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At least 739 records · Page 41

Effect of Grain Shape and Relative Humidity on the Nonlinear Elastic Properties of Granular Media

Abstract This study focuses on unraveling the microphysical origins of the nonlinear elastic effects, which are pervasive in the Earth's crust. Here, we examine the influence of grain shape on the elastic nonlinearity of granular assemblies. We find that the elastic nonlinearity of angular sand particles is of the same order of magnitude as that previously measured in spherical glass beads. However, while the elastic nonlinearity of glass beads increases by an order of magnitude with RH that of sand particles is rather RH independent. We attribute this difference to the angularity of sand particles: absorbed water on the spherical grains weakens the junctions making them more nonlinear, while no such effect occurs in sand due to grain interlocking. Additionally, for one of the nonlinear parameters that likely arises from shearing/partial slip of the grain junctions, we observe a sharp amplitude threshold in sand which is not observed in glass beads.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Humidity-dependent compression-induced glass transition of the air–water interfacial Langmuir films of poly(D,L-lactic acid- ran -glycolic acid) (PLGA)

Constant rate compression isotherms of the air–water interfacial Langmuir films of poly(D,L-lactic acid- ran -glycolic acid) (PLGA)show a distinct feature of an exponential increase in surface pressure in the high surface polymer concentration regime. We have previously demonstrated that this abrupt increase in surface pressure is linked to the glass transition of the polymer film, but the detailed mechanism of this process is not understood. In order to obtain a molecular-level understanding of this behavior, we performed extensive characterizations of the surface mechanical, structural and rheological properties of Langmuir PLGA films at the air–water interface, using combined experimental techniques including the Langmuir film balance, X-ray reflectivity and double-wall-ring interfacial rheometry methods.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

In situ investigation of high humidity stress corrosion cracking of 7075 aluminum alloy by three-dimensional (3D) X-ray synchrotron tomography

In situ X-ray synchrotron tomography was used to investigate the stress corrosion cracking behavior of under-aged Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy in moisture. The discontinuous surface cracks (crack jumps) mentioned in the literature are actually a single continuous and tortuous crack when observed in three dimension (3D). Contrary to 2D measurements made at the surface which suggest non-uniform crack growth rates, 3D measurements of the crack length led to a much more accurate measurement of crack growth rates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Nanosecond pulsed humid Ar plasma jet in air: shielding, discharge characteristics and atomic hydrogen production

Gas phase non-equilibrium plasmas jets containing water vapor are of growing interest for many applications. In this work, we report a detailed study of an atmospheric pressure nanosecond pulsed Ar + 0.26% H 2 O plasma jet. The plasma jet operates in an atmospheric pressure air surrounding but is shielded with a coaxial argon flow to limit the air diffusion into the jet effluent core. The jet impinges on a metal plate electrode and produces a stable plasma filament (transient spark) between the needle electrode in the jet and the metal plate. The stable plasma filament is characterized by spatially and time resolved electrical and optical diagnostics. This includes Rayleigh scattering, Stark broadening of the hydrogen Balmer lines and two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence (TaLIF) to obtain the gas temperature, the electron density and the atomic hydrogen density respectively. Electron densities and atomic hydrogen densities up to $5 \times 10^{22}$ ${\rm m}^{-3}$ and $2 \times 10^{22}$ ${\rm m}^{-3}$ have been measured. This shows that atomic hydrogen is one of the main species in high density Ar-H 2 O plasmas. The gas temperature does not exceed 550 K in the core of the plasma. To enable in situ calibration of the H TaLIF at atmospheric pressure a previously published O density calibration scheme is extended to include a correction for the line profiles by including overlap integrals as required by H TaLIF. The line width of H TaLIF, due to collision broadening has the same trend as the neutral density obtained by Rayleigh scattering. This suggests the possibility to use this technique to in situ probe neutral gas densities.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Numerical study of the influence of surface reaction probabilities on reactive species in an rf atmospheric pressure plasma containing humidity

The quantification and control of reactive species (RS) in atmospheric pressure plasmas (APPs) is of great interest for their technological applications, in particular in biomedicine. Of key importance in simulating the densities of these species are fundamental data on their production and destruction. In particular, data concerning particle-surface reaction probabilities in APPs are scarce, with most of these probabilities measured in low-pressure systems. In this work, the role of surface reaction probabilities, γ, of reactive neutral species (H, O and OH) on neutral particle densities in a He–H 2 O radio-frequency micro APP jet (COST-$\mu $APPJ) are investigated using a global model. It is found that the choice of γ, particularly for low-mass species having large diffusivities, such as H, can change computed species densities significantly. Furthermore the importance of γ even at elevated pressures offers potential for tailoring the RS composition of atmospheric pressure microplasmas by choosing different wall materials or plasma geometries.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗