera views fluorescence. Image-processing techniques quantify distribution of contaminants. If fluorescence of material expected to contaminate surface is not intense, tagged with low concentration of dye.
The absorption characteristics of light and the optical technique of fluorescence microscopy for enhancing metallographic interpretation are presented. Characterization of thermally sprayed coatings by optical microscopy suffers because of the tendency for misidentification of the microstructure produced by metallographic preparation. Gray scale, in bright field microscopy, is frequently the only means of differentiating the actual structural details of porosity, cracking, and debonding of coatings. Fluorescence microscopy is a technique that helps to distinguish the artifacts of metallographic preparation (pullout, cracking, debonding) from the microstructure of the specimen by color contrasting structural differences. Alternative instrumentation and the use of other dye systems are also discussed. The combination of epoxy vacuum infiltration with fluorescence microscopy to verify microstructural defects is an effective means to characterize advanced materials and to assess structural integrity.
Past research and applications have demonstrated the advantages and usefulness of lidar detection of a single fluorescent tracer to track air motions. Earlier researchers performed an analytical study that showed good potential for lidar discrimination and tracking of two or three different fluorescent tracers at the same time. The present paper summarizes the multiple fluorescent tracer method, discusses its expected advantages and problems, and describes our field test of this new technique.
The wavelength shifts of the R1 and R2 fluorescence lines of alexandrite (BeAl2O4:Cr(+3)) have been experimentally calibrated against the ruby-fluorescence scale as a function of both hydrostatic and nonhydrostatic pressures between 0 and 50 GPa, and simultaneously as a function of temperatures between 290 and 550 K. It is found that the pressure-temperature cross derivative of the fluorescence wavelength shifts are negligible for both ruby and alexandrite.
A method for quantifying laser-induced fluorescence signals from the OH radical in high-pressure flames is presented. The fluorescence signal per unit OH mole fraction is modeled as a function of temperature, pressure, and overall flame stoichiometry. Known values of the collisional quenching cross sections as a function of temperature are used to model the electronic quench rate. The reverse A - X (1.0) Q15 transition is used with broadband collection to measure single-point fluorescence produced by a pulsed Nd:YAG-pumped, frequency-doubled dye laser. Laser absorption and thermocouples are used to measure absolute OH concentration and temperature, respectively, which are used to confirm the validity of the model. Measurements are made in CH4/O2/N2 flames up to 10 atm.
A laser fluorescence anemometer which comprises a three-component laser Doppler velocimeter system with a fourth channel to measure fluorescent dye concentration has been installed in the NASA Langley 16- by 24-in water tunnel. The system includes custom designed optics, data acquisition, and traverse control instruments and a custom software package. Feasibility studies demonstrated how water tunnels can be used in conjunction with advanced optical techniques to provide nonintrusive detailed flow field measurements of complex fluid flows with a minimum of expense. The measurements show that the laser fluorescence anemometer can provide new insight into the structure, entrainment, control and of mixing vortical and shear layer flows.
Fluorescence measurements were made on the thermal control coatings from the Long Duration Experiment Facility (LDEF) S0069, Thermal Control Surfaces Experiment (TCSE); and the A0114, Interaction of Atomic Oxygen with Material Surfaces in Low Earth orbit. Fluorescence was observed in two types of thermal control coatings and is attributed to pigments or binders. In addition, fluorescence measurement on the silver Teflon from the front cover of TCSE led to confirmation of damage (cracking) to the metal layers during application.
Errors associated with the use of an image processing technique to correct images of an axisymmetric jet produced by laser-induced fluorescence are analyzed. In particular, attention is given to errors related to the alignment of the optical system, spreading of the laser light sheet, laser light attenuation due to light absorption by the fluorescent dye, and solubility effects. Although the above effects are negligible in the case of a small low-concentration jet, they are not negligible in all fluorescent dye experiments.
Absolute intensity measurements of impurity emissions in a shock tunnel nozzle flow are presented. The impurity emission intensities were measured with a photomultiplier and optical multichannel analyzer and calibrated against an intensity standard. The various metallic contaminants were identified and their intensities measured in the spectral regions 290 to 330 nm and 375 to 385 nm. A comparison with calculated fluorescence intensities for predissociated laser-induced fluorescence signals is made. It is found that the emission background is negligible for most fluorescence experiments.
A wavelength dispersive spectrometer (WDS) was tested on the synchrotron x ray fluorescence microprobe at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Compared to WDS spectra using an electron microprobe, the synchrotron WDS spectra have much better sensitivity and, due to the absence of bremsstrahlung radiation, lower backgrounds. The WDS spectrometer was successfully used to resolve REE L fluorescence spectra from standard glasses and transition metal K fluorescence spectra from kamacite.
The object of this work was to utilize laser-induced fluorescence technique to characterize several samples of space-exposed polyurethane. These samples were flown on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), which was in a shuttle-like orbit for nearly 6 years. Because of our present work to develop laser-induced-fluorescence inspection techniques for polymers, space-exposed samples and controls were lent to us for evaluation. These samples had been attached to the outer surface of LDEF; therefore, they were subjected to thermal cycling, solar ultraviolet radiation, vacuum, and atomic oxygen. It is well documented that atomic oxygen and ultraviolet exposure have detrimental effects on many polymers. This was a unique opportunity to make measurements on material that had been naturally degraded by an unusual environment. During our past work, data have come from artificially degraded samples and generally have demonstrated a correlation between laser-induced fluorescence and tensile strength or elasticity.
Profiles of airborne-laser-induced fluorescence emission from dissolved organic matter in the upper ocean have been produced and compared for the Southern California Bight (SCB) and the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB). Findings were as follows. (1) The fluorescent components of dissolved organic matter (FDOM) are present in easily measurable quantities from near shore to well over 300 km offshore in the SCB and are likewise easily measurable in the coastal, shelf, slope, and Gulf Stream waters of the MAB. (2) The reange of FDOM in the MAB is considerably greater than that in the SCB. (3) The lowest FDOM levels observed in the SCB were higher than those found in the Gulf Stream. (4) The onshore-to-offshore spatial gradient of the FDOM was found to be considerably lower in the SCB than in the MAB, with the highest levels of FDOM being found immediately adjacent to the coast in the MAB. This suggests that the water adjacent to the SCB shoreline is not as strongly influenced by terrestrial and estuarine sources of FDOM as the MAB is. (5) The spatial distribution of the FDOM within both the SCB and the MAB is frequently coherent with the spatial distribution of chlorophyll determined form the concurrent airborne- laser- induced phytoplankton pigment fluorescence measurements. However, distinct noncoherency is sometimes observed, especially at water mass boundaries.
An inverse model was developed to extract the absortion and scattering (elastic and inelastic) properties of oceanic constituents from surface spectral reflectance measurements. In particular, phytoplankton spectral absorption coefficients, solar-stimulated chlorophyll a fluorescence spectra, and particle backscattering spectra were modeled. The model was tested on 35 reflectance spectra obtained from irradiance measurements in optically diverse ocean waters (0.07 to 25.35 mg/cu m range in surface chlorophyll a concentrations). The universality of the model was demonstrated by the accurate estimation of the spectral phytoplankton absorption coefficents over a range of 3 orders of magnitude (rho = 0.94 at 500 nm). Under most oceanic conditions (chlorophyll a less than 3 mg/cu m) the percent difference between measured and modeled phytoplankton absorption coefficents was less than 35%. Spectral variations in measured phytoplankton absorption spectra were well predicted by the inverse model. Modeled volume fluorescence was weakly correlated with measured chl a; fluorescence quantum yield varied from 0.008 to 0.09 as a function of environment and incident irradiance. Modeled particle backscattering coefficients were linearly related to total particle cross section over a twentyfold range in backscattering coefficents (rho = 0.996, n = 12).
Spectroscopic and laser-induced fluorescence measurements were performed on the exhaust plume from a 1 kW NASA Lewis arcjet, operated on simulated ammonia. In particular, emissions were analyzed from the Balmer lines of atomic hydrogen and from one of the rotational bands of the NH radical. The laser-induced fluorescence measurements were performed on the Balmer-alpha line of atomic hydrogen. We find that exit plane temperatures are in the range 1500 to 3500 K and that the electron density upstream of the exit plane is on the order of 1.5 x 10(exp 14)/cu cm as determined by the Stark width of the Balmer-alpha line. Both emission spectroscopy and laser-induced fluorescence were used to measure the plume velocities of atomic hydrogen. Using either technique, velocities on the order of 4 km/sec were found at the exit plane and significant acceleration of the flow was observed in the first 2 mm beyond the exit plane. This result indicates that the design of the arcjet nozzle may not be optimum.
Fluorescent and High Intensity Discharge lamps have opened up great opportunities for researchers to study plant growth under controlled environment conditions and for commercial growers to increase plant production during low/light periods. Specific technical qualities of fluorescent and HID lamps have been critically reviewed. I will direct my remarks to fluorescent and high intensity discharge (HID) lamps in growth chambers, growth rooms, and greenhouses. I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each lamp in growth chambers, growth rooms and greenhouses.
The importance of the OH radical as an intermediate in many combustion reactions and in atmospheric photochemistry has led many researchers to use it as a diagnostic tool in these processes. The amount of data that has been acquired over the years for this radical is quite considerable. However, the quenching rate of OH with water molecules as a function of temperature and the rotational level of the excited state is not very well understood. The motivation of the studies undertaken is to bridge the gap between the low temperature measurements and the high temperature ones reported in the literature. The technique generally employed in these diagnostics is laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), through which rotational state selective excitation of the radical is possible. Furthermore, in a combustion medium, water is produced in abundance so that knowledge of the quenching rate of OH due to water molecules plays a crucial role in interpreting the data. In general, the precursor to an understanding of the collisional quenching rates of OH involves a characterization of the mode in which the radical is produced; the resulting rotational and translational distribution, followed by a measurement of the OH temperature; and ultimately obtaining the rate constants from the pressure dependence of the fluorescence signal. The experimental implementation of these measurements therefore involved, as a first step, the production of the OH radicals in a microwave discharge cell using water vapor as the source, wherein a hydrogen atom is abstracted from H2O. The second step involved the absorption of photons from the frequency-doubled output of a pulsed amplified, single-frequency cw ring dye laser. By tuning the laser to the peak of the transition and observing the fluorescence decay after the laser pulse, the lifetime of the OH in a particular rotational electronic state was determined (tau = 1.4 microseconds for Q(sub 1)(3)). Knowledge of this parameter led to a determination of the quenching rate. By varying the water vapor pressure in the cell and measuring the lifetime as a function of pressure a linear plot of the quenching rate as a function of pressure was obtained. Using this plot, the quenching cross section was deduced. It has therefore been possible to measure the local translational temperature and the quenching cross section with one laser system.
A nonintrusive concentration measurement method is developed for determining the concentration distribution in a complex flow field. The measurement method consists of marking a liquid flow with a water soluble fluorescent dye. The dye is excited by a two dimensional sheet of laser light. The fluorescent intensity is shown to be proportional to the relative concentration level. The fluorescent field is recorded on a video cassette recorder through a video camera. The recorded images are analyzed with image processing hardware and software to obtain intensity levels. Mean and root mean square (rms) values are calculated from these intensity levels. The method is tested on a single round turbulent jet because previous concentration measurements have been made on this configuration by other investigators. The previous results were used to comparison to qualify the current method. These comparisons showed that this method provides satisfactory results. 'Me concentration measurement system was used to measure the concentrations in the complex flow field of a model gas turbine annular combustor. The model annular combustor consists of opposing primary jets and an annular jet which discharges perpendicular to the primary jets. The mixing between the different jet flows can be visualized from the calculated mean and rms profiles. Concentration field visualization images obtained from the processing provide further qualitative information about the flow field.
We have experimentally assessed the quantitative nature of planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) measurements of NO concentration in a unique atmospheric pressure, laminar, axial inverse diffusion flame (IDF). The PLIF measurements were assessed relative to a two-dimensional array of separate laser saturated fluorescence (LSF) measurements. We demonstrated and evaluated several experimentally-based procedures for enhancing the quantitative nature of PLIF concentration images. Because these experimentally-based PLIF correction schemes require only the ability to make PLIF and LSF measurements, they produce a more broadly applicable PLIF diagnostic compared to numerically-based correction schemes. We experimentally assessed the influence of interferences on both narrow-band and broad-band fluorescence measurements at atmospheric and high pressures. Optimum excitation and detection schemes were determined for the LSF and PLIF measurements. Single-input and multiple-input, experimentally-based PLIF enhancement procedures were developed for application in test environments with both negligible and significant quench-dependent error gradients. Each experimentally-based procedure provides an enhancement of approximately 50% in the quantitative nature of the PLIF measurements, and results in concentration images nominally as quantitative as LSF point measurements. These correction procedures can be applied to other species, including radicals, for which no experimental data are available from which to implement numerically-based PLIF enhancement procedures.