Critique of Macro Flow/Damage Surface Representations for Metal Matrix Composites Using Micromechanics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lissenden, Cliff J.; Arnold, Steven M.

1996-01-01

Guidance for the formulation of robust, multiaxial, constitutive models for advanced materials is provided by addressing theoretical and experimental issues using micromechanics. The multiaxial response of metal matrix composites, depicted in terms of macro flow/damage surfaces, is predicted at room and elevated temperatures using an analytical micromechanical model that includes viscoplastic matrix response as well as fiber-matrix debonding. Macro flow/damage surfaces (i.e., debonding envelopes, matrix threshold surfaces, macro 'yield' surfaces, surfaces of constant inelastic strain rate, and surfaces of constant dissipation rate) are determined for silicon carbide/titanium in three stress spaces. Residual stresses are shown to offset the centers of the flow/damage surfaces from the origin and their shape is significantly altered by debonding. The results indicate which type of flow/damage surfaces should be characterized and what loadings applied to provide the most meaningful experimental data for guiding theoretical model development and verification.

Thin film contamination effects on laser-induced damage of fused silica surfaces at 355 nm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burnham, A. K.; Cordillot, C.; Fornier, A.

1998-07-28

Fused silica windows were artificially contaminated to estimate the resistance of target chamber debris shields against laser damage during NIF operation. Uniform contamination thin films (1 to 5 nm thick) were prepared by sputtering various materials (Au, Al, Cu, and B 4C). The loss of transmission of the samples was first measured. They were then tested at 355 nm in air with an 8-ns Nd:YAG laser. The damage morphologies were characterized by Nomarski optical microscopy and SEM. Both theory and experiments showed that metal contamination for films as thin as 1 nm leads to a substantial loss of transmission. Themore » laser damage resistance dropped very uniformly across the entire surface (e.g. 6 J/cm 2 for 5 nm of Cu). The damage morphology characterization showed that contrary to clean silica, metal coated samples did not produce pits on the surface. B 4C coated silica, on the other hand, led to a higher density of such damage pits. A model for light absorption in the thin film was coupled with a simple heat deposition and diffusion model to perform preliminary theoretical estimates of damage thresholds. The estimates of the loss due to light absorption and reflection pointed out significant .differences between metals (e.g. Al and Au). The damage threshold predictions were in qualitative agreement with experimental measurements.« less

Damage thresholds for blaze diffraction gratings and grazing incidence optics at an X-ray free-electron laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krzywinski, Jacek; Conley, Raymond; Moeller, Stefan

The Linac Coherent Light Source is upgrading its machine to high repetition rate and to extended ranges. Novel coatings, with limited surface oxidation, which are able to work at the carbon edge, are required. In addition, high-resolution soft X-ray monochromators become necessary. One of the big challenges is to design the mirror geometry and the grating profile to have high reflectivity (or efficiency) and at the same time survive the high peak energy of the free-electron laser pulses. For these reasons the experimental damage threshold, at 900 eV, of two platinum-coated gratings with different blazed angles has been investigated. The gratingsmore » were tested at 1° grazing incidence. To validate a model for which the damage threshold on the blaze grating can be estimated by calculating the damage threshold of a mirror with an angle of incidence identical to the angle of incidence on the grating plus the blaze angle, tests on Pt-coated substrates have also been performed. The results confirmed the prediction. Uncoated silicon, platinum and SiB 3 (both deposited on a silicon substrate) were also investigated. In general, the measured damage threshold at grazing incidence is higher than that calculated under the assumption that there is no energy transport from the volume where the photons are absorbed. However, it was found that, for the case of the SiB 3 coating, the grazing incidence condition did not increase the damage threshold, indicating that the energy transport away from the extinction volume is negligible.« less

Damage thresholds for blaze diffraction gratings and grazing incidence optics at an X-ray free-electron laser

DOE PAGES

Krzywinski, Jacek; Conley, Raymond; Moeller, Stefan; ...

2018-01-01

The Linac Coherent Light Source is upgrading its machine to high repetition rate and to extended ranges. Novel coatings, with limited surface oxidation, which are able to work at the carbon edge, are required. In addition, high-resolution soft X-ray monochromators become necessary. One of the big challenges is to design the mirror geometry and the grating profile to have high reflectivity (or efficiency) and at the same time survive the high peak energy of the free-electron laser pulses. For these reasons the experimental damage threshold, at 900 eV, of two platinum-coated gratings with different blazed angles has been investigated. The gratingsmore » were tested at 1° grazing incidence. To validate a model for which the damage threshold on the blaze grating can be estimated by calculating the damage threshold of a mirror with an angle of incidence identical to the angle of incidence on the grating plus the blaze angle, tests on Pt-coated substrates have also been performed. The results confirmed the prediction. Uncoated silicon, platinum and SiB 3 (both deposited on a silicon substrate) were also investigated. In general, the measured damage threshold at grazing incidence is higher than that calculated under the assumption that there is no energy transport from the volume where the photons are absorbed. However, it was found that, for the case of the SiB 3 coating, the grazing incidence condition did not increase the damage threshold, indicating that the energy transport away from the extinction volume is negligible.« less

Comparing the ISO-recommended and the cumulative data-reduction algorithms in S-on-1 laser damage test by a reverse approach method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zorila, Alexandru; Stratan, Aurel; Nemes, George

2018-01-01

We compare the ISO-recommended (the standard) data-reduction algorithm used to determine the surface laser-induced damage threshold of optical materials by the S-on-1 test with two newly suggested algorithms, both named "cumulative" algorithms/methods, a regular one and a limit-case one, intended to perform in some respects better than the standard one. To avoid additional errors due to real experiments, a simulated test is performed, named the reverse approach. This approach simulates the real damage experiments, by generating artificial test-data of damaged and non-damaged sites, based on an assumed, known damage threshold fluence of the target and on a given probability distribution function to induce the damage. In this work, a database of 12 sets of test-data containing both damaged and non-damaged sites was generated by using four different reverse techniques and by assuming three specific damage probability distribution functions. The same value for the threshold fluence was assumed, and a Gaussian fluence distribution on each irradiated site was considered, as usual for the S-on-1 test. Each of the test-data was independently processed by the standard and by the two cumulative data-reduction algorithms, the resulting fitted probability distributions were compared with the initially assumed probability distribution functions, and the quantities used to compare these algorithms were determined. These quantities characterize the accuracy and the precision in determining the damage threshold and the goodness of fit of the damage probability curves. The results indicate that the accuracy in determining the absolute damage threshold is best for the ISO-recommended method, the precision is best for the limit-case of the cumulative method, and the goodness of fit estimator (adjusted R-squared) is almost the same for all three algorithms.

Advanced Mitigation Process (AMP) for Improving Laser Damage Threshold of Fused Silica Optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Xin; Huang, Jin; Liu, Hongjie; Geng, Feng; Sun, Laixi; Jiang, Xiaodong; Wu, Weidong; Qiao, Liang; Zu, Xiaotao; Zheng, Wanguo

2016-08-01

The laser damage precursors in subsurface of fused silica (e.g. photosensitive impurities, scratches and redeposited silica compounds) were mitigated by mineral acid leaching and HF etching with multi-frequency ultrasonic agitation, respectively. The comparison of scratches morphology after static etching and high-frequency ultrasonic agitation etching was devoted in our case. And comparison of laser induce damage resistance of scratched and non-scratched fused silica surfaces after HF etching with high-frequency ultrasonic agitation were also investigated in this study. The global laser induce damage resistance was increased significantly after the laser damage precursors were mitigated in this case. The redeposition of reaction produce was avoided by involving multi-frequency ultrasonic and chemical leaching process. These methods made the increase of laser damage threshold more stable. In addition, there is no scratch related damage initiations found on the samples which were treated by Advanced Mitigation Process.

Advanced Mitigation Process (AMP) for Improving Laser Damage Threshold of Fused Silica Optics

PubMed Central

Ye, Xin; Huang, Jin; Liu, Hongjie; Geng, Feng; Sun, Laixi; Jiang, Xiaodong; Wu, Weidong; Qiao, Liang; Zu, Xiaotao; Zheng, Wanguo

2016-01-01

The laser damage precursors in subsurface of fused silica (e.g. photosensitive impurities, scratches and redeposited silica compounds) were mitigated by mineral acid leaching and HF etching with multi-frequency ultrasonic agitation, respectively. The comparison of scratches morphology after static etching and high-frequency ultrasonic agitation etching was devoted in our case. And comparison of laser induce damage resistance of scratched and non-scratched fused silica surfaces after HF etching with high-frequency ultrasonic agitation were also investigated in this study. The global laser induce damage resistance was increased significantly after the laser damage precursors were mitigated in this case. The redeposition of reaction produce was avoided by involving multi-frequency ultrasonic and chemical leaching process. These methods made the increase of laser damage threshold more stable. In addition, there is no scratch related damage initiations found on the samples which were treated by Advanced Mitigation Process. PMID:27484188

Synthesis, Hirshfeld surface analysis, laser damage threshold, third-order nonlinear optical property and DFT computation studies of Dichlorobis(DL-valine)zinc(II): A spectroscopic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chitrambalam, S.; Manimaran, D.; Hubert Joe, I.; Rastogi, V. K.; Ul Hassan, Israr

2018-01-01

The organometallic crystal of Dichlorobis(DL-valine)zinc(II) was grown by solution growth method. The computed structural geometry, vibrational wavenumbers and UV-visible spectra were compared with experimental results. Hirshfeld surface map was used to locate electron density and the fingerprint plots percentages are responsible for the stabilization of intermolecular interactions in molecular crystal. The second-order hyperpolarizability value of the molecule was also calculated at density functional theory method. The surface resistance and third-order nonlinear optical property of the crystal were studied by laser induced surface damage threshold and Z-scan techniques, respectively using Nd:YAG laser with wavelength 532 nm. The open aperture result exhibits the reverse saturation absorption, which indicate that this material has potential candidate for optical limiting and optoelectronic applications.

Quantification of high-power ultrasound induced damage on potato starch granules using light microscopy.

PubMed

Zuo, Yue Yue J; Hébraud, Pascal; Hemar, Yacine; Ashokkumar, Muthupandian

2012-05-01

A simple light microscopic technique was developed in order to quantify the damage inflicted by high-power low-frequency ultrasound (0-160 W, 20 kHz) treatment on potato starch granules in aqueous dispersions. The surface properties of the starch granules were modified using ethanol and SDS washing methods, which are known to displace proteins and lipids from the surface of the starch granules. The study showed that in the case of normal and ethanol-washed potato starch dispersions, two linear regions were observed. The number of defects first increased linearly with an increase in ultrasound power up to a threshold level. This was then followed by another linear dependence of the number of defects on the ultrasound power. The power threshold where the change-over occurred was higher for the ethanol-washed potato dispersions compared to non-washed potato dispersions. In the case of SDS-washed potato starch, although the increase in defects was linear with the ultrasound power, the power threshold for a second linear region was not observed. These results are discussed in terms of the different possible mechanisms of cavitation induced-damage (hydrodynamic shear stresses and micro-jetting) and by taking into account the hydrophobicity of the starch granule surface. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of wet etch processing on laser-induced damage of fused silica surfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Battersby, C.L.; Kozlowski, M.R.; Sheehan, L.M.

1998-12-22

Laser-induced damage of transparent fused silica optical components by 355 nm illumination occurs primarily at surface defects produced during the grinding and polishing processes. These defects can either be surface defects or sub-surface damage.Wet etch processing in a buffered hydrogen fluoride (HF) solution has been examined as a tool for characterizing such defects. A study was conducted to understand the effects of etch depth on the damage threshold of fused silica substrates. The study used a 355 nm, 7.5 ns, 10 Hz Nd:YAG laser to damage test fused silica optics through various wet etch processing steps. Inspection of the surfacemore » quality was performed with Nomarski microscopy and Total Internal Reflection Microscopy. The damage test data and inspection results were correlated with polishing process specifics. The results show that a wet etch exposes subsurface damage while maintaining or improving the laser damage performance. The benefits of a wet etch must be evaluated for each polishing process.« less

Infrared laser damage thresholds in corneal tissue phantoms using femtosecond laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boretsky, Adam R.; Clary, Joseph E.; Noojin, Gary D.; Rockwell, Benjamin A.

2018-02-01

Ultrafast lasers have become a fixture in many biomedical, industrial, telecommunications, and defense applications in recent years. These sources are capable of generating extremely high peak power that can cause laser-induced tissue breakdown through the formation of a plasma upon exposure. Despite the increasing prevalence of such lasers, current safety standards (ANSI Z136.1-2014) do not include maximum permissible exposure (MPE) values for the cornea with pulse durations less than one nanosecond. This study was designed to measure damage thresholds in corneal tissue phantoms in the near-infrared and mid-infrared to identify the wavelength dependence of laser damage thresholds from 1200-2500 nm. A high-energy regenerative amplifier and optical parametric amplifier outputting 100 femtosecond pulses with pulse energies up to 2 mJ were used to perform exposures and determine damage thresholds in transparent collagen gel tissue phantoms. Three-dimensional imaging, primarily optical coherence tomography, was used to evaluate tissue phantoms following exposure to determine ablation characteristics at the surface and within the bulk material. The determination of laser damage thresholds in the near-IR and mid-IR for ultrafast lasers will help to guide safety standards and establish the appropriate MPE levels for exposure sensitive ocular tissue such as the cornea. These data will help promote the safe use of ultrafast lasers for a wide range of applications.

3-ω damage threshold evaluation of final optics components using Beamlet Mule and off-line testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozlowski, Mark R.; Maricle, Stephen M.; Mouser, Ron P.; Schwartz, Sheldon; Wegner, Paul J.; Weiland, Timothy L.

1999-07-01

A statistics-based model is being develop to predict the laser-damage-limited lifetime of UV optical components on the NIF laser. In order to provide data for the mode, laser damage experiments were performed on the Beamlet laser system at LLNL. An early protoype NIF focus lens was exposed to twenty 351 nm pulses at an average fluence of 5 J/cm2, 3ns. Using a high resolution optic inspection inspection system a total of 353 damage sites was detected within the 1160 cm2 beam aperture. Through inspections of the lens before, after and, in some cases, during the campaign, pulse to pulse damage growth rates were measured for damage initiating both on the surface and at bulk inclusions. Growth rates as high as 79 micrometers /pulse were observed for damage initiating at pre-existing scratches in the surface. For most damage sites on the optic, both on the surface and at bulk inclusions. Growth rates as high as 79 micrometers /pulse were observed for damage initiating at per- existing scratches in the surface. For most damage sites on the optic, both surface and bulk, the damage growth rate was approximately 10(Mu) m/pulse.

Catastrophic failure of contaminated fused silica optics at 355 nm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Genin, F. Y., LLNL

1996-12-03

For years, contamination has been known to degrade the performance of optics and to sometimes initiate laser-induced damage to initiate. This study has W to quantify these effects for fused silica windows used at 355 mm Contamination particles (Al, Cu, TiO{sub 2} and ZrO{sub 2}) were artificially deposited onto the surface and damage tests were conducted with a 3 ns NdYAG laser. The damage morphology was characterized by Nomarski optical microscopy. The results showed that the damage morphology for input and output surface contamination is different. For input surface contamination, both input and output surfaces can damage. In particular, themore » particle can induce pitting or drilling of the surface where the beam exits. Such damage usually grows catastrophically. Output surface contamination is usually ablated away on the shot but can also induce catastrophic damage. Plasmas are observed during illumination and seem to play an important role in the damage mechanism. The relationship between fluence and contamination size for which catastrophic damage occurred was plotted for different contamination materials. The results show that particles even as small as 10 {micro}m can substantially decrease the damage threshold of the window and that metallic particles on the input surface have a more negative effect than oxide particles.« less

Damage Resistant Optical Glasses for High Power Lasers: A Continuing Glass Science and Technology Challenge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Campbell, J H

2002-08-28

A major challenge in the development of optical glasses for high-power lasers is reducing or eliminating laser-induced damage to the interior (bulk) and the polished surface of the glass. Bulk laser damage in glass generally originates from inclusions. With the development of novel glass melting and forming processes it is now possible to make both fused silica and a suit of meta-phosphate laser glasses in large sizes ({approx}>0.5-lm diameter), free of inclusions and with high optical homogeneity ({approx} 10{sup -6}). Considerable attention also has been focused on improving the laser damage resistance to polished optical glass surfaces. Studies have shownmore » that laser-induced damage to surfaces grows exponentially with the number of shots when illuminated with nano-second pulses at 351-nm above a given fluence threshold. A new approach for reducing and eliminating laser-induced surface damage relies on a series of post-polishing treatment steps. This damage improvement method is briefly reviewed.« less

Probability of growth of small damage sites on the exit surface of fused silica optics.

PubMed

Negres, Raluca A; Abdulla, Ghaleb M; Cross, David A; Liao, Zhi M; Carr, Christopher W

2012-06-04

Growth of laser damage on fused silica optical components depends on several key parameters including laser fluence, wavelength, pulse duration, and site size. Here we investigate the growth behavior of small damage sites on the exit surface of SiO₂ optics under exposure to tightly controlled laser pulses. Results demonstrate that the onset of damage growth is not governed by a threshold, but is probabilistic in nature and depends both on the current size of a damage site and the laser fluence to which it is exposed. We also develop models for use in growth prediction. In addition, we show that laser exposure history also influences the behavior of individual sites.

Effect of annealing on the laser induced damage of polished and CO2 laser-processed fused silica surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doualle, T.; Gallais, L.; Cormont, P.; Donval, T.; Lamaignère, L.; Rullier, J. L.

2016-06-01

We investigate the effect of different heat treatments on the laser-induced damage probabilities of fused silica samples. Isothermal annealing in a furnace is applied, with different temperatures in the range 700-1100 °C and 12 h annealing time, to super-polished fused silica samples. The surface flatness and laser damage probabilities at 3 ns, 351 nm are measured before and after the different annealing procedures. We have found a significant improvement of the initial laser damage probabilities of the silica surface after annealing at 1050 °C for 12 h. A similar study has been conducted on CO2 laser-processed sites on the surface of the samples. Before and after annealing, we have studied the morphology of the sites, the evolution of residual stress, and the laser-induced damage threshold measured at 351 nm, 3 ns. In this case, we observe that the laser damage resistance of the laser created craters can reach the damage level of the bare fused silica surface after the annealing process, with a complete stress relieve. The obtained results are then compared to the case of local annealing process by CO2 laser irradiation during 1 s, and we found similar improvements in both cases. The different results obtained in the study are compared to numerical simulations made with a thermo-mechanical model based on finite-element method that allows the simulation of the isothermal or the local annealing process, the evolution of stress and fictive temperature. The simulation results were found to be very consistent with experimental observations for the stresses evolution after annealing and estimation of the heat affected area during laser-processing based on the density dependence with fictive temperature. Following this work, the temperature for local annealing should reach 1330-1470 °C for an optimized reduction of damage probability and be below the threshold for material removal, whereas furnace annealing should be kept below the annealing point to avoid sample deformation.

Laser damage initiation and growth of antireflection coated S-FAP crystal surfaces prepared by pitch lap and magnetorheological finishing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stolz, C J; Menapace, J A; Schaffers, K I

Antireflection (AR) coatings typically damage at the interface between the substrate and coating. Therefore the substrate finishing technology can have an impact on the laser resistance of the coating. For this study, AR coatings were deposited on Yb:S-FAP [Yb{sup 3+}:Sr{sub 5}(PO{sub 4}){sub 3}F] crystals that received a final polish by both conventional pitch lap finishing as well as magnetorheological finishing (MRF). SEM images of the damage morphology reveals laser damage originates at scratches and at substrate coating interfacial absorbing defects. Previous damage stability tests on multilayer mirror coatings and bare surfaces revealed damage growth can occur at fluences below themore » initiation fluence. The results from this study suggest the opposite trend for AR coatings. Investigation of unstable HR and uncoated surface damage morphologies reveals significant radial cracking that is not apparent with AR damage due to AR delamination from the coated surface with few apparent cracks at the damage boundary. Damage stability tests show that coated Yb:S-FAP crystals can operate at 1057 nm at fluences around 20 J/cm{sup 2} at 10 ns; almost twice the initiation damage threshold.« less

Physical Interpretation of Laboratory Friction Laws in the Context of Damage Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rundle, J. B.; Tiampo, K. F.; Martins, J. S.; Klein, W.

2002-12-01

Frictional on sliding surfaces is ultimately related to processes of surface damage, and can be understood in the context of the physics of dynamical threshold systems. Threshold systems are known to be some of the most important nonlinear, self-organizing systems in nature, including networks of earthquake faults, neural networks, superconductors and semiconductors, and the World Wide Web, as well as political, social, and ecological systems. All of these systems have dynamics that are strongly correlated in space and time, and all typically display a multiplicity of spatial and temporal scales. Here we discuss the physics of self-organization and damage in earthquake threshold systems at the "microscopic" laboratory scale, in which consideration of results from simulations leads to dynamical equations that can be used to derive results obtained from sliding friction experiments, specifically, the empirical "rate-and-state" friction equations of Ruina. Paradoxically, in all of these dissipative systems, long-range interactions induce the existence of locally ergodic dynamics, even though the dissipation of energy is involved. The existence of dissipative effects leads to the appearance of a "leaky threshold" dynamics, equivalent to a new scaling field that controls the size of nucleation events relative to the size of the background fluctuations. The corresponding appearance of a mean field spinodal leads to a general coarse-grained equation, which expresses the balance between rate of stress supplied, and rate of stress dissipated in the processes leading to surface damage. We can use ideas from thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transitions to develop the exact form of the rate-and-state equations, giving clear physical meaning to all terms and variables. Ultimately, the self-organizing dynamics arise from the appearance of an energy landscape in these systems, which in turn arises from the strong correlations and mean field nature of the physics.

Role of tool marks inside spherical mitigation pit fabricated by micro-milling on repairing quality of damaged KH2PO4 crystal

PubMed Central

Chen, Ming-Jun; Cheng, Jian; Yuan, Xiao-Dong; Liao, Wei; Wang, Hai-Jun; Wang, Jing-He; Xiao, Yong; Li, Ming-Quan

2015-01-01

Repairing initial slight damage site into stable structures by engineering techniques is the leading strategy to mitigate the damage growth on large-size components used in laser-driven fusion facilities. For KH2PO4 crystals, serving as frequency converter and optoelectronic switch-Pockels cell, micro-milling has been proven the most promising method to fabricate these stable structures. However, tool marks inside repairing pit would be unavoidably introduced due to the wearing of milling cutter in actual repairing process. Here we quantitatively investigate the effect of tool marks on repairing quality of damaged crystal components by simulating its induced light intensification and testing the laser-induced damage threshold. We found that due to the formation of focusing hot spots and interference ripples, the light intensity is strongly enhanced with the presence of tool marks, especially for those on rear surfaces. Besides, the negative effect of tool marks is mark density dependent and multiple tool marks would aggravate the light intensification. Laser damage tests verified the role of tool marks as weak points, reducing the repairing quality. This work offers new criterion to comprehensively evaluate the quality of repaired optical surfaces to alleviate the bottleneck issue of low laser damage threshold for optical components in laser-driven fusion facilities. PMID:26399624

Subsurface defects of fused silica optics and laser induced damage at 351 nm.

PubMed

Hongjie, Liu; Jin, Huang; Fengrui, Wang; Xinda, Zhou; Xin, Ye; Xiaoyan, Zhou; Laixi, Sun; Xiaodong, Jiang; Zhan, Sui; Wanguo, Zheng

2013-05-20

Many kinds of subsurface defects are always present together in the subsurface of fused silica optics. It is imperfect that only one kind of defects is isolated to investigate its impact on laser damage. Therefore it is necessary to investigate the impact of subsurface defects on laser induced damage of fused silica optics with a comprehensive vision. In this work, we choose the fused silica samples manufactured by different vendors to characterize subsurface defects and measure laser induced damage. Contamination defects, subsurface damage (SSD), optical-thermal absorption and hardness of fused silica surface are characterized with time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), fluorescence microscopy, photo-thermal common-path interferometer and fully automatic micro-hardness tester respectively. Laser induced damage threshold and damage density are measured by 351 nm nanosecond pulse laser. The correlations existing between defects and laser induced damage are analyzed. The results show that Cerium element and SSD both have a good correlation with laser-induced damage thresholds and damage density. Research results evaluate process technology of fused silica optics in China at present. Furthermore, the results can provide technique support for improving laser induced damage performance of fused silica.

Soft x-ray free-electron laser induced damage to inorganic scintillators

DOE PAGES

Burian, Tomáš; Hájková, Věra; Chalupský, Jaromír; ...

2015-01-07

An irreversible response of inorganic scintillators to intense soft x-ray laser radiation was investigated at the FLASH (Free-electron LASer in Hamburg) facility. Three ionic crystals, namely, Ce:YAG (cerium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet), PbWO4 (lead tungstate), and ZnO (zinc oxide), were exposed to single 4.6 nm ultra-short laser pulses of variable pulse energy (up to 12 μJ) under normal incidence conditions with tight focus. Damaged areas produced with various levels of pulse fluences, were analyzed on the surface of irradiated samples using differential interference contrast (DIC) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The effective beam area of 22.2 ± 2.2 μm2 was determinedmore » by means of the ablation imprints method with the use of poly(methyl methacrylate) - PMMA. Applied to the three inorganic materials, this procedure gave almost the same values of an effective area. The single-shot damage threshold fluence was determined for each of these inorganic materials. The Ce:YAG sample seems to be the most radiation resistant under the given irradiation conditions, its damage threshold was determined to be as high as 660.8 ± 71.2 mJ/cm2. Contrary to that, the PbWO4 sample exhibited the lowest radiation resistance with a threshold fluence of 62.6 ± 11.9 mJ/cm2. The threshold for ZnO was found to be 167.8 ± 30.8 mJ/cm2. Both interaction and material characteristics responsible for the damage threshold difference are discussed in the article.« less

Removal of dust particles from metal-mirror surfaces by excimer-laser radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, Klaus R.; Wolff-Rottke, B.; Mueller, F.

1995-07-01

The effect of particle desorption from Al mirror surfaces by the influence of pulsed UV laser radiation has been studied. The investigations are closely related to the demands of astronomers, who are looking for a more effective way of cleaning the Al coatings of future very large telescope mirrors. A systematic parameter study has been performed in order to determine the irradiation conditions which yield the highest dust removal efficiency (i.e. reflectivity increase) on contaminated samples, taking particularly into account laser-induced damage and degradation effects of coating and substrate. The particle removal rate increases with increasing laser fluence, being limited however by the damage threshold of the coating. Therefore, parameters influencing the damage threshold of metal coatings like wavelength, pulse width, and number of pulses have been studied in detail. Data indicate that on Al coated BK7 and Zerodur samples KrF laser radiation yields the optimum result, with cleaning efficiencies comparable to polymer film stripping. The initial reflectivity of the clean coating can nearly be reinstalled, in particular when an additional solvent film on the sample surface is applied. Hence, laser desorption seems to be a viable method of cleaning large Al mirrors for telescopes.

The improvement of laser induced damage resistance of optical workpiece surface by hydrodynamic effect polishing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Wenqiang; Guan, Chaoliang; Li, Shengyi; Wang, Zhuo

2016-10-01

Surface and subsurface damage in optical element will greatly decrease the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) in the intense laser optical system. Processing damage on the workpiece surface can be inevitably caused when the material is removed in brittle or plastic mode. As a non-contact polishing technology, hydrodynamic effect polishing (HEP) shows very good performance on generating an ultra-smooth surface without damage. The material is removed by chemisorption between nanoparticle and workpiece surface in the elastic mode in HEP. The subsurface damage and surface scratches can be effectively removed after the polishing process. Meanwhile ultra-smooth surface with atomic level surface roughness can be achieved. To investigate the improvement of LIDT of optical workpiece, polishing experiment was conducted on a magnetorheological finishing (MRF) silica glass sample. AFM measurement results show that all the MRF directional plastic marks have been removed clearly and the root-mean-square (rms) surface roughness has decreased from 0.673nm to 0.177nm after HEP process. Laser induced damage experiment was conducted with laser pulse of 1064nm wavelength and 10ns time width. Compared with the original state, the LEDT of the silica glass sample polished by HEP has increased from 29.78J/cm2 to 45.47J/cm2. It demonstrates that LIDT of optical element treated by HEP can be greatly improved for ultra low surface roughness and nearly defect-free surface/subsurface.

Assessment of multi-pulse laser-induced damage threshold of metallic mirrors for Thomson scattering system.

PubMed

Sato, Masaya; Kajita, Shin; Yasuhara, Ryo; Ohno, Noriyasu; Tokitani, Masayuki; Yoshida, Naoaki; Tawara, Yuzuru

2013-04-22

Multi-pulse laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was experimentally investigated up to ~10(6) pulses for Cu, Ag mirrors. The surface roughness and the hardness dependence on the LIDT were also examined. The LIDT of OFHC-Cu decreased with the pulse number and was 1.0 J/cm(2) at 1.8 × 10(6) pulses. The expected LIDT of cutting Ag at 10(7) pulses was the highest; Ag mirror would be one of the best choices for ITER Thomson scattering system. For the roughness and hardness, material dependences of LIDT are discussed with experimental results.

Wavelength dependence of femtosecond laser-induced damage threshold of optical materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gallais, L., E-mail: laurent.gallais@fresnel.fr; Douti, D.-B.; Commandré, M.

2015-06-14

An experimental and numerical study of the laser-induced damage of the surface of optical material in the femtosecond regime is presented. The objective of this work is to investigate the different processes involved as a function of the ratio of photon to bandgap energies and compare the results to models based on nonlinear ionization processes. Experimentally, the laser-induced damage threshold of optical materials has been studied in a range of wavelengths from 1030 nm (1.2 eV) to 310 nm (4 eV) with pulse durations of 100 fs with the use of an optical parametric amplifier system. Semi-conductors and dielectrics materials, in bulk or thinmore » film forms, in a range of bandgap from 1 to 10 eV have been tested in order to investigate the scaling of the femtosecond laser damage threshold with the bandgap and photon energy. A model based on the Keldysh photo-ionization theory and the description of impact ionization by a multiple-rate-equation system is used to explain the dependence of laser-breakdown with the photon energy. The calculated damage fluence threshold is found to be consistent with experimental results. From these results, the relative importance of the ionization processes can be derived depending on material properties and irradiation conditions. Moreover, the observed damage morphologies can be described within the framework of the model by taking into account the dynamics of energy deposition with one dimensional propagation simulations in the excited material and thermodynamical considerations.« less

Thermal damage study of beryllium windows used as vacuum barriers in synchrotron radiation beamlines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holdener, F.R.; Johnson, G.L.; Karpenko, V.P.

An experimental study to investigate thermal-induced damage to SSRL-designed beryllium foil windows was performed at LLNL's Laser Welding Research Facility. The primary goal of this study was to determine the threshold at which thermal-stress-induced damage occurs in these commonly used vacuum barriers. An Nd:Yag pulsed laser with cylindrical optics and a carefully designed test cell provided a test environment that closely resembles the actual beamline conditions at SSRL. Tests performed on two beryllium window geometries, with different vertical aperture dimensions but equal foil thicknesses of 0.254 mm, resulted in two focused total-power thresholds at which incipient damage was determined. Formore » a beam spot size similar to that of the Beamline-X Wiggler Line, onset of surface damage for a 5-mm by 25-mm aperture window was observed at 170 W after 174,000 laser pulses (1.2-ms pulse at 100 pps). A second window with double the vertical aperture dimension (10 mm by 25 mm) was observed to have surface cracking after 180,000 laser pulses with 85 W impinging its front surface. It failed after approximately 1,000,000 pulses. Another window of the same type (10 mm by 25 mm) received 2,160,000 laser pulses at 74.4 W, and subsequent metallographic sectioning revealed no signs of through-thickness damage. Comparison of windows with equal foil thicknesses and aperture dimensions has effectively identified the heat flux limit for incipient failure. The data show that halving the aperture's vertical dimension allows doubling the total incident power for equivalent onsets of thermal-induced damage.« less

Radiation damage to amorphous carbon thin films irradiated by multiple 46.9 nm laser shots below the single-shot damage threshold

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Juha, L.; Hajkova, V.; Vorlicek, V.

2009-05-01

High-surface-quality amorphous carbon (a-C) optical coatings with a thickness of 45 nm, deposited by magnetron sputtering on a silicon substrate, were irradiated by the focused beam of capillary-discharge Ne-like Ar extreme ultraviolet laser (CDL=capillary-discharge laser; XUV=extreme ultraviolet, i.e., wavelengths below 100 nm). The laser wavelength and pulse duration were 46.9 nm and 1.7 ns, respectively. The laser beam was focused onto the sample surface by a spherical Sc/Si multilayer mirror with a total reflectivity of about 30%. The laser pulse energy was varied from 0.4 to 40 muJ on the sample surface. The irradiation was carried out at five fluencemore » levels between 0.1 and 10 J/cm{sup 2}, accumulating five different series of shots, i.e., 1, 5, 10, 20, and 40. The damage to the a-C thin layer was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Nomarski differential interference contrast (DIC) optical microscopy. The dependence of the single-shot-damaged area on pulse energy makes it possible to determine a beam spot diameter in the focus. Its value was found to be equal to 23.3+-3.0 mum using AFM data, assuming the beam to have a Gaussian profile. Such a plot can also be used for a determination of single-shot damage threshold in a-C. A single-shot threshold value of 1.1 J/cm{sup 2} was found. Investigating the consequences of the multiple-shot exposure, it has been found that an accumulation of 10, 20, and 40 shots at a fluence of 0.5 J/cm{sup 2}, i.e., below the single-shot damage threshold, causes irreversible changes of thin a-C layers, which can be registered by both the AFM and the DIC microscopy. In the center of the damaged area, AFM shows a-C removal to a maximum depth of 0.3, 1.2, and 1.5 nm for 10-, 20- and 40-shot exposure, respectively. Raman microprobe analysis does not indicate any change in the structure of the remaining a-C material. The erosive behavior reported here contrasts with the material expansion observed earlier [L. Juha et al., Proc. SPIE 5917, 91 (2005)] on an a-C sample irradiated by a large number of femtosecond pulses of XUV high-order harmonics.« less

Single mode fibers with antireflective surface structures for high power laser applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Busse, Lynda E.; Florea, Catalin M.; Shaw, L. Brandon; Aggarwal, Ishwar D.; Sanghera, Jasbinder S.

2014-03-01

We present results for increased transmission of ~99.5% in the near-IR through the end faces of silica single mode fibers by creating a random antireflective microstructure etched into the end face of the fiber. We demonstrate high laser damage thresholds for these fibers with AR structured surfaces.

Non-destructive evaluation of UV pulse laser-induced damage performance of fused silica optics.

PubMed

Huang, Jin; Wang, Fengrui; Liu, Hongjie; Geng, Feng; Jiang, Xiaodong; Sun, Laixi; Ye, Xin; Li, Qingzhi; Wu, Weidong; Zheng, Wanguo; Sun, Dunlu

2017-11-24

The surface laser damage performance of fused silica optics is related to the distribution of surface defects. In this study, we used chemical etching assisted by ultrasound and magnetorheological finishing to modify defect distribution in a fused silica surface, resulting in fused silica samples with different laser damage performance. Non-destructive test methods such as UV laser-induced fluorescence imaging and photo-thermal deflection were used to characterize the surface defects that contribute to the absorption of UV laser radiation. Our results indicate that the two methods can quantitatively distinguish differences in the distribution of absorptive defects in fused silica samples subjected to different post-processing steps. The percentage of fluorescence defects and the weak absorption coefficient were strongly related to the damage threshold and damage density of fused silica optics, as confirmed by the correlation curves built from statistical analysis of experimental data. The results show that non-destructive evaluation methods such as laser-induced fluorescence and photo-thermal absorption can be effectively applied to estimate the damage performance of fused silica optics at 351 nm pulse laser radiation. This indirect evaluation method is effective for laser damage performance assessment of fused silica optics prior to utilization.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Doualle, T.; Gallais, L., E-mail: laurent.gallais@fresnel.fr; Cormont, P.

We investigate the effect of different heat treatments on the laser-induced damage probabilities of fused silica samples. Isothermal annealing in a furnace is applied, with different temperatures in the range 700–1100 °C and 12 h annealing time, to super-polished fused silica samples. The surface flatness and laser damage probabilities at 3 ns, 351 nm are measured before and after the different annealing procedures. We have found a significant improvement of the initial laser damage probabilities of the silica surface after annealing at 1050 °C for 12 h. A similar study has been conducted on CO{sub 2} laser-processed sites on the surface of the samples. Before andmore » after annealing, we have studied the morphology of the sites, the evolution of residual stress, and the laser-induced damage threshold measured at 351 nm, 3 ns. In this case, we observe that the laser damage resistance of the laser created craters can reach the damage level of the bare fused silica surface after the annealing process, with a complete stress relieve. The obtained results are then compared to the case of local annealing process by CO{sub 2} laser irradiation during 1 s, and we found similar improvements in both cases. The different results obtained in the study are compared to numerical simulations made with a thermo-mechanical model based on finite-element method that allows the simulation of the isothermal or the local annealing process, the evolution of stress and fictive temperature. The simulation results were found to be very consistent with experimental observations for the stresses evolution after annealing and estimation of the heat affected area during laser-processing based on the density dependence with fictive temperature. Following this work, the temperature for local annealing should reach 1330–1470 °C for an optimized reduction of damage probability and be below the threshold for material removal, whereas furnace annealing should be kept below the annealing point to avoid sample deformation.« less

Recent advancements in anti-reflective surface structures (ARSS) for near- to mid-infrared optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Florea, Catalin M.; Busse, Lynda E.; Bayya, Shyam S.; Shaw, Brandon; Aggarwal, Ish D.; Sanghera, Jas S.

2013-06-01

Fused silica, YAG crystals, and spinel ceramics substrates have been successfully patterned through reactive ion etching (RIE). Reflection losses as low as 0.1% have been demonstrated for fused silica at 1.06 microns. Laser damage thresholds have been measured for substrates with ARSS and compared with uncoated and/or thin-film anti-reflection (AR) coated substrates. Thresholds as high as 100 J/cm2 have been demonstrated in fused silica with ARSS at 1.06 microns, with ARSS substrates showing improved thresholds when compared with uncoated substrates.

Impact of different cleaning processes on the laser damage threshold of antireflection coatings for Z-Backlighter optics at Sandia National Laboratories

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Field, Ella; Bellum, John; Kletecka, Damon

We have examined how different cleaning processes affect the laser-induced damage threshold of antireflection coatings for large dimension, Z-Backlighter laser optics at Sandia National Laboratories. Laser damage thresholds were measured after the coatings were created, and again 4 months later to determine which cleaning processes were most effective. There is a nearly twofold increase in laser-induced damage threshold between the antireflection coatings that were cleaned and those that were not cleaned. Aging of the coatings after 4 months resulted in even higher laser-induced damage thresholds. Also, the laser-induced damage threshold results revealed that every antireflection coating had a high defectmore » density, despite the cleaning process used, which indicates that improvements to either the cleaning or deposition processes should provide even higher laser-induced damage thresholds.« less

Impact of different cleaning processes on the laser damage threshold of antireflection coatings for Z-Backlighter optics at Sandia National Laboratories

DOE PAGES

Field, Ella; Bellum, John; Kletecka, Damon

2014-11-06

We have examined how different cleaning processes affect the laser-induced damage threshold of antireflection coatings for large dimension, Z-Backlighter laser optics at Sandia National Laboratories. Laser damage thresholds were measured after the coatings were created, and again 4 months later to determine which cleaning processes were most effective. There is a nearly twofold increase in laser-induced damage threshold between the antireflection coatings that were cleaned and those that were not cleaned. Aging of the coatings after 4 months resulted in even higher laser-induced damage thresholds. Also, the laser-induced damage threshold results revealed that every antireflection coating had a high defectmore » density, despite the cleaning process used, which indicates that improvements to either the cleaning or deposition processes should provide even higher laser-induced damage thresholds.« less

Pulsed laser-induced damage of metals at 492 nm.

PubMed

Marrs, C D; Faith, W N; Dancy, J H; Porteus, J O

1982-11-15

A triaxial flashlamp-pumped dye laser has been used to perform laser damage testing of metal surfaces in the blue-green spectral region. Using LD490 laser dye, the laser produces 0.18-J, 0.5-microsec pulses at 492 nm. The spatial profile of the focused beam is measured in orthogonal directions in the plane of the sample surface. The orthogonal profiles are flat-topped Gaussians with 1/e(2) widths of 270 microm. Multithreshold laser damage test results are presented for polished Mo, diamond-turned high-purity Al alloy, diamond-turned bulk Cu, and diamond-turned electrodeposits of Ag and Au on Cu. Comparisons are made between calculated and experimentally measured slip and melt thresholds.

Large core fiber optic cleaver

DOEpatents

Halpin, John M.

1996-01-01

The present invention relates to a device and method for cleaving optical fibers which yields cleaved optical fiber ends possessing high damage threshold surfaces. The device can be used to cleave optical fibers with core diameters greater than 400 .mu.m.

Removal of dust particles from metal mirror surfaces by excimer laser radiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mann, K.; Wolff-Rottke, B.; Mueller, F.

1995-12-31

The effect of particle desorption from Al mirror surfaces by the influence of pulsed UV laser radiation has been studied. The investigations are closely related to the demands of astronomers, who are looking for a more effective way of cleaning the Al coatings of future very large telescope (VLT) mirrors. A systematic parameter study has been performed in order to determine the irradiation conditions which yield the highest dust removal efficiency (i.e. reflectivity increase) on contaminated samples, taking particularly into account laser induced damage and degradation effects of coating and substrate. The particle removal rate increases with increasing laser fluence,more » being limited however by the damage threshold of the coating. Therefore, parameters influencing the damage threshold of metal coatings like wavelength, pulse width and number of pulses have been studied in detail. Data indicate that on Al coated BK7 and Zerodur samples KrF laser radiation yields the optimum result, with cleaning efficiencies comparable to polymer film stripping. The initial reflectivity of the clean coating can nearly be reinstalled, in particular when an additional solvent film on the sample surface is applied. Hence, laser desorption seems to be a viable method of cleaning large Al mirrors for telescopes.« less

A statistical study of the relationship between surface quality and laser induced damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Trey; Turchette, Quentin; Martin, Alex R.

2012-11-01

Laser induced damage of optical components is a concern in many applications in the commercial, scientific and military market sectors. Numerous component manufacturers supply "high laser damage threshold" (HLDT) optics to meet the needs of this market, and consumers pay a premium price for these products. While there's no question that HLDT optics are manufactured to more rigorous standards (and are therefore inherently more expensive) than conventional products, it is not clear how this added expense translates directly into better performance. This is because the standard methods for evaluating laser damage, and the underlying assumptions about the validity of traditional laser damage testing, are flawed. In particular, the surface and coating defects that generally lead to laser damage (in many laserparameter regimes of interest) are widely distributed over the component surface with large spaces in between them. As a result, laser damage testing typically doesn't include enough of these defects to achieve the sample sizes necessary to make its results statistically meaningful. The result is a poor correlation between defect characteristics and damage events. This paper establishes specifically why this is the case, and provides some indication of what might be done to remedy the problem.

Mechanical assessment of grit blasting surface treatments of dental implants.

PubMed

Shemtov-Yona, K; Rittel, D; Dorogoy, A

2014-11-01

This paper investigates the influence of surface preparation treatments of dental implants on their potential (mechanical) fatigue failure, with emphasis on grit-blasting. The investigation includes limited fatigue testing of implants, showing the relationship between fatigue life and surface damage condition. Those observations are corroborated by a detailed failure analysis of retrieved fracture dental implants. In both cases, the negative effect of embedded alumina particles related to the grit-blasting process is identified. The study also comprises a numerical simulation part of the grit blasting process that reveals, for a given implant material and particle size, the existence of a velocity threshold, below which the rough surface is obtained without damage, and beyond which the creation of significant surface damage will severely reduce the fatigue life, thus increasing fracture probability. The main outcome of this work is that the overall performance of dental implants comprises, in addition to the biological considerations, mechanical reliability aspects. Fatigue fracture is a central issue, and this study shows that uncontrolled surface roughening grit-blasting treatments can induce significant surface damage which accelerate fatigue fracture under certain conditions, even if those treatments are beneficial to the osseointegration process. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large core fiber optic cleaver

DOEpatents

Halpin, J.M.

1996-03-26

The present invention relates to a device and method for cleaving optical fibers which yields cleaved optical fiber ends possessing high damage threshold surfaces. The device can be used to cleave optical fibers with core diameters greater than 400 {micro}m. 30 figs.

Optical coatings for laser fusion applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lowdermilk, W. H.; Milam, D.; Rainer, F.

1980-04-01

Lasers for fusion experiments use thin-film dielectric coatings for reflecting antireflecting and polarizing surface elements. Coatings are most important to the Nd:glass laser application. The most important requirements of these coatings are accuracy of the average value of reflectance and transmission, uniformity of amplitude and phase front of the reflected or transmitted light, and laser damage threshold. Damage resistance strongly affects the laser's design and performance. The success of advanced lasers for future experiments and for reactor applications requires significant developments in damage resistant coatings for ultraviolet laser radiation.

Laser-Induced Damage with Femtosecond Pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kafka, Kyle R. P.

The strong electric fields of focused femtosecond laser pulses lead to non-equilibrium dynamics in materials, which, beyond a threshold intensity, causes laser-induced damage (LID). Such a strongly non-linear and non-perturbative process renders important LID observables like fluence and intensity thresholds and damage morphology (crater) extremely difficult to predict quantitatively. However, femtosecond LID carries a high degree of precision, which has been exploited in various micro/nano-machining and surface engineering applications, such as human eye surgery and super-hydrophobic surfaces. This dissertation presents an array of experimental studies which have measured the damage behavior of various materials under femtosecond irradiation. Precision experiments were performed to produce extreme spatio-temporal confinement of the femtosecond laser-solid damage interaction on monocrystalline Cu, which made possible the first successful direct-benchmarking of LID simulation with realistic damage craters. A technique was developed to produce laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) in a single pulse (typically a multi-pulse phenomenon), and was used to perform a pump-probe study which revealed asynchronous LIPSS formation on copper. Combined with 1-D calculations, this new experimental result suggests more drastic electron heating than expected. Few-cycle pulses were used to study the LID performance and morphology of commercial ultra-broadband optics, which had not been systematically studied before. With extensive surface analysis, various morphologies were observed, including LIPSS, swelling (blisters), simple craters, and even ring-shaped structures, which varied depending on the coating design, number of pulses, and air/vacuum test environment. Mechanisms leading to these morphologies are discussed, many of which are ultrafast in nature. The applied damage behavior of multi-layer dielectric mirrors was measured and compared between long pulse (150 ps) and femtosecond (33 fs) regimes for a large number of optics contributed by manufacturers globally. The damage performance of the mirrors in the 150 ps tests was shown to be uncorrelated with the 33 fs tests, which implies that the two regimes are guided by different mechanisms. In fact, one of the worst-performing mirrors in the long-pulse regime turned out to be the best-performer in the femtosecond regime. The broad array of experimental results presented here all found that LID in the femtosecond regime is distinctly different from long pulse damage, and paves multiple pathways into developing the next stage of theoretical models and applications of femtosecond laser-induced damage.

Method to reduce damage to backing plate

DOEpatents

Perry, Michael D.; Banks, Paul S.; Stuart, Brent C.

2001-01-01

The present invention is a method for penetrating a workpiece using an ultra-short pulse laser beam without causing damage to subsequent surfaces facing the laser. Several embodiments are shown which place holes in fuel injectors without damaging the back surface of the sack in which the fuel is ejected. In one embodiment, pulses from an ultra short pulse laser remove about 10 nm to 1000 nm of material per pulse. In one embodiment, a plasma source is attached to the fuel injector and initiated by common methods such as microwave energy. In another embodiment of the invention, the sack void is filled with a solid. In one other embodiment, a high viscosity liquid is placed within the sack. In general, high-viscosity liquids preferably used in this invention should have a high damage threshold and have a diffusing property.

Examination of the polished surface character of fused silica.

PubMed

Tesar, A A; Fuchs, B A; Hed, P P

1992-12-01

Investigation of the surface character of fused silica polished with various compounds dispersed in water identified pH 4 as the optimum condition for high quality. Analyses support the conclusion that at this pH redeposition of hydrated material onto the surface during polishing is limited. Comparative polishing results for Zerodur are included. Improvement of the laser-damage threshold of a coating on the pH 4 polished fused silica is suggested.

Antireflective surface structures on optics for high energy lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Busse, Lynda E.; Florea, Catalin M.; Shaw, L. Brandon; Frantz, Jesse; Bayya, Shyam; Poutous, Menelaos K.; Joshi, Rajendra; Aggarwal, Ishwar D.; Sanghera, Jas S.

2014-02-01

We report results for antireflective surface structures (ARSS) fabricated directly into the surface of optics and lenses which are important as high energy (multi-kW) laser components, including fused silica windows and lenses, YAG crystals and ceramics and spinel ceramics. Very low reflection losses as well as high laser damage thresholds have been measured for optics with ARSS. Progress to scale up the process for large size windows will also be presented..

Examination of the polished surface character of fused silica

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tesar, A.A.; Fuchs, B.A.; Hed, P.P.

1992-12-01

Investigation of the surface character of fused silica polished with various compounds dispersed in water identified pH 4 as the optimum condition for high quality. Analyses support the conclusion that at this pH redeposition of hydrated material onto the surface during polishing is limited. Comparative polishing results for Zerodur are included. Improvement of the laser-damage threshold of a coating on the pH 4 polished fused silica is suggested.

Mechanisms for dose retention in conformal arsenic doping using a radial line slot antenna microwave plasma source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ueda, Hirokazu; Ventzek, Peter L. G.; Oka, Masahiro; Kobayashi, Yuuki; Sugimoto, Yasuhiro

2015-06-01

Topographic structures such as Fin FETs and silicon nanowires for advanced gate fabrication require ultra-shallow high dose infusion of dopants into the silicon subsurface. Plasma doping meets this requirement by supplying a flux of inert ions and dopant radicals to the surface. However, the helium ion bombardment needed to infuse dopants into the fin surface can cause poor dose retention. This is due to the interaction between substrate damage and post doping process wet cleaning solutions required in the front end of line large-scale integration fabrication. We present findings from surface microscopy experiments that reveal the mechanism for dose retention in arsenic doped silicon fin samples using a microwave RLSA™ plasma source. Dilute aqueous hydrofluoric acid (DHF) cleans by themselves are incompatible with plasma doping processes because the films deposited over the dosed silicon and ion bombardment damaged silicon are readily removed. Oxidizing wet cleaning chemistries help retain the dose as silica rich over-layers are not significantly degraded. Furthermore, the dosed retention after a DHF clean following an oxidizing wet clean is unchanged. Still, the initial ion bombardment energy and flux are important. Large ion fluxes at energies below the sputter threshold and above the silicon damage threshold, before the silicon surface is covered by an amorphous mixed phase layer, allow for enhanced uptake of dopant into the silicon. The resulting dopant concentration is beyond the saturation limit of crystalline silicon.

Radiation and process-induced damage in Ga2O3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearton, S. J.; Yang, Jiancheng; Ren, F.; Yang, G.; Kim, Jihyun; Stavola, M.; Kuramata, A.

2018-02-01

Ga2O3 is gaining attention for high breakdown electronics. The β-polymorph is air-stable, has a wide bandgap ( 4.6 eV) and is available in both bulk and epitaxial form. Different types of power diodes and transistors fabricated on Ga2O3 have shown impressive performance. Etching processes for Ga2O3 are needed for patterning for mesa isolation, threshold adjustment in transistors, thinning of nano-belts and selective area contact formation. Electrical damage in the near-surface region was found through barrier height changes of Schottky diodes on the etched surface. The damage is created by energetic ion bombardment, but may also consist of changes to near-surface stoichiometry through loss of lattice elements or deposition of etch residues. Annealing at 450°C removes this damage. We also discuss recent results on damage introduction by proton and electron irradiation. In this case, the carrier removal rates are found to be similar to those reported for GaN under similar conditions of dose and energy of the radiation.

Laser induced damage in optical materials: tenth ASTM symposium.

PubMed

Glass, A J; Guenther, A H

1979-07-01

The tenth annual Symposium on Optical Materials for High Power Lasers (Boulder Damage Symposium) was held at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, 12-14 September 1978. The symposium was held under the auspices of ASTM Committee F-1, Subcommittee on Laser Standards, with the joint sponsorship of NBS, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Office of Naval Research. About 175 scientists attended, including representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Japan, West Germany, and the Soviet Union. The symposium was divided into sessions concerning the measurement of absorption characteristics, bulk material properties, mirrors and surfaces, thin film damage, coating materials and design, and breakdown phenomena. As in previous years, the emphasis of the papers presented was directed toward new frontiers and new developments. Particular emphasis was given to materials for use from 10.6 microm to the UV region. Highlights included surface characterization, thin film-substrate boundaries, and advances in fundamental laser-matter threshold interactions and mechanisms. The scaling of damage thresholds with pulse duration, focal area, and wavelength was also discussed. In commemoration of the tenth symposium in this series, a number of comprehensive review papers were presented to assess the state of the art in various facets of laser induced damage in optical materials. Alexander J. Glass of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Arthur H. Guenther of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory were co-chairpersons. The eleventh annual symposium is scheduled for 30-31 October 1979 at the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado.

Regimes of laser-induced periodic surface structure on germanium: radiation remnants and surface plasmons.

PubMed

Young, J F; Sipe, J E; van Driel, H M

1983-08-01

We present experimental evidence showing that the period of the rippled surface structure induced on germanium by 1.06-microm laser pulses undergoes a discontinuous shift above a certain threshold intensity. The measured shift, as a angle of incidence of the damaging beam, is quantitatively interpreted as a transition between a regime of inhomogeneous melting controlled by radiation-remnant field structures and a regime of ripple formation surface plasmons in an optically thick layer of liquid, metallic germanium formed at the surface.

Radiation damage limits to XPCS studies of protein dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vodnala, Preeti, E-mail: preeti.vodnala@gmail.com; Karunaratne, Nuwan; Lurio, Laurence

2016-07-27

The limitations to x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) imposed by radiation damage have been evaluated for suspensions of alpha crystallin. We find that the threshold for radiation damage to the measured protein diffusion rate is significantly lower than the threshold for damage to the protein structure. We provide damage thresholds beyond which the measured diffusion coeffcients have been modified using both XPCS and dynamic light scattering (DLS).

Research on laser-induced damage resistance of fused silica optics by the fluid jet polishing method.

PubMed

Lv, Liang; Ma, Ping; Huang, Jinyong; He, Xiang; Cai, Chao; Zhu, Heng

2016-03-20

Laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) is one important evaluation index for optical glasses applied in large laser instruments which are exposed to high light irradiation flux. As a new kind of precise polishing technology, fluid jet polishing (FJP) has been widely used in generating planar, spherical, and aspherical optics with high-accuracy surfaces. Laser damage resistances of fused silica optics by the FJP process are studied in this paper. Fused silica samples with various FJP parameters are prepared, and laser damage experiments are performed with 351 nm wavelength and a 5.5 ns pulse width laser. Experimental results demonstrate that the LIDT of the samples treated with FJP processes did not increase, compared to their original state. The surface quality of the samples is one factor for the decrease of LIDT. For ceria solution polished samples, the cerium element remaining is another factor of the lower LIDT.

Surface assessment of CaF2 deep-ultraviolet and vacuum-ultraviolet optical components by the quasi-Brewster angle technique.

PubMed

Wang, Jue; Maier, Robert L

2006-08-01

The requirements for optical components have drastically increased for the deep-ultraviolet and vacuum-ultraviolet spectral regions. Low optical loss, high laser damage threshold, and long lifetime fluoride optics are required for microlithographic applications. A nondestructive quasi-Brewster angle technique (qBAT) has been developed for evaluating the quality of optical surfaces including both top surface and subsurface information. By using effective medium approximation, the negative quasi-Brewster angle shift at wavelengths longer than 200 nm has been used to model the distribution of subsurface damage, whereas the positive quasi-Brewster angle shift for wavelengths shorter than 200 nm has been explained by subsurface contamination. The top surface roughness depicted by the qBAT is consistent with atomic force microscopy measurements. The depth and the microporous structure of the subsurface damage measured by the qBAT has been confirmed by magnetorheological finishing. The technique has been extended to evaluate both polished and antireflection-coated CaF(2) components.

Motor unit activity after eccentric exercise and muscle damage in humans.

PubMed

Semmler, J G

2014-04-01

It is well known that unaccustomed eccentric exercise leads to muscle damage and soreness, which can produce long-lasting effects on muscle function. How this muscle damage influences muscle activation is poorly understood. The purpose of this brief review is to highlight the effect of eccentric exercise on the activation of muscle by the nervous system, by examining the change in motor unit activity obtained from surface electromyography (EMG) and intramuscular recordings. Previous research shows that eccentric exercise produces unusual changes in the EMG–force relation that influences motor performance during isometric, shortening and lengthening muscle contractions and during fatiguing tasks. When examining the effect of eccentric exercise at the single motor unit level, there are substantial changes in recruitment thresholds, discharge rates, motor unit conduction velocities and synchronization, which can last for up to 1 week after eccentric exercise. Examining the time course of these changes suggests that the increased submaximal EMG after eccentric exercise most likely occurs through a decrease in motor unit conduction velocity and an increase in motor unit activity related to antagonist muscle coactivation and low-frequency fatigue. Furthermore, there is a commonly held view that eccentric exercise produces preferential damage to high-threshold motor units, but the evidence for this in humans is limited. Further research is needed to establish whether there is preferential damage to high-threshold motor units after eccentric exercise in humans, preferably by linking changes in motor unit activity with estimates of motor unit size using selective intramuscular recording techniques.

A ruggedness evaluation of procedures for damage threshold testing optical materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hooker, Matthew W.; Thomas, Milfred E.; Wise, Stephanie A.; Tappan, Nina D.

1995-01-01

A ruggedness evaluation of approaches to damage threshold testing was performed to determine the influence of three procedural variables on damage threshold data. The differences between the number of test sites evaluated at an applied fluence level (1 site versus 10 sites), the number of laser pulses at each test site (1 pulse versus 200 pulses), and the beam diameter (0.35 mm versus 0.70 mm) were all found to significantly influence the damage threshold data over a 99-percent confidence interval.

Determination of ultra-short laser induced damage threshold of KH{sub 2}PO{sub 4} crystal: Numerical calculation and experimental verification

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cheng, Jian; Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, 191 W. Woodruff Ave, Columbus, OH 43210; Chen, Mingjun, E-mail: chenmj@hit.edu.cn, E-mail: chowdhury.24@osu.edu

Rapid growth and ultra-precision machining of large-size KDP (KH{sub 2}PO{sub 4}) crystals with high laser damage resistance are tough challenges in the development of large laser systems. It is of high interest and practical significance to have theoretical models for scientists and manufacturers to determine the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of actually prepared KDP optics. Here, we numerically and experimentally investigate the laser-induced damage on KDP crystals in ultra-short pulse laser regime. On basis of the rate equation for free electron generation, a model dedicated to predicting the LIDT is developed by considering the synergistic effect of photoionization, impact ionizationmore » and decay of electrons. Laser damage tests are performed to measure the single-pulse LIDT with several testing protocols. The testing results combined with previously reported experimental data agree well with those calculated by the model. By taking the light intensification into consideration, the model is successfully applied to quantitatively evaluate the effect of surface flaws inevitably introduced in the preparation processes on the laser damage resistance of KDP crystals. This work can not only contribute to further understanding of the laser damage mechanisms of optical materials, but also provide available models for evaluating the laser damage resistance of exquisitely prepared optical components used in high power laser systems.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elhadj, Selim; Yoo, Jae-hyuck; Negres, Raluca A.

The optical damage performance of electrically conductive gallium nitride (GaN) and indium tin oxide (ITO) films is addressed using large area, high power laser beam exposures at 1064 nm sub-bandgap wavelength. Analysis of the laser damage process assumes that onset of damage (threshold) is determined by the absorption and heating of a nanoscale region of a characteristic size reaching a critical temperature. We use this model to rationalize semi-quantitatively the pulse width scaling of the damage threshold from picosecond to nanosecond timescales, along with the pulse width dependence of the damage threshold probability derived by fitting large beam damage densitymore » data. Multi-shot exposures were used to address lifetime performance degradation described by an empirical expression based on the single exposure damage model. A damage threshold degradation of at least 50% was observed for both materials. Overall, the GaN films tested had 5-10 × higher optical damage thresholds than the ITO films tested for comparable transmission and electrical conductivity. This route to optically robust, large aperture transparent electrodes and power optoelectronics may thus involve use of next generation widegap semiconductors such as GaN.« less

High-laser-damage-threshold HfO2/SiO2 mirrors manufactured by sputtering process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fornier, Anne; Bernardino, D.; Lam, Odile; Neauport, Jerome; Dufour, Francois; Schmitt, Bernard R.; Mackowski, Jean-Marie

1999-07-01

A major preoccupation for the design of the LMJ laser is the mirrors laser damage threshold. SAGEM SA, in collaboration with the CEA, has conducted a study in order to improve the laser induced damage threshold under operational conditions.

Permanent laser conditioning of thin film optical materials

DOEpatents

Wolfe, C. Robert; Kozlowski, Mark R.; Campbell, John H.; Staggs, Michael; Rainer, Frank

1995-01-01

The invention comprises a method for producing optical thin films with a high laser damage threshold and the resulting thin films. The laser damage threshold of the thin films is permanently increased by irradiating the thin films with a fluence below an unconditioned laser damage threshold.

Calculus removal on a root cement surface by ultrashort laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraft, Johan F.; Vestentoft, Kasper; Christensen, Bjarke H.; Løvschall, Henrik; Balling, Peter

2008-01-01

Ultrashort-pulse-laser ablation of dental calculus (tartar) and cement is performed on root surfaces. The investigation shows that the threshold fluence for ablation of calculus is a factor of two to three times smaller than that of a healthy root cement surface. This indicates that ultrashort laser pulses may provide an appropriate tool for selective removal of calculus with minimal damage to the underlying root cement. Future application of an in situ profiling technique allows convenient on-line monitoring of the ablation process.

Robust optimization of the laser induced damage threshold of dielectric mirrors for high power lasers.

PubMed

Chorel, Marine; Lanternier, Thomas; Lavastre, Éric; Bonod, Nicolas; Bousquet, Bruno; Néauport, Jérôme

2018-04-30

We report on a numerical optimization of the laser induced damage threshold of multi-dielectric high reflection mirrors in the sub-picosecond regime. We highlight the interplay between the electric field distribution, refractive index and intrinsic laser induced damage threshold of the materials on the overall laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the multilayer. We describe an optimization method of the multilayer that minimizes the field enhancement in high refractive index materials while preserving a near perfect reflectivity. This method yields a significant improvement of the damage resistance since a maximum increase of 40% can be achieved on the overall LIDT of the multilayer.

Optical damage performance of conductive widegap semiconductors: spatial, temporal, and lifetime modeling

DOE PAGES

Elhadj, Selim; Yoo, Jae-hyuck; Negres, Raluca A.; ...

2016-12-19

The optical damage performance of electrically conductive gallium nitride (GaN) and indium tin oxide (ITO) films is addressed using large area, high power laser beam exposures at 1064 nm sub-bandgap wavelength. Analysis of the laser damage process assumes that onset of damage (threshold) is determined by the absorption and heating of a nanoscale region of a characteristic size reaching a critical temperature. We use this model to rationalize semi-quantitatively the pulse width scaling of the damage threshold from picosecond to nanosecond timescales, along with the pulse width dependence of the damage threshold probability derived by fitting large beam damage densitymore » data. Multi-shot exposures were used to address lifetime performance degradation described by an empirical expression based on the single exposure damage model. A damage threshold degradation of at least 50% was observed for both materials. Overall, the GaN films tested had 5-10 × higher optical damage thresholds than the ITO films tested for comparable transmission and electrical conductivity. This route to optically robust, large aperture transparent electrodes and power optoelectronics may thus involve use of next generation widegap semiconductors such as GaN.« less

Permanent laser conditioning of thin film optical materials

DOEpatents

Wolfe, C.R.; Kozlowski, M.R.; Campbell, J.H.; Staggs, M.; Rainer, F.

1995-12-05

The invention comprises a method for producing optical thin films with a high laser damage threshold and the resulting thin films. The laser damage threshold of the thin films is permanently increased by irradiating the thin films with a fluence below an unconditioned laser damage threshold. 9 figs.

Evaluation of a threshold-based model of fatigue in gamma titanium aluminide following impact damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harding, Trevor Scott

2000-10-01

Recent interest in gamma titanium aluminide (gamma-TiAl) for use in gas turbine engine applications has centered on the low density and good elevated temperature strength retention of gamma-TiAl compared to current materials. However, the relatively low ductility and fracture toughness of gamma-TiAl leads to serious concerns regarding its ability to resist impact damage. Furthermore, the limited fatigue crack growth resistance of gamma-TiAl means that the potential for fatigue failures resulting from impact damage is real if a damage tolerant design approach is used. A threshold-based design approach may be required if fatigue crack growth from potential impact sites is to be avoided. The objective of the present research is to examine the feasibility of a threshold-based approach for the design of a gamma-TiAl low-pressure turbine blade subjected to both assembly-related impact damage and foreign object damage. Specimens of three different gamma-TiAl alloys were damaged in such a way as to simulate anticipated impact damage for a turbine blade. Step-loading fatigue tests were conducted at both room temperature and 600°C. In terms of the assembly-related impact damage, the results indicate that there is reasonably good agreement between the threshold-based predictions of the fatigue strength of damaged specimens and the measured data. However, some discrepancies do exist. In the case of very lightly damaged specimens, prediction of the resulting fatigue strength requires that a very conservative small-crack fatigue threshold be used. Consequently, the allowable design conditions are significantly reduced. For severely damaged specimens, an analytical approach found that the potential effects of residual stresses may be related to the discrepancies observed between the threshold-based model and measured fatigue strength data. In the case of foreign object damage, a good correlation was observed between impacts resulting in large cracks and a long-crack threshold-based approximation of the fatigue strength. However, in the case of smaller impact sites, a lower small-crack threshold appears to be more appropriate. In some cases, a complete perforation of the material, or blowout, would result from the impact. Prediction of the reduction in fatigue strength resulting from this form of damage required the use of a stress concentration factor, rather than a threshold-based prediction.

Laser induced damage in optical materials: ninth ASTM symposium.

PubMed

Glass, A J; Guenther, A H

1978-08-01

The Ninth Annual Symposium on Optical Materials for High Power Lasers (Boulder Damage Symposium) was held at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, 4-6 October 1977. The symposium was under the auspices of ASTM Committee F-1, Subcommittee on Laser Standards, with the joint sponsorship of NBS, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the Department of Energy (formerly ERDA), and the Office of Naval Research. About 185 scientists attended, including representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, Union of South Africa, and the Soviet Union. The Symposium was divided into sessions concerning Laser Windows and Materials, Mirrors and Surfaces, Thin Films, Laser Glass and Glass Lasers, and Fundamental Mechanisms. As in previous years, the emphasis of the papers was directed toward new frontiers and new developments. Particular emphasis was given to materials for use from 10.6 microm to the uv region. Highlights included surface characterization, thin film-substrate boundaries, and advances in fundamental laser-matter threshold interactions and mechanisms. The scaling of damage thresholds with pulse duration, focal area, and wavelength were also discussed. Alexander J. Glass of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Arthur H. Guenther of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory were co-chairpersons. The Tenth Annual Symposium is scheduled for 12-14 September 1978 at the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado.

Fatigue damage behavior of a surface-mount electronic package under different cyclic applied loads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Huai-Hui; Wang, Xi-Shu

2014-04-01

This paper studies and compares the effects of pull-pull and 3-point bending cyclic loadings on the mechanical fatigue damage behaviors of a solder joint in a surface-mount electronic package. The comparisons are based on experimental investigations using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in-situ technology and nonlinear finite element modeling, respectively. The compared results indicate that there are different threshold levels of plastic strain for the initial damage of solder joints under two cyclic applied loads; meanwhile, fatigue crack initiation occurs at different locations, and the accumulation of equivalent plastic strain determines the trend and direction of fatigue crack propagation. In addition, simulation results of the fatigue damage process of solder joints considering a constitutive model of damage initiation criteria for ductile materials and damage evolution based on accumulating inelastic hysteresis energy are identical to the experimental results. The actual fatigue life of the solder joint is almost the same and demonstrates that the FE modeling used in this study can provide an accurate prediction of solder joint fatigue failure.

R-on-1 automatic mapping: A new tool for laser damage testing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hue, J.; Garrec, P.; Dijon, J.

1996-12-31

Laser damage threshold measurement is statistical in nature. For a commercial qualification or for a user, the threshold determined by the weakest point is a satisfactory characterization. When a new coating is designed, threshold mapping is very useful. It enables the technology to be improved and followed more accurately. Different statistical parameters such as the minimum, maximum, average, and standard deviation of the damage threshold as well as spatial parameters such as the threshold uniformity of the coating can be determined. Therefore, in order to achieve a mapping, all the tested sites should give data. This is the major interestmore » of the R-on-1 test in spite of the fact that the laser damage threshold obtained by this method may be different from the 1-on-1 test (smaller or greater). Moreover, on the damage laser test facility, the beam size is smaller (diameters of a few hundred micrometers) than the characteristic sizes of the components in use (diameters of several centimeters up to one meter). Hence, a laser damage threshold mapping appears very interesting, especially for applications linked to large optical components like the Megajoule project or the National Ignition Facility (N.I.F). On the test bench used, damage detection with a Nomarski microscope and scattered light measurement are almost equivalent. Therefore, it becomes possible to automatically detect on line the first defects induced by YAG irradiation. Scattered light mappings and laser damage threshold mappings can therefore be achieved using a X-Y automatic stage (where the test sample is located). The major difficulties due to the automatic capabilities are shown. These characterizations are illustrated at 355 nm. The numerous experiments performed show different kinds of scattering curves, which are discussed in relation with the damage mechanisms.« less

Damage threshold dependence of optical coatings on substrate materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhouling, W.; Zhenxiu, F.

1996-04-01

Damage threshold dependence on substrate materials was investigated for TiO2, ZrO2, SiO2, MgF2, ZnS, and single and TiO2/SiO2 multilayers. The results show that the damage threshold increases with increasing substrate thermal conductivity for single layers and AR coatings and remains the same for HR coatings. With the help of localized absorption measurement and in-situ damage process analysis, these phenomena were well correlated with local absorption-initiated thermal damage mechanism.

Considerable knock-on displacement of metal atoms under a low energy electron beam.

PubMed

Gu, Hengfei; Li, Geping; Liu, Chengze; Yuan, Fusen; Han, Fuzhou; Zhang, Lifeng; Wu, Songquan

2017-03-15

Under electron beam irradiation, knock-on atomic displacement is commonly thought to occur only when the incident electron energy is above the incident-energy threshold of the material in question. However, we report that when exposed to intense electrons at room temperature at a low incident energy of 30 keV, which is far below the theoretically predicted incident-energy threshold of zirconium, Zircaloy-4 (Zr-1.50Sn-0.25Fe-0.15Cr (wt.%)) surfaces can undergo considerable displacement damage. We demonstrate that electron beam irradiation of the bulk Zircaloy-4 surface resulted in a striking radiation effect that nanoscale precipitates within the surface layer gradually emerged and became clearly visible with increasing the irradiation time. Our transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations further reveal that electron beam irradiation of the thin-film Zircaly-4 surface caused the sputtering of surface α-Zr atoms, the nanoscale atomic restructuring in the α-Zr matrix, and the amorphization of precipitates. These results are the first direct evidences suggesting that displacement of metal atoms can be induced by a low incident electron energy below threshold. The presented way to irradiate may be extended to other materials aiming at producing appealing properties for applications in fields of nanotechnology, surface technology, and others.

Improving the Fatigue Crack Propagation Resistance and Damage Tolerance of 2524-T3 Alloy with Amorphous Electroless Ni-P Coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Lai; Zeng, Diping; Liu, Zhiyi; Bai, Song; Li, Junlin

2018-02-01

The surface microhardness, as well as the fatigue crack propagation (FCP) resistance of 2524-T3 alloy, is improved by producing a 20-μm-thick amorphous electroless Ni-12% P coating on its surface. Compared to the substrate, this deposited EN coating possesses higher strength properties and exhibits a greater ability of accommodating the plastic deformation at the fatigue crack tip, thereby remarkably improving the FCP resistance in near-threshold and early Paris regimes. Regardless of the similar FCP rates in Paris regime (Δ K ≥ 16.2 MPa m0.5), the coated sample exhibits extended Paris regime and enhanced damage tolerance.

LIDT test coupled with gamma radiation degraded optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

IOAN, M.-R.

2016-06-01

A laser can operate in regular but also in nuclear ionizing radiation environments. This paper presents the results of a real time measuring method used to detect the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) in the optical surfaces/volumes of TEMPAX borosilicate glasses operating in high gamma rays fields. The laser damage quantification technique is applied by using of an automated station intended to measure the damage threshold of optical components, according to the International Standard ISO 21254. Single and multiple pulses laser damage thresholds were determined. For an optical material, life time when it is subjected to multiple pulses of high power laser radiation can be predicted. A few ns pulses shooting laser, operating in regular conditions, inflects damage to a target by its intense electrical component but also in a lower manner by local absorption of its transported thermal energy. When the beam is passing thru optical glass elements affected by ionizing radiation fields, the thermal component is starting to have a more important role, because of the increased thermal absorption in the material's volume caused by the radiation induced color centers. LIDT results on TEMPAX optical glass windows, with the contribution due to the gamma radiation effects (ionization mainly by Compton effect in this case), are presented. This contribution was highlighted and quantified. Energetic, temporal and spatial beam characterizations (according to ISO 11554 standards) and LIDT tests were performed using a high power Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm), before passing the beam through each irradiated glass sample (0 kGy, 1.3 kGy and 21.2 kGy).

Liquid impact and fracture of free-standing CVD diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kennedy, Claire F.; Telling, Robert H.; Field, John E.

1999-07-01

The Cavendish Laboratory has developed extensive facilities for studies of liquid and solid particle erosion. This paper describes the high-speed liquid impact erosion of thin CVD diamond discs and the variation with grain sizes of the absolute damage threshold velocity (ADTV), viz., the threshold below which the specimen shows no damage. All specimens fail by rear surface cracking and there is shown to be a shallow dependence of rear surface ADTV on grain size. Fracture propagation in CVD diamond has also been monitored using a specially-designed double-torsion apparatus and data for K1C are presented. Tentatively, the results suggest that finer-grained CVD diamond exhibits a higher fracture toughness, although the differences are slight even over a fourfold variation in the mean grain size. No preference for intergranular fracture was observed and one may conclude from this that the grain boundaries themselves do not seriously weaken the material. The large pre-existing flaws, both within and between grains, whose size varies the grain size are believed to be the dominant source of weakness.

Synthesis and physicochemical properties of bis(L-asparaginato) zinc(II): A promising new semiorganic crystal with high laser damage threshold for shorter wavelength generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subhashini, R.; Arjunan, S.

2018-05-01

An exceedingly apparent nonlinear semiorganic optical crystals of bis(L-asparaginato)zinc(II) [BLAZ], was synthesized by a traditional slow evaporation solution growth technique. The cell parameters were estimated from single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Spectroscopic study substantiates the presence of functional groups. The UV spectrum shows the sustenance of wide transparency window and several optical constants, such as extinction coefficient (K), refractive index, optical conductivity and electric susceptibility with real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant were calculated using the transmittance data. The fluorescence emission spectrum of the crystal pronounces red emission. The laser induced surface damage threshold of the crystal was measured using Nd:YAG laser. The output intensity of second harmonic generation was estimated using the Kurtz and Perry powder method. The hardness stability was investigated by Vickers microhardness test. The decomposition and thermal stability of the compound were scrutinized by TGA-DSC studies. Dielectric studies were carried out to anatomize the electrical properties of the crystal. SEM analysis reveals the existence of minute crystallites on the growth surface.

Exposure to elevated sea-surface temperatures below the bleaching threshold impairs coral recovery and regeneration following injury.

PubMed

Bonesso, Joshua Louis; Leggat, William; Ainsworth, Tracy Danielle

2017-01-01

Elevated sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are linked to an increase in the frequency and severity of bleaching events due to temperatures exceeding corals' upper thermal limits. The temperatures at which a breakdown of the coral- Symbiodinium endosymbiosis (coral bleaching) occurs are referred to as the upper thermal limits for the coral species. This breakdown of the endosymbiosis results in a reduction of corals' nutritional uptake, growth, and tissue integrity. Periods of elevated sea surface temperature, thermal stress and coral bleaching are also linked to increased disease susceptibility and an increased frequency of storms which cause injury and physical damage to corals. Herein we aimed to determine the capacity of corals to regenerate and recover from injuries (removal of apical tips) sustained during periods of elevated sea surface temperatures which result in coral stress responses, but which do not result in coral bleaching (i.e., sub-bleaching thermal stress events). In this study, exposure of the species Acropora aspera to an elevated SST of 32 °C (2 °C below the bleaching threshold, 34 °C) was found to result in reduced fluorescence of green fluorescent protein (GFP), reduced skeletal calcification and a lack of branch regrowth at the site of injury, compared to corals maintained under ambient SST conditions (26 °C). Corals maintained under normal, ambient, sea surface temperatures expressed high GFP fluorescence at the injury site, underwent a rapid regeneration of the coral branch apical tip within 12 days of sustaining injury, and showed extensive regrowth of the coral skeleton. Taken together, our results have demonstrated that periods of sustained increased sea surface temperatures, below the corals' bleaching threshold but above long-term summertime averages, impair coral recovery from damage, regardless of the onset or occurrence of coral bleaching.

Characterization of laser damage performance of fused silica using photothermal absorption technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Wen; Shi, Feng; Dai, Yifan; Peng, Xiaoqiang

2017-06-01

The subsurface damage and metal impurities have been the main laser damage precursors of fused silica while subjected to high power laser irradiation. Light field enhancement and thermal absorption were used to explain the appearance of damage pits while the laser energy is far smaller than the energy that can reach the intrinsic threshold of fused silica. For fused silica optics manufactured by magnetorheological finishing or advanced mitigation process, no scratch-related damage site occurs can be found on the surface. In this work, we implemented a photothermal absorption technique based on thermal lens method to characterize the subsurface defects of fused silica optics. The pump beam is CW 532 nm wavelength laser. The probe beam is a He-Ne laser. They are collinear and focused through the same objective. When pump beam pass through the sample, optical absorption induces the local temperature rise. The lowest absorptance that we can detect is about the order of magnitude of 0.01 ppm. When pump beam pass through the sample, optical absorption induces the local temperature rise. The photothermal absorption value of fused silica samples range from 0.5 to 10 ppm. The damage densities of the samples were plotted. The damage threshold of samples at 8J/cm2 were gived to show laser damage performance of fused silica.The results show that there is a strong correlation between the thermal absorption and laser damage density. The photothermal absorption technique can be used to predict and evaluate the laser damage performance of fused silica optics.

Laser damage threshold of gelatin and a copper phthalocyanine doped gelatin optical limiter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brant, M.C.; McLean, D.G.; Sutherland, R.L.

1996-12-31

The authors demonstrate optical limiting in a unique guest-host system which uses neither the typical liquid or solid host. Instead, they dope a gelatin gel host with a water soluble Copper (II) phthalocyaninetetrasulfonic acid, tetrasodium salt (CuPcTs). They report on the gelatin`s viscoelasticity, laser damage threshold, and self healing of this damage. The viscoelastic gelatin has mechanical properties quite different than a liquid or solid. The authors` laser measurements demonstrate that the single shot damage threshold of the undoped gelatin host increases with decreasing gelatin concentration. The gelatin also has a much higher laser damage threshold than a stiff acrylic.more » Unlike brittle solids, the soft gelatin self heals from laser induced damage. Optical limiting test also show the utility of a gelatin host doped with CuPcTs. The CuPcTs/gelatin matrix is not damaged at incident laser energies 5 times the single shot damage threshold of the gelatin host. However, at this high laser energy the CuPcTs is photo bleached at the beam waist. The authors repair photo bleached sites by annealing the CuPcTs/gelatin matrix.« less

Post-processing of fused silica and its effects on damage resistance to nanosecond pulsed UV lasers.

PubMed

Ye, Hui; Li, Yaguo; Zhang, Qinghua; Wang, Wei; Yuan, Zhigang; Wang, Jian; Xu, Qiao

2016-04-10

HF-based (hydrofluoric acid) chemical etching has been a widely accepted technique to improve the laser damage performance of fused silica optics and ensure high-power UV laser systems at designed fluence. Etching processes such as acid concentration, composition, material removal amount, and etching state (etching with additional acoustic power or not) may have a great impact on the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of treated sample surfaces. In order to find out the effects of these factors, we utilized the Taguchi method to determine the etching conditions that are helpful in raising the LIDT. Our results show that the most influential factors are concentration of etchants and the material etched away from the viewpoint of damage performance of fused silica optics. In addition, the additional acoustic power (∼0.6  W·cm^-2) may not benefit the etching rate and damage performance of fused silica. Moreover, the post-cleaning procedure of etched samples is also important in damage performances of fused silica optics. Different post-cleaning procedures were, thus, experiments on samples treated under the same etching conditions. It is found that the "spraying + rinsing + spraying" cleaning process is favorable to the removal of etching-induced deposits. Residuals on the etched surface are harmful to surface roughness and optical transmission as well as laser damage performance.

Pressure threshold for shock wave induced renal hemorrhage.

PubMed

Mayer, R; Schenk, E; Child, S; Norton, S; Cox, C; Hartman, C; Cox, C; Carstensen, E

1990-12-01

Studies were performed with an interest in determining a pressure threshold for extracorporeal shock wave induced renal damage. Histological evidence of intraparenchymal hemorrhage was used as an indicator of tissue trauma. Depilated C3H mice were anesthetized and placed on a special frame to enhance visualization and treatment of the kidneys in situ. A Wolf electrohydraulic generator and 9 French probe designed for endoscopic use were utilized to expose the kidneys to 10 double spherically divergent shock waves. Measurements of the shock waves revealed two positive pressure peaks of similar magnitude for each spark discharge. The kidneys were exposed to different peak pressures by choice of distance from the spark source and were removed immediately after treatment for histologic processing. A dose response was noted with severe corticomedullary damage apparent following 15 to 20 MPa shocks. Hemorrhage was more apparent in the medulla where evidence of damage could be seen following pressures as low as three to five MPa. When a latex membrane was interposed to prevent possible collapse of the initial bubble from the spark source against the skin surface, histological evaluation revealed substantial reduction of severe tissue damage associated with the highest pressures tested, 20 MPa. However, the threshold level for evidence of hemorrhage remained about three to five MPa. Hydrophonic measurements indicated that the membrane allowed transmission of the acoustic shock waves and suggested that collapse of the bubble generated by electrohydraulic probes may have local effects due to a cavitation-like mechanism.

Evaluating the Thermal Damage Resistance of Reduced Graphene Oxide/Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, Lamuel; Feldman, Ari; Mansfield, Elisabeth; Lehman, John; Singh, Gurpreet; National Institute of Standards and Technology Collaboration

2014-03-01

Carbon nanotubes and graphene are known to exhibit some exceptional thermal (K ~ 2000 to 4400 W.m-1K-1 at 300K) and optical properties. Here, we demonstrate preparation and testing of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and chemically modified graphene-composite spray coatings for use on thermal detectors for high-power lasers. The synthesized nanocomposite material was tested by preparing spray coatings on aluminum test coupons used as a representation of the thermal detector's surface. These coatings were then exposed to increasing laser powers and extended exposure times to quantify their damage threshold and optical absorbance. The graphene/carbon nanotube (prepared at varying mass% of graphene in CNTs) coatings demonstrated significantly higher damage threshold values at 2.5 kW laser power (10.6 μm wavelength) than carbon paint or MWCNTs alone. Electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy of irradiated specimens showed that the composite coating endured high laser-power densities (up to 2 kW.cm-2) without significant visual damage. This research is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation (Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Division), under grant no. 1335862 to G. Singh.

Application of τc*Pd for identifying damaging earthquakes for earthquake early warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, P. L.; Lin, T. L.; Wu, Y. M.

2014-12-01

Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) is an effective approach to mitigate earthquake damage. In this study, we used the seismic record by the Kiban Kyoshin network (KiK-net), because it has dense station coverage and co-located borehole strong-motion seismometers along with the free-surface strong-motion seismometers. We used inland earthquakes with moment magnitude (Mw) from 5.0 to 7.3 between 1998 and 2012. We choose 135 events and 10950 strong ground accelerograms recorded by the 696 strong ground accelerographs. Both the free-surface and the borehole data are used to calculate τc and Pd, respectively. The results show that τc*Pd has a good correlation with PGV and is a robust parameter for assessing the potential of damaging earthquake. We propose the value of τc*Pd determined from seconds after the arrival of P wave could be a threshold for the on-site type of EEW.

Fatigue crack damage detection using subharmonic component with nonlinear boundary condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Weiliang; Shen, Yanfeng; Qu, Wenzhong; Xiao, Li; Giurgiutiu, Victor

2015-03-01

In recent years, researchers have focused on structural health monitoring (SHM) and damage detection techniques using nonlinear vibration and nonlinear ultrasonic methods. Fatigue cracks may exhibit contact acoustic nonlinearity (CAN) with distinctive features such as superharmonics and subharmonics in the power spectrum of the sensing signals. However, challenges have been noticed in the practical applications of the harmonic methods. For instance, superharmonics can also be generated by the piezoelectric transducers and the electronic equipment; super/subharmonics may also stem from the nonlinear boundary conditions such as structural fixtures and joints. It is hard to tell whether the nonlinear features come from the structural damage or the intrinsic nonlinear boundary conditions. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the application of nonlinear ultrasonic subharmonic method for detecting fatigue cracks with nonlinear boundary conditions. The fatigue crack was qualitatively modeled as a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system with non-classical hysteretic nonlinear interface forces at both sides of the crack surfaces. The threshold of subharmonic generation was studied, and the influence of crack interface parameters on the subharmonic resonance condition was investigated. The different threshold behaviors between the nonlinear boundary condition and the fatigue crack was found, which can be used to distinguish the source of nonlinear subharmonic features. To evaluate the proposed method, experiments of an aluminum plate with a fatigue crack were conducted to quantitatively verify the subharmonic resonance range. Two surface-bonded piezoelectric transducers were used to generate and receive ultrasonic wave signals. The fatigue damage was characterized in terms of a subharmonic damage index. The experimental results demonstrated that the subharmonic component of the sensing signal can be used to detect the fatigue crack and further distinguish it from inherent nonlinear boundary conditions.

Fatigue crack damage detection using subharmonic component with nonlinear boundary condition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Weiliang, E-mail: wwl@whu.edu.cn; Qu, Wenzhong, E-mail: qwz@whu.edu.cn, E-mail: xiaoli6401@126.com; Xiao, Li, E-mail: qwz@whu.edu.cn, E-mail: xiaoli6401@126.com

In recent years, researchers have focused on structural health monitoring (SHM) and damage detection techniques using nonlinear vibration and nonlinear ultrasonic methods. Fatigue cracks may exhibit contact acoustic nonlinearity (CAN) with distinctive features such as superharmonics and subharmonics in the power spectrum of the sensing signals. However, challenges have been noticed in the practical applications of the harmonic methods. For instance, superharmonics can also be generated by the piezoelectric transducers and the electronic equipment; super/subharmonics may also stem from the nonlinear boundary conditions such as structural fixtures and joints. It is hard to tell whether the nonlinear features come frommore » the structural damage or the intrinsic nonlinear boundary conditions. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the application of nonlinear ultrasonic subharmonic method for detecting fatigue cracks with nonlinear boundary conditions. The fatigue crack was qualitatively modeled as a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system with non-classical hysteretic nonlinear interface forces at both sides of the crack surfaces. The threshold of subharmonic generation was studied, and the influence of crack interface parameters on the subharmonic resonance condition was investigated. The different threshold behaviors between the nonlinear boundary condition and the fatigue crack was found, which can be used to distinguish the source of nonlinear subharmonic features. To evaluate the proposed method, experiments of an aluminum plate with a fatigue crack were conducted to quantitatively verify the subharmonic resonance range. Two surface-bonded piezoelectric transducers were used to generate and receive ultrasonic wave signals. The fatigue damage was characterized in terms of a subharmonic damage index. The experimental results demonstrated that the subharmonic component of the sensing signal can be used to detect the fatigue crack and further distinguish it from inherent nonlinear boundary conditions.« less

Optical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide films near their laser damage threshold [Electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide films under multi-pulse laser irradiation at 1064 nm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoo, Jae -Hyuck; Lange, Andrew; Bude, Jeff

In this paper, we investigated whether the optical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) films are degraded under laser irradiation below their laser ablation threshold. While performing multi-pulse laser damage experiments on a single ITO film (4.7 ns, 1064 nm, 10 Hz), we examined the optical and electrical properties in situ. A decrease in reflectance was observed prior to laser damage initiation. However, under sub-damage threshold irradiation, conductivity and reflectance of the film were maintained without measurable degradation. This indicates that ITO films in optoelectronic devices may be operated below their lifetime laser damage threshold without noticeable performancemore » degradation.« less

Modelling single shot damage thresholds of multilayer optics for high-intensity short-wavelength radiation sources.

PubMed

Loch, R A; Sobierajski, R; Louis, E; Bosgra, J; Bijkerk, F

2012-12-17

The single shot damage thresholds of multilayer optics for high-intensity short-wavelength radiation sources are theoretically investigated, using a model developed on the basis of experimental data obtained at the FLASH and LCLS free electron lasers. We compare the radiation hardness of commonly used multilayer optics and propose new material combinations selected for a high damage threshold. Our study demonstrates that the damage thresholds of multilayer optics can vary over a large range of incidence fluences and can be as high as several hundreds of mJ/cm(2). This strongly suggests that multilayer mirrors are serious candidates for damage resistant optics. Especially, multilayer optics based on Li(2)O spacers are very promising for use in current and future short-wavelength radiation sources.

Optical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide films near their laser damage threshold [Electrical and optical properties of indium tin oxide films under multi-pulse laser irradiation at 1064 nm

DOE PAGES

Yoo, Jae -Hyuck; Lange, Andrew; Bude, Jeff; ...

2017-02-10

In this paper, we investigated whether the optical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO) films are degraded under laser irradiation below their laser ablation threshold. While performing multi-pulse laser damage experiments on a single ITO film (4.7 ns, 1064 nm, 10 Hz), we examined the optical and electrical properties in situ. A decrease in reflectance was observed prior to laser damage initiation. However, under sub-damage threshold irradiation, conductivity and reflectance of the film were maintained without measurable degradation. This indicates that ITO films in optoelectronic devices may be operated below their lifetime laser damage threshold without noticeable performancemore » degradation.« less

Ultrashort Laser Retinal Damage Threshold Mechanisms

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-01-15

epithelium . Below one nanosecond both stress-confinement in melanosomes and self-focusing reduce the threshold for damage as measured in corneal radiant... epithelium (RPE). Below 1 ns, both stress confinement in melanosomes and self-focusing reduce the threshold for damage as measured in corneal radiant...collimated laser light is focused to a very small spot on the retina. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) contains melanosomes, which are the primary

Damage threshold of platinum coating used for optics for self-seeding of soft x-ray free electron laser

DOE PAGES

Krzywinski, Jacek; Cocco, Daniele; Moeller, Stefan; ...

2015-02-23

We investigated the experimental damage threshold of platinum coating on a silicon substrate illuminated by soft x-ray radiation at grazing incidence angle of 2.1 deg. The coating was the same as the blazed grating used for the soft X-ray self-seeding optics of the Linac Coherent Light Source free electron laser. The irradiation condition was chosen such that the absorbed dose was similar to the maximum dose expected for the grating. The expected dose was simulated by solving the Helmholtz equation in non-homogenous media. The experiment was performed at 900 eV photon energy for both single pulse and multi-shot conditions. Wemore » have not observed single shot damage. This corresponds to a single shot damage threshold being higher than 3 J/cm 2. The multiple shot damage threshold measured for 10 shots and about 600 shots was determined to be 0.95 J/cm 2 and 0.75 J/cm 2 respectively. The damage threshold occurred at an instantaneous dose which is higher that the melt dose of platinum.« less

Nanotherapy of cancer by photoelectrons emitted from the surface of nanoparticles exposed to nonionizing ultraviolet radiation.

PubMed

Letfullin, Renat R; George, Thomas F

2017-05-01

We introduce a new method for selectively destroying cancer cell organelles by electrons emitted from the surface of intracellularly localized nanoparticles exposed to the nonionizing ultraviolet (UV) radiation. We propose to target cancerous intracellular organelles by nanoparticles and expose them to UV radiation with energy density safe for healthy tissue. We simulate the number of photoelectrons produced by the nanoparticles made of various metals and radii, calculate their kinetic energy and compare it to the threshold energy for producing biological damage. Exposure of metal nanoparticles to UV radiation generates photoelectrons with kinetic energies up to 11 eV, which is high enough to produce single- to double-strand breaks in the DNA and damage the cancerous cell organelles.

Study of diamond film growth and properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albin, Sacharial

1990-01-01

The objective was to study diamond film growth and its properties in order to enhance the laser damage threshold of substrate materials. Calculations were performed to evaluate laser induced thermal stress parameter, R(sub T) of diamond. It is found that diamond has several orders of magnitude higher in value for R(sub T) compared to other materials. Thus, the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of diamond is much higher. Diamond films were grown using a microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPECVD) system at various conditions of gas composition, pressure, temperature, and substrate materials. A 0.5 percent CH4 in H2 at 20 torr were ideal conditions for growing of high quality diamond films on substrates maintained at 900 C. The diamond films were polycrystalline which were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman scattering spectroscopy. The top surface of the growing film is always rough due to the facets of polycrystalline film while the back surface of the film replicates the substrate surface. An analytical model based on two dimensional periodic heat flow was developed to calculate the effective in-plane (face parallel) diffusivity of a two layer system. The effective diffusivity of diamond/silicon samples was measured using a laser pulse technique. The thermal conductivity of the films was measured to be 13.5 W/cm K, which is better than that of a type Ia natural diamond. Laser induced damage experiments were performed on bare Si substrates, diamond film coated Si, and diamond film windows. Significant improvements in the LIDT were obtained for diamond film coated Si compared to the bare Si.

Experimental study of EUV mirror radiation damage resistance under long-term free-electron laser exposures below the single-shot damage threshold

PubMed Central

Makhotkin, Igor A.; Sobierajski, Ryszard; Chalupský, Jaromir; Tiedtke, Kai; de Vries, Gosse; Störmer, Michael; Scholze, Frank; Siewert, Frank; van de Kruijs, Robbert W. E.; Milov, Igor; Louis, Eric; Jacyna, Iwanna; Jurek, Marek; Klinger, Dorota; Syryanyy, Yevgen; Juha, Libor; Hájková, Věra; Saksl, Karel; Faatz, Bart; Keitel, Barbara; Plönjes, Elke; Toleikis, Sven; Loch, Rolf; Hermann, Martin; Strobel, Sebastian; Nienhuys, Han-Kwang; Gwalt, Grzegorz; Mey, Tobias; Enkisch, Hartmut

2018-01-01

The durability of grazing- and normal-incidence optical coatings has been experimentally assessed under free-electron laser irradiation at various numbers of pulses up to 16 million shots and various fluence levels below 10% of the single-shot damage threshold. The experiment was performed at FLASH, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, using 13.5 nm extreme UV (EUV) radiation with 100 fs pulse duration. Polycrystalline ruthenium and amorphous carbon 50 nm thin films on silicon substrates were tested at total external reflection angles of 20° and 10° grazing incidence, respectively. Mo/Si periodical multilayer structures were tested in the Bragg reflection condition at 16° off-normal angle of incidence. The exposed areas were analysed post-mortem using differential contrast visible light microscopy, EUV reflectivity mapping and scanning X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analysis revealed that Ru and Mo/Si coatings exposed to the highest dose and fluence level show a few per cent drop in their EUV reflectivity, which is explained by EUV-induced oxidation of the surface. PMID:29271755

Experimental study of EUV mirror radiation damage resistance under long-term free-electron laser exposures below the single-shot damage threshold.

PubMed

Makhotkin, Igor A; Sobierajski, Ryszard; Chalupský, Jaromir; Tiedtke, Kai; de Vries, Gosse; Störmer, Michael; Scholze, Frank; Siewert, Frank; van de Kruijs, Robbert W E; Milov, Igor; Louis, Eric; Jacyna, Iwanna; Jurek, Marek; Klinger, Dorota; Nittler, Laurent; Syryanyy, Yevgen; Juha, Libor; Hájková, Věra; Vozda, Vojtěch; Burian, Tomáš; Saksl, Karel; Faatz, Bart; Keitel, Barbara; Plönjes, Elke; Schreiber, Siegfried; Toleikis, Sven; Loch, Rolf; Hermann, Martin; Strobel, Sebastian; Nienhuys, Han Kwang; Gwalt, Grzegorz; Mey, Tobias; Enkisch, Hartmut

2018-01-01

The durability of grazing- and normal-incidence optical coatings has been experimentally assessed under free-electron laser irradiation at various numbers of pulses up to 16 million shots and various fluence levels below 10% of the single-shot damage threshold. The experiment was performed at FLASH, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, using 13.5 nm extreme UV (EUV) radiation with 100 fs pulse duration. Polycrystalline ruthenium and amorphous carbon 50 nm thin films on silicon substrates were tested at total external reflection angles of 20° and 10° grazing incidence, respectively. Mo/Si periodical multilayer structures were tested in the Bragg reflection condition at 16° off-normal angle of incidence. The exposed areas were analysed post-mortem using differential contrast visible light microscopy, EUV reflectivity mapping and scanning X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analysis revealed that Ru and Mo/Si coatings exposed to the highest dose and fluence level show a few per cent drop in their EUV reflectivity, which is explained by EUV-induced oxidation of the surface.

An attempt to apply the inelastic thermal spike model to surface modifications of CaF2 induced by highly charged ions: comparison to swift heavy ions effects and extension to some others material.

PubMed

Dufour, C; Khomrenkov, V; Wang, Y Y; Wang, Z G; Aumayr, F; Toulemonde, M

2017-03-08

Surface damage appears on materials irradiated by highly charged ions (HCI). Since a direct link has been found between surface damage created by HCI with the one created by swift heavy ions (SHI), the inelastic thermal spike model (i-TS model) developed to explain track creation resulting from the electron excitation induced by SHI can also be applied to describe the response of materials under HCI which transfers its potential energy to electrons of the target. An experimental description of the appearance of the hillock-like nanoscale protrusions induced by SHI at the surface of CaF 2 is presented in comparison with track formation in bulk which shows that the only parameter on which we can be confident is the electronic energy loss threshold. Track size and electronic energy loss threshold resulting from SHI irradiation of CaF 2 is described by the i-TS model in a 2D geometry. Based on this description the i-TS model is extended to three dimensions to describe the potential threshold of appearance of protrusions by HCI in CaF 2 and to other crystalline materials (LiF, crystalline SiO 2 , mica, LiNbO 3 , SrTiO 3 , ZnO, TiO 2 , HOPG). The strength of the electron-phonon coupling and the depth in which the potential energy is deposited near the surface combined with the energy necessary to melt the material defines the classification of the material sensitivity. As done for SHI, the band gap of the material may play an important role in the determination of the depth in which the potential energy is deposited. Moreover larger is the initial potential energy and larger is the depth in which it is deposited.

Supra-threshold epidermis injury from near-infrared laser radiation prior to ablation onset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLisi, Michael P.; Peterson, Amanda M.; Lile, Lily A.; Noojin, Gary D.; Shingledecker, Aurora D.; Stolarski, David J.; Zohner, Justin J.; Kumru, Semih S.; Thomas, Robert J.

2017-02-01

With continued advancement of solid-state laser technology, high-energy lasers operating in the near-infrared (NIR) band are being applied in an increasing number of manufacturing techniques and medical treatments. Safety-related investigations of potentially harmful laser interaction with skin are commonplace, consisting of establishing the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) thresholds under various conditions, often utilizing the minimally-visible lesion (MVL) metric as an indication of damage. Likewise, characterization of ablation onset and velocity is of interest for therapeutic and surgical use, and concerns exceptionally high irradiance levels. However, skin injury response between these two exposure ranges is not well understood. This study utilized a 1070-nm Yb-doped, diode-pumped fiber laser to explore the response of excised porcine skin tissue to high-energy exposures within the supra-threshold injury region without inducing ablation. Concurrent high-speed videography was employed to assess the effect on the epidermis, with a dichotomous response determination given for three progressive damage event categories: observable permanent distortion on the surface, formation of an epidermal bubble due to bounded intra-cutaneous water vaporization, and rupture of said bubble during laser exposure. ED50 values were calculated for these categories under various pulse configurations and beam diameters, and logistic regression models predicted injury events with approximately 90% accuracy. The distinction of skin response into categories of increasing degrees of damage expands the current understanding of high-energy laser safety while also underlining the unique biophysical effects during induced water phase change in tissue. These observations could prove useful in augmenting biothermomechanical models of laser exposure in the supra-threshold region.

Laser induced damage in optical materials: eleventh ASTM symposium.

PubMed

Bennett, H E; Glass, A J; Guenther, A H; Newnam, B

1980-07-15

The eleventh Symposium on Optical Materials for High-Power Lasers (Boulder Damage Symposium) was held at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, 30-31 October 1979. The symposium was held under the auspices of ASTM Committee F-1, Subcommittee on Laser Standards, with the joint sponsorship of NBS, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Office of Naval Research. About 150 scientists attended the symposium, including representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Japan, West Germany, and Denmark. The symposium was divided into sessions concerning transparent optical materials and the measurement of their properties, mirrors and surfaces, thin film characteristics, thin film damage, considerations for high-power systems, and finally theory and breakdown. As in previous years, the emphasis of the papers presented at the symposium was directed toward new frontiers and new developments. Particular emphasis was given to materials for high-power apparatus. The wavelength range of prime interest was from 10.6 microm to the UV region. Highlights included surface characterization, thin film-substrate boundaries, and advances in fundamental laser-matter threshold interactions and mechanisms. The scaling of damage thresholds with pulse duration, focal area, and wavelength was discussed in detail. Harold E. Bennett of the Naval Weapons Center, Alexander J. Glass of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Arthur H. Guenther of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, and Brian E. Newnam of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory were cochairpersons. The twelfth annual symposium is scheduled for 30 September-1 October 1980 at the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado.

Mechanism for atmosphere dependence of laser damage morphology in HfO2/SiO2 high reflective films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Yunti; Ma, Ping; Chen, Songlin; Zhu, Jiliang; Wang, Gang; Pan, Feng; Sun, Ping; Zhu, Xiaohong; Zhu, Jianguo; Xiao, Dingquan

2012-07-01

We show in this paper single-shot and multi-shot laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) of HfO2/SiO2 high reflective films (the reflectance = 99.9%) are affected by the presence of a water layer absorbed on the surface of the porous films. When the water layer was removed with the process of pumping, the single-shot LIDT measured in vacuum dropped to ˜48% of that measured in air, while the multi-shot LIDT in vacuum dropped to ˜47% of its atmospheric value for the high reflective films. Typical damage micrographs of the films in air and in vacuum were obtained, showing distinct damage morphologies. Such atmosphere dependence of the laser damage morphology was found to originate from that formation of a water layer on the surface of porous films could cause an increase of horizontal thermal conductivity and a reduction of vertical thermal conductivity. Moreover, laser-induced periodic ripple damages in air were found in the SiO2 layer from the micrographs. A model of deformation kinematics was used to illustrate the occurrence of the periodic ripple damage, showing that it could be attributed to a contraction of the HfO2 layer under irradiation by the 5-ns laser pulses in air.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bachman, D., E-mail: bachman@ualberta.ca; Fedosejevs, R.; Tsui, Y. Y.

An optical damage threshold for crystalline silicon from single femtosecond laser pulses was determined by detecting a permanent change in the refractive index of the material. This index change could be detected with unprecedented sensitivity by measuring the resonant wavelength shift of silicon integrated optics microring resonators irradiated with femtosecond laser pulses at 400 nm and 800 nm wavelengths. The threshold for permanent index change at 400 nm wavelength was determined to be 0.053 ± 0.007 J/cm{sup 2}, which agrees with previously reported threshold values for femtosecond laser modification of crystalline silicon. However, the threshold for index change at 800 nm wavelength was found to be 0.044 ± 0.005 J/cm{supmore » 2}, which is five times lower than the previously reported threshold values for visual change on the silicon surface. The discrepancy is attributed to possible modification of the crystallinity of silicon below the melting temperature that has not been detected before.« less

Growth, structural, thermal, linear and nonlinear optical and laser damage threshold studies of picolinium tartrate monohydrate single crystals.

PubMed

Peramaiyan, G; Pandi, P; Sornamurthy, B M; Bhagavannarayana, G; Mohan Kumar, R

2012-09-01

Picolinium tartrate monohydrate (PTM), a novel organic nonlinear optical material was synthesized and bulk crystals were grown from aqueous solution by slow cooling technique. The cell parameters of the grown crystal were found by single and powder X-ray diffraction analyses. The crystalline perfection of the grown crystals has been analyzed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) rocking curve measurements. The presence of functional groups in the grown crystal was identified by FTIR and FT-Raman spectral analyses. UV-Vis spectral studies reveal PTM crystals are transparent in the wavelength region of 295-1100 nm. The thermal characteristics of PTM were analyzed by TGA/DTA studies. The dielectric and mechanical behaviours of PTM crystals were investigated. Dislocation density was estimated to be 2.89 × 10(3) cm(-2) on the flat-surface of PTM crystals from the etching studies. The laser induced surface damage threshold for the grown crystal was measured using Nd:YAG laser. Its second harmonic generation relative efficiency was measured by Kurtz and Perry powder technique and was observed to be comparable with KDP crystal. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth and physicochemical properties of organometallic (DL)-trithioureatartrato-O1,O2,O3-cadmium(II) single crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sathyamoorthy, K.; Vinothkumar, P.; Irshad Ahamed, J.; Murali Manohar, P.; Priya, M.; Liu, Jinghe

2018-04-01

Single crystals of organometallic (DL)-trithioureatartrato-O1,O2,O3-cadmium(II) (TUDLC) have been grown from methanol solution by using the slow evaporation of solvent growth technique. The lattice structure and crystalline perfection have been determined by carrying out single crystal X-ray diffraction and high resolution X-ray diffraction measurements. The grown crystal was characterized thermally and mechanically by carrying out thermo-gravimetric and micro hardness measurements. The linear and nonlinear optical characterizations were made by carrying out optical transmittance, surface laser damage threshold, particle size-dependent second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency and photo conductivity measurements. The grown crystal was electrically characterized by carrying out frequency-dependent dielectric measurements. Chemical etching study was also carried out and the dislocation density was estimated. Results obtained in the present study indicate that the grown TUDLC crystal is optically transparent with lower cut-off wavelength 304 nm, mechanically soft, thermally stable up to 101 °C and NLO active with SHG efficiency 2.13 (in KDP unit). The grown crystal is found to have considerably large size, good crystalline perfection, large specific heat capacity, higher surface laser damage threshold and negative photoconductivity.

Laser-induced damage thresholds of bulk and coating optical materials at 1030  nm, 500  fs.

PubMed

Gallais, Laurent; Commandré, Mireille

2014-02-01

We report on extensive femtosecond laser damage threshold measurements of optical materials in both bulk and thin-film form. This study, which is based on published and new data, involved simple oxide and fluoride films, composite films made from a mixture of two dielectric materials, metallic films, and the surfaces of various bulk materials: oxides, fluorides, semiconductors, and ionic crystals. The samples were tested in comparable conditions at 1030 nm, 375 to 600 fs, under single-pulse irradiation. A large number of different samples prepared by different deposition techniques have been tested, involving classical materials used in the fabrication of optical thin film components (Ag, AlF3, Al2O3, HfO2, MgF2, Nb2O5, Pt, Sc2O3, SiO2, Ta2O5, Y2O3, and ZrO2) and their combination with codeposition processes. Their behaviors are compared with the surfaces of bulk materials (Al2O3, BaF2, CaF2, Ge, KBr, LiF, MgF2, NaCl, Quartz, Si, ZnS, ZnSe, and different silica glasses). Tabulated values of results are presented and discussed.

Evaluation of runaway-electron effects on plasma-facing components for NET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolt, H.; Calén, H.

1991-03-01

Runaway electrons which are generated during disruptions can cause serious damage to plasma facing components in a next generation device like NET. A study was performed to quantify the response of NET plasma facing components to runaway-electron impact. For the determination of the energy deposition in the component materials Monte Carlo computations were performed. Since the subsurface metal structures can be strongly heated under runaway-electron impact from the computed results damage threshold values for the thermal excursions were derived. These damage thresholds are strongly dependent on the materials selection and the component design. For a carbonmolybdenum divertor with 10 and 20 mm carbon armour thickness and 1 degree electron incidence the damage thresholds are 100 MJ/m 2 and 220 MJ/m 2. The thresholds for a carbon-copper divertor under the same conditions are about 50% lower. On the first wall damage is anticipated for energy depositions above 180 MJ/m 2.

Crystal growth, structural, optical, thermal and dielectric properties of lithium hydrogen oxalate monohydrate single crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandran, Senthilkumar; Paulraj, Rajesh; Ramasamy, P.

2017-11-01

The vibrational groups of the lithium hydrogen oxalate monohydrate have been investigated by FTIR and FT- Raman analyses. It has low absorbance in the UV-Vis-NIR region. The laser damage threshold study confirms that the material withstands upto 30 mJ with time of 7 s, after that circular dot damage is seen on the surface. The dark region of the surface damage spot occurs due to the thermal effects. The material is thermally stable upto 93 °C and there is no weight loss below this temperature. The dielectric studies were carried out at the frequency regions of 1 kHz-1 MHz and different temperatures from 40 °C to 80 °C. Semi-organic non-linear optical (NLO) single crystal lithium hydrogen oxalate monohydrate has been grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique. The Hirshfeld surface analysis was performed to understand the different intermolecular interactions in the title compound. The fingerprint plots contain the highest portion of H⋯O/O⋯H (48.3%) interactions.

Blister Threshold Based Thermal Limits for the U-Mo Monolithic Fuel System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

D. M. Wachs; I. Glagolenko; F. J. Rice

2012-10-01

Fuel failure is most commonly induced in research and test reactor fuel elements by exposure to an under-cooled or over-power condition that results in the fuel temperature exceeding a critical threshold above which blisters form on the plate. These conditions can be triggered by normal operational transients (i.e. temperature overshoots that may occur during reactor startup or power shifts) or mild upset events (e.g., pump coastdown, small blockages, mis-loading of fuel elements into higher-than-planned power positions, etc.). The rise in temperature has a number of general impacts on the state of a fuel plate that include, for example, stress relaxationmore » in the cladding (due to differential thermal expansion), softening of the cladding, increased mobility of fission gases, and increased fission-gas pressure in pores, all of which can encourage the formation of blisters on the fuel-plate surface. These blisters consist of raised regions on the surface of fuel plates that occur when the cladding plastically deforms in response to fission-gas pressure in large pores in the fuel meat and/or mechanical buckling of the cladding over damaged regions in the fuel meat. The blister temperature threshold decreases with irradiation because the mechanical properties of the fuel plate degrade while under irradiation (due to irradiation damage and fission-product accumulation) and because the fission-gas inventory progressively increases (and, thus, so does the gas pressure in pores).« less

CW laser damage testing of RAR nano-textured fused silica and YAG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacLeod, Bruce D.; Hobbs, Douglas S.; Manni, Anthony D.; Sabatino, Ernest; Bernot, David M.; DeFrances, Sage; Randi, Joseph A.; Thomas, Jeffrey

2017-11-01

A study of the continuous wave (CW) laser induced damage threshold (LiDT) of fused silica and yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) optics was conducted to further illustrate the enhanced survivability within high power laser systems of an anti-reflection (AR) treatment consisting of randomly distributed surface relief nanostructures (RAR). A series of three CW LiDT tests using the 1070nm wavelength, 16 KW fiber laser test bed at Penn State Electro-Optic Center (PSEOC) were designed and completed, with improvements in the testing protocol, areal coverage, and maximum exposure intensities implemented between test cycles. Initial results for accumulated power, stationary site exposures of RAR nano-textured optics showed no damage and low surface temperatures similar to the control optics with no AR treatment. In contrast, optics with thin-film AR coatings showed high surface temperatures consistent with absorption by the film layers. Surface discriminating absorption measurements made using the Photothermal Common-path Interferometry (PCI) method, showed zero added surface absorption for the RAR nanotextured optics, and absorption levels in the 2-5 part per million range for thin-film AR coated optics. In addition, the surface absorption of thin-film AR coatings was also found to have localized absorption spikes that are likely pre-cursors for damage. Subsequent CW LiDT testing protocol included raster scanning an increased intensity focused beam over the test optic surface where it was found that thin-film AR coated optics damaged at intensities in the 2 to 5 MW/cm2 range with surface temperatures over 250C during the long-duration exposures. Significantly, none of the 10 RAR nano-textured fused silica optics tested could be damaged up to the maximum system intensity of 15.5 MW/cm2, and surface temperatures remained low. YAG optics tested during the final cycle exhibited a similar result with RAR nano-textured surfaces surviving intensities over 3 times higher than thin-film AR coated surfaces. This result was correlated with PCI measurements that also show zero-added surface absorption for the RAR nano-textured YAG optics.

Increase of bulk optical damage threshold fluences of KDP crystals by laser irradiation and heat treatment

DOEpatents

Swain, J.E.; Stokowski, S.E.; Milam, D.; Kennedy, G.C.; Rainer, F.

1982-07-07

The bulk optical damage threshold fluence of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals is increased by irradiating the crystals with laser pulses of duration 1 to 20 nanoseconds of increasing fluence, below the optical damage threshold fluence for untreated crystals, or by baking the crystals for times of the order of 24 hours at temperatures of 110 to 165/sup 0/C, or by a combination of laser irradiation and baking.

Development of high damage threshold laser-machined apodizers and gain filters for laser applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rambo, Patrick; Schwarz, Jens; Kimmel, Mark

We have developed high damage threshold filters to modify the spatial profile of a high energy laser beam. The filters are formed by laser ablation of a transmissive window. The ablation sites constitute scattering centers which can be filtered in a subsequent spatial filter. Finally, by creating the filters in dielectric materials, we see an increased laser-induced damage threshold from previous filters created using ‘metal on glass’ lithography.

Development of high damage threshold laser-machined apodizers and gain filters for laser applications

DOE PAGES

Rambo, Patrick; Schwarz, Jens; Kimmel, Mark; ...

2016-09-27

We have developed high damage threshold filters to modify the spatial profile of a high energy laser beam. The filters are formed by laser ablation of a transmissive window. The ablation sites constitute scattering centers which can be filtered in a subsequent spatial filter. Finally, by creating the filters in dielectric materials, we see an increased laser-induced damage threshold from previous filters created using ‘metal on glass’ lithography.

Gluten and celiac disease--an immunological perspective.

PubMed

Rallabhandi, Prasad

2012-01-01

Gluten, a complex protein group in wheat, rye, and barley, causes celiac disease (CD), an autoimmune enteropathy of the small intestine, in genetically susceptible individuals. CD affects about 1% of the general population and causes significant health problems. Adverse inflammatory reactions to gluten are mediated by inappropriate T-cell activation leading to severe damage of the gastrointestinal mucosa, causing atrophy of absorptive surface villi. Gluten peptides bind to the chemokine receptor, CXCR3, and induce release of zonulin, which mediates tight-junction disassembly and subsequent increase in intestinal permeability. Proinflammatory cytokine IL-15 also contributes to the pathology of CD, by driving the expansion of intra-epithelial lymphocytes that damage the epithelium and promote the onset of T-cell lymphomas. There is no cure or treatment for CD, except for avoiding dietary gluten. Current gluten thresholds for food labeling have been established based on the available analytical methods, which show variation in gluten detection and quantification. Also, the clinical heterogeneity of celiac patients poses difficulty in defining clinically acceptable gluten thresholds in gluten-free foods. Presently, there is no bioassay available to measure gluten-induced immunobiological responses. This review focuses on various aspects of CD, and the importance of gluten thresholds and reference material from an immunological perspective.

Ultrafast Passive Shields for Laser and Ballistic Protection

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-07-15

chemically polymerized P(DPA)) as a binder, and these were tested for ablation (i.e. laser damage threshold ) limits. Table IV below summarizes these results...50, 100, 250 and 500 AJ/pulse o 1.G, 2.5, 5.0 mJ/pulse. The following energies were used for the preliminary laser damage threshold tests: o 2.5, 5.0...these were tested for ablation (i.e. laser damage threshold ) limits. Table VI summarizes these results which are all for tests in the absence of an iris

In-flight rain damage tests of the shuttle thermal protection system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyer, Robert R., Jr.; Barneburg, Jack

1988-01-01

NASA conducted in-flight rain damage tests of the Shuttle thermal protection system (TPS). Most of the tests were conducted on an F-104 aircraft at the Dryden Flight Research Facility of NASA's Ames Research Center, although some tests were conducted by NOAA on a WP-3D aircraft off the eastern coast of southern Florida. The TPS components tested included LI900 and LI2200 tiles, advanced flexible reusable surface insulation, reinforced carbon-carbon, and an advanced tufi tile. The objective of the test was to define the damage threshold of various thermal protection materials during flight through rain. The test hardware, test technique, and results from both F-104 and WP-3D aircraft are described. Results have shown that damage can occur to the Shuttle TPS during flight in rain.

Laser induced damage in optical materials: twelfth ASTM symposium.

PubMed

Bennett, H E; Glass, A J; Guenther, A H; Newnam, B

1981-09-01

The twelfth annual Symposium on Optical Materials for High Power Lasers (Boulder Damage Symposium) was held at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, 30 Sept.-l Oct., 1980. The symposium was held under the auspices of ASTM Committee F-l, Subcommittee on Laser Standards, with the joint sponsorship of NBS, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Department of Energy, the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific research. Over 150 scientists attended the symposium, including representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and West Germany. The symposium was divided into sessions concerning materials and measurements, mirrors and surfaces, thin films, and finally fundamental mechanisms. As in previous years, the emphasis of the papers presented at the symposium was directed toward new frontiers and new developments. Particular emphasis was given to materials for high power systems. The wavelength range of prime interest was from 10.6 microm to the UV region. Highlights included surface characterization, thin film-substrate boundaries, and advances in fundamental laser-matter threshold interactions and mechanisms. The scaling of damage thresholds with pulse duration, focal area, and wavelength was discussed in detail. Harold E. Bennett of the Naval Weapons Center, Alexander J. Glass of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Arthur H. Guenther of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, and Brian E. Newnam of the Los Alamos National Laboratory were cochairmen of the symposium. The thirteenth annual symposium is scheduled for 17-18 Nov. 1981 at the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado.

High-threshold motor unit firing reflects force recovery following a bout of damaging eccentric exercise.

PubMed

Macgregor, Lewis J; Hunter, Angus M

2018-01-01

Exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) is associated with impaired muscle function and reduced neuromuscular recruitment. However, motor unit firing behaviour throughout the recovery period is unclear. EIMD impairment of maximal voluntary force (MVC) will, in part, be caused by reduced high-threshold motor unit firing, which will subsequently increase to recover MVC. Fourteen healthy active males completed a bout of eccentric exercise on the knee extensors, with measurements of MVC, rate of torque development and surface electromyography performed pre-exercise and 2, 3, 7 and 14 days post-exercise, on both damaged and control limb. EIMD was associated with decreased MVC (235.2 ± 49.3 Nm vs. 161.3 ± 52.5 Nm; p <0.001) and rate of torque development (495.7 ± 136.9 Nm.s-1 vs. 163.4 ± 163.7 Nm.s-1; p <0.001) 48h post-exercise. Mean motor unit firing rate was reduced (16.4 ± 2.2 Hz vs. 12.6 ± 1.7 Hz; p <0.01) in high-threshold motor units only, 48h post-exercise, and common drive was elevated (0.36 ± 0.027 vs. 0.56 ± 0.032; p< 0.001) 48h post-exercise. The firing rate of high-threshold motor units was reduced in parallel with impaired muscle function, whilst early recruited motor units remained unaltered. Common drive of motor units increased in offset to the firing rate impairment. These alterations correlated with the recovery of force decrement, but not of pain elevation. This study provides fresh insight into the central mechanisms associated with EIMD recovery, relative to muscle function. These findings may in turn lead to development of novel management and preventative procedures.

High-threshold motor unit firing reflects force recovery following a bout of damaging eccentric exercise

PubMed Central

Macgregor, Lewis J.

2018-01-01

Exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) is associated with impaired muscle function and reduced neuromuscular recruitment. However, motor unit firing behaviour throughout the recovery period is unclear. EIMD impairment of maximal voluntary force (MVC) will, in part, be caused by reduced high-threshold motor unit firing, which will subsequently increase to recover MVC. Fourteen healthy active males completed a bout of eccentric exercise on the knee extensors, with measurements of MVC, rate of torque development and surface electromyography performed pre-exercise and 2, 3, 7 and 14 days post-exercise, on both damaged and control limb. EIMD was associated with decreased MVC (235.2 ± 49.3 Nm vs. 161.3 ± 52.5 Nm; p <0.001) and rate of torque development (495.7 ± 136.9 Nm.s-1 vs. 163.4 ± 163.7 Nm.s-1; p <0.001) 48h post-exercise. Mean motor unit firing rate was reduced (16.4 ± 2.2 Hz vs. 12.6 ± 1.7 Hz; p <0.01) in high-threshold motor units only, 48h post-exercise, and common drive was elevated (0.36 ± 0.027 vs. 0.56 ± 0.032; p< 0.001) 48h post-exercise. The firing rate of high-threshold motor units was reduced in parallel with impaired muscle function, whilst early recruited motor units remained unaltered. Common drive of motor units increased in offset to the firing rate impairment. These alterations correlated with the recovery of force decrement, but not of pain elevation. This study provides fresh insight into the central mechanisms associated with EIMD recovery, relative to muscle function. These findings may in turn lead to development of novel management and preventative procedures. PMID:29630622

Damage Thresholds for Exposure to NIR and Blue Lasers in an In Vitro RPE Cell System

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-01

damage , and to identify antioxidants capable of protecting these cells from laser-in- duced cell death. MATERIALS AND METHODS The human RPE cell...melanosomes in blue laser-induced damage in vitro, which confirms the view that melanin plays an important role in photochemical damage mechanisms in...community has only a validating role in the animal ED50 damage threshold data used by safety committees. Systems of in vitro analysis must be

Surface Roughness Investigation of Ultrafine-Grained Aluminum Alloy Subjected to High-Speed Erosion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazarinov, N. A.; Evstifeev, A. D.; Petrov, Y. V.; Atroshenko, S. A.; Lashkov, V. A.; Valiev, R. Z.; Bondarenko, A. S.

2016-09-01

This study is the first attempt to investigate the influence of severe plastic deformation (SPD) treatment on material surface behavior under intensive erosive conditions. Samples of aluminum alloy 1235 (99.3 Al) before and after high-pressure torsion (HPT) were subjected to intensive erosion by corundum particles accelerated via air flow in a small-scale wind tunnel. Velocity of particles varied from 40 to 200 m/s, while particle average diameter was around 100 μm. Surface roughness measurements provided possibility to compare surface properties of both materials after erosion tests. Moreover, SPD processing appeared to increase noticeably the threshold velocity of the surface damaging process. Additionally, structural analysis of the fracture surfaces of the tested samples was carried out.

Flux threshold determination for tungsten nano-fuzz formation using an 80 eV He-ion beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, Fred W.; Bannister, Mark E.; Parish, Chad M.

2017-10-01

At the ORNL Multicharged Ion Research Facility (MIRF), we have extended our investigation of flux thresholds for He-ion induced nano-fuzz formation on hot tungsten surfaces down to plasma-edge-relevant energies of 80 eV. We measured the size of the incident ion beam by accurate flux-profile measurements, and the size of the region where tungsten nano-fuzz was formed by post-exposure SEM surface analysis and real-time monitoring of the hot W surface-emissivity change throughout the beam exposure. If tungsten nano-fuzz formation had a fluence threshold, the size of the observed nano-fuzz region would be expected to increase with exposure time, eventually filling the entire ion beam spot. Instead, we found that the region of nano-fuzz formation (1) was always smaller than the beam spot itself and (2) did not increase in size with time, i.e. with accumulated He ion fluence. By comparison of the flux profile and the spatial extent of the fuzz region we determined a flux threshold of 9.5 +-3×1019/m2s at 80 eV He ion impact energy. We show that the observed flux-threshold energy dependence for nano-fuzz formation, which we have now mapped out from 80 eV to 8.5 keV, is well reproduced by the combined energy dependences of He-ion reflection, He-ion range and target-damage creation, determined using SRIM. Research sponsored by the LDRD program at ORNL, managed by UT-Battelle for the USDOE, and by the DOE OFES.

Laser pulse transmission and damage threshold of silica fibers with antireflective coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meister, Stefan; Wosniok, Alexander; Riesbeck, Thomas; Scharfenorth, Chris; Eichler, Hans J.

2005-03-01

Standard 200 μm multimode fibers with Ta2O5/SiO2 antireflective coatings reach a transmission of more than 99.5% below the threshold of stimulated Brillouin scattering. The laser-induced damage threshold measured at 1064 nm and 24 ns pulse duration was about half than the LIDT of uncoated fibers.

Detection of impact damage on thermal protection systems using thin-film piezoelectric sensors for integrated structural health monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Na, Jeong K.; Kuhr, Samuel J.; Jata, Kumar V.

2008-03-01

Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) can be subjected to impact damage during flight and/or during ground maintenance and/or repair. AFRL/RXLP is developing a reliable and robust on-board sensing/monitoring capability for next generation thermal protection systems to detect and assess impact damage. This study was focused on two classes of metallic thermal protection tiles to determine threshold for impact damage and develop sensing capability of the impacts. Sensors made of PVDF piezoelectric film were employed and tested to evaluate the detectability of impact signals and assess the onset or threshold of impact damage. Testing was performed over a range of impact energy levels, where the sensors were adhered to the back of the specimens. The PVDF signal levels were analyzed and compared to assess damage, where digital microscopy, visual inspection, and white light interferometry were used for damage verification. Based on the impact test results, an assessment of the impact damage thresholds for each type of metallic TPS system was made.

Influence of subsurface defects on damage performance of fused silica in ultraviolet laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Jin; Zhou, Xinda; Liu, Hongjie; Wang, Fengrui; Jiang, Xiaodong; Wu, Weidong; Tang, Yongjian; Zheng, Wanguo

2013-02-01

In ultraviolet pulse laser, damage performance of fused silica optics is directly dependent on the absorptive impurities and scratches in subsurface, which are induced by mechanical polishing. In the research about influence of subsurface defects on damage performance, a series of fused silica surfaces with various impurity concentrations and scratch structures were created by hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution etching. Time of Flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and scanning probe microprobe revealed that with increasing etching depth, impurity concentrations in subsurface layers are decreased, the scratch structures become smoother and the diameter:depth ratio is increased. Damage performance test with 355-nm pulse laser showed that when 600 nm subsurface thickness is removed by HF acid etching, laser-induced damage threshold of fused silica is raised by 40 percent and damage density is decreased by over one order of magnitude. Laser weak absorption was tested to explain the cause of impurity elements impacting damage performance, field enhancement caused by change of scratch structures was calculated by finite difference time domain simulation, and the calculated results are in accord with the damage test results.

Impact-initiated damage thresholds in composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sharma, A. V.

1980-01-01

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of low velocity projectile impact on the sandwich-type structural components. The materials used in the fabrication of the impact surface were graphite-, Kevlar-, and boron-fibers with appropriate epoxy matrices. The testing of the specimens was performed at moderately low- and high-temperatures as well as at room temperature to assess the impact-initiated strength degradation of the laminates. Eleven laminates with different stacking sequences, orientations, and thicknesses were tested. The low energy projectile impact is considered to simulate the damage caused by runway debris, dropping of the hand tools during servicing, etc., on the secondary aircraft structures fabricated with the composite materials. The results show the preload and the impact energy combinations necessary to cause catastrophic failures in the laminates tested. A set of faired curves indicating the failure thresholds is shown separately for the tension- and compression-loaded laminates. The specific-strengths and -moduli for the various laminates tested are also given.

Factors controlling threshold friction velocity in semiarid and arid areas of the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Marticorena, Beatrice; Bergametti, G.; Belnap, Jayne

1997-01-01

A physical model was developed to explain threshold friction velocities u*t for particles of the size 60a??120 I?m lying on a rough surface in loose soils for semiarid and arid parts of the United States. The model corrected for the effect of momentum absorption by the nonerodible roughness. For loose or disturbed soils the most important parameter that controls u*t is the aerodynamic roughness height z 0. For physical crusts damaged by wind the size of erodible crust pieces is important along with the roughness. The presence of cyanobacteriallichen soil crusts roughens the surface, and the biological fibrous growth aggregates soil particles. Only undisturbed sandy soils and disturbed soils of all types would be expected to be erodible in normal wind storms. Therefore disturbance of soils by both cattle and humans is very important in predicting wind erosion as confirmed by our measurements.

Femtosecond ablation of ultrahard materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumitru, G.; Romano, V.; Weber, H. P.; Sentis, M.; Marine, W.

Several ultrahard materials and coatings of definite interest for tribological applications were tested with respect to their response when irradiated with fs laser pulses. Results on cemented tungsten carbide and on titanium carbonitride are reported for the first time and compared with outcomes of investigations on diamond and titanium nitride. The experiments were carried out in air, in a regime of 5-8 J/cm2 fluences, using the beam of a commercial Ti:sapphire laser. The changes induced in the surface morphology were analysed with a Nomarski optical microscope, and with SEM and AFM techniques. From the experimental data and from the calculated incident energy density distributions, the damage and ablation threshold values were determined. As expected, the diamond showed the highest threshold, while the cemented tungsten carbide exhibited typical values for metallic surfaces. The ablation rates determined (under the above-mentioned experimental conditions) were in the range 0.1-0.2 μm per pulse for all the materials investigated.

Laser damage of free-standing nanometer membranes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morimoto, Yuya; Roland, Iännis; Rennesson, Stéphanie; Semond, Fabrice; Boucaud, Philippe; Baum, Peter

2017-12-01

Many high-field/attosecond and ultrafast electron diffraction/microscopy experiments on condensed matter require samples in the form of free-standing membranes with nanometer thickness. Here, we report the measurement of the laser-induced damage threshold of 11 different free-standing nanometer-thin membranes of metallic, semiconducting, and insulating materials for 1-ps, 1030-nm laser pulses at 50 kHz repetition rate. We find a laser damage threshold that is very similar to each corresponding bulk material. The measurements also reveal a band gap dependence of the damage threshold as a consequence of different ionization rates. These results establish the suitability of free-standing nanometer membranes for high-field pump-probe experiments.

Impact response of graphite-epoxy flat laminates using projectiles that simulate aircraft engine encounters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Preston, J. L., Jr.; Cook, T. S.

1975-01-01

An investigation of the response of a graphite-epoxy material to foreign object impact was made by impacting spherical projectiles of gelatin, ice, and steel normally on flat panels. The observed damage was classified as transverse (stress wave delamination and cracking), penetrative, or structural (gross failure): the minimum, or threshold, velocity to cause each class of damage was established as a function of projectile characteristics. Steel projectiles had the lowest transverse damage threshold, followed by gelatin and ice. Making use of the threshold velocities and assuming that the normal component of velocity produces the damage in nonnormal impacts, a set of impact angles and velocities was established for each projectile material which would result in damage to composite fan blades. Analysis of the operating parameters of a typical turbine fan blade shows that small steel projectiles are most likely to cause delamination and penetration damage to unprotected graphite-epoxy composite fan blades.

New method for measuring the laser-induced damage threshold of optical thin film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Jun-hong; Wang, Hong; Xi, Ying-xue

2012-10-01

The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of thin film means that the thin film can withstand a maximum intensity of laser radiation. The film will be damaged when the irradiation under high laser intensity is greater than the value of LIDT. In this paper, an experimental platform with measurement operator interfaces and control procedures in the VB circumstance is built according to ISO11254-1. In order to obtain more accurate results than that with manual measurement, in the software system, a hardware device can be controlled by control widget on the operator interfaces. According to the sample characteristic, critical parameters of the LIDT measurement system such as spot diameter, damage threshold region, and critical damage pixel number are set up on the man-machine conversation interface, which could realize intelligent measurements of the LIDT. According to experimental data, the LIDT is obtained by fitting damage curve automatically.

Erosion simulation of first wall beryllium armour under ITER transient heat loads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazylev, B.; Janeschitz, G.; Landman, I.; Pestchanyi, S.; Loarte, A.

2009-04-01

The beryllium is foreseen as plasma facing armour for the first wall in the ITER in form of Be-clad blanket modules in macrobrush design with brush size about 8-10 cm. In ITER significant heat loads during transient events (TE) are expected at the main chamber wall that may leads to the essential damage of the Be armour. The main mechanisms of metallic target damage remain surface melting and melt motion erosion, which determines the lifetime of the plasma facing components. Melting thresholds and melt layer depth of the Be armour under transient loads are estimated for different temperatures of the bulk Be and different shapes of transient loads. The melt motion damages of Be macrobrush armour caused by the tangential friction force and the Lorentz force are analyzed for bulk Be and different sizes of Be-brushes. The damage of FW under radiative loads arising during mitigated disruptions is numerically simulated.

Damage threshold in adult rabbit eyes after scleral cross-linking by riboflavin/blue light application.

PubMed

Iseli, Hans Peter; Körber, Nicole; Karl, Anett; Koch, Christian; Schuldt, Carsten; Penk, Anja; Liu, Qing; Huster, Daniel; Käs, Josef; Reichenbach, Andreas; Wiedemann, Peter; Francke, Mike

2015-10-01

Several scleral cross-linking (SXL) methods were suggested to increase the biomechanical stiffness of scleral tissue and therefore, to inhibit axial eye elongation in progressive myopia. In addition to scleral cross-linking and biomechanical effects caused by riboflavin and light irradiation such a treatment might induce tissue damage, dependent on the light intensity used. Therefore, we characterized the damage threshold and mechanical stiffening effect in rabbit eyes after application of riboflavin combined with various blue light intensities. Adult pigmented and albino rabbits were treated with riboflavin (0.5 %) and varying blue light (450 ± 50 nm) dosages from 18 to 780 J/cm(2) (15 to 650 mW/cm(2) for 20 min). Scleral, choroidal and retinal tissue alterations were detected by means of light microscopy, electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Biomechanical changes were measured by shear rheology. Blue light dosages of 480 J/cm(2) (400 mW/cm(2)) and beyond induced pathological changes in ocular tissues; the damage threshold was defined by the light intensities which induced cellular degeneration and/or massive collagen structure changes. At such high dosages, we observed alterations of the collagen structure in scleral tissue, as well as pigment aggregation, internal hemorrhages, and collapsed blood vessels. Additionally, photoreceptor degenerations associated with microglia activation and macroglia cell reactivity in the retina were detected. These pathological alterations were locally restricted to the treated areas. Pigmentation of rabbit eyes did not change the damage threshold after a treatment with riboflavin and blue light but seems to influence the vulnerability for blue light irradiations. Increased biomechanical stiffness of scleral tissue could be achieved with blue light intensities below the characterized damage threshold. We conclude that riboflavin and blue light application increased the biomechanical stiffness of scleral tissue at blue light energy levels below the damage threshold. Therefore, applied blue light intensities below the characterized damage threshold might define a therapeutic blue light tolerance range. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laser-induced damage threshold tests of ultrafast multilayer dielectric coatings in various environmental conditions relevant for operation of ELI beamlines laser systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ďurák, Michal; Velpula, Praveen Kumar; Kramer, Daniel; Cupal, Josef; Medřík, Tomáš; Hřebíček, Jan; Golasowski, Jiří; Peceli, Davorin; Kozlová, Michaela; Rus, Bedřich

2017-01-01

Increasing the laser-induced damage resistance of optical components is one of the major challenges in the development of Peta-watt (PW) class laser systems. The extreme light infrastructure (ELI) beamlines project will provide ultrafast laser systems with peak powers up to 10 PW available every minute and PW class beams at 10 Hz complemented by a 5-TW, 1-kHz beamline. Sustainable performance of PW class laser systems relies on the durability of the employed optical components. As part of an effort to evaluate the damage resistance of components utilized in ELI beamlines systems, damage thresholds of several optical multilayer dielectric coatings were measured with different laser parameters and in different environments. Three coatings were tested with 10 Hz and 1 kHz pulse repetition rates, and the effect of a cleaning treatment on their damage resistance was examined. To explore the damage threshold behavior at different vacuum levels, one coating was subject to tests at various residual gas pressures. No change of damage threshold in a high vacuum with respect to ambient pressure was recorded. The effect of the cleaning treatment was found to be inconsistent, suggesting that development of the optimal cleaning treatment for a given coating requires consideration of its specific properties.

Wavelength dependence of laser-induced retinal injury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lund, David J.; Edsall, Peter; Stuck, Bruce E.

2005-04-01

The threshold for laser-induced retinal damage is dependent primarily upon the laser wavelength and the exposure duration. The study of the wavelength dependence of the retinal damage threshold has been greatly enhanced by the availability of tunable lasers. The Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO), capable of providing useful pulse energy throughout a tuning range from 400 nm to 2200 nm, made it possible to determine the wavelength dependence of laser-induced retinal damage thresholds for q-switched pulses throughout the visible and NIR spectrum. Studies using the a tunable TI:Saph laser and several fixed-wavelength lasers yielded threshold values for 0.1 s exposures from 440 nm to 1060 nm. Laser-induced retinal damage for these exposure durations results from thermal conversion of the incident laser irradiation and an action spectrum for thermal retinal damage was developed based on the wavelength dependent transmission and absorption of ocular tissue and chromatic aberration of the eye optics. Long (1-1000s) duration exposures to visible laser demonstrated the existence of non-thermal laser-induced retinal damage mechanisms having a different action spectrum. This paper will present the available data for the wavelength dependence of laser-induced thermal retinal damage and compare this data to the maximum permissible exposure levels (MPEs) provided by the current guidelines for the safe use of lasers.

Evaluation damage threshold of optical thin-film using an amplified spontaneous emission source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Qiong; Sun, Mingying; Zhang, Zhixiang; Yao, Yudong; Peng, Yujie; Liu, Dean; Zhu, Jianqiang

2014-10-01

An accurate evaluation method with an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) as the irradiation source has been developed for testing thin-film damage threshold. The partial coherence of the ASE source results in a very smooth beam profile in the near-field and a uniform intensity distribution of the focal spot in the far-field. ASE is generated by an Nd: glass rod amplifier in SG-II high power laser facility, with pulse duration of 9 ns and spectral width (FWHM) of 1 nm. The damage threshold of the TiO2 high reflection film is 14.4J/cm2 using ASE as the irradiation source, about twice of 7.4 J/cm2 that tested by a laser source with the same pulse duration and central wavelength. The damage area induced by ASE is small with small-scale desquamation and a few pits, corresponding to the defect distribution of samples. Large area desquamation is observed in the area damaged by laser, as the main reason that the non-uniformity of the laser light. The ASE damage threshold leads to more accurate evaluations of the samples damage probability by reducing the influence of hot spots in the irradiation beam. Furthermore, the ASE source has a great potential in the detection of the defect distribution of the optical elements.

Effect of absorbing coating on ablation of diamond by IR laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kononenko, T. V.; Pivovarov, P. A.; Khomich, A. A.; Khmel'nitskii, R. A.; Konov, V. I.

2018-03-01

We study the possibility of increasing the efficiency and quality of laser ablation microprocessing of diamond by preliminary forming an absorbing layer on its surface. The laser pulses having a duration of 1 ps and 10 ns at a wavelength of 1030 nm irradiate the polycrystalline diamond surface coated by a thin layer of titanium or graphite. We analyse the dynamics of the growth of the crater depth as a function of the number of pulses and the change in optical transmission of the ablated surface. It is found that under irradiation by picosecond pulses the preliminary graphitisation allows one to avoid the laser-induced damage of the internal diamond volume until the appearance of a self-maintained graphitised layer. The absorbing coating (both graphite and titanium) much stronger affects ablation by nanosecond pulses, since it reduces the ablation threshold by more than an order of magnitude and allows full elimination of a laser-induced damage of deep regions of diamond and uncontrolled explosive ablation in the nearsurface layer.

Dielectric breakdown induced by picosecond laser pulses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, W. L.; Bechtel, J. H.; Bloembergen, N.

1976-01-01

The damage thresholds of transparent optical materials were investigated. Single picosecond pulses at 1.06 microns, 0.53 microns and 0.35 microns were obtained from a mode locked Nd-YAG oscillator-amplifier-frequency multiplier system. The pulses were Gaussian in space and time and permitted the determination of breakdown thresholds with a reproducibility of 15%. It was shown that the breakdown thresholds are characteristic of the bulk material, which included nine alkali halides, five different laser host materials, KDP, quartz, sapphire and calcium fluoride. The extension of the damage data to the ultraviolet is significant, because some indication was obtained that two- and three-photon absorption processes begin to play a role in determining the threshold. Throughout the visible region of the spectrum the threshold is still an increasing function of frequency, indicating that avalanche ionization is the dominant factor in determining the breakdown threshold. This was confirmed by a detailed study of the damage morphology with a high resolution microscope just above the threshold. The influence of self focusing is discussed, and evidence for beam distortion below the power threshold for complete self focusing is presented, confirming the theory of Marburger.

Analysis Concerning the Inspection Threshold for Multi-Site Damage.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1993-12-01

Periodic inspections, at a prescribed interval, for Multi-Site Damage (MS) in longitudinal fuselage lap-joints start when the aircraft has accumulated a certain number of flights, the inspection threshold. The work reported here was an attempt to obt...

Irradiance enhancement and increased laser damage threshold in As₂S₃ moth-eye antireflective structures.

PubMed

Weiblen, R Joseph; Florea, Catalin M; Busse, Lynda E; Shaw, L Brandon; Menyuk, Curtis R; Aggarwal, Ishwar D; Sanghera, Jasbinder S

2015-10-15

It has been experimentally observed that moth-eye antireflective microstructures at the end of As2S3 fibers have an increased laser damage threshold relative to thin-film antireflective coatings. In this work, we computationally study the irradiance enhancement in As2S3 moth-eye antireflective microstructures in order to explain the increased damage threshold. We show that the irradiance enhancement occurs mostly on the air side of the interfaces and is minimal in the As2S3 material. We give a physical explanation for this behavior.

Localized Synthesis of Silicon Nanocrystals in Silicon-rich SiO2 by CO2 Laser Annealing

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-01

damage problem since the peak Plaser of 4.4 MW/cm2 on the sample surface is far beyond the ablation threshold. Gallas et al. [16] then observed that...577-580, 2004. [9] A. F. Maciente, V. R. Mastelaro, A. L. Martinez , A. C. Hernandes, and C. A. C. Carneiro, “Surface crystallization of β-BaB2O4...J. Appl. Phys., vol. 95, pp. 4060-4068, 2004. [16] B. Gallas , C.-C. Kao, S. Fisson, G. Vuye, J. Rivory, Y. Bernard, and C. Belouet, “Laser

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SEMICONDUCTOR INJECTION LASERS SELCO-87: Recombination-induced motion of dislocations in III-V compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schreiber, J.; Leipner, H. S.

1988-11-01

The methods of in situ cathodoluminescence and scanning electron microscopy were used in a study of stimulated dislocation glide. Dislocations generated by deliberate surface damage were found to be highly mobile when excited above a certain threshold. A study was made of the dependence of the glide velocity on the excitation rate and the first quantitative results on low-temperature dislocation motion are reported.

Modeling of Surface Thermodynamics and Damage Thresholds in the IR and THz Regime

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

Conference on Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells [18th] Held in San Jose, California on January 22-24, 2007 To order the complete compilation report...United States; c Air Force Reasearch Lab, Human Effectivness Directorate Optical Branch, 2624 Louis Bauer Drive, San Antonio, TX, United States...equation (radial and axial) in a biological system construct. Tissues are represented as multi-layer structures, with optical and thermal properties

Effects of substrate on the femtosecond laser-induced damage properties of gold films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Haopeng; Wang, Leilei; Kong, Fanyu; Xia, Zhilin; Jin, Yunxia; Xu, Jiao; Chen, Junming; Cui, Yun; Shao, Jianda

2018-07-01

In this work, gold films on two different types of substrates were fabricated by electron beam (e-beam) evaporation, and the femtosecond laser-induced damage properties were evaluated. The first sample was gold film deposited on fused silica, whereas the second was gold deposited on photoresist. 1-on-1 damage tests were implemented by an 800 ± 30 nm laser with pulse duration of 30 fs. Different damage thresholds and morphologies were obtained for the two samples. The damage threshold of the gold film on fused silica was 0.64 J/cm2, with the typical damage morphology of thermal ablation and melting; the damage threshold of the gold film on photoresist was 0.30 J/cm2, with the typical damage morphology of blisters or peeling off. In order to better understand the impact of the substrate on the properties of the whole sample, the normalized electric field intensity, temperature, and thermal stress distributions were calculated. The adhesion between the gold film and substrate were measured and the experimental results well agreed with the theoretical analysis. The results indicate that gold films deposited onto grating-structured fused silica will have more powerful laser damage resistance performance.

Finite element thermal analysis of multispectral coatings for the ABL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Rashmi S.; Bettis, Jerry R.; Stewart, Alan F.; Bonsall, Lynn; Copland, James; Hughes, William; Echeverry, Juan C.

1999-04-01

The thermal response of a coated optical surface is an important consideration in the design of any high average power system. Finite element temperature distribution were calculated for both coating witness samples and calorimetry wafers and were compared to actual measured data under tightly controlled conditions. Coatings for ABL were deposited on various substrates including fused silica, ULE, Zerodur, and silicon. The witness samples were irradiate data high power levels at 1.315micrometers to evaluate laser damage thresholds and study absorption levels. Excellent agreement was obtained between temperature predictions and measured thermal response curves. When measured absorption values were not available, the code was used to predict coating absorption based on the measured temperature rise on the back surface. Using the finite element model, the damaging temperature rise can be predicted for a coating with known absorption based on run time, flux, and substrate material.

Long-range pulselength scaling of 351nm laser damage thresholds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foltyn, S. R.; Jolin, L. J.

1986-12-01

In a series of experiments incorporating 351nm pulselength of 9, 26, 54, and 625ns, it was found that laser damage thresholds increased as (pulselength)/sup x/, and that the exponent averaged 0.36 and ranged, for different samples, from 0.23 to 0.48. Similar results were obtained when only catastrophic damage was considered. Samples included Al2O3/SiO2 in both AR and HR multilayers, HR's of Sc2O3/SiO2 and HfO2/SiO2, and Al-on-pyrex mirror; 9ns thresholds were between 0.2 to 5.6 J/sq cm. When these data were compared with a wide range of other results - for wavelengths from 0.25 to 10.6 microns and pulselengths down to 4ps - a remarkably consistent picture emerged. Damage thresholds, on average, increase approximately as the cube-root of pulselength from picoseconds to nearly a microsecond, and do so regardless of wavelength or material under test.

Experimental research on femto-second laser damaging array CCD cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Junfeng; Guo, Jin; Wang, Ting-feng; Wang, Ming

2013-05-01

Charged Coupled Devices (CCD) are widely used in military and security applications, such as airborne and ship based surveillance, satellite reconnaissance and so on. Homeland security requires effective means to negate these advanced overseeing systems. Researches show that CCD based EO systems can be significantly dazzled or even damaged by high-repetition rate pulsed lasers. Here, we report femto - second laser interaction with CCD camera, which is probable of great importance in future. Femto - second laser is quite fresh new lasers, which has unique characteristics, such as extremely short pulse width (1 fs = 10-15 s), extremely high peak power (1 TW = 1012W), and especially its unique features when interacting with matters. Researches in femto second laser interaction with materials (metals, dielectrics) clearly indicate non-thermal effect dominates the process, which is of vast difference from that of long pulses interaction with matters. Firstly, the damage threshold test are performed with femto second laser acting on the CCD camera. An 800nm, 500μJ, 100fs laser pulse is used to irradiate interline CCD solid-state image sensor in the experiment. In order to focus laser energy onto tiny CCD active cells, an optical system of F/5.6 is used. A Sony production CCDs are chose as typical targets. The damage threshold is evaluated with multiple test data. Point damage, line damage and full array damage were observed when the irradiated pulse energy continuously increase during the experiment. The point damage threshold is found 151.2 mJ/cm2.The line damage threshold is found 508.2 mJ/cm2.The full-array damage threshold is found to be 5.91 J/cm2. Although the phenomenon is almost the same as that of nano laser interaction with CCD, these damage thresholds are substantially lower than that of data obtained from nano second laser interaction with CCD. Then at the same time, the electric features after different degrees of damage are tested with electronic multi meter. The resistance values between clock signal lines are measured. Contrasting the resistance values of the CCD before and after damage, it is found that the resistances decrease significantly between the vertical transfer clock signal lines values. The same results are found between the vertical transfer clock signal line and the earth electrode (ground).At last, the damage position and the damage mechanism were analyzed with above results and SEM morphological experiments. The point damage results in the laser destroying material, which shows no macro electro influence. The line damage is quite different from that of point damage, which shows deeper material corroding effect. More importantly, short circuits are found between vertical clock lines. The full array damage is even more severe than that of line damage starring with SEM, while no obvious different electrical features than that of line damage are found. Further researches are anticipated in femto second laser caused CCD damage mechanism with more advanced tools. This research is valuable in EO countermeasure and/or laser shielding applications.

Statistical analysis of the uncertainty related to flood hazard appraisal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Notaro, Vincenza; Freni, Gabriele

2015-12-01

The estimation of flood hazard frequency statistics for an urban catchment is of great interest in practice. It provides the evaluation of potential flood risk and related damage and supports decision making for flood risk management. Flood risk is usually defined as function of the probability, that a system deficiency can cause flooding (hazard), and the expected damage, due to the flooding magnitude (damage), taking into account both the exposure and the vulnerability of the goods at risk. The expected flood damage can be evaluated by an a priori estimation of potential damage caused by flooding or by interpolating real damage data. With regard to flood hazard appraisal several procedures propose to identify some hazard indicator (HI) such as flood depth or the combination of flood depth and velocity and to assess the flood hazard corresponding to the analyzed area comparing the HI variables with user-defined threshold values or curves (penalty curves or matrixes). However, flooding data are usually unavailable or piecemeal allowing for carrying out a reliable flood hazard analysis, therefore hazard analysis is often performed by means of mathematical simulations aimed at evaluating water levels and flow velocities over catchment surface. As results a great part of the uncertainties intrinsic to flood risk appraisal can be related to the hazard evaluation due to the uncertainty inherent to modeling results and to the subjectivity of the user defined hazard thresholds applied to link flood depth to a hazard level. In the present work, a statistical methodology was proposed for evaluating and reducing the uncertainties connected with hazard level estimation. The methodology has been applied to a real urban watershed as case study.

Laser pulse power transmission limits of silica fibers with antireflective coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meister, St.; Wosniok, A.; Seewald, G.; Scharfenorth, Ch.; Eichler, H. J.

2005-04-01

Multimode optical fibers are used for the transmission of high power laser pulses and as phase conjugated mirrors by stimulated Brillouin scattering. Both applications are enhanced by antireflection coatings on the fiber end-faces. Fiber transmissions reach more than 99.5% for pulse energies below the threshold of stimulated Brillouin scattering. Laser-induced damage thresholds of the fibers coated with Ta2O5 / SiO2 were measured at 1064 nm and 24 ns pulse duration. A damage threshold of up to 101 J/cm2 could be achieved. The damage morphology was investigated using atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

On the threshold conditions for electron beam damage of asbestos amosite fibers in the transmission electron microscope (TEM).

PubMed

Martin, Joannie; Beauparlant, Martin; Sauvé, Sébastien; L'Espérance, Gilles

2016-12-01

Asbestos amosite fibers were investigated to evaluate the damage caused by a transmission electron microscope (TEM) electron beam. Since elemental x-ray intensity ratios obtained by energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) are commonly used for asbestos identification, the impact of beam damage on these ratios was evaluated. It was determined that the magnesium/silicon ratio best represented the damage caused to the fiber. Various tests showed that most fibers have a current density threshold above which the chemical composition of the fiber is modified. The value of this threshold current density varied depending on the fiber, regardless of fiber diameter, and in some cases could not be determined. The existence of a threshold electron dose was also demonstrated. This value was dependent on the current density used and can be increased by providing a recovery period between exposures to the electron beam. This study also established that the electron beam current is directly related to the damage rate above a current density of 165 A/cm 2 . The large number of different results obtained suggest, that in order to ensure that the amosite fibers are not damaged, analysis should be conducted below a current density of 100 A/cm 2 .

Ocular damage effects from 1338-nm pulsed laser radiation in a rabbit eye model

PubMed Central

Jiao, Luguang; Wang, Jiarui; Jing, Xiaomin; Chen, Hongxia; Yang, Zaifu

2017-01-01

The ocular damage effects induced by transitional near-infrared (NIR) lasers have been investigated for years. However, no retinal damage thresholds are determined in a wide interval between 0.65 ms and 80 ms, and a definite relationship between corneal damage threshold and spot size cannot be drawn from existing data points. In this paper, the in-vivo corneal damage thresholds (ED50s) were determined in New Zealand white rabbits for a single 5 ms pulse at the wavelength of 1338 nm for spot sizes from 0.28 mm to 3.55 mm. Meanwhile, the retinal damage threshold for this laser was determined in chinchilla grey rabbits under the condition that the beam was collimated, and the incident corneal spot diameter was 5.0 mm. The corneal ED50s given in terms of the corneal radiant exposure for spot diameters of 0.28, 0.94, 1.91, and 3.55 mm were 70.3, 35.6, 29.6 and 30.3 J/cm2, respectively. The retinal ED50 given in terms of total intraocular energy (TIE) was 0.904 J. The most sensitive ocular tissue to this laser changed from the cornea to retina with the increase of spot size. PMID:28663903

Can Mass Trapping Reduce Thrips Damage and Is It Economically Viable? Management of the Western Flower Thrips in Strawberry

PubMed Central

Sampson, Clare; Kirk, William D. J.

2013-01-01

The western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a cosmopolitan, polyphagous insect pest that causes bronzing to fruit of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa). The main aim of this study was to test whether mass trapping could reduce damage and to predict whether this approach would be economically viable. In semi-protected strawberry crops, mass trapping of F. occidentalis using blue sticky roller traps reduced adult thrips numbers per flower by 61% and fruit bronzing by 55%. The addition of the F. occidentalis aggregation pheromone, neryl (S)-2-methylbutanoate, to the traps doubled the trap catch, reduced adult thrips numbers per flower by 73% and fruit bronzing by 68%. The factors affecting trapping efficiency through the season are discussed. Damage that would result in downgrading of fruit to a cheaper price occurred when bronzing affected about 10% of the red fruit surface. Cost-benefit analysis using this threshold showed that mass trapping of thrips using blue sticky roller traps can be cost-effective in high-value crops. The addition of blue sticky roller traps to an integrated pest management programme maintained thrips numbers below the damage threshold and increased grower returns by a conservative estimate of £2.2k per hectare. Further work is required to develop the F. occidentalis aggregation pheromone for mass trapping and to determine the best timing for trap deployment. Mass trapping of thrips is likely to be cost-effective in other countries and other high-value crops affected by F. occidentalis damage, such as cucumber and cut flowers. PMID:24282554

Fiber Optic Sensor Embedment Study for Multi-Parameter Strain Sensing

PubMed Central

Drissi-Habti, Monssef; Raman, Venkadesh; Khadour, Aghiad; Timorian, Safiullah

2017-01-01

The fiber optic sensors (FOSs) are commonly used for large-scale structure monitoring systems for their small size, noise free and low electrical risk characteristics. Embedded fiber optic sensors (FOSs) lead to micro-damage in composite structures. This damage generation threshold is based on the coating material of the FOSs and their diameter. In addition, embedded FOSs are aligned parallel to reinforcement fibers to avoid micro-damage creation. This linear positioning of distributed FOS fails to provide all strain parameters. We suggest novel sinusoidal sensor positioning to overcome this issue. This method tends to provide multi-parameter strains in a large surface area. The effectiveness of sinusoidal FOS positioning over linear FOS positioning is studied under both numerical and experimental methods. This study proves the advantages of the sinusoidal positioning method for FOS in composite material’s bonding. PMID:28333117

Study of modulation property to incident laser by surface micro-defects on KH2PO4 crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ming-Jun; Cheng, Jian; Li, Ming-Quan; Xiao, Yong

2012-06-01

KH2PO4 crystal is a crucial optical component of inertial confinement fusion. Modulation of an incident laser by surface micro-defects will induce the growth of surface damage, which largely restricts the enhancement of the laser induced damage threshold. The modulation of an incident laser by using different kinds of surface defects are simulated by employing the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. The results indicate that after the modulation of surface defects, the light intensity distribution inside the crystal is badly distorted, with the light intensity enhanced symmetrically. The relations between modulation properties and defect geometries (e.g., width, morphology, and depth of defects) are quite different for different defects. The modulation action is most obvious when the width of surface defects reaches 1.064 μm. For defects with smooth morphology, such as spherical pits, the degree of modulation is the smallest and the light intensity distribution seems relatively uniform. The degree of modulation increases rapidly with the increase of the depth of surface defects and becomes stable when the depth reaches a critical value. The critical depth is 1.064 μm for cuboid pits and radial cracks, while for ellipsoidal pits the value depends on both the width and the length of the defects.

On Possible Arc Inception on Low Voltage Solar Array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vayner, Boris

2015-01-01

Recent analysis of spacecraft failures during the period of 1990-2013 demonstrated clearly that electrostatic discharges caused more than 8 of all registered failures and anomalies, and comprised the most costly losses (25) for operating companies and agencies. The electrostatic discharges on spacecraft surfaces are the results of differential charging above some critical (threshold) voltages. The mechanisms of differential charging are well known, and various methods have been developed to prevent a generation of significant electric fields in areas of triple junctions. For example, low bus voltages in Low Earth Orbit plasma environment and slightly conducting layer over coverglass (ITO) in Geosynchronous Orbit surroundings are believed to be quite reliable measures to prevent discharges on respective surfaces. In most cases, the vulnerable elements of spacecraft (solar arrays, diode boards, etc.) go through comprehensive ground tests in vacuum chambers. However, tests articles contain the miniscule fragments of spacecraft components such as 10-30 solar cells of many thousands deployed on spacecraft in orbit. This is one reason why manufacturing defects may not be revealed in ground tests but expose themselves in arcing on array surface in space. The other reason for ineffectiveness of discharge preventive measures is aging of all materials in harsh orbital environments. The expected life time of modern spacecraft varies within the range of five-fifteen years, and thermal cycling, radiation damages, and mechanical stresses can result in surface erosion on conductive layers and microscopic cracks in coverglass sheets and adhesive films. These possible damages may cause significant increases in local electric field strengths and subsequent discharges. The primary discharges may or may not be detrimental to spacecraft operation, but they can produce the necessary conditions for sustained arcs initiation. Multiple measures were developed to prevent sustained discharges between adjacent strings, and many ground tests were performed to determine threshold parameters (voltage and current) for sustained arcs. And again, manufacturing defects and aging in space environments may result in considerable decrease of critical threshold parameters. This paper is devoted to the analysis of possible reasons behind arcing on spacecraft with low bus voltages.

On Possible Arc Inception on Low Voltage Solar Array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vayner, Boris

2015-01-01

Recent analysis of spacecraft failures during the period of 1990-2013 demonstrated clearly that electrostatic discharges caused more than 8 percent of all registered failures and anomalies, and comprised the most costly losses (25 percent) for operating companies and agencies. The electrostatic discharges on spacecraft surfaces are the results of differential charging above some critical (threshold) voltages. The mechanisms of differential charging are well known, and various methods have been developed to prevent a generation of significant electric fields in areas of triple junctions. For example, low bus voltages in Low Earth Orbit plasma environment and slightly conducting layer over cover-glass (ITO) in Geosynchronous Orbit surroundings are believed to be quite reliable measures to prevent discharges on respective surfaces. In most cases, the vulnerable elements of spacecraft (solar arrays, diode boards, etc.) go through comprehensive ground tests in vacuum chambers. However, tests articles contain the miniscule fragments of spacecraft components such as 10-30 solar cells of many thousands deployed on spacecraft in orbit. This is one reason why manufacturing defects may not be revealed in ground tests but expose themselves in arcing on array surface in space. The other reason for ineffectiveness of discharge preventive measures is aging of all materials in harsh orbital environments. The expected life time of modern spacecraft varies within the range of five-fifteen years, and thermal cycling, radiation damages, and mechanical stresses can result in surface erosion on conductive layers and microscopic cracks in cover-glass sheets and adhesive films. These possible damages may cause significant increases in local electric field strengths and subsequent discharges. The primary discharges may or may not be detrimental to spacecraft operation, but they can produce the necessary conditions for sustained arcs initiation. Multiple measures were developed to prevent sustained discharges between adjacent strings, and many ground tests were performed to determine threshold parameters (voltage and current) for sustained arcs. And again, manufacturing defects and aging in space environments may result in considerable decrease of critical threshold parameters. This paper is devoted to the analysis of possible reasons behind arcing on spacecraft with low bus voltages.

Understanding the Femtosecond Laser-Solid Interaction Near and Beyond the Material Damage Threshold

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-23

study of the fundamentals of femtosecond laser damage as a function of various parameters, laser wavelength, pulsewidth, pulse number, experimental ... experimental observation without any free parameters. The brand new FSD Lab constructed under the BRI grant in the Physics Research Building at the Ohio... studied across a range of band-gaps for s- and p-polarized light and it is found that conventional theoretical prediction on laser damage threshold

The effect of the impactor diameter and temperature on low velocity impact behavior of CFRP laminates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evci, C.; Uyandıran, I.

2017-02-01

Impact damage is one of the major concerns that should be taken into account with the new aircraft and spacecraft structures which employ ever-growing use of composite materials. Considering the thermal loads encountered at different altitudes, both low and high temperatures can affect the properties and impact behavior of composite materials. This study aims to investigate the effect of temperature and impactor diameter on the impact behavior and damage development in balanced and symmetrical CFRP laminates which were manufactured by employing vacuum bagging process with autoclave cure. Instrumented drop-weight impact testing system is used to perform the low velocity impact tests in a range of temperatures ranged from 60 down to -50 °C. Impact tests for each temperature level were conducted using three different hemispherical impactor diameters varying from 10 to 20 mm. Energy profile method is employed to determine the impact threshold energies for damage evolution. The level of impact damage is determined from the dent depth on the impacted face and delamination damage detected using ultrasonic C-Scan technique. Test results reveal that the threshold of penetration energy, main failure force and delamination area increase with impactor diameter at all temperature levels. No clear influence of temperature on the critical force thresholds could be derived. However, penetration threshold energy decreased as the temperature was lowered. Drop in the penetration threshold was more obvious with quite low temperatures. Delamination damage area increased while the temperature decreased from +60 °C to -50 °C.

Effect of initial contact surface condition on the friction and wear properties of bearing steel in cyclic reciprocating sliding contact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanaka, Y.; Endo, M.; Moriyama, S.

2017-05-01

Delamination failure is one of the most important engineering problems. This failure can frequently be detrimental to rolling contact machine elements such as bearings, gear wheels, etc. This phenomenon, called rolling contact fatigue, has a close relationship not only with opening-mode but also with shear-mode fatigue crack growth. The crack face interference is known to significantly affect the shear-mode fatigue crack propagation and its threshold behavior. Quantitative investigation on friction and wear at fatigue crack faces in the material is essentially impossible. Previously, thus, a novel ring-on-ring test by making use of fatigue testing machine was proposed to simulate a cyclic reciprocating sliding contact of crack surfaces. However, this test procedure had some problems. For instance, in order to achieve the uniform contact at the start of test, the rubbing of specimens must be conducted in advance. By this treatment, the specimen surfaces were already damaged before the test. In this study, an improvement of experimental method was made to perform the test using the damage-free specimens. The friction and wear properties for heat-treated high carbon-chromium bearing steel were investigated with this new method and the results were compared to the results obtained by using the initially damaged specimens.

Atomistic simulations of focused ion beam machining of strained silicon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guénolé, J.; Prakash, A.; Bitzek, E.

2017-09-01

The focused ion beam (FIB) technique has established itself as an indispensable tool in the material science community, both to analyze samples and to prepare specimens by FIB milling. In combination with digital image correlation (DIC), FIB milling can, furthermore, be used to evaluate intrinsic stresses by monitoring the strain release during milling. The irradiation damage introduced by such milling, however, results in a change in the stress/strain state and elastic properties of the material; changes in the strain state in turn affect the bonding strength, and are hence expected to implicitly influence irradiation damage formation and sputtering. To elucidate this complex interplay between strain, irradiation damage and sputtering, we perform TRIM calculations and molecular dynamics simulations on silicon irradiated by Ga+ ions, with slab and trench-like geometries, whilst simultaneously applying uniaxial tensile and compressive strains up to 4%. In addition we calculate the threshold displacement energy (TDE) and the surface binding energy (SBE) for various strain states. The sputter rate and amount of damage produced in the MD simulations show a clear influence of the strain state. The SBE shows no significant dependence on strain, but is strongly affected by surface reconstructions. The TDE shows a clear strain-dependence, which, however, cannot explain the influence of strain on the extent of the induced irradiation damage or the sputter rate.

Laser Induced Damage of Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate (KDP) Optical Crystal Machined by Water Dissolution Ultra-Precision Polishing Method

PubMed Central

Gao, Hang; Wang, Xu; Guo, Dongming; Liu, Ziyuan

2018-01-01

Laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) is an important optical indicator for nonlinear Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate (KDP) crystal used in high power laser systems. In this study, KDP optical crystals are initially machined with single point diamond turning (SPDT), followed by water dissolution ultra-precision polishing (WDUP) and then tested with 355 nm nanosecond pulsed-lasers. Power spectral density (PSD) analysis shows that WDUP process eliminates the laser-detrimental spatial frequencies band of micro-waviness on SPDT machined surface and consequently decreases its modulation effect on the laser beams. The laser test results show that LIDT of WDUP machined crystal improves and its stability has a significant increase by 72.1% compared with that of SPDT. Moreover, a subsequent ultrasonic assisted solvent cleaning process is suggested to have a positive effect on the laser performance of machined KDP crystal. Damage crater investigation indicates that the damage morphologies exhibit highly thermal explosion features of melted cores and brittle fractures of periphery material, which can be described with the classic thermal explosion model. The comparison result demonstrates that damage mechanisms for SPDT and WDUP machined crystal are the same and WDUP process reveals the real bulk laser resistance of KDP optical crystal by removing the micro-waviness and subsurface damage on SPDT machined surface. This improvement of WDUP method makes the LIDT more accurate and will be beneficial to the laser performance of KDP crystal. PMID:29534032

Correlated topographic and structural modification on Si surface during multi-shot femtosecond laser exposures: Si nanopolymorphs as potential local structural nanomarkers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ionin, A. A.; Kudryashov, S. I.; Levchenko, A. O.; Nguyen, L. V.; Saraeva, I. N.; Rudenko, A. A.; Ageev, E. I.; Potorochin, D. V.; Veiko, V. P.; Borisov, E. V.; Pankin, D. V.; Kirilenko, D. A.; Brunkov, P. N.

2017-09-01

High-pressure Si-XII and Si-III nanocrystalline polymorphs, as well as amorphous Si phase, appear consequently during multi-shot femtosecond-laser exposure of crystalline Si wafer surface above its spallation threshold along with permanently developing quasi-regular surface texture (ripples, microcones), residual hydrostatic stresses and subsurface damage, which are characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, as well as by Raman micro-spectroscopy. The consequent yields of these structural Si phases indicate not only their spatially different appearance, but also potentially enable to track nanoscale, transient laser-induced high-pressure, high-temperature physical processes - local variation of ablation mechanism and rate, pressurization/pressure release, melting/resolidification, amorphization, annealing - versus cumulative laser exposure and the related development of the surface topography.

An in vitro Corneal Model with a Laser Damage Threshold at 2 Micrometers That is Similar to That in the Rabbit

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-11-01

Proceedings 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) June 2007- November 2007 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE An In Vitro Corneal Model with a Laser Damage Threshold at 2...2-µm wavelength output of a thulium fiber laser with 4 mm beam diameter for 0.25 seconds in a thermally controlled environment and then assayed for...data in the literature. 15. SUBJECT TERMS corneal organotypic culture, laser , threshold, thermography, Probit 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF

Laser-Induced Damage Threshold and Certification Procedures for Optical Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This document provides instructions for performing laser-induced-damage-threshold tests and pass-fail certification tests on optical materials used in pulsed-laser systems. The optical materials to which these procedures apply include coated and uncoated optical substrates, laser crystals, Q-switches, polarizers, and other optical components employed in pulsed-laser systems.

Laser-induced retinal damage thresholds for annular retinal beam profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kennedy, Paul K.; Zuclich, Joseph A.; Lund, David J.; Edsall, Peter R.; Till, Stephen; Stuck, Bruce E.; Hollins, Richard C.

2004-07-01

The dependence of retinal damage thresholds on laser spot size, for annular retinal beam profiles, was measured in vivo for 3 μs, 590 nm pulses from a flashlamp-pumped dye laser. Minimum Visible Lesion (MVL)ED50 thresholds in rhesus were measured for annular retinal beam profiles covering 5, 10, and 20 mrad of visual field; which correspond to outer beam diameters of roughly 70, 160, and 300 μm, respectively, on the primate retina. Annular beam profiles at the retinal plane were achieved using a telescopic imaging system, with the focal properties of the eye represented as an equivalent thin lens, and all annular beam profiles had a 37% central obscuration. As a check on experimental data, theoretical MVL-ED50 thresholds for annular beam exposures were calculated using the Thompson-Gerstman granular model of laser-induced thermal damage to the retina. Threshold calculations were performed for the three experimental beam diameters and for an intermediate case with an outer beam diameter of 230 μm. Results indicate that the threshold vs. spot size trends, for annular beams, are similar to the trends for top hat beams determined in a previous study; i.e., the threshold dose varies with the retinal image area for larger image sizes. The model correctly predicts the threshold vs. spot size trends seen in the biological data, for both annular and top hat retinal beam profiles.

Contamination and UV lasers: lessons learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daly, John G.

2015-09-01

Laser induced damage to optical elements has been a subject of significant research, development, and improvement, since the first lasers were built over the last 50 years. Better materials, with less absorption, impurities, and defects are available, as well as surface coatings with higher laser damage resistance. However, the presence of contamination (particles, surface deposition films, or airborne) can reduce the threshold for damage by several orders of magnitude. A brief review of the anticipated laser energy levels for damage free operation is presented as a lead into the problems associated with contamination for ultraviolet (UV) laser systems. As UV lasers become more common in applications especially in areas such as lithography, these problems have limited reliability and added to costs. This has been characterized as Airborne Molecular Contamination (AMC) in many published reports. Normal engineering guidelines such as screening materials within the optical compartment for low outgassing levels is the first step. The use of the NASA outgassing database (or similar test methods) with low Total Mass Loss (TML) and Condensed Collected Volatiles Collected Mass (CVCM) is a good baseline. Energetic UV photons are capable of chemical bond scission and interaction with surface contaminant or airborne materials results in deposition of obscuring film laser footprints that continue to degrade laser system performance. Laser systems with average powers less than 5 mW have been shown to exhibit aggressive degradation. Lessons learned over the past 15 years with UV laser contamination and steps to reduce risk will be presented.

MEMS-based flexible reflective analog modulators (FRAM) for projection displays: a technology review and scale-down study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Picard, Francis; Ilias, Samir; Asselin, Daniel; Boucher, Marc-André; Duchesne, François; Jacob, Michel; Larouche, Carl; Vachon, Carl; Niall, Keith K.; Jerominek, Hubert

2011-02-01

A MEMS based technology for projection display is reviewed. This technology relies on mechanically flexible and reflective microbridges made of aluminum alloy. A linear array of such micromirrors is combined with illumination and Schlieren optics to produce a pixels line. Each microbridge in the array is individually controlled using electrostatic actuation to adjust the pixels intensities. Results of the simulation, fabrication and characterization of these microdevices are presented. Activation voltages below 250 V with response times below 10 μs were obtained for 25 μm × 25 μm micromirrors. With appropriate actuation voltage waveforms, response times of 5 μs and less are achievable. A damage threshold of the mirrors above 8 kW/cm2 has been evaluated. Development of the technology has produced projector engines demonstrating this light modulation principle. The most recent of these engines is DVI compatible and displays VGA video streams at 60 Hz. Recently applications have emerged that impose more stringent requirements on the dimensions of the MEMS array and associated optical system. This triggered a scale down study to evaluate the minimum micromirror size achievable, the impact of this reduced size on the damage threshold and the achievable minimum size of the associated optical system. Preliminary results of this scale down study are reported. FRAM with active surface as small as 5 μm × 5 μm have been investigated. Simulations have shown that such micromirrors could be activated with 107 V to achieve f-number of 1.25. The damage threshold has been estimated for various FRAM sizes. Finally, design of a conceptual miniaturized projector based on 1000×1 array of 5 μm × 5 μm micromirrors is presented. The volume of this projector concept is about 12 cm3.

Accelerated Near-Threshold Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior of an Aluminum Powder Metallurgy Alloy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Piascik, Robert S.; Newman, John A.

2002-01-01

Fatigue crack growth (FCG) research conducted in the near threshold regime has identified a room temperature creep crack growth damage mechanism for a fine grain powder metallurgy (PM) aluminum alloy (8009). At very low DK, an abrupt acceleration in room temperature FCG rate occurs at high stress ratio (R = Kmin/Kmax). The near threshold accelerated FCG rates are exacerbated by increased levels of Kmax (Kmax less than 0.4 KIC). Detailed fractographic analysis correlates accelerated FCG with the formation of crack-tip process zone micro-void damage. Experimental results show that the near threshold and Kmax influenced accelerated crack growth is time and temperature dependent.

Laser injury and in vivo multimodal imaging using a mouse model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pocock, Ginger M.; Boretsky, Adam; Gupta, Praveena; Oliver, Jeff W.; Motamedi, Massoud

2011-03-01

Balb/c wild type mice were used to perform in vivo experiments of laser-induced thermal damage to the retina. A Heidelberg Spectralis HRA confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope with a spectral domain optical coherence tomographer was used to obtain fundus and cross-sectional images of laser induced injury in the retina. Sub-threshold, threshold, and supra-threshold lesions were observed using optical coherence tomography (OCT), infrared reflectance, red-free reflectance, fluorescence angiography, and autofluorescence imaging modalities at different time points post-exposure. Lesions observed using all imaging modalities, except autofluorescence, were not visible immediately after exposure but did resolve within an hour and grew in size over a 24 hour period. There was a decrease in fundus autofluorescence at exposure sites immediately following exposure that developed into hyper-fluorescence 24-48 hours later. OCT images revealed threshold damage that was localized to the RPE but extended into the neural retina over a 24 hour period. Volumetric representations of the mouse retina were created to visualize the extent of damage within the retina over a 24 hour period. Multimodal imaging provides complementary information regarding damage mechanisms that may be used to quantify the extent of the damage as well as the effectiveness of treatments without need for histology.

Forecasting Corrosion of Steel in Concrete Introducing Chloride Threshold Dependence on Steel Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanchez, Andrea Nathalie

Corrosion initiates in reinforced concrete structures exposed to marine environments when the chloride ion concentration at the surface of an embedded steel reinforcing bar exceeds the chloride corrosion threshold (CT) value. The value of CT is generally assumed to have a conservative fixed value ranging from 0.2% to - 0.5 % of chloride ions by weight of cement. However, extensive experimental investigations confirmed that C T is not a fixed value and that the value of CT depends on many variables. Among those, the potential of passive steel embedded in concrete is a key influential factor on the value of CT and has received little attention in the literature. The phenomenon of a potential-dependent threshold (PDT) permits accounting for corrosion macrocell coupling between active and passive steel assembly components in corrosion forecast models, avoiding overly conservative long-term damage projections and leading to more efficient design. The objectives of this investigation was to 1) expand by a systematic experimental assessment the knowledge and data base on how dependent the chloride threshold is on the potential of the steel embedded in concrete and 2) introduce the chloride threshold dependence on steel potential as an integral part of corrosion-related service life prediction of reinforced concrete structures. Experimental assessments on PDT were found in the literature but for a limited set of conditions. Therefore, experiments were conducted with mortar and concrete specimens and exposed to conditions more representative of the field than those previously available. The experimental results confirmed the presence of the PDT effect and provided supporting information to use a value of -550 mV per decade of Cl- for the cathodic prevention slope betaCT, a critical quantitative input for implementation in a practical model. A refinement of a previous corrosion initiation-propagation model that incorporated PDT in a partially submerged reinforced concrete column in sea water was developed. Corrosion was assumed to start when the chloride corrosion threshold was reached in an active steel zone of a given size, followed by recalculating the potential distribution and update threshold values over the entire system at each time step. Notably, results of this work indicated that when PDT is ignored, as is the case in present forecasting model practice, the corrosion damage prediction can be overly conservative which could lead to structural overdesign or misguided future damage management planning. Implementation of PDT in next-generation models is therefore highly desirable. However, developing a mathematical model that forecasts the corrosion damage of an entire marine structure with a fully implemented PDT module can result in excessive computational complexity. Hence, a provisional simplified approach for incorporating the effect of PDT was developed. The approach uses a correction function to be applied to projections that have been computed using the traditional procedures.

Gear Damage Detection Using Oil Debris Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dempsey, Paula J.

2001-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to verify, when using an oil debris sensor, that accumulated mass predicts gear pitting damage and to identify a method to set threshold limits for damaged gears. Oil debris data was collected from 8 experiments with no damage and 8 with pitting damage in the NASA Glenn Spur Gear Fatigue Rig. Oil debris feature analysis was performed on this data. Video images of damage progression were also collected from 6 of the experiments with pitting damage. During each test, data from an oil debris sensor was monitored and recorded for the occurrence of pitting damage. The data measured from the oil debris sensor during experiments with damage and with no damage was used to identify membership functions to build a simple fuzzy logic model. Using fuzzy logic techniques and the oil debris data, threshold limits were defined that discriminate between stages of pitting wear. Results indicate accumulated mass combined with fuzzy logic analysis techniques is a good predictor of pitting damage on spur gears.

Multi-scale landscape factors influencing stream water quality in the state of Oregon.

PubMed

Nash, Maliha S; Heggem, Daniel T; Ebert, Donald; Wade, Timothy G; Hall, Robert K

2009-09-01

Enterococci bacteria are used to indicate the presence of human and/or animal fecal materials in surface water. In addition to human influences on the quality of surface water, a cattle grazing is a widespread and persistent ecological stressor in the Western United States. Cattle may affect surface water quality directly by depositing nutrients and bacteria, and indirectly by damaging stream banks or removing vegetation cover, which may lead to increased sediment loads. This study used the State of Oregon surface water data to determine the likelihood of animal pathogen presence using enterococci and analyzed the spatial distribution and relationship of biotic (enterococci) and abiotic (nitrogen and phosphorous) surface water constituents to landscape metrics and others (e.g. human use, percent riparian cover, natural covers, grazing, etc.). We used a grazing potential index (GPI) based on proximity to water, land ownership and forage availability. Mean and variability of GPI, forage availability, stream density and length, and landscape metrics were related to enterococci and many forms of nitrogen and phosphorous in standard and logistic regression models. The GPI did not have a significant role in the models, but forage related variables had significant contribution. Urban land use within stream reach was the main driving factor when exceeding the threshold (> or =35 cfu/100 ml), agriculture was the driving force in elevating enterococci in sites where enterococci concentration was <35 cfu/100 ml. Landscape metrics related to amount of agriculture, wetlands and urban all contributed to increasing nutrients in surface water but at different scales. The probability of having sites with concentrations of enterococci above the threshold was much lower in areas of natural land cover and much higher in areas with higher urban land use within 60 m of stream. A 1% increase in natural land cover was associated with a 12% decrease in the predicted odds of having a site exceeding the threshold. Opposite to natural land cover, a one unit change in each of manmade barren and urban land use led to an increase of the likelihood of exceeding the threshold by 73%, and 11%, respectively. Change in urban land use had a higher influence on the likelihood of a site exceeding the threshold than that of natural land cover.

Digital Image Sensor-Based Assessment of the Status of Oat (Avena sativa L.) Crops after Frost Damage

PubMed Central

Macedo-Cruz, Antonia; Pajares, Gonzalo; Santos, Matilde; Villegas-Romero, Isidro

2011-01-01

The aim of this paper is to classify the land covered with oat crops, and the quantification of frost damage on oats, while plants are still in the flowering stage. The images are taken by a digital colour camera CCD-based sensor. Unsupervised classification methods are applied because the plants present different spectral signatures, depending on two main factors: illumination and the affected state. The colour space used in this application is CIELab, based on the decomposition of the colour in three channels, because it is the closest to human colour perception. The histogram of each channel is successively split into regions by thresholding. The best threshold to be applied is automatically obtained as a combination of three thresholding strategies: (a) Otsu’s method, (b) Isodata algorithm, and (c) Fuzzy thresholding. The fusion of these automatic thresholding techniques and the design of the classification strategy are some of the main findings of the paper, which allows an estimation of the damages and a prediction of the oat production. PMID:22163940

Observed physical processes in mechanical tests of PBX9501 and recomendations for experiments to explore a possible plasticity/damage threshold

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Buechler, Miles A.

2012-05-02

This memo discusses observations that have been made in regards to a series of monotonic and cyclic uniaxial experiments performed on PBX9501 by Darla Thompson under Enhanced Surveilance Campaign support. These observations discussed in Section Cyclic compression observations strongly suggest the presence of viscoelastic, plastic, and damage phenomena in the mechanical response of the material. In Secton Uniaxial data analysis and observations methods are discussed for separating out the viscoelastic effects. A crude application of those methods suggests the possibility of a critical stress below which plasticity and damage may be negligible. The threshold should be explored because if itmore » exists it will be an important feature of any constitutive model. Additionally, if the threshold exists then modifications of experimental methods may be feasible which could potentially simplify future experiments or provide higher quality data from those experiments. A set of experiments to explore the threshold stress are proposed in Section Exploratory tests program for identifying threshold stress.« less

Digital image sensor-based assessment of the status of oat (Avena sativa L.) crops after frost damage.

PubMed

Macedo-Cruz, Antonia; Pajares, Gonzalo; Santos, Matilde; Villegas-Romero, Isidro

2011-01-01

The aim of this paper is to classify the land covered with oat crops, and the quantification of frost damage on oats, while plants are still in the flowering stage. The images are taken by a digital colour camera CCD-based sensor. Unsupervised classification methods are applied because the plants present different spectral signatures, depending on two main factors: illumination and the affected state. The colour space used in this application is CIELab, based on the decomposition of the colour in three channels, because it is the closest to human colour perception. The histogram of each channel is successively split into regions by thresholding. The best threshold to be applied is automatically obtained as a combination of three thresholding strategies: (a) Otsu's method, (b) Isodata algorithm, and (c) Fuzzy thresholding. The fusion of these automatic thresholding techniques and the design of the classification strategy are some of the main findings of the paper, which allows an estimation of the damages and a prediction of the oat production.

Quasi-Static 3-Point Reinforced Carbon-Carbon Bend Test and Analysis for Shuttle Orbiter Wing Leading Edge Impact Damage Thresholds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fasanella, Edwin L.; Sotiris, Kellas

2006-01-01

Static 3-point bend tests of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC) were conducted to failure to provide data for additional validation of an LS-DYNA RCC model suitable for predicting the threshold of impact damage to shuttle orbiter wing leading edges. LS-DYNA predictions correlated well with the average RCC failure load, and were good in matching the load vs. deflection. However, correlating the detectable damage using NDE methods with the cumulative damage parameter in LS-DYNA material model 58 was not readily achievable. The difficulty of finding internal RCC damage with NDE and the high sensitivity of the mat58 damage parameter to the load near failure made the task very challenging. In addition, damage mechanisms for RCC due to dynamic impact of debris such as foam and ice and damage mechanisms due to a static loading were, as expected, not equivalent.

Differential responses to acoustic damage and furosemide in auditory brainstem and otoacoustic emission measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mills, David M.

2003-02-01

Characteristics of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) and auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were measured in Mongolian gerbil before and after the introduction of two different auditory dysfunctions: (1) acoustic damage with a high-intensity tone, or (2) furosemide intoxication. The goal was to find emission parameters and measures that best differentiated between the two dysfunctions, e.g., at a given ABR threshold elevation. Emission input-output or ``growth'' functions were used (frequencies f1 and f2, f2/f1=1.21) with equal levels, L1=L2, and unequal levels, with L1=L2+20 dB. The best parametric choice was found to be unequal stimulus levels, and the best measure was found to be the change in the emission threshold level, Δx. The emission threshold was defined as the stimulus level required to reach a criterion emission amplitude, in this case -10 dB SPL. (The next best measure was the change in emission amplitude at high stimulus levels, specifically that measured at L1×L2=90×70 dB SPL.) For an ABR threshold shift of 20 dB or more, there was essentially no overlap in the emission threshold measures for the two conditions, sound damage or furosemide. The dividing line between the two distributions increased slowly with the change in ABR threshold, ΔABR, and was given by Δxt=0.6 ΔABR+8 dB. For a given ΔABR, if the shift in emission threshold was more than the calculated dividing line value, Δxt, the auditory dysfunction was due to acoustic damage, if less, it was due to furosemide.

Study on Brewster angle thin film polarizer using hafnia-silica mixture as high-refractive-index material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Nuo; Zhu, Meiping; Sun, Jian; Chai, Yingjie; Kui, Yi; Zhao, Yuanan; Shao, Jianda

2018-02-01

Two kinds of polarizer coatings were prepared by electron beam evaporation, using HfO2-SiO2 mixture and HfO2 as the high-refractive-index materials, respectively. The HfO2-SiO2 mixture layer was implemented by coevaporating SiO2 and metal Hf, the materials were deposited at an oxygen atmosphere to achieve stoichiometric coatings. The certain HfO2 and SiO2 content ratio is controlled by adjusting the deposition rate of HfO2 and SiO2 using individual quartz crystal monitor. The spectral performance, surface and interfacial properties, as well as the laser-induced damage performance were studied and compared. Comparing with polarizer coating using HfO2 as high-refractive-index material, the polarizer coating using HfO2-SiO2 mixture as high-refractive-index material shows better performance with broader polarizing bandwidth, lower surface roughness, better interfacial property while maintaining high laser-induced damage threshold.

Accelerated Threshold Fatigue Crack Growth Effect-Powder Metallurgy Aluminum Alloy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Piascik, R. S.; Newman, J. A.

2002-01-01

Fatigue crack growth (FCG) research conducted in the near threshold regime has identified a room temperature creep crack growth damage mechanism for a fine grain powder metallurgy (PM) aluminum alloy (8009). At very low (Delta) K, an abrupt acceleration in room temperature FCG rate occurs at high stress ratio (R = K(sub min)/K(sub max)). The near threshold accelerated FCG rates are exacerbated by increased levels of K(sub max) (K(sub max) = 0.4 K(sub IC)). Detailed fractographic analysis correlates accelerated FCG with the formation of crack-tip process zone micro-void damage. Experimental results show that the near threshold and K(sub max) influenced accelerated crack growth is time and temperature dependent.

Laser cleaning of the contaminations on the surface of tire mould

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Yayun; Jia, Baoshen; Chen, Jing; Jiang, Yilan; Tang, Hongping; Wang, Haijun; Luan, Xiaoyu; Liao, Wei; Zhang, Chuanchao; Yao, Caizhen

2017-07-01

During the manufacturing of tires, surface pollutants on tire mould will lead to the production of unqualified tires. Tire moulds need to be regularly cleaned. Laser cleaning is recognized as a non-destructive, effective, precise and environmental friendly method. In this paper, laser cleaning was used to remove contaminants on tire mould surface. First, laser induced damage experiments were performed. The results showed that the roughness and hardness of the cast steel sample surface seldom changed under the energy range of 140.1-580.2 mJ laser irradiation 1 pulse and the energy range of 44.7-168.9 mJ laser irradiation 100 pulses. In the laser cleaning experiments, the cleaning thresholds and the optimal cleaning parameters were obtained. Results indicated that laser cleaning was safe and effective for tire mould contamination removal.

Damage threshold of coating materials on x-ray mirror for x-ray free electron laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koyama, Takahisa, E-mail: koyama@spring8.or.jp; Yumoto, Hirokatsu; Tono, Kensuke

2016-05-15

We evaluated the damage threshold of coating materials such as Mo, Ru, Rh, W, and Pt on Si substrates, and that of uncoated Si substrate, for mirror optics of X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs). Focused 1 μm (full width at half maximum) XFEL pulses with the energies of 5.5 and 10 keV, generated by the SPring-8 angstrom compact free electron laser (SACLA), were irradiated under the grazing incidence condition. The damage thresholds were evaluated by in situ measurements of X-ray reflectivity degradation during irradiation by multiple pulses. The measured damage fluences below the critical angles were sufficiently high compared withmore » the unfocused SACLA beam fluence. Rh coating was adopted for two mirror systems of SACLA. One system was a beamline transport mirror system that was partially coated with Rh for optional utilization of a pink beam in the photon energy range of more than 20 keV. The other was an improved version of the 1 μm focusing mirror system, and no damage was observed after one year of operation.« less

78 FR 77601 - Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents for Calendar...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-24

..., Notice No. 6] RIN 2130-ZA12 Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents... threshold from $9,900 to $10,500 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that... reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last published in November of...

Examination of femtosecond laser matter interaction in multipulse regime for surface nanopatterning of vitreous substrates.

PubMed

Varkentina, Nadezda; Cardinal, Thierry; Moroté, Fabien; Mounaix, Patrick; André, Pascal; Deshayes, Yannick; Canioni, Lionel

2013-12-02

The paper presents our results on laser micro- and nanostructuring of sodium aluminosilicate glass for the permanent storage purposes and photonics applications. Surface structuring is realized by fs laser irradiation followed by the subsequent etching in a potassium hydroxide (10M@80 °C) for 1 to 10 minutes. As the energy deposited is lower than the damage and/or ablation threshold, the chemical etching permits to produce small craters in the laser modified region. The laser parameters dependent interaction regimes are revealed by microscopic analysis (SEM and AFM). The influence of etching time on craters formation is investigated under different incident energies, number of pulses and polarization states.

Bed Net Durability Assessments: Exploring a Composite Measure of Net Damage

PubMed Central

Vanden Eng, Jodi L.; Chan, Adeline; Abílio, Ana Paula; Wolkon, Adam; Ponce de Leon, Gabriel; Gimnig, John; Morgan, Juliette

2015-01-01

Background The durability of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) in field conditions is of great importance for malaria prevention and control efforts; however, the physical integrity of the net fabric is not well understood making it challenging to determine overall effectiveness of nets as they age. The 2011 World Health Organization Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) guidelines provide a simple, standardized method using a proportional hole index (PHI) for assessing net damage with the intent to provide national malaria control programs with guidelines to assess the useful life of LLINS and estimate the rate of replacement. Methods We evaluated the utility of the PHI measure using 409 LLINs collected over three years in Nampula Province, Mozambique following a mass distribution campaign in 2008. For each LLIN the diameter and distance from the bottom of the net were recorded for every hole. Holes were classified into four size categories and a PHI was calculated following WHOPES guidelines. We investigate how the size, shape, and location of holes influence the PHI. The areas of the WHOPES defined categories were compared to circular and elliptical areas based on approximate shape and actual measured axes of each hole and the PHI was compared to cumulative damaged surface area of the LLIN. Results The damaged area of small, medium, large, and extra-large holes was overestimated using the WHOPES categories compared to elliptical areas using the actual measured axes. Similar results were found when comparing to circular areas except for extra-large holes which were underestimated. (Wilcoxon signed rank test of differences p< 0.0001 for all sizes). Approximating holes as circular overestimated hole surface area by 1.5 to 2 times or more. There was a significant difference in the mean number of holes < 0.5 cm by brand and there were more holes of all sizes on the bottom of nets than the top. For a range of hypothetical PHI thresholds used to designate a “failed LLIN”, roughly 75 to 80% of failed LLINs were detected by considering large and extra-large holes alone, but sensitivity varied by brand. Conclusions Future studies may refine the PHI to better approximate overall damaged surface area. Furthermore, research is needed to identify whether or not appropriate PHI thresholds can be used to deem a net no longer protective. Once a cutoff is selected, simpler methods of determining the effective lifespan of LLINs can help guide replacement strategies for malaria control programs. PMID:26047494

Bed Net Durability Assessments: Exploring a Composite Measure of Net Damage.

PubMed

Vanden Eng, Jodi L; Chan, Adeline; Abílio, Ana Paula; Wolkon, Adam; Ponce de Leon, Gabriel; Gimnig, John; Morgan, Juliette

2015-01-01

The durability of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) in field conditions is of great importance for malaria prevention and control efforts; however, the physical integrity of the net fabric is not well understood making it challenging to determine overall effectiveness of nets as they age. The 2011 World Health Organization Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) guidelines provide a simple, standardized method using a proportional hole index (PHI) for assessing net damage with the intent to provide national malaria control programs with guidelines to assess the useful life of LLINS and estimate the rate of replacement. We evaluated the utility of the PHI measure using 409 LLINs collected over three years in Nampula Province, Mozambique following a mass distribution campaign in 2008. For each LLIN the diameter and distance from the bottom of the net were recorded for every hole. Holes were classified into four size categories and a PHI was calculated following WHOPES guidelines. We investigate how the size, shape, and location of holes influence the PHI. The areas of the WHOPES defined categories were compared to circular and elliptical areas based on approximate shape and actual measured axes of each hole and the PHI was compared to cumulative damaged surface area of the LLIN. The damaged area of small, medium, large, and extra-large holes was overestimated using the WHOPES categories compared to elliptical areas using the actual measured axes. Similar results were found when comparing to circular areas except for extra-large holes which were underestimated. (Wilcoxon signed rank test of differences p< 0.0001 for all sizes). Approximating holes as circular overestimated hole surface area by 1.5 to 2 times or more. There was a significant difference in the mean number of holes < 0.5 cm by brand and there were more holes of all sizes on the bottom of nets than the top. For a range of hypothetical PHI thresholds used to designate a "failed LLIN", roughly 75 to 80% of failed LLINs were detected by considering large and extra-large holes alone, but sensitivity varied by brand. Future studies may refine the PHI to better approximate overall damaged surface area. Furthermore, research is needed to identify whether or not appropriate PHI thresholds can be used to deem a net no longer protective. Once a cutoff is selected, simpler methods of determining the effective lifespan of LLINs can help guide replacement strategies for malaria control programs.

Coseismic Damage Generation in Fault Zones by Successive High Strain Rate Loading Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aben, F. M.; Doan, M. L.; Renard, F.; Toussaint, R.; Reuschlé, T.; Gratier, J. P.

2014-12-01

Damage zones of active faults control both resistance to rupture and transport properties of the fault. Hence, knowing the rock damage's origin is important to constrain its properties. Here we study experimentally the damage generated by a succession of dynamic loadings, a process mimicking the stress history of a rock sample located next to an active fault. A propagating rupture generates high frequency stress perturbations next to its tip. This dynamic loading creates pervasive damage (pulverization), as multiple fractures initiate and grow simultaneously. Previous single loading experiments have shown a strain rate threshold for pulverization. Here, we focus on conditions below this threshold and the dynamic peak stress to constrain: 1) if there is dynamic fracturing at these conditions and 2) if successive loadings (cumulative seismic events) result in pervasive fracturing, effectively reducing the pulverization threshold to milder conditions. Monzonite samples were dynamically loaded (strain rate > 50 s-1) several times below the dynamic peak strength, using a Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar apparatus. Several quasi-static experiments were conducted as well (strain rate < 10-5-s). Samples loaded up to stresses above the quasi-static uniaxial compressive strength (qsUCS) systematically fragmented or pulverized after four successive loadings. We measured several damage proxies (P-wave velocity, porosity), that show a systematic increase in damage with each load. In addition, micro-computed tomography acquisition on several damage samples revealed the growth of a pervasive fracture network between ensuing loadings. Samples loaded dynamically below the qsUCS failed along one fracture after a variable amount of loadings and damage proxies do not show any a systematic trend. Our conclusions is that milder dynamic loading conditions, below the dynamic peak strength, result in pervasive dynamic fracturing. Also, successive loadings effectively lower the pulverization threshold of the rock. However, the peak loading stress must exceed the qsUCS of the rock, otherwise quasi-static fracturing occurs. Pulverized rocks found in the field are therefore witnesses of previous large earthquakes.

Dynamic permeability in fault damage zones induced by repeated coseismic fracturing events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aben, F. M.; Doan, M. L.; Mitchell, T. M.

2017-12-01

Off-fault fracture damage in upper crustal fault zones change the fault zone properties and affect various co- and interseismic processes. One of these properties is the permeability of the fault damage zone rocks, which is generally higher than the surrounding host rock. This allows large-scale fluid flow through the fault zone that affects fault healing and promotes mineral transformation processes. Moreover, it might play an important role in thermal fluid pressurization during an earthquake rupture. The damage zone permeability is dynamic due to coseismic damaging. It is crucial for earthquake mechanics and for longer-term processes to understand how the dynamic permeability structure of a fault looks like and how it evolves with repeated earthquakes. To better detail coseismically induced permeability, we have performed uniaxial split Hopkinson pressure bar experiments on quartz-monzonite rock samples. Two sample sets were created and analyzed: single-loaded samples subjected to varying loading intensities - with damage varying from apparently intact to pulverized - and samples loaded at a constant intensity but with a varying number of repeated loadings. The first set resembles a dynamic permeability structure created by a single large earthquake. The second set resembles a permeability structure created by several earthquakes. After, the permeability and acoustic velocities were measured as a function of confining pressure. The permeability in both datasets shows a large and non-linear increase over several orders of magnitude (from 10-20 up to 10-14 m2) with an increasing amount of fracture damage. This, combined with microstructural analyses of the varying degrees of damage, suggests a percolation threshold. The percolation threshold does not coincide with the pulverization threshold. With increasing confining pressure, the permeability might drop up to two orders of magnitude, which supports the possibility of large coseismic fluid pulses over relatively large distances along a fault. Also, a relatively small threshold could potentially increase permeability in a large volume of rock, given that previous earthquakes already damaged these rocks.

Laser-induced bulk damage of silica glass at 355nm and 266nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kashiwagi, R.; Aramomi, S.

2016-12-01

Laser processing machines using Nd:YAG 3rd harmonic wave (355 nm) and 4th harmonic wave (266 nm) have been developed and put into practical use lately. Due to this, optical elements with high laser durability to 355 nm and 266 nm are required. Silica glass is the optical element which has high UV transmission and high laser durability. Laser-induced surface damage of the silica glass has been studied in detail, but we hardly have the significant knowledge of laserinduced bulk damage. This knowledge is required in order to evaluate the silica glass itself. That is because cracks and scratches on the surface give rise to a higher possibility of damage. Therefore, we studied the laser durability of a variety of the silica glass samples by 1-on-1 and S-on-1 laser-induced bulk damage threshold (LIDT) at 355 nm and 266 nm. In this study, we gained knowledge in three areas about bulk damage to the silica glass. First, the LIDT became lower as shot counts increased. Second, the LIDT decreased as the hydroxyl content in the silica glass increased. Last, the LIDT became higher as the hydrogen concentration in the silica glass increased. Under the UV irradiation, impurities are generated and the silica glass absorbs more light. Therefore, the LIDT decreased as shot counts increased. Also, the hydroxyl in particular generates more impurities, so damage easily occurs. On the other hand, the hydrogen reacts with impurities and absorption is suppressed. Based on these results, we can improve laser durability at 355 nm and 266 nm by reducing the hydroxyl content and increasing the hydrogen concentration in the silica glass.

Laser-induced damage of coatings on Yb:YAG crystals at cryogenic condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, He; Zhang, Weili; Chen, Shunli; Zhu, Meiping; He, Hongbo; Fan, Zhengxiu

2011-12-01

As large amounts of heat need to be dissipated during laser operation, some diode pumped solid state lasers (DPSSL), especially Yb:YAG laser, operate at cryogenic condition. This work investigated the laser induced damage of coatings (high-reflective and anti-reflective coatings) on Yb:YAG crystals at cryogenic temperature and room temperature. The results show that the damage threshold of coatings at cryogenic temperature is lower than the one at room temperature. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), optical profiler, step profiler and Atomic force microscope (AFM) were used to obtain the damage morphology, size and depth. Taking alteration of physical parameters, microstructure of coatings and the environmental pollution into consideration, we analyzed the key factor of lowering the coating damage threshold at cryogenic conditions. The results are important to understand the mechanisms leading to damage at cryogenic condition.

Repair of a Mirror Coating on a Large Optic for High Laser Damage Applications using Ion Milling and Over-Coating Methods.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Field, Ella Suzanne; Bellum, John Curtis; Kletecka, Damon E.

When an optical coating is damaged, deposited incorrectly, or is otherwise unsuitable, the conventional method to restore the optic often entails repolishing the optic surface, which can incur a large cost and long lead time. We propose three alternative options to repolishing, including (i) burying the unsuitable coating under another optical coating, (ii) using ion milling to etch the unsuitable coating completely from the optic surface, and then recoating the optic, and (iii) using ion milling to etch through a number of unsuitable layers, leaving the rest of the coating intact, and then recoating the layers that were etched. Repairsmore » were made on test optics with dielectric mirror coatings according to the above three options. The mirror coatings to be repaired were quarter wave stacks of HfO 2 and SiO 2 layers for high reflection at 1054 nm at 45° incidence in P-polarization. One of the coating layers was purposely deposited incorrectly as Hf metal instead of HfO 2 to evaluate the ability of each repair method to restore the coating’s high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 64.0 J/cm 2. Finally, the repaired coating with the highest resistance to laser-induced damage was achieved using repair method (ii) with an LIDT of 49.0 – 61.0 J/cm 2.« less

Repair of a mirror coating on a large optic for high laser damage applications using ion milling and over-coating methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Field, Ella S.; Bellum, John C.; Kletecka, Damon E.

2017-01-01

When an optical coating is damaged, deposited incorrectly, or is otherwise unsuitable, the conventional method to restore the optic often entails repolishing the optic surface, which can incur a large cost and long lead time. We propose three alternative options to repolishing, including (i) burying the unsuitable coating under another optical coating, (ii) using ion milling to etch the unsuitable coating completely from the optic surface and then recoating the optic, and (iii) using ion milling to etch through a number of unsuitable layers, leaving the rest of the coating intact, and then recoating the layers that were etched. Repairs were made on test optics with dielectric mirror coatings according to the above three options. The mirror coatings to be repaired were quarter wave stacks of HfO2 and SiO2 layers for high reflection at 1054 nm at 45 deg incidence in P-polarization. One of the coating layers was purposely deposited incorrectly as Hf metal instead of HfO2 to evaluate the ability of each repair method to restore the coating's high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 64.0 J/cm2. The repaired coating with the highest resistance to laser-induced damage was achieved using repair method (ii) with an LIDT of 49.0 to 61.0 J/cm2.

Repair of a mirror coating on a large optic for high laser damage applications using ion milling and over-coating methods

DOE PAGES

Field, Ella S.; Bellum, John C.; Kletecka, Damon E.

2016-07-08

Here, when an optical coating is damaged, deposited incorrectly, or is otherwise unsuitable, the conventional method to restore the optic often entails repolishing the optic surface, which can incur a large cost and long lead time. We propose three alternative options to repolishing, including (i) burying the unsuitable coating under another optical coating, (ii) using ion milling to etch the unsuitable coating completely from the optic surface and then recoating the optic, and (iii) using ion milling to etch through a number of unsuitable layers, leaving the rest of the coating intact, and then recoating the layers that were etched.more » Repairs were made on test optics with dielectric mirror coatings according to the above three options. The mirror coatings to be repaired were quarter wave stacks of HfO 2 and SiO 2 layers for high reflection at 1054 nm at 45 deg incidence in P-polarization. One of the coating layers was purposely deposited incorrectly as Hf metal instead of HfO2 to evaluate the ability of each repair method to restore the coating’s high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 64.0 J/cm 2. The repaired coating with the highest resistance to laser-induced damage was achieved using repair method (ii) with an LIDT of 49.0 to 61.0 J/cm 2.« less

Repair of a Mirror Coating on a Large Optic for High Laser Damage Applications using Ion Milling and Over-Coating Methods.

DOE PAGES

Field, Ella Suzanne; Bellum, John Curtis; Kletecka, Damon E.

2016-06-01

When an optical coating is damaged, deposited incorrectly, or is otherwise unsuitable, the conventional method to restore the optic often entails repolishing the optic surface, which can incur a large cost and long lead time. We propose three alternative options to repolishing, including (i) burying the unsuitable coating under another optical coating, (ii) using ion milling to etch the unsuitable coating completely from the optic surface, and then recoating the optic, and (iii) using ion milling to etch through a number of unsuitable layers, leaving the rest of the coating intact, and then recoating the layers that were etched. Repairsmore » were made on test optics with dielectric mirror coatings according to the above three options. The mirror coatings to be repaired were quarter wave stacks of HfO 2 and SiO 2 layers for high reflection at 1054 nm at 45° incidence in P-polarization. One of the coating layers was purposely deposited incorrectly as Hf metal instead of HfO 2 to evaluate the ability of each repair method to restore the coating’s high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 64.0 J/cm 2. Finally, the repaired coating with the highest resistance to laser-induced damage was achieved using repair method (ii) with an LIDT of 49.0 – 61.0 J/cm 2.« less

Repair of a mirror coating on a large optic for high laser damage applications using ion milling and over-coating methods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Field, Ella S.; Bellum, John C.; Kletecka, Damon E.

Here, when an optical coating is damaged, deposited incorrectly, or is otherwise unsuitable, the conventional method to restore the optic often entails repolishing the optic surface, which can incur a large cost and long lead time. We propose three alternative options to repolishing, including (i) burying the unsuitable coating under another optical coating, (ii) using ion milling to etch the unsuitable coating completely from the optic surface and then recoating the optic, and (iii) using ion milling to etch through a number of unsuitable layers, leaving the rest of the coating intact, and then recoating the layers that were etched.more » Repairs were made on test optics with dielectric mirror coatings according to the above three options. The mirror coatings to be repaired were quarter wave stacks of HfO 2 and SiO 2 layers for high reflection at 1054 nm at 45 deg incidence in P-polarization. One of the coating layers was purposely deposited incorrectly as Hf metal instead of HfO2 to evaluate the ability of each repair method to restore the coating’s high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 64.0 J/cm 2. The repaired coating with the highest resistance to laser-induced damage was achieved using repair method (ii) with an LIDT of 49.0 to 61.0 J/cm 2.« less

Impact Damage Thresholds in Brittle Materials Impacted by Water Drops.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-03-01

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Damage resistant optics for a mega-joule solid-state laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, J. H.; Rainer, F.; Kozlowski, M. R.; Wolfe, C. R.; Thomas, I.; Milanovich, F.

1990-12-01

Research on Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) has progressed rapidly in the past several years. As a consequence, LLNL is developing plans to upgrade the current 120 kJ solid state (Nd3+ phosphate glass) Nova laser to a 1.5 to 2 megajoule system with the goal of achieving fusion ignition. The design of the planned Nova Upgrade is briefly discussed. Because of recent improvements in the damage resistance of optical materials it is now technically and economically feasible to build a megajoule-class solid state laser. Specifically, the damage threshold of Nd(+3)-doped phosphate laser glass, multilayer dielectric coatings, and non-linear optical crystals (e.g., KDP) have been dramatically improved. These materials now meet the fluence requirements for a 1.5 to 2 MJ Nd(+3)-glass laser operating at 1054 and 351 nm and at a pulse length of 3 ns. The recent improvements in damage thresholds are reviewed; threshold data at both 1064 and 355 nm and the measured pulse length scaling are presented.

Damage resistant optics for a megajoule solid state laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, Jack H.; Rainer, Frank; Kozlowski, Mark R.; Wolfe, C. Robert; Thomas, Ian M.; Milanovich, Fred P.

1991-06-01

Research on Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) has progressed rapidly in the past several years. As a consequence LLNL is developing plans to upgrade the current 120 kJ solid state (Nd3-phosphate glass) Nova laser to a 1 . 5 to 2 megajoule system with the goal of achieving fusion ignition. The design of the planned Nova Upgrade is briefly discussed. Because of recent improvements in the damage resistance of optical materials it is now technically and economically feasible to build a megajoule-class solid state laser. Specifically the damage threshold of Nd3- doped phosphate laser glass muliilayer dielectric coatings and non-linear optical crystals (e. g. KDP) have been dramatically improved. These materials now meet the fluence requirements for a 1. 5-2 MJ Nd3-glass laser operating at 1054 and 351 nm and at a pulse length of 3 ns. The recent improvements in damage thresholds are reviewed threshold data at both 1064 and 355 nm and the measured pulse length scaling are presented. 1.

Electrical and optical co-stimulation in the deaf white cat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Zhiping; Xu, Yingyue; Tan, Xiaodong; Suematsu, Naofumi; Robinson, Alan; Richter, Claus-Peter

2018-02-01

Spatial selectivity of neural stimulation with photons, such as infrared neural stimulation (INS) is higher than the selectivity obtained with electrical stimulation. To obtain more independent channels for stimulation in neural prostheses, INS may be implemented to better restore the fidelity of the damaged neural system. However, irradiation with infrared light also bares the risk of heat accumulation in the target tissue with subsequent neural damage. Lowering the threshold for stimulation could reduce the amount of heat delivered to the tissue and the risk for subsequent tissue damage. It has been shown in the rat sciatic nerve that simultaneous irradiation with infrared light and the delivery of biphasic sub-threshold electrical pulses can reduce the threshold for INS [1]. In this study, deaf white cats have been used to test whether opto-electrical co-stimulation can reduce the stimulation threshold for INS in the auditory system too. The cochleae of the deaf white cats have largely reduced spiral ganglion neuron counts and significant degeneration of the organ of Corti and do not respond to acoustic stimuli. Combined electrical and optical stimulation was used to demonstrate that simultaneous stimulation with infrared light and biphasic electrical pulses can reduce the threshold for stimulation.

Magnetic Flux Leakage Sensing and Artificial Neural Network Pattern Recognition-Based Automated Damage Detection and Quantification for Wire Rope Non-Destructive Evaluation.

PubMed

Kim, Ju-Won; Park, Seunghee

2018-01-02

In this study, a magnetic flux leakage (MFL) method, known to be a suitable non-destructive evaluation (NDE) method for continuum ferromagnetic structures, was used to detect local damage when inspecting steel wire ropes. To demonstrate the proposed damage detection method through experiments, a multi-channel MFL sensor head was fabricated using a Hall sensor array and magnetic yokes to adapt to the wire rope. To prepare the damaged wire-rope specimens, several different amounts of artificial damages were inflicted on wire ropes. The MFL sensor head was used to scan the damaged specimens to measure the magnetic flux signals. After obtaining the signals, a series of signal processing steps, including the enveloping process based on the Hilbert transform (HT), was performed to better recognize the MFL signals by reducing the unexpected noise. The enveloped signals were then analyzed for objective damage detection by comparing them with a threshold that was established based on the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution. The detected MFL signals that exceed the threshold were analyzed quantitatively by extracting the magnetic features from the MFL signals. To improve the quantitative analysis, damage indexes based on the relationship between the enveloped MFL signal and the threshold value were also utilized, along with a general damage index for the MFL method. The detected MFL signals for each damage type were quantified by using the proposed damage indexes and the general damage indexes for the MFL method. Finally, an artificial neural network (ANN) based multi-stage pattern recognition method using extracted multi-scale damage indexes was implemented to automatically estimate the severity of the damage. To analyze the reliability of the MFL-based automated wire rope NDE method, the accuracy and reliability were evaluated by comparing the repeatedly estimated damage size and the actual damage size.

An evaluation of corn earworm damage and thresholds in soybean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adams, Brian Patrick

Interactions between corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), and soybean, Glycine max L. (Merrill), were investigated in the Mid-South to evaluate thresholds and damage levels. Field studies were conducted in both indeterminate and determinate modern cultivars to evaluate damage, critical injury levels, and soybean response to simulated corn earworm injury. Field studies were also conducted to evaluate the response of indeterminate cultivars to infestations of corn earworm. Field studies were also conducted to investigate the relationship between pyrethroid insecticide application and corn earworm oviposition in soybean. Results of field studies involving simulated corn earworm damage indicated the need for a dynamic threshold that becomes more conservative as soybean phenology progressed through the reproductive growth stages. This suggested that soybean was more tolerant to fruit loss during the earlier reproductive stages and was able to compensate for fruit loss better during this time than at later growth stages. Results of field studies involving infestations of corn earworm indicated that current thresholds are likely too liberal. This resulted in economic injury level tables being constructed based upon a range of crop values and control costs, however, a general action threshold was also recommended for indeterminate soybean in the Mid-South. Field study results investigating the relationship of pyrethroid application and corn earworm oviposition indicated that even in the presence of an insecticide, corn earworm prefers to oviposit in the upper portion of the canopy, as well as on the leaves as opposed to all other plant parts, consistent with all previous literature.

Porcine skin damage thresholds for pulsed nanosecond-scale laser exposure at 1064-nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLisi, Michael P.; Peterson, Amanda M.; Noojin, Gary D.; Shingledecker, Aurora D.; Tijerina, Amanda J.; Boretsky, Adam R.; Schmidt, Morgan S.; Kumru, Semih S.; Thomas, Robert J.

2018-02-01

Pulsed high-energy lasers operating in the near-infrared (NIR) band are increasingly being used in medical, industrial, and military applications, but there are little available experimental data to characterize their hazardous effects on skin tissue. The current American National Standard for the Safe Use of Lasers (ANSI Z136.1-2014) defines the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) on the skin as either a single-pulse or total exposure time limit. This study determined the minimum visible lesion (MVL) damage thresholds in Yucatan miniature pig skin for the single-pulse case and several multiple-pulse cases over a wide range of pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) (10, 125, 2,000, and 10,000 Hz) utilizing nanosecond-scale pulses (10 or 60 ns). The thresholds are expressed in terms of the median effective dose (ED50) based on varying individual pulse energy with other laser parameters held constant. The results confirm a decrease in MVL threshold as PRF increases for exposures with a constant number of pulses, while also noting a PRF-dependent change in the threshold as a function of the number of pulses. Furthermore, this study highlights a change in damage mechanism to the skin from melanin-mediated photomechanical events at high irradiance levels and few numbers of pulses to bulk tissue photothermal additivity at lower irradiance levels and greater numbers of pulses. The observed trends exceeded the existing exposure limits by an average factor of 9.1 in the photothermally-damaged cases and 3.6 in the photomechanicallydamaged cases.

Comparison of alternatives to amplitude thresholding for onset detection of acoustic emission signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, F.; Gagar, D.; Foote, P.; Zhao, Y.

2017-02-01

Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring can be used to detect the presence of damage as well as determine its location in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applications. Information on the time difference of the signal generated by the damage event arriving at different sensors in an array is essential in performing localisation. Currently, this is determined using a fixed threshold which is particularly prone to errors when not set to optimal values. This paper presents three new methods for determining the onset of AE signals without the need for a predetermined threshold. The performance of the techniques is evaluated using AE signals generated during fatigue crack growth and compared to the established Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and fixed threshold methods. It was found that the 1D location accuracy of the new methods was within the range of < 1 - 7.1 % of the monitored region compared to 2.7% for the AIC method and a range of 1.8-9.4% for the conventional Fixed Threshold method at different threshold levels.

Spatial distribution of threshold wind speeds for dust outbreaks in northeast Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Reiji; Shinoda, Masato

2010-01-01

Asian windblown dust events cause human and animal health effects and agricultural damage in dust source areas such as China and Mongolia and cause "yellow sand" events in Japan and Korea. It is desirable to develop an early warning system to help prevent such damage. We used our observations at a Mongolian station together with data from previous studies to model the spatial distribution of threshold wind speeds for dust events in northeast Asia (35°-45°N and 100°-115°E). Using a map of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), we estimated spatial distributions of vegetation cover, roughness length, threshold friction velocity, and threshold wind speed. We also recognized a relationship between NDVI in the dust season and maximum NDVI in the previous year. Thus, it may be possible to predict the threshold wind speed in the next dust season using the maximum NDVI in the previous year.

Deuterium supersaturation in low-energy plasma-loaded tungsten surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, L.; Jacob, W.; von Toussaint, U.; Manhard, A.; Balden, M.; Schmid, K.; Schwarz-Selinger, T.

2017-01-01

Fundamental understanding of hydrogen-metal interactions is challenging due to a lack of knowledge on defect production and/or evolution upon hydrogen ingression, especially for metals undergoing hydrogen irradiation with ion energy below the displacement thresholds reported in literature. Here, applying a novel low-energy argon-sputter depth profiling method with significantly improved depth resolution for tungsten (W) surfaces exposed to deuterium (D) plasma at 300 K, we show the existence of a 10 nm thick D-supersaturated surface layer (DSSL) with an unexpectedly high D concentration of ~10 at.% after irradiation with ion energy of 215 eV. Electron back-scatter diffraction reveals that the W lattice within this DSSL is highly distorted, thus strongly blurring the Kikuchi pattern. We explain this strong damage by the synergistic interaction of energetic D ions and solute D atoms with the W lattice. Solute D atoms prevent the recombination of vacancies with interstitial W atoms, which are produced by collisions of energetic D ions with W lattice atoms (Frenkel pairs). This proposed damaging mechanism could also be active on other hydrogen-irradiated metal surfaces. The present work provides deep insight into hydrogen-induced lattice distortion at plasma-metal interfaces and sheds light on its modelling work.

Surface modification and deuterium retention in reduced-activation steels under low-energy deuterium plasma exposure. Part II: steels pre-damaged with 20 MeV W ions and high heat flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogorodnikova, O. V.; Zhou, Z.; Sugiyama, K.; Balden, M.; Pintsuk, G.; Gasparyan, Yu.; Efimov, V.

2017-03-01

The reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels including Eurofer (9Cr) and oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels by the addition of Y2O3 particles investigated in Part I were pre-damaged either with 20 MeV W ions at room temperature at IPP (Garching) or with high heat flux at FZJ (Juelich) and subsequently exposed to low energy (~20-200 eV per D) deuterium (D) plasma up to a fluence of 2.9  ×  1025 D m-2 in the temperature range from 290 K to 700 K. The pre-irradiation with 20 MeV W ions at room temperature up to 1 displacement per atom (dpa) has no noticeable influence on the steel surface morphology before and after the D plasma exposure. The pre-irradiation with W ions leads to the same concentration of deuterium in all kinds of investigated steels, regardless of the presence of nanoparticles and Cr content. It was found that (i) both kinds of irradiation with W ions and high heat flux increase the D retention in steels compared to undamaged steels and (ii) the D retention in both pre-damaged and undamaged steels decreases with a formation of surface roughness under the irradiation of steels with deuterium ions with incident energy which exceeds the threshold of sputtering. The increase in the D retention in RAFM steels pre-damaged either with W ions (damage up to ~3 µm) or high heat flux (damage up to ~10 µm) diminishes with increasing the temperature. It is important to mention that the near surface modifications caused by either implantation of high energy ions or a high heat flux load, significantly affect the total D retention at low temperatures or low fluences but have a negligible impact on the total D retention at elevated temperatures and high fluences because, in these cases, the D retention is mainly determined by bulk diffusion.

Challenges in devising economic spray thresholds for a major pest of Australian canola, the redlegged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor).

PubMed

Arthur, Aston L; Hoffmann, Ary A; Umina, Paul A

2015-10-01

A key component for spray decision-making in IPM programmes is the establishment of economic injury levels (EILs) and economic thresholds (ETs). We aimed to establish an EIL for the redlegged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor Tucker) on canola. Complex interactions between mite numbers, feeding damage and plant recovery were found, highlighting the challenges in linking H. destructor numbers to yield. A guide of 10 mites plant(-1) was established at the first-true-leaf stage; however, simple relationships were not evident at other crop development stages, making it difficult to establish reliable EILs based on mite number. Yield was, however, strongly associated with plant damage and plant densities, reflecting the impact of mite feeding damage and indicating a plant-based alternative for establishing thresholds for H. destructor. Drawing on data from multiple field trials, we show that plant densities below 30-40 plants m(-2) could be used as a proxy for mite damage when reliable estimates of mite densities are not possible. This plant-based threshold provides a practical tool that avoids the difficulties of accurately estimating mite densities. The approach may be applicable to other situations where production conditions are unpredictable and interactions between pests and plant hosts are complex. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Temperature-activity relationships in Meligethes aeneus: implications for pest management

PubMed Central

Ferguson, Andrew W; Nevard, Lucy M; Clark, Suzanne J; Cook, Samantha M

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND Pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus F.) management in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) has become an urgent issue in the light of insecticide resistance. Risk prediction advice has relied upon flight temperature thresholds, while risk assessment uses simple economic thresholds. However, there is variation in the reported temperature of migration, and economic thresholds vary widely across Europe, probably owing to climatic factors interacting with beetle activity and plant compensation for damage. The effect of temperature on flight, feeding and oviposition activity of M. aeneus was examined in controlled conditions. RESULTS Escape from a release vial was taken as evidence of flight and was supported by video observations. The propensity to fly followed a sigmoid temperature–response curve between 6 and 23 °C; the 10, 25 and 50% flight temperature thresholds were 12.0–12.5 °C, 13.6–14.2 °C and 15.5–16.2 °C, respectively. Thresholds were slightly higher in the second of two flight bioassays, suggesting an effect of beetle age. Strong positive relationships were found between temperature (6–20 °C) and the rates of feeding and oviposition on flower buds of oilseed rape. CONCLUSION These temperature relationships could be used to improve M. aeneus migration risk assessment, refine weather-based decision support systems and modulate damage thresholds according to rates of bud damage. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry PMID:25052810

Process dependency on threshold voltage of GaN MOSFET on AlGaN/GaN heterostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qingpeng; Jiang, Ying; Miyashita, Takahiro; Motoyama, Shin-ichi; Li, Liuan; Wang, Dejun; Ohno, Yasuo; Ao, Jin-Ping

2014-09-01

GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with recessed gate on AlGaN/GaN heterostructure are reported in which the drain and source ohmic contacts were fabricated on the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure and the electron channel was formed on the GaN buffer layer by removing the AlGaN barrier layer. Negative threshold voltages were commonly observed in all devices. To investigate the reasons of the negative threshold voltages, different oxide thickness, etching gas and bias power of inductively-coupled plasma (ICP) system were utilized in the fabrication process of the GaN MOSFETs. It is found that positive charges of around 1 × 1012 q/cm2 exist near the interface at the just threshold condition in both silane- and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS)-based devices. It is also found that the threshold voltages do not obviously change with the different etching gas (SiCl4, BCl3 and two-step etching of SiCl4/Cl2) at the same ICP bias power level (20-25 W) and will become deeper when higher bias power is used in the dry recess process which may be related to the much serious ion bombardment damage. Furthermore, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments were done to investigate the surface conditions. It is found that N 1s peaks become lower with higher bias power of the dry etching process. Also, silicon contamination was found and could be removed by HNO3/HF solution. It indicates that the nitrogen vacancies are mainly responsible for the negative threshold voltages rather than the silicon contamination. It demonstrates that optimization of the ICP recess conditions and improvement of the surface condition are still necessary to realize enhancement-mode GaN MOSFETs on AlGaN/GaN heterostructure.

Laser induced damage thresholds and laser safety levels. Do the units of measurement matter?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, R. M.

1998-04-01

The commonly used units of measurement for laser induced damage are those of peak energy or power density. However, the laser induced damage thresholds, LIDT, of all materials are well known to be absorption, wavelength, spot size and pulse length dependent. As workers using these values become divorced from the theory it becomes increasingly important to use the correct units and to understand the correct scaling factors. This paper summarizes the theory and highlights the danger of using the wrong LIDT units in the context of potentially hazardous materials, laser safety eyewear and laser safety screens.

Evaluation of corneal ablation by an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) at 2.94 μm and an Er:YAG laser and comparison to ablation by a 193-nm excimer laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Telfair, William B.; Hoffman, Hanna J.; Nordquist, Robert E.; Eiferman, Richard A.

1998-06-01

Purpose: This study first evaluated the corneal ablation characteristics of (1) an Nd:YAG pumped OPO (Optical Parametric Oscillator) at 2.94 microns and (2) a short pulse Er:YAG laser. Secondly, it compared the histopathology and surface quality of these ablations with (3) a 193 nm excimer laser. Finally, the healing characteristics over 4 months of cat eyes treated with the OPO were evaluated. Methods: Custom designed Nd:YAG/OPO and Er:YAG lasers were integrated with a new scanning delivery system to perform PRK myopic correction procedures. After initial ablation studies to determine ablation thresholds and rates, human cadaver eyes and in-vivo cat eyes were treated with (1) a 6.0 mm Dia, 30 micron deep PTK ablation and (2) a 6.0 mm Dia, -5.0 Diopter PRK ablation. Cadaver eyes were also treated with a 5.0 mm Dia, -5.0 Diopter LASIK ablation. Finally, cats were treated with the OPO in a 4 month healing study. Results: Ablation thresholds below 100 mJ/cm2 and ablation rates comparable to the excimer were demonstrated for both infrared systems. Light Microscopy (LM) showed no thermal damage for low fluence treatments, but noticeable thermal damage at higher fluences. SEM and TEM revealed morphologically similar surfaces for low fluence OPO and excimer samples with a smooth base and no evidence of collagen shrinkage. The Er:YAG and higher fluence OPO treated samples revealed more damage along with visible collagen coagulation and shrinkage in some cases. Healing was remarkably unremarkable. All eyes had a mild healing response with no stromal haze and showed topographic flattening. LM demonstrated nothing except a moderate increase in keratocyte activity in the upper third of the stroma. TEM confirmed this along with irregular basement membranes. Conclusions: A non- thermal ablation process called photospallation is demonstrated for the first time using short pulse infrared lasers yielding damage zones comparable to the excimer and healing which is also comparable to the excimer. Such Infrared sources are, therefore, potentially attractive competitors to the excimer to perform PRK and LASIK.

Silent Damage of Noise on Cochlear Afferent Innervation in Guinea Pigs and the Impact on Temporal Processing

PubMed Central

He, Tingting; Aiken, Steve; Bance, Manohar; Yin, Shankai; Wang, Jian

2012-01-01

Noise-exposure at levels low enough to avoid a permanent threshold shift has been found to cause a massive, delayed degeneration of spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) in mouse cochleae. Damage to the afferent innervation was initiated by a loss of synaptic ribbons, which is largely irreversible in mice. A similar delayed loss of SGNs has been found in guinea pig cochleae, but at a reduced level, suggesting a cross-species difference in SGN sensitivity to noise. Ribbon synapse damage occurs “silently” in that it does not affect hearing thresholds as conventionally measured, and the functional consequence of this damage is not clear. In the present study, we further explored the effect of noise on cochlear afferent innervation in guinea pigs by focusing on the dynamic changes in ribbon counts over time, and resultant changes in temporal processing. It was found that (1) contrary to reports in mice, the initial loss of ribbons largely recovered within a month after the noise exposure, although a significant amount of residual damage existed; (2) while the response threshold fully recovered in a month, the temporal processing continued to be deteriorated during this period. PMID:23185359

Surface Optical Rectification from Layered MoS2 Crystal by THz Time-Domain Surface Emission Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Huang, Yuanyuan; Zhu, Lipeng; Zhao, Qiyi; Guo, Yaohui; Ren, Zhaoyu; Bai, Jintao; Xu, Xinlong

2017-02-08

Surface optical rectification was observed from the layered semiconductor molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) crystal via terahertz (THz) time-domain surface emission spectroscopy under linearly polarized femtosecond laser excitation. The radiated THz amplitude of MoS 2 has a linear dependence on ever-increasing pump fluence and thus quadratic with the pump electric field, which discriminates from the surface Dember field induced THz radiation in InAs and the transient photocurrent-induced THz generation in graphite. Theoretical analysis based on space symmetry of MoS 2 crystal suggests that the underlying mechanism of THz radiation is surface optical rectification under the reflection configuration. This is consistent with the experimental results according to the radiated THz amplitude dependences on azimuthal and incident polarization angles. We also demonstrated the damage threshold of MoS 2 due to microscopic bond breaking under the femtosecond laser irradiation, which can be monitored via THz time-domain emission spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy.

Eccentric muscle damage has variable effects on motor unit recruitment thresholds and discharge patterns in elbow flexor muscles.

PubMed

Dartnall, Tamara J; Rogasch, Nigel C; Nordstrom, Michael A; Semmler, John G

2009-07-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of eccentric muscle damage on recruitment threshold force and repetitive discharge properties of low-threshold motor units. Ten subjects performed four tasks involving isometric contraction of elbow flexors while electromyographic (EMG) data were recorded from human biceps brachii and brachialis muscles. Tasks were 1) maximum voluntary contraction (MVC); 2) constant-force contraction at various submaximal targets; 3) motor unit recruitment threshold task; and 4) minimum motor unit discharge rate task. These tasks were performed on three separate days before, immediately after, and 24 h after eccentric exercise of elbow flexor muscles. MVC force declined (42%) immediately after exercise and remained depressed (29%) 24 h later, indicative of muscle damage. Mean motor unit recruitment threshold for biceps brachii was 8.4+/-4.2% MVC, (n=34) before eccentric exercise, and was reduced by 41% (5.0+/-3.0% MVC, n=34) immediately after and by 39% (5.2+/-2.5% MVC, n=34) 24 h after exercise. No significant changes in motor unit recruitment threshold were observed in the brachialis muscle. However, for the minimum tonic discharge rate task, motor units in both muscles discharged 11% faster (10.8+/-2.0 vs. 9.7+/-1.7 Hz) immediately after (n=29) exercise compared with that before (n=32). The minimum discharge rate variability was greater in brachialis muscle immediately after exercise (13.8+/-3.1%) compared with that before (11.9+/-3.1%) and 24 h after exercise (11.7+/-2.4%). No significant changes in minimum discharge rate variability were observed in the biceps brachii motor units after exercise. These results indicate that muscle damage from eccentric exercise alters motor unit recruitment thresholds for >or=24 h, but the effect is not the same in the different elbow flexor muscles.

Thermal effects of λ = 808 nm GaAlAs diode laser irradiation on different titanium surfaces.

PubMed

Giannelli, Marco; Lasagni, Massimo; Bani, Daniele

2015-12-01

Diode lasers are widely used in dental laser treatment, but little is known about their thermal effects on different titanium implant surfaces. This is a key issue because already a 10 °C increase over the normal body temperature can induce bone injury and compromise osseo-integration. The present study aimed at evaluating the temperature changes and surface alterations experienced by different titanium surfaces upon irradiation with a λ = 808 nm diode laser with different settings and modalities. Titanium discs with surfaces mimicking different dental implant surfaces including TiUnite and anodized, machined surfaces were laser-irradiated in contact and non-contact mode, and with and without airflow cooling. Settings were 0.5-2.0 W for the continuous wave mode and 10-45 μJ, 20 kHz, 5-20 μs for the pulsed wave mode. The results show that the surface characteristics have a marked influence on temperature changes in response to irradiation. The TiUnite surface, corresponding to the osseous interface of dental implants, was the most susceptible to thermal rise, while the machined surfaces, corresponding to the implant collar, were less affected. In non-contact mode and upon continuous wave emission, the temperature rose above the 50 °C tissue damage threshold. Scanning electron microscopy investigation of surface alterations revealed that laser treatment in contact mode resulted in surface scratches even when no irradiation was performed. These findings indicate that the effects of diode laser irradiation on implant surfaces depend on physical features of the titanium coating and that in order to avoid thermal or physical damage to implant surface the irradiation treatment has to be carefully selected.

Fluence thresholds for grazing incidence hard x-ray mirrors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aquila, A.; Ozkan, C.; Sinn, H.

2015-06-15

X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) have the potential to contribute to many fields of science and to enable many new avenues of research, in large part due to their orders of magnitude higher peak brilliance than existing and future synchrotrons. To best exploit this peak brilliance, these XFEL beams need to be focused to appropriate spot sizes. However, the survivability of X-ray optical components in these intense, femtosecond radiation conditions is not guaranteed. As mirror optics are routinely used at XFEL facilities, a physical understanding of the interaction between intense X-ray pulses and grazing incidence X-ray optics is desirable. Wemore » conducted single shot damage threshold fluence measurements on grazing incidence X-ray optics, with coatings of ruthenium and boron carbide, at the SPring-8 Angstrom compact free electron laser facility using 7 and 12 keV photon energies. The damage threshold dose limits were found to be orders of magnitude higher than would naively be expected. The incorporation of energy transport and dissipation via keV level energetic photoelectrons accounts for the observed damage threshold.« less

Estimation of Crack Initiation and Propagation Thresholds of Confined Brittle Coal Specimens Based on Energy Dissipation Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ning, Jianguo; Wang, Jun; Jiang, Jinquan; Hu, Shanchao; Jiang, Lishuai; Liu, Xuesheng

2018-01-01

A new energy-dissipation method to identify crack initiation and propagation thresholds is introduced. Conventional and cyclic loading-unloading triaxial compression tests and acoustic emission experiments were performed for coal specimens from a 980-m deep mine with different confining pressures of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 MPa. Stress-strain relations, acoustic emission patterns, and energy evolution characteristics obtained during the triaxial compression tests were analyzed. The majority of the input energy stored in the coal specimens took the form of elastic strain energy. After the elastic-deformation stage, part of the input energy was consumed by stable crack propagation. However, with an increase in stress levels, unstable crack propagation commenced, and the energy dissipation and coal damage were accelerated. The variation in the pre-peak energy-dissipation ratio was consistent with the coal damage. This new method demonstrates that the crack initiation threshold was proportional to the peak stress ( σ p) for ratios that ranged from 0.4351 to 0.4753 σ p, and the crack damage threshold ranged from 0.8087 to 0.8677 σ p.

Are luminescent bacteria suitable for online detection and monitoring of toxic compounds in drinking water and its sources?

PubMed

Woutersen, Marjolijn; Belkin, Shimshon; Brouwer, Bram; van Wezel, Annemarie P; Heringa, Minne B

2011-05-01

Biosensors based on luminescent bacteria may be valuable tools to monitor the chemical quality and safety of surface and drinking water. In this review, an overview is presented of the recombinant strains available that harbour the bacterial luciferase genes luxCDABE, and which may be used in an online biosensor for water quality monitoring. Many bacterial strains have been described for the detection of a broad range of toxicity parameters, including DNA damage, protein damage, membrane damage, oxidative stress, organic pollutants, and heavy metals. Most lux strains have sensitivities with detection limits ranging from milligrams per litre to micrograms per litre, usually with higher sensitivities in compound-specific strains. Although the sensitivity of lux strains can be enhanced by various molecular manipulations, most reported detection thresholds are still too high to detect levels of individual contaminants as they occur nowadays in European drinking waters. However, lux strains sensing specific toxic effects have the advantage of being able to respond to mixtures of contaminants inducing the same effect, and thus could be used as a sensor for the sum effect, including the effect of compounds that are as yet not identified by chemical analysis. An evaluation of the suitability of lux strains for monitoring surface and drinking water is therefore provided.

Damage Threshold of In Vivo Rabbit Cornea by 2 micron Laser Irradiation

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

in laser injury experiments? Implications for human exposure limits. Health Phys 2002; 82(3):335-347. 11. Siegman AE, Sasnett MW, Johnston TF. Choice... Laser Irradiation DISTRIBUTION: Approved for public release, distribution unlimited This paper is part of the following report: TITLE: Conference on...part numbers comprise the compilation report: ADP023676 thru ADP023710 UNCLASSIFIED Damage Threshold of In Vivo Rabbit Cornea by 2 gm Laser Irradiation

Higher certainty of the laser-induced damage threshold test with a redistributing data treatment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jensen, Lars; Mrohs, Marius; Gyamfi, Mark

2015-10-15

As a consequence of its statistical nature, the measurement of the laser-induced damage threshold holds always risks to over- or underestimate the real threshold value. As one of the established measurement procedures, the results of S-on-1 (and 1-on-1) tests outlined in the corresponding ISO standard 21 254 depend on the amount of data points and their distribution over the fluence scale. With the limited space on a test sample as well as the requirements on test site separation and beam sizes, the amount of data from one test is restricted. This paper reports on a way to treat damage testmore » data in order to reduce the statistical error and therefore measurement uncertainty. Three simple assumptions allow for the assignment of one data point to multiple data bins and therefore virtually increase the available data base.« less

Co:MgF2 laser ablation of tissue: effect of wavelength on ablation threshold and thermal damage.

PubMed

Schomacker, K T; Domankevitz, Y; Flotte, T J; Deutsch, T F

1991-01-01

The wavelength dependence of the ablation threshold of a variety of tissues has been studied by using a tunable pulsed Co:MgF2 laser to determine how closely it tracks the optical absorption length of water. The Co:MgF2 laser was tuned between 1.81 and 2.14 microns, a wavelength region in which the absorption length varies by a decade. For soft tissues the ablation threshold tracks the optical absorption length; for bone there is little wavelength dependence, consistent with the low water content of bone. Thermal damage vs. wavelength was also studied for cornea and bone. Thermal damage to cornea has a weak wavelength dependence, while that to bone shows little wavelength dependence. Framing-camera pictures of the ablation of both cornea and liver show explosive removal of material, but differ as to the nature of the explosion.

Residual stress and damage-induced critical fracture on CO2 laser treated fused silica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matthews, M. J.; Stolken, J. S.; Vignes, R. M.; Norton, M. A.; Yang, S.; Cooke, J. D.; Guss, G. M.; Adams, J. J.

2009-10-01

Localized damage repair and polishing of silica-based optics using mid- and far-IR CO2 lasers has been shown to be an effective method for increasing optical damage threshold in the UV. However, it is known that CO2 laser heating of silicate surfaces can lead to a level of residual stress capable of causing critical fracture either during or after laser treatment. Sufficient control of the surface temperature as a function of time and position is therefore required to limit this residual stress to an acceptable level to avoid critical fracture. In this work we present the results of 351 nm, 3ns Gaussian damage growth experiments within regions of varying residual stress caused by prior CO2 laser exposures. Thermally stressed regions were non-destructively characterized using polarimetry and confocal Raman microscopy to measure the stress induced birefringence and fictive temperature respectively. For 1~40s square pulse CO2 laser exposures created over 0.5-1.25kW/cm2 with a 1-3mm 1/e2 diameter beam (Tmax~1500-3000K), the critical damage site size leading to fracture increases weakly with peak temperature, but shows a stronger dependence on cooling rate, as predicted by finite element hydrodynamics simulations. Confocal micro-Raman was used to probe structural changes to the glass over different thermal histories and indicated a maximum fictive temperature of 1900K for Tmax>=2000K. The effect of cooling rate on fictive temperature caused by CO2 laser heating are consistent with finite element calculations based on a Tool-Narayanaswamy relaxation model.

Injury thresholds for topical-cream-coated skin of hairless guinea pigs (cavia porcellus) in the near-infrared region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pocock, Ginger M.; Zohner, Justin J.; Stolarski, David J.; Buchanan, Kelvin C.; Jindra, Nichole M.; Figueroa, Manuel A.; Chavey, Lucas J.; Imholte, Michelle L.; Thomas, Robert J.; Rockwell, Benjamin A.

2006-02-01

The reflectance and absorption of the skin plays a vital role in determining how much radiation will be absorbed by human tissue. Any substance covering the skin would change the way radiation is reflected and absorbed and thus the extent of thermal injury. Hairless guinea pigs (cavia porcellus) in vivo were used to evaluate how the minimum visible lesion threshold for single-pulse laser exposure is changed with a topical agent applied to the skin. The ED 50 for visible lesions due to an Er: glass laser at 1540-nm with a pulse width of 50-ns was determined, and the results were compared with model predictions using a skin thermal model. The ED50 is compared with the damage threshold of skin coated with a highly absorbing topical cream at 1540 nm to determine its effect on damage pathology and threshold. The ED 50 for the guinea pig was then compared to similar studies using Yucatan minipigs and Yorkshire pigs at 1540-nm and nanosecond pulse duration. 1,2 The damage threshold at 24-hours of a Yorkshire pig for a 2.5-3.5-mm diameter beam for 100 ns was 3.2 Jcm -2; very similar to our ED 50 of 3.00 Jcm -2 for the hairless guinea pigs.

Preservative cytotoxic threshold for benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine digluconate in cat and rabbit corneas.

PubMed

Burstein, N L

1980-03-01

Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) and chlorhexidine digluconate (CDG) were applied to rabbit and cat corneal epithelium in clinically used concentrations. Corneas were fixed 1/2 hr later and examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). BAC was found to produce a progressive increase in damage at concentrations between 0.001% and 0.01% as determined by SEM. CGD produced less damage than BAC at any concentration. Cats lacrimated copiously and blinked frequently after instillation of drops; rabbits did not. No significant difference was found between the two species, however, in their response to the preservative agents tested. It is presumed that binding of these surface active agents occurs almost immediately and is unaffected by tear film dilution. Studies measuring permeability increase in the human eye after preservative use are required to allow clinical interpretation of the data presented here.

Effects of cancer cell permeability control on the efficiency of cell damage through surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticle (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsiao, Jen-Hung; Yu, Jian-He; He, Yulu; Tu, Yi-Chou; Hua, Wei-Hsiang; Low, Meng Chun; Hsieh, Cheng-Che; Kiang, Yean-Woei; Yang, Chih-Chung

2017-02-01

Cancer cell killing efficiencies based on the photothermal effect caused by the surface plasmon resonance of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and the photodynamic effect caused by the singlet oxygen generation of a photosensitizer rely on the cell uptake efficiency of metal NP and photosensitizer. Perforation and heating can increase cell membrane permeability and hence can increase the cell uptake efficiency of NPs and drugs. In this paper, we demonstrate the variations of the cell damage efficiency under the illuminations of different lasers, which can produce mainly photothermal effect, mainly photodynamic effect, and mixed effect, when a pre-perforation and a pre-heating processes are applied. Au nanorings (NRIs) with their localized surface plasmon resonance wavelength around 1064 nm are used. The perforation process is undertaken by illuminating the cell samples by a femtosecond laser at 1064 nm with the power density lower than the cell damage threshold intensity. The heating process is implemented by illuminating cells with a low power continuous laser at 1064 nm. It is found that with the pre-perforation and pre-heating processes, the photodynamic effect is enhanced because the internalized Au NRI number and hence the internalized photosensitizer (AlPcS) molecule number are increased. However, the photothermal effect can be reduced because the adsorbed Au NRIs on cell membrane are effectively internalized during the pre-perforation and pre-heating processes. The photothermal effect is more effective when Au NRIs are adsorbed on cell membrane.

Interacting damage models mapped onto ising and percolation models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Toussaint, Renaud; Pride, Steven R.

The authors introduce a class of damage models on regular lattices with isotropic interactions between the broken cells of the lattice. Quasistatic fiber bundles are an example. The interactions are assumed to be weak, in the sense that the stress perturbation from a broken cell is much smaller than the mean stress in the system. The system starts intact with a surface-energy threshold required to break any cell sampled from an uncorrelated quenched-disorder distribution. The evolution of this heterogeneous system is ruled by Griffith's principle which states that a cell breaks when the release in potential (elastic) energy in themore » system exceeds the surface-energy barrier necessary to break the cell. By direct integration over all possible realizations of the quenched disorder, they obtain the probability distribution of each damage configuration at any level of the imposed external deformation. They demonstrate an isomorphism between the distributions so obtained and standard generalized Ising models, in which the coupling constants and effective temperature in the Ising model are functions of the nature of the quenched-disorder distribution and the extent of accumulated damage. In particular, they show that damage models with global load sharing are isomorphic to standard percolation theory, that damage models with local load sharing rule are isomorphic to the standard ising model, and draw consequences thereof for the universality class and behavior of the autocorrelation length of the breakdown transitions corresponding to these models. they also treat damage models having more general power-law interactions, and classify the breakdown process as a function of the power-law interaction exponent. Last, they also show that the probability distribution over configurations is a maximum of Shannon's entropy under some specific constraints related to the energetic balance of the fracture process, which firmly relates this type of quenched-disorder based damage model to standard statistical mechanics.« less

Precision Laser Annealing of Focal Plane Arrays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bender, Daniel A.; DeRose, Christopher; Starbuck, Andrew Lea

2015-09-01

We present results from laser annealing experiments in Si using a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG microlaser. Exposure with laser at fluence values above the damage threshold of commercially available photodiodes results in electrical damage (as measured by an increase in photodiode dark current). We show that increasing the laser fluence to values in excess of the damage threshold can result in annealing of a damage site and a reduction in detector dark current by as much as 100x in some cases. A still further increase in fluence results in irreparable damage. Thus we demonstrate the presence of a laser annealing windowmore » over which performance of damaged detectors can be at least partially reconstituted. Moreover dark current reduction is observed over the entire operating range of the diode indicating that device performance has been improved for all values of reverse bias voltage. Additionally, we will present results of laser annealing in Si waveguides. By exposing a small (<10 um) length of a Si waveguide to an annealing laser pulse, the longitudinal phase of light acquired in propagating through the waveguide can be modified with high precision, <15 milliradian per laser pulse. Phase tuning by 180 degrees is exhibited with multiple exposures to one arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer at fluence values below the morphological damage threshold of an etched Si waveguide. No reduction in optical transmission at 1550 nm was found after 220 annealing laser shots. Modeling results for laser annealing in Si are also presented.« less

Comparison of Spall Pullback Signals and X-ray Tomography Analysis in Copper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gard, Marcie; Russell, Rod; Hanna, Romy; Bless, Stephan; InstituteAdvanced Technology Collaboration; Department of Geological Sciences-UT Austin Collaboration

2011-06-01

Spall experiments were conducted on electrolytic tough pitch C110 copper plates. Flyer plates half the target-plate thickness were launched with a single-stage compressed-gas gun. Pullback signals were measured with a photonic Doppler velocimeter (PDV). Spall stresses were determined and found to be about 1 GPa. In addition, damage on the spall plane for samples that failed to separate a spall plate was characterized by x-ray tomography. The paper will include a description of threshold damage. The threshold for appearance of a pullback signal corresponded to the initiation of tensile damage, not formation of a spall separation plane.

Efficacy and predictability of soft tissue ablation using a prototype Raman-shifted alexandrite laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozub, John A.; Shen, Jin-H.; Joos, Karen M.; Prasad, Ratna; Shane Hutson, M.

2015-10-01

Previous research showed that mid-infrared free-electron lasers could reproducibly ablate soft tissue with little collateral damage. The potential for surgical applications motivated searches for alternative tabletop lasers providing thermally confined pulses in the 6- to-7-μm wavelength range with sufficient pulse energy, stability, and reliability. Here, we evaluate a prototype Raman-shifted alexandrite laser. We measure ablation thresholds, etch rates, and collateral damage in gelatin and cornea as a function of laser wavelength (6.09, 6.27, or 6.43 μm), pulse energy (up to 3 mJ/pulse), and spot diameter (100 to 600 μm). We find modest wavelength dependence for ablation thresholds and collateral damage, with the lowest thresholds and least damage for 6.09 μm. We find a strong spot-size dependence for all metrics. When the beam is tightly focused (˜100-μm diameter), ablation requires more energy, is highly variable and less efficient, and can yield large zones of mechanical damage (for pulse energies >1 mJ). When the beam is softly focused (˜300-μm diameter), ablation proceeded at surgically relevant etch rates, with reasonable reproducibility (5% to 12% within a single sample), and little collateral damage. With improvements in pulse-energy stability, this prototype laser may have significant potential for soft-tissue surgical applications.

Efficacy and predictability of soft tissue ablation using a prototype Raman-shifted alexandrite laser

PubMed Central

Kozub, John A.; Shen, Jin-H.; Joos, Karen M.; Prasad, Ratna; Shane Hutson, M.

2015-01-01

Abstract. Previous research showed that mid-infrared free-electron lasers could reproducibly ablate soft tissue with little collateral damage. The potential for surgical applications motivated searches for alternative tabletop lasers providing thermally confined pulses in the 6- to-7-μm wavelength range with sufficient pulse energy, stability, and reliability. Here, we evaluate a prototype Raman-shifted alexandrite laser. We measure ablation thresholds, etch rates, and collateral damage in gelatin and cornea as a function of laser wavelength (6.09, 6.27, or 6.43  μm), pulse energy (up to 3  mJ/pulse), and spot diameter (100 to 600  μm). We find modest wavelength dependence for ablation thresholds and collateral damage, with the lowest thresholds and least damage for 6.09  μm. We find a strong spot-size dependence for all metrics. When the beam is tightly focused (∼100-μm diameter), ablation requires more energy, is highly variable and less efficient, and can yield large zones of mechanical damage (for pulse energies >1  mJ). When the beam is softly focused (∼300-μm diameter), ablation proceeded at surgically relevant etch rates, with reasonable reproducibility (5% to 12% within a single sample), and little collateral damage. With improvements in pulse-energy stability, this prototype laser may have significant potential for soft-tissue surgical applications. PMID:26456553

Temperature-activity relationships in Meligethes aeneus: implications for pest management.

PubMed

Ferguson, Andrew W; Nevard, Lucy M; Clark, Suzanne J; Cook, Samantha M

2015-03-01

Pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus F.) management in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) has become an urgent issue in the light of insecticide resistance. Risk prediction advice has relied upon flight temperature thresholds, while risk assessment uses simple economic thresholds. However, there is variation in the reported temperature of migration, and economic thresholds vary widely across Europe, probably owing to climatic factors interacting with beetle activity and plant compensation for damage. The effect of temperature on flight, feeding and oviposition activity of M. aeneus was examined in controlled conditions. Escape from a release vial was taken as evidence of flight and was supported by video observations. The propensity to fly followed a sigmoid temperature-response curve between 6 and 23 °C; the 10, 25 and 50% flight temperature thresholds were 12.0-12.5 °C, 13.6-14.2 °C and 15.5-16.2 °C, respectively. Thresholds were slightly higher in the second of two flight bioassays, suggesting an effect of beetle age. Strong positive relationships were found between temperature (6-20 °C) and the rates of feeding and oviposition on flower buds of oilseed rape. These temperature relationships could be used to improve M. aeneus migration risk assessment, refine weather-based decision support systems and modulate damage thresholds according to rates of bud damage. © 2014 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Laser-induced damage threshold measurements of optical dielectric coatings at lambda = 1.06 micron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milev, I. Ia.; Dimov, S. S.; Terziev, D. V.; Iordanova, J. I.; Todorova, L. B.; Gelkova, A. B.

1991-10-01

The laser-induced damage thresholds for lambda = 1.06 micron of commercially available dielectric optical coatings, both antireflective and high reflectance, have been determined. The dependence of the optical coatings stability on design and selection of materials has been investigated. An improvement of the coatings durability by using nonquarterwave layers in addition to the basic design of the mirrors has been obtained. The choice of the coating materials is also discussed.

Corneal thermal damage threshold dependence on the exposure duration for near-infrared laser radiation at 1319 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jiarui; Jiao, Luguang; Chen, Hongxia; Yang, Zaifu; Hu, Xiangjun

2016-01-01

The corneal damage effects induced by 1319-nm transitional near-infrared laser have been investigated for years. However, the damage threshold dependence on exposure duration has not been revealed. The in vivo corneal damage thresholds (ED50s) were determined in New Zealand rabbits for 1319-nm laser radiation for exposure durations from 75 ms to 10 s. An additional corneal ED50 was determined at 1338 nm for a 5-ms exposure. The incident corneal irradiance diameter was fixed at 2 mm for all exposure conditions to avoid the influence of spot size on threshold. The ED50s given in terms of the corneal radiant exposure for exposure durations of 5 ms, 75 ms, 0.35 s, 2 s, and 10 s were 39.4, 51.5, 87.2, 156.3, and 311.1 J/cm2, respectively. The 39.4 J/cm2 was derived from the ED50 for 1338 nm (27.0 J/cm2). The ED50s for exposure durations of 75 ms to 10 s were correlated by a power law equation, ED50=128.9t0.36 in J/cm2, where t was the input in the unit of second, with correlation coefficient (R) of 0.997. Enough safe margins existed between the ED50s and the maximum permitted exposures from current laser safety standard.

Growth and characterization of Bis(L-threonine) copper (II) monohydrate single crystals: A semiorganic second order nonlinear optical material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subhashini, R.; Sathya, D.; Sivashankar, V.; Latha Mageshwari, P. S.; Arjunan, S.

2016-12-01

Highly transparent solitary nonlinear semiorganic optical material Bis(L-threonine) copper (II) monohydrate [BLTCM], was synthesized by a conventional slow evaporation solution growth technique. The grown crystals were subjected to structural, optical, electrical, thermal, mechanical, SHG and Laser damage threshold studies. Single crystal XRD shows that the material crystallizes in monoclinic system with noncentrosymmetric space group P21. FT-IR and FT-RAMAN analyses confirm the various functional groups present in the grown crystal. The transparency range of BLTCM was determined by UV-vis-NIR studies and various optical constants such as extinction coefficient (K), refractive index, optical conductivity and electric susceptibility with real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant were calculated using the transmittance data which have applications in optoelectronic devices. Dielectric studies of the crystal were carried out at different frequencies and temperatures to analyze the electrical properties. TGA and DSC analyses were performed to study the thermal behaviour of the sample. The hardness stability of the grown specimen was investigated by Vickers microhardness test. The output intensity of second harmonic generation was confirmed using the Kurtz and Perry powder method. The laser induced surface damage threshold of the crystal was measured using Nd:YAG laser.

Establishing storm thresholds for the Spanish Gulf of Cádiz coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Río, Laura; Plomaritis, Theocharis A.; Benavente, Javier; Valladares, María; Ribera, Pedro

2012-03-01

In this study critical thresholds are defined for storm impacts along the Spanish coast of the Gulf of Cádiz. The thresholds correspond to the minimum wave and tide conditions necessary to produce significant morphological changes on beaches and dunes and/or damage on coastal infrastructure or human occupation. Threshold definition was performed by computing theoretical sea-level variations during storms and comparing them with the topography of the study area and the location of infrastructure at a local level. Specifically, the elevations of the berm, the dune foot and the entrance of existing washovers were selected as threshold parameters. The total sea-level variation generated by a storm event was estimated as the sum of the tidal level, the wind-induced setup, the barometric setup and the wave-associated sea-level variation (wave setup and runup), assuming a minimum interaction between the different processes. These components were calculated on the basis of parameterisations for significant wave height (Hs) obtained for the oceanographic and environmental conditions of the Gulf of Cadiz. For this purpose real data and reanalysis time-series (HIPOCAS project) were used. Validation of the obtained results was performed for a range of coastal settings over the study area. The obtained thresholds for beach morphological changes in spring tide conditions range between a significant wave height of 1.5 m and 3.7 m depending on beach characteristics, while for dune foot erosion are around 3.3 to 3.7 m and for damage to infrastructure around 7.2 m. In case of neap tide conditions these values are increased on average by 50% over the areas with large tidal range. Furthermore, records of real damage in coastal infrastructure caused by storms were collected at a regional level from newspapers and other bibliographic sources and compared with the hydrodynamic conditions that caused the damage. These were extracted from the hindcast database of the HIPOCAS project, including parameters such as storm duration, mean and maximum wave height and wave direction. Results show that the duration of the storm is not critical in determining the occurrence of coastal damage in the regional study area. This way, the threshold would be defined as a duration ≥30 h, with moderate average wave height (≥3.3 m) and high maximum wave height (≥4.1 m) approaching from the 3rd and 4th quadrants, during mean or spring tide situation. The calculated thresholds constitute snapshots of risk conditions within a certain time framework. Beach and nearshore zones are extremely dynamic, and also the characteristics of occupation on the coast change over time, so critical storm thresholds will change accordingly and therefore will need to be updated.

Enhanced thermomechanical stability on laser-induced damage by functionally graded layers in quasi-rugate filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Yunti; Ma, Ping; Lv, Liang; Zhang, Mingxiao; Lu, Zhongwen; Qiao, Zhao; Qiu, Fuming

2018-05-01

Ta2O5-SiO2 quasi-rugate filters with a reasonable optimization of rugate notch filter design were prepared by ion-beam sputtering. The optical properties and laser-induced damage threshold are studied. Compared with the spectrum of HL-stacks, the spectrum of quasi-rugate filters have weaker second harmonic peaks and narrower stopbands. According to the effect of functionally graded layers (FGLs), 1-on-1 and S-on-1 Laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of quasi-rugate filters are about 22% and 50% higher than those of HL stacks, respectively. Through the analysis of the damage morphologies, laser-induced damage of films under nanosecond multi-pulse are dominated by a combination of thermal shock stress and thermomechanical instability due to nodules. Compared with catastrophic damages, the damage sits of quasi-rugate filters are developed in a moderate way. The damage growth behavior of defect-induced damage sites have been effectively restrained by the structure of FGLs. Generally, FGLs are used to reduce thermal stress by the similar thermal-expansion coefficients of neighboring layers and solve the problems such as instability and cracking raised by the interface discontinuity of nodular boundaries, respectively.

Synergistic erosion/corrosion of superalloys in PFB coal combustor effluent

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benford, S. M.; Zellars, G. R.; Lowell, C. E.

1981-01-01

Two Ni-based superalloys were exposed to the high velocity effluent of a pressurized fluidized bed coal combustor. Targets were 15 cm diameter rotors operating at 40,000 rpm and small flat plate specimens. Above an erosion rate threshold, the targets were eroded to bare metal. The presence of accelerated oxidation at lower erosion rates suggests erosion/corrosion synergism. Various mechanisms which may contribute to the observed oxide growth enhancement include erosive removal of protective oxide layers, oxide and subsurface cracking, and chemical interaction with sulfur in the gas and deposits through damaged surface layers.

Low-power triggered data acquisition system and method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Champaigne, Kevin (Inventor); Sumners, Jonathan (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A low-power triggered data acquisition system and method utilizes low-powered circuitry, comparators, and digital logic incorporated into a miniaturized device interfaced with self-generating transducer sensor inputs to detect, identify and assess impact and damage to surfaces and structures wherein, upon the occurrence of a triggering event that produces a signal greater than a set threshold changes the comparator output and causes the system to acquire and store digital data representative of the incoming waveform on at least one triggered channel. The sensors may be disposed in an array to provide triangulation and location of the impact.

Protective effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor on the noise-damaged cochlear spiral ganglion.

PubMed

Zhai, S-Q; Guo, W; Hu, Y-Y; Yu, N; Chen, Q; Wang, J-Z; Fan, M; Yang, W-Y

2011-05-01

To explore the protective effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor on the noise-damaged cochlear spiral ganglion. Recombinant adenovirus brain-derived neurotrophic factor vector, recombinant adenovirus LacZ and artificial perilymph were prepared. Guinea pigs with audiometric auditory brainstem response thresholds of more than 75 dB SPL, measured seven days after four hours of noise exposure at 135 dB SPL, were divided into three groups. Adenovirus brain-derived neurotrophic factor vector, adenovirus LacZ and perilymph were infused into the cochleae of the three groups, variously. Eight weeks later, the cochleae were stained immunohistochemically and the spiral ganglion cells counted. The auditory brainstem response threshold recorded before and seven days after noise exposure did not differ significantly between the three groups. However, eight weeks after cochlear perfusion, the group receiving brain-derived neurotrophic factor had a significantly decreased auditory brainstem response threshold and increased spiral ganglion cell count, compared with the adenovirus LacZ and perilymph groups. When administered via cochlear infusion following noise damage, brain-derived neurotrophic factor appears to improve the auditory threshold, and to have a protective effect on the spiral ganglion cells.

Surface cracking and melting of different tungsten grades under transient heat and particle loads in a magnetized coaxial plasma gun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kikuchi, Y.; Sakuma, I.; Iwamoto, D.; Kitagawa, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.; Ueda, Y.

2013-07-01

Surface damage of pure tungsten (W), W alloys with 2 wt.% tantalum (W-Ta) and vacuum plasma spray (VPS) W coating on a reduced activation material of ferritic steel (F82H) due to repetitive ELM-like pulsed (˜0.3 ms) deuterium plasma irradiation has been investigated by using a magnetized coaxial plasma gun. Surface cracks appeared on a pure W sample exposed to 10 plasma pulses of ˜0.3 MJ m-2, while a W-Ta sample did not show surface cracks with similar pulsed plasma irradiation. The energy density threshold for surface cracking was significantly increased by the existence of the alloying element of tantalum. No surface morphology change of a VPS W coated F82H sample was observed under 10 plasma pulses of ˜0.3 MJ m-2, although surface melting and cracks in the resolidification layer occurred at higher energy density of ˜0.9 MJ m-2. There was no indication of exfoliation of the W coating from the substrate of F82H after the pulsed plasma exposures.

ALD anti-reflection coatings at 1ω, 2ω, 3ω, and 4ω for high-power ns-laser application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hao; Jensen, Lars; Ma, Ping; Ristau, Detlev

2018-04-01

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) facilitates the deposition of coatings with precise thickness, high surface conformity, structural uniformity, and nodular-free structure, which are properties desired in high-power laser coatings. ALD was studied to produce uniform and stable Al2O3 and HfO2 single layers and was employed to produce anti-reflection coatings for the harmonics (1ω, 2ω, 3ω, and 4ω) of the Nd:YAG laser. In order to qualify the ALD films for high-power laser applications, the band gap energy, absorption, and element content of single layers were characterized. The damage tests of anti-reflection coatings were carried out with a laser system operated at 1ω, 2ω, 3ω, and 4ω, respectively. The damage mechanism was discussed by analyzing the damage morphology and electric field intensity difference. ALD coatings exhibit stable growth rates, low absorption, and rather high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT). The LIDT is limited by HfO2 as the employed high-index material. These properties indicate the high versatility of ALD films for applications in high-power coatings.

Cleaning of optical surfaces by excimer laser radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, K.; Wolff-Rottke, B.; Müller, F.

1996-04-01

The effect of particle removal from Al mirror surfaces by the influence of pulsed UV laser radiation has been studied. The investigations are closely related to the demands of astronomers, who are looking for a more effective way to clean future very large telescope (VLT) mirrors [1]. A systematic parameter study has been performed in order to determine the irradiation conditions which yield the highest dust removal efficiency (i.e. reflectivity increase) on contaminated samples. The particle removal rate increases with increasing laser fluence, being limited however by the damage threshold of the coating. Data indicate that on Al coated BK7 and Zerodur samples KrF laser radiation yields the optimum result, with cleaning efficiencies comparable to polymer film stripping. The initial reflectivity of the clean coating can nearly be restored, in particular when an additional solvent film on the sample surface is applied.

Laser-induced Hertzian fractures in silica initiated by metal micro-particles on the exit surface

DOE PAGES

Feigenbaum, Eyal; Raman, Rajesh N.; Cross, David; ...

2016-05-16

Laser-induced Hertzian fractures on the exit surface of silica glass are found to result from metal surface-bound micro particles. Two types of metal micro-spheres are studied (stainless-steel and Al) using ultraviolet laser light. The fracture initiation probability curve as a function of fluence is obtained, resulting in an initiation threshold fluence of 11.1 ± 4.7 J/cm 2 and 16.5 ± 4.5 J/cm 2 for the SS and Al particles, accordingly. The modified damage density curve is calculated based on the fracture probability. Here, the calculated momentum coupling coefficient linking incident laser fluence to the resulting plasma pressure is found tomore » be similar for both particles: 32.6 ± 15.4 KN/J and 28.1 ± 10.4 KN/J for the SS and Al cases accordingly.« less

Pro-oxidant Induced DNA Damage in Human Lymphoblastoid Cells: Homeostatic Mechanisms of Genotoxic Tolerance

PubMed Central

Seager, Anna L.

2012-01-01

Oxidative stress contributes to many disease etiologies including ageing, neurodegeneration, and cancer, partly through DNA damage induction (genotoxicity). Understanding the i nteractions of free radicals with DNA is fundamental to discern mutation risks. In genetic toxicology, regulatory authorities consider that most genotoxins exhibit a linear relationship between dose and mutagenic response. Yet, homeostatic mechanisms, including DNA repair, that allow cells to tolerate low levels of genotoxic exposure exist. Acceptance of thresholds for genotoxicity has widespread consequences in terms of understanding cancer risk and regulating human exposure to chemicals/drugs. Three pro-oxidant chemicals, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), potassium bromate (KBrO3), and menadione, were examined for low dose-response curves in human lymphoblastoid cells. DNA repair and antioxidant capacity were assessed as possible threshold mechanisms. H2O2 and KBrO3, but not menadione, exhibited thresholded responses, containing a range of nongenotoxic low doses. Levels of the DNA glycosylase 8-oxoguanine glycosylase were unchanged in response to pro- oxidant stress. DNA repair–focused gene expression arrays reported changes in ATM and BRCA1, involved in double-strand break repair, in response to low-dose pro-oxidant exposure; however, these alterations were not substantiated at the protein level. Determination of oxidatively induced DNA damage in H2O2-treated AHH-1 cells reported accumulation of thymine glycol above the genotoxic threshold. Further, the H2O2 dose-response curve was shifted by modulating the antioxidant glutathione. Hence, observed pro- oxidant thresholds were due to protective capacities of base excision repair enzymes and antioxidants against DNA damage, highlighting the importance of homeostatic mechanisms in “genotoxic tolerance.” PMID:22539617

The Limits to Adaptation: A Systems Approach

EPA Science Inventory

The ability to adapt to climate change is delineated by capacity thresholds, after which climate damages begin to overwhelm the adaptation response. Such thresholds depend upon physical properties (natural processes and engineering parameters), resource constraints (expressed th...

Finite element model of thermal processes in retinal photocoagulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sramek, Christopher; Paulus, Yannis M.; Nomoto, Hiroyuki; Huie, Phil; Palanker, Daniel

2009-02-01

Short duration (< 20 ms) pulses are desirable in patterned scanning laser photocoagulation to confine thermal damage to the photoreceptor layer, decrease overall treatment time and reduce pain. However, short exposures have a smaller therapeutic window (defined as the ratio of rupture threshold power to that of light coagulation). We have constructed a finite-element computational model of retinal photocoagulation to predict spatial damage and improve the therapeutic window. Model parameters were inferred from experimentally measured absorption characteristics of ocular tissues, as well as the thresholds of vaporization, coagulation, and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) damage. Calculated lesion diameters showed good agreement with histological measurements over a wide range of pulse durations and powers.

Optical damage testing at the Z-Backlighter facility at Sandia National Laboratories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimmel, Mark; Rambo, Patrick; Broyles, Robin; Geissel, Matthias; Schwarz, Jens; Bellum, John; Atherton, Briggs

2009-10-01

To enable laser-based radiography of high energy density physics events on the Z-Accelerator[4,5] at Sandia National Laboratories, a facility known as the Z-Backlighter has been developed. Two Nd:Phosphate glass lasers are used to create x-rays and/or proton beams capable of this radiographic diagnosis: Z-Beamlet (a multi-kilojoule laser operating at 527nm in a few nanoseconds) and Z-Petawatt (a several hundred joule laser operating at 1054nm in the subpicosecond regime) [1,2]. At the energy densities used in these systems, it is necessary to use high damage threshold optical materials, some of which are poorly characterized (especially for the sub-picosecond pulse). For example, Sandia has developed a meter-class dielectric coating capability for system optics. Damage testing can be performed by external facilities for nanosecond 532nm pulses, measuring high reflector coating damage thresholds >80J/cm2 and antireflection coating damage thresholds >20J/cm2 [3]. However, available external testing capabilities do not use femtosecond/picosecond scale laser pulses. To this end, we have constructed a sub-picoseond-laser-based optical damage test system. The damage tester system also allows for testing in a vacuum vessel, which is relevant since many optics in the Z-Backlighter system are used in vacuum. This paper will present the results of laser induced damage testing performed in both atmosphere and in vacuum, with 1054nm sub-picosecond laser pulses. Optical materials/coatings discussed are: bare fused silica and protected gold used for benchmarking; BK7; Zerodur; protected silver; and dielectric optical coatings (halfnia/silica layer pairs) produced by Sandia's in-house meter-class coating capability.

Comparison of skin barrier function and sensory nerve electric current perception threshold between IgE-high extrinsic and IgE-normal intrinsic types of atopic dermatitis.

PubMed

Mori, T; Ishida, K; Mukumoto, S; Yamada, Y; Imokawa, G; Kabashima, K; Kobayashi, M; Bito, T; Nakamura, M; Ogasawara, K; Tokura, Y

2010-01-01

Background Two types of atopic dermatitis (AD) have been proposed, with different pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this seemingly heterogeneous disorder. The extrinsic type shows high IgE levels presumably as a consequence of skin barrier damage and feasible allergen permeation, whereas the intrinsic type exhibits normal IgE levels and is not mediated by allergen-specific IgE. Objectives To investigate the relationship between pruritus perception threshold and skin barrier function of patients with AD in a comparison between the extrinsic and intrinsic types. Methods Enrolled in this study were 32 patients with extrinsic AD, 17 with intrinsic AD and 24 healthy individuals. The barrier function of the stratum corneum was assessed by skin surface hydration and transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and pruritus perception was evaluated by the electric current perception threshold (CPT) of sensory nerves upon neuroselective transcutaneous electric stimulation. Results Skin surface hydration was significantly lower and TEWL was significantly higher in extrinsic AD than intrinsic AD or normal controls. Although there was no statistically significant difference in CPT among extrinsic AD, intrinsic AD and normal controls, CPT was significantly correlated with skin surface hydration and inversely with TEWL in intrinsic AD and normal controls, but not extrinsic AD. Finally, CPT was correlated with the visual analogue scale of itch in the nonlesional skin of patients with extrinsic but not intrinsic AD. Conclusions Patients with extrinsic AD have an impaired barrier, which increases the pre-existing pruritus but rather decreases sensitivity to external stimuli. In contrast, patients with intrinsic AD retain a normal barrier function and sensory reactivity to external pruritic stimuli.

Measuring single-shot, picosecond optical damage threshold in Ge, Si, and sapphire with a 5.1-μm laser

DOE PAGES

Agustsson, R.; Pogorelsky, I.; Arab, E.; ...

2015-11-18

Optical photonic structures driven by picosecond, GW-class lasers are emerging as promising novel sources of electron beams and high quality X-rays. Due to quadratic dependence on wavelength of the laser ponderomotive potential, the performance of such sources scales very favorably towards longer drive laser wavelengths. However, to take full advantage of photonic structures at mid-IR spectral region, it is important to determine optical breakdown limits of common optical materials. To this end, an experimental study was carried out at a wavelength of 5 µm, using a frequency-doubled CO 2 laser source, with 5 ps pulse length. Single-shot optical breakdowns weremore » detected and characterized at different laser intensities, and damage threshold values of 0.2, 0.3, and 7.0 J/cm 2, were established for Ge, Si, and sapphire, respectively. As a result, the measured damage threshold values were stable and repeatable within individual data sets, and across varying experimental conditions.« less

Measuring single-shot, picosecond optical damage threshold in Ge, Si, and sapphire with a 5.1-μm laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agustsson, R.; Pogorelsky, I.; Arab, E.

Optical photonic structures driven by picosecond, GW-class lasers are emerging as promising novel sources of electron beams and high quality X-rays. Due to quadratic dependence on wavelength of the laser ponderomotive potential, the performance of such sources scales very favorably towards longer drive laser wavelengths. However, to take full advantage of photonic structures at mid-IR spectral region, it is important to determine optical breakdown limits of common optical materials. To this end, an experimental study was carried out at a wavelength of 5 µm, using a frequency-doubled CO 2 laser source, with 5 ps pulse length. Single-shot optical breakdowns weremore » detected and characterized at different laser intensities, and damage threshold values of 0.2, 0.3, and 7.0 J/cm 2, were established for Ge, Si, and sapphire, respectively. As a result, the measured damage threshold values were stable and repeatable within individual data sets, and across varying experimental conditions.« less

Test and Analysis of Foam Impacting a 6x6 Inch RCC Flat Panel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lessard, Wendy B.

2006-01-01

This report presents the testing and analyses of a foam projectile impacting onto thirteen 6x6 inch flat panels at a 90 degrees incidence angle. The panels tested in this investigation were fabricated of Reinforced-Carbon-Carbon material and were used to aid in the validation of an existing material model, MAT58. The computational analyses were performed using LS-DYNA, which is a physics-based, nonlinear, transient, finite element code used for analyzing material responses subjected to high impact forces and other dynamic conditions. The test results were used to validate LS-DYNA predictions and to determine the threshold of damage generated by the MAT58 cumulative damage material model. The threshold of damage parameter represents any external or internal visible RCC damage detectable by nondestructive evaluation techniques.

The Limits to Adaptation; A Systems Approach

EPA Science Inventory

The Limits to Adaptation: A Systems Approach. The ability to adapt to climate change is delineated by capacity thresholds, after which climate damages begin to overwhelm the adaptation response. Such thresholds depend upon physical properties (natural processes and engineering...

Glancing-angle-deposited magnesium oxide films for high-fluence applications

DOE PAGES

Oliver, J. B.; Smith, C.; Spaulding, J.; ...

2016-06-15

Here, Birefringent magnesium oxide thin films are formed by glancing angle deposition to perform as quarter-wave plates at a wavelength of 351 nm. These films are being developed to fabricate a large aperture distributed-polarization rotator for use in vacuum, with an ultimate laser-damage–threshold goal of up to 12 J/cm 2 for a 5-ns flat-in-time pulse. The laser-damage threshold, ease of deposition, and optical film properties are evaluated. While the measured large-area laser-damage threshold is limited to ~4 J/cm 2 in vacuum, initial results based on small-spot testing in air (>20 J/cm 2) suggest MgO may be suitable with further processmore » development.« less

Lowered threshold energy for femtosecond laser induced optical breakdown in a water based eye model by aberration correction with adaptive optics.

PubMed

Hansen, Anja; Géneaux, Romain; Günther, Axel; Krüger, Alexander; Ripken, Tammo

2013-06-01

In femtosecond laser ophthalmic surgery tissue dissection is achieved by photodisruption based on laser induced optical breakdown. In order to minimize collateral damage to the eye laser surgery systems should be optimized towards the lowest possible energy threshold for photodisruption. However, optical aberrations of the eye and the laser system distort the irradiance distribution from an ideal profile which causes a rise in breakdown threshold energy even if great care is taken to minimize the aberrations of the system during design and alignment. In this study we used a water chamber with an achromatic focusing lens and a scattering sample as eye model and determined breakdown threshold in single pulse plasma transmission loss measurements. Due to aberrations, the precise lower limit for breakdown threshold irradiance in water is still unknown. Here we show that the threshold energy can be substantially reduced when using adaptive optics to improve the irradiance distribution by spatial beam shaping. We found that for initial aberrations with a root-mean-square wave front error of only one third of the wavelength the threshold energy can still be reduced by a factor of three if the aberrations are corrected to the diffraction limit by adaptive optics. The transmitted pulse energy is reduced by 17% at twice the threshold. Furthermore, the gas bubble motions after breakdown for pulse trains at 5 kilohertz repetition rate show a more transverse direction in the corrected case compared to the more spherical distribution without correction. Our results demonstrate how both applied and transmitted pulse energy could be reduced during ophthalmic surgery when correcting for aberrations. As a consequence, the risk of retinal damage by transmitted energy and the extent of collateral damage to the focal volume could be minimized accordingly when using adaptive optics in fs-laser surgery.

Lowered threshold energy for femtosecond laser induced optical breakdown in a water based eye model by aberration correction with adaptive optics

PubMed Central

Hansen, Anja; Géneaux, Romain; Günther, Axel; Krüger, Alexander; Ripken, Tammo

2013-01-01

In femtosecond laser ophthalmic surgery tissue dissection is achieved by photodisruption based on laser induced optical breakdown. In order to minimize collateral damage to the eye laser surgery systems should be optimized towards the lowest possible energy threshold for photodisruption. However, optical aberrations of the eye and the laser system distort the irradiance distribution from an ideal profile which causes a rise in breakdown threshold energy even if great care is taken to minimize the aberrations of the system during design and alignment. In this study we used a water chamber with an achromatic focusing lens and a scattering sample as eye model and determined breakdown threshold in single pulse plasma transmission loss measurements. Due to aberrations, the precise lower limit for breakdown threshold irradiance in water is still unknown. Here we show that the threshold energy can be substantially reduced when using adaptive optics to improve the irradiance distribution by spatial beam shaping. We found that for initial aberrations with a root-mean-square wave front error of only one third of the wavelength the threshold energy can still be reduced by a factor of three if the aberrations are corrected to the diffraction limit by adaptive optics. The transmitted pulse energy is reduced by 17% at twice the threshold. Furthermore, the gas bubble motions after breakdown for pulse trains at 5 kilohertz repetition rate show a more transverse direction in the corrected case compared to the more spherical distribution without correction. Our results demonstrate how both applied and transmitted pulse energy could be reduced during ophthalmic surgery when correcting for aberrations. As a consequence, the risk of retinal damage by transmitted energy and the extent of collateral damage to the focal volume could be minimized accordingly when using adaptive optics in fs-laser surgery. PMID:23761849

Steroid treatment of posttraumatic anosmia.

PubMed

Jiang, Rong-San; Wu, Shang-Heng; Liang, Kai-Li; Shiao, Jiun-Yih; Hsin, Chung-Han; Su, Mao-Chang

2010-10-01

The objective of this study was to treat posttraumatic anosmia with oral steroid and evaluate its effect. One-hundred sixteen posttraumatic patients whose olfactory thresholds were -1.0 by the phenyl ethyl alcohol threshold test assembled in our department. They were treated with a course of high-dose steroid, and followed up for at least 3 months. During the latter period of this study, magnetic resonance imaging was performed to measure the volumes of olfactory bulbs and to detect subfrontal lobe damage. Among them, 19 (16.4%) patients' olfactory thresholds improved after steroid treatment, but the other 97 patients' thresholds did not change. The incidences of loss of consciousness and intracranial hemorrhage after head injury, the ratios of admission and craniotomy, the intervals between head injury and steroid treatment, the volumes of olfactory bulbs, and the incidences of subfrontal lobe damage were not significantly different between patients whose thresholds improved and those whose thresholds did not improve. However, patients with olfactory improvement were significantly younger than those who remained unchanged. Our study showed that oral steroid treatment might improve olfactory acuity in some patients with posttraumatic anosmia, but the possibility of spontaneous recovery cannot be ruled out.

Development, characterization, and modeling of ballistic impact on composite laminates under compressive pre-stress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerr-Anderson, Eric

Structural composite laminates were ballistically impacted while under in-plane compressive pre-stress. Residual properties, damage characterization, and energy absorption were compared to determine synergistic effects of in-plane compressive pre-stress and impact velocity. A fixture was developed to apply in-plane compressive loads up to 30 tons to structural composites during an impact event using a single-stage light-gas gun. Observed failure modes included typical conical delamination, the development of an impact initiated shear crack (IISC), and the shear failure of a pre-stressed composite due to impact. It was observed that the compressive failure threshold quadratically decreased in relation to the impact velocity up to velocities that caused partial penetration. For all laminates impacted at velocities causing partial or full penetration up to 350 ms-1, the failure threshold was consistent and used as an experimental normalization. Samples impacted below 65% of the failure threshold witnessed no significant change in damage morphology or residual properties when compared to typical conical delamination. Samples impacted above 65% of the failure threshold witnessed additional damage in the form of a shear crack extending perpendicular to the applied load from the point of impact. The presence of an IISC reduced the residual properties and even caused failure upon impact at extreme combinations. Four failure envelopes have been established as: transient failure, steady state failure, impact initiated shear crack, and conical damage. Boundaries and empirically based equations for residual compressive strength have been developed for each envelope with relation to two E-glass/vinyl ester laminate systems. Many aspects of pre-stressed impact have been individually examined, but there have been no comprehensive examinations of pre-stressed impact. This research has resulted in the exploration and characterization of compressively pre-stressed damage for impact velocities resulting in reflection, partial penetration, and penetration at pre-stress levels resulting in conical damage, shear cracking, and failure.

Damage Propagation Modeling for Aircraft Engine Prognostics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saxena, Abhinav; Goebel, Kai; Simon, Don; Eklund, Neil

2008-01-01

This paper describes how damage propagation can be modeled within the modules of aircraft gas turbine engines. To that end, response surfaces of all sensors are generated via a thermo-dynamical simulation model for the engine as a function of variations of flow and efficiency of the modules of interest. An exponential rate of change for flow and efficiency loss was imposed for each data set, starting at a randomly chosen initial deterioration set point. The rate of change of the flow and efficiency denotes an otherwise unspecified fault with increasingly worsening effect. The rates of change of the faults were constrained to an upper threshold but were otherwise chosen randomly. Damage propagation was allowed to continue until a failure criterion was reached. A health index was defined as the minimum of several superimposed operational margins at any given time instant and the failure criterion is reached when health index reaches zero. Output of the model was the time series (cycles) of sensed measurements typically available from aircraft gas turbine engines. The data generated were used as challenge data for the Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) data competition at PHM 08.

A Stability Analysis for a Hydrodynamic Three-Wave Journal Bearing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ene, Nicoleta M.; Dimofte, Florin; Keith, Theo G., Jr.

2007-01-01

The influence of the wave amplitude and oil supply pressure on the dynamic behavior of a hydrodynamic three-wave journal bearing is presented. Both, a transient and a small perturbation technique, were used to predict the threshold to fractional frequency whirl (FFW). In addition, the behavior of the rotor after FFW appeared was determined from the transient analysis. The turbulent effects were also included in the computations. Bearings having a diameter of 30 mm, a length of 27.5 mm, and a clearance of 35 microns were analyzed. Numerical results were compared to experimental results obtained at the NASA GRC. Numerical and experimental results showed that the above-mentioned wave bearing with a wave amplitude ratio of 0.305 operates stably at rotational speeds up to 60,000 rpm, regardless of the oil supply pressure. For smaller wave amplitude ratios, a threshold of stability was found. It was observed that the threshold of stability for lower wave amplitude strongly depends on the oil supply pressure and on the wave amplitude. When the FFW occurs, the journal center maintains its trajectory inside the bearing clearance and therefore the rotor can be run safely without damaging the bearing surfaces.

Design and comparison of laser windows for high-power lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Yanxiong; Liu, Wenwen; Liu, Haixia; Wang, Caili; Niu, Haisha; Man, Da

2014-11-01

High-power laser systems are getting more and more widely used in industry and military affairs. It is necessary to develop a high-power laser system which can operate over long periods of time without appreciable degradation in performance. When a high-energy laser beam transmits through a laser window, it is possible that the permanent damage is caused to the window because of the energy absorption by window materials. So, when we design a high-power laser system, a suitable laser window material must be selected and the laser damage threshold of the window must be known. In this paper, a thermal analysis model of high-power laser window is established, and the relationship between the laser intensity and the thermal-stress field distribution is studied by deducing the formulas through utilizing the integral-transform method. The influence of window radius, thickness and laser intensity on the temperature and stress field distributions is analyzed. Then, the performance of K9 glass and the fused silica glass is compared, and the laser-induced damage mechanism is analyzed. Finally, the damage thresholds of laser windows are calculated. The results show that compared with K9 glass, the fused silica glass has a higher damage threshold due to its good thermodynamic properties. The presented theoretical analysis and simulation results are helpful for the design and selection of high-power laser windows.

Understanding Femtosecond-Pulse Laser Damage through Fundamental Physics Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, Robert A., III

It did not take long after the invention of the laser for the field of laser damage to appear. For several decades researchers have been studying how lasers damage materials, both for the basic scientific understanding of highly nonequilibrium processes as well as for industrial applications. Femtosecond pulse lasers create little collateral damage and a readily reproducible damage pattern. They are easily tailored to desired specifications and are particularly powerful and versatile tools, contributing even more industrial interest in the field. As with most long-standing fields of research, many theoretical tools have been developed to model the laser damage process, covering a wide range of complexities and regimes of applicability. However, most of the modeling methods developed are either too limited in spatial extent to model the full morphology of the damage crater, or incorporate only a small subset of the important physics and require numerous fitting parameters and assumptions in order to match values interpolated from experimental data. Demonstrated in this work is the first simulation method capable of fundamentally modeling the full laser damage process, from the laser interaction all the way through to the resolidification of the target, on a large enough scale that can capture the full morphology of the laser damage crater so as to be compared directly to experimental measurements instead of extrapolated values, and all without any fitting parameters. The design, implementation, and testing of this simulation technique, based on a modified version of the particle-in-cell (PIC) method, is presented. For a 60 fs, 1 mum wavelength laser pulse with fluences of 0.5 J/cm 2, 1.0 J/cm2, and 2.0 J/cm2 the resulting laser damage craters in copper are shown and, using the same technique applied to experimental crater morphologies, a laser damage fluence threshold is calculated of 0.15 J/cm2, consistent with current experiments performed under conditions similar to those in the simulation. Lastly, this method is applied to the phenomenon known as LIPSS, or Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures; a problem of fundamental importance that is also of great interest for industrial applications. While LIPSS have been observed for decades in laser damage experiments, the exact physical mechanisms leading to the periodic corrugation on the surface of a target have been highly debated, with no general consensus. Applying this technique to a situation known to create LIPSS in a single shot, the generation of this periodicity is observed, the wavelength of the damage is consistent with experimental measures and, due to the fundamental nature of the simulation method, the physical mechanisms behind LIPSS are examined. The mechanism behind LIPSS formation in the studied regime is shown to be the formation of and interference with an evanescent surface electromagnetic wave known as a surface plasmon-polariton. This shows that not only can this simulation technique model a basic laser damage situation, but it is also flexible and powerful enough to be applied to complex areas of research, allowing for new physical insight in regimes that are difficult to probe experimentally.

Evaluating the thermal damage resistance of graphene/carbon nanotube hybrid composite coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, L.; Feldman, A.; Mansfield, E.; Lehman, J.; Singh, G.

2014-03-01

We study laser irradiation behavior of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and chemically modified graphene (rGO)-composite spray coatings for use as a thermal absorber material for high-power laser calorimeters. Spray coatings on aluminum test coupon were exposed to increasing laser irradiance for extended exposure times to quantify their damage threshold and optical absorbance. The coatings, prepared at varying mass % of MWCNTs in rGO, demonstrated significantly higher damage threshold values at 2.5 kW laser power at 10.6 μm wavelength than carbon paint or MWCNTs alone. Electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy of irradiated specimens show that the coating prepared at 50% CNT loading endure at least 2 kW.cm-2 for 10 seconds without significant damage. The improved damage resistance is attributed to the unique structure of the composite in which the MWCNTs act as an efficient absorber of laser light while the much larger rGO sheets surrounding them, dissipate the heat over a wider area.

Therapeutic effect of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated ADNF-9 expression on cochlea of kanamycin-deafened guinea pigs.

PubMed

Zheng, Guoxi; Zhu, Zhu; Zhu, Kang; Wei, Junrong; Jing, Yang; Duan, Maoli

2013-10-01

rAAV-NT4-ADNF-9 could ameliorate the damage to auditory function and repair previous impairment of cochlear hair cell loss induced by kanamycin. To investigate the therapeutic effect of ADNF-9 on cochlear hair cells using the recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) carrying fusion gene NT4-ADNF-9 and the kanamycin-deafened guinea pig model. Forty white guinea pigs with normal auricle reflex and normal auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) were randomly divided into four groups. Kanamycin was administered to the animals in groups A, B, and C to establish the deafened guinea pig model. rAAV-NT4-ADNF-9, vector only, and artificial perilymph were then delivered to the cochlear tissue of animals in groups A, B, and C, respectively, through the round window membrane. Animals in group D did not receive any treatment and acted as normal controls. The hearing thresholds on the surgery side were recorded before and after the transfection treatment. Fourteen days after treatment, cochleae were removed for paraffin slide preparation and cochlear surface preparation. A phase contrast microscope was used to observe the protective effect of ADNF-9 on hair cells. Significant reduction of the ABR threshold was observed after rAAV-NT4-ADNF-9 treatment (p < 0.05). After 14 days of treatment, the ABR threshold was also significantly different between the rAAV-NT4-ADNF-9-infected group and the non-infected group. Moreover, phase contrast microscopy showed significantly less hair cell damage or hair cell loss in the group treated with rAAV-NT4-ADNF-9 than in the groups treated with vector only or artificial perilymph (p < 0.05).

High-order-harmonic generation from Rydberg atoms driven by plasmon-enhanced laser fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tikman, Y.; Yavuz, I.; Ciappina, M. F.; Chacón, A.; Altun, Z.; Lewenstein, M.

2016-02-01

We theoretically investigate high-order-harmonic generation (HHG) in Rydberg atoms driven by spatially inhomogeneous laser fields, induced, for instance, by plasmonic enhancement. It is well known that the laser intensity should exceed a certain threshold in order to stimulate HHG when noble gas atoms in their ground state are used as an active medium. One way to enhance the coherent light coming from a conventional laser oscillator is to take advantage of the amplification obtained by the so-called surface plasmon polaritons, created when a low-intensity laser field is focused onto a metallic nanostructure. The main limitation of this scheme is the low damage threshold of the materials employed in the nanostructure engineering. In this work we propose the use of Rydberg atoms, driven by spatially inhomogeneous, plasmon-enhanced laser fields, for HHG. We exhaustively discuss the behavior and efficiency of these systems in the generation of coherent harmonic emission. Toward this aim we numerically solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for an atom, with an electron initially in a highly excited n th Rydberg state, located in the vicinity of a metallic nanostructure. In this zone the electric field changes spatially on scales relevant for the dynamics of the laser-ionized electron. We first use a one-dimensional model to investigate systematically the phenomena. We then employ a more realistic situation, in which the interaction of a plasmon-enhanced laser field with a three-dimensional hydrogen atom is modeled. We discuss the scaling of the relevant input parameters with the principal quantum number n of the Rydberg state in question and demonstrate that harmonic emission can be achieved from Rydberg atoms well below the damage threshold, thus without deterioration of the geometry and properties of the metallic nanostructure.

Effect of Microscopic Damage Events on Static and Ballistic Impact Strength of Triaxial Braid Composites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Littell, Justin D.; Binienda, Wieslaw K.; Arnold, William A.; Roberts, Gary d.; Goldberg, Robert K.

2008-01-01

In previous work, the ballistic impact resistance of triaxial braided carbon/epoxy composites made with large flat tows (12k and 24k) was examined by impacting 2 X2 X0.125" composite panels with gelatin projectiles. Several high strength, intermediate modulus carbon fibers were used in combination with both untoughened and toughened matrix materials. A wide range of penetration thresholds were measured for the various fiber/matrix combinations. However, there was no clear relationship between the penetration threshold and the properties of the constituents. During some of these experiments high speed cameras were used to view the failure process, and full-field strain measurements were made to determine the strain at the onset of failure. However, these experiments provided only limited insight into the microscopic failure processes responsible for the wide range of impact resistance observed. In order to investigate potential microscopic failure processes in more detail, quasi-static tests were performed in tension, compression, and shear. Full-field strain measurement techniques were used to identify local regions of high strain resulting from microscopic failures. Microscopic failure events near the specimen surface, such as splitting of fiber bundles in surface plies, were easily identified. Subsurface damage, such as fiber fracture or fiber bundle splitting, could be identified by its effect on in-plane surface strains. Subsurface delamination could be detected as an out-of-plane deflection at the surface. Using this data, failure criteria could be established at the fiber tow level for use in analysis. An analytical formulation was developed to allow the microscopic failure criteria to be used in place of macroscopic properties as input to simulations performed using the commercial explicit finite element code, LS-DYNA. The test methods developed to investigate microscopic failure will be presented along with methods for determining local failure criteria that can be used in analysis. Results of simulations performed using LS-DYNA will be presented to illustrate the capabilities and limitations for simulating failure during quasi-static deformation and during ballistic impact of large unit cell size triaxial braid composites.

New Energy-Dependent Soft X-Rav Damage In MOS Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Tung-Yi; Gaw, Henry; Seligson, Daniel; Pan, Lawrence; King, Paul L.; Pianetta, Piero

1988-06-01

An energy-dependent soft x-ray-induced device damage has been discovered in MOS devices fabricated using standard CMOS process. MOS devices were irradiated by monochromatic x-rays in energy range just above and below the silicon K-edge (1.84 keV). Photons below the K-edge is found to create more damage in the oxide and oxide/silicon interface than photons above the K-edge. This energy-dependent damage effect is believed to be due to charge traps generated during device fabrication. It is found that data for both n- and p-type devices lie along a universal curve if normalized threshold voltage shifts are plotted against absorbed dose in the oxide. The threshold voltage shift saturates when the absorbed dose in the oxide exceeds 1.4X105 mJ/cm3, corresponding to 6 Mrad in the oxide. Using isochronal anneals, the trapped charge damage is found to recover with an activation energy of 0.38 eV. A discrete radiation-induced damage state appears in the low frequency C-V curve in a temperature range from 1750C to 325°C.

Development of High Level Electrical Stress Failure Threshold and Prediction Model for Small Scale Junction Integrated Circuits

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-09-01

AWACS EMP Guidelines presents two different models to predict the damage pcwer of the dev-ce and the circuit damage EMP voltage ( VEMP ). Neither of...calculated as K P~ I V BD 6. The damage EMP voltage ( VEMP ) is calculated KZ EMP +IZ =D +BD VBD1F 7. The damage EMP voltage is calculated for collector

Computational model of retinal photocoagulation and rupture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sramek, Christopher; Paulus, Yannis M.; Nomoto, Hiroyuki; Huie, Phil; Palanker, Daniel

2009-02-01

In patterned scanning laser photocoagulation, shorter duration (< 20 ms) pulses help reduce thermal damage beyond the photoreceptor layer, decrease treatment time and minimize pain. However, safe therapeutic window (defined as the ratio of rupture threshold power to that of light coagulation) decreases for shorter exposures. To quantify the extent of thermal damage in the retina, and maximize the therapeutic window, we developed a computational model of retinal photocoagulation and rupture. Model parameters were adjusted to match measured thresholds of vaporization, coagulation, and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) damage. Computed lesion width agreed with histological measurements in a wide range of pulse durations and power. Application of ring-shaped beam profile was predicted to double the therapeutic window width for exposures in the range of 1 - 10 ms.

Visible lesion laser thresholds in Cynomolgus (Macaca fascicularis) retina with a 1064 nm 12-ns pulsed laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliver, Jeffrey W.; Stolarski, David J.; Noojin, Gary D.; Hodnett, Harvey M.; Imholte, Michelle L.; Rockwell, Benjamin A.; Kumru, Semih S.

2007-02-01

A series of experiments in a new animal model for retinal damage, cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), have been conducted to determine the damage threshold for 12.5-nanosecond laser exposures at 1064 nm. These results provide a direct comparison to threshold values obtained in rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), which is the model historically used in establishing retinal maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limits. In this study, the irradiance level of a collimated Gaussian laser beam of 2.5 mm diameter at the cornea was randomly varied to produce a rectangular grid of exposures on the retina. Exposures sites were fundoscopically evaluated at post-irradiance intervals of 1 hour and 24 hours. Probit analysis was performed on dose-response data to obtain probability of response curves. The 50% probability of damage (ED50) values for 1 and 24 hours post-exposure are 28.5(22.7-38.4) μJ and 17.0(12.9-21.8) μJ, respectively. These values compare favorably to data obtained with the rhesus model, 28.7(22.3-39.3) μJ and 19.1(13.6-24.4) μJ, suggesting that the cynomolgus monkey may be a suitable replacement for rhesus monkey in photoacoustic minimum visible lesion threshold studies.

Wavelength dependence of ocular damage thresholds in the near-ir to far-ir transition region: proposed revisions to MPES.

PubMed

Zuclich, Joseph A; Lund, David J; Stuck, Bruce E

2007-01-01

This report summarizes the results of a series of infrared (IR) laser-induced ocular damage studies conducted over the past decade. The studies examined retinal, lens, and corneal effects of laser exposures in the near-IR to far-IR transition region (wavelengths from 1.3-1.4 mum with exposure durations ranging from Q-switched to continuous wave). The corneal and retinal damage thresholds are tabulated for all pulsewidth regimes, and the wavelength dependence of the IR thresholds is discussed and contrasted to laser safety standard maximum permissible exposure limits. The analysis suggests that the current maximum permissible exposure limits could be beneficially revised to (1) relax the IR limits over wavelength ranges where unusually high safety margins may unintentionally hinder applications of recently developed military and telecommunications laser systems; (2) replace step-function discontinuities in the IR limits by continuously varying analytical functions of wavelength and pulsewidth which more closely follow the trends of the experimental retinal (for point-source laser exposures) and corneal ED50 threshold data; and (3) result in an overall simplification of the permissible exposure limits over the wavelength range from 1.2-2.6 mum. A specific proposal for amending the IR maximum permissible exposure limits over this wavelength range is presented.

Cellular mechanisms of noise-induced hearing loss.

PubMed

Kurabi, Arwa; Keithley, Elizabeth M; Housley, Gary D; Ryan, Allen F; Wong, Ann C-Y

2017-06-01

Exposure to intense sound or noise can result in purely temporary threshold shift (TTS), or leave a residual permanent threshold shift (PTS) along with alterations in growth functions of auditory nerve output. Recent research has revealed a number of mechanisms that contribute to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). The principle cause of NIHL is damage to cochlear hair cells and associated synaptopathy. Contributions to TTS include reversible damage to hair cell (HC) stereocilia or synapses, while moderate TTS reflects protective purinergic hearing adaptation. PTS represents permanent damage to or loss of HCs and synapses. While the substrates of HC damage are complex, they include the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and the active stimulation of intracellular stress pathways, leading to programmed and/or necrotic cell death. Permanent damage to cochlear neurons can also contribute to the effects of NIHL, in addition to HC damage. These mechanisms have translational potential for pharmacological intervention and provide multiple opportunities to prevent HC damage or to rescue HCs and spiral ganglion neurons that have suffered injury. This paper reviews advances in our understanding of cellular mechanisms that contribute to NIHL and their potential for therapeutic manipulation. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Dose-rate-dependent damage of cerium dioxide in the scanning transmission electron microscope.

PubMed

Johnston-Peck, Aaron C; DuChene, Joseph S; Roberts, Alan D; Wei, Wei David; Herzing, Andrew A

2016-11-01

Beam damage caused by energetic electrons in the transmission electron microscope is a fundamental constraint limiting the collection of artifact-free information. Through understanding the influence of the electron beam, experimental routines may be adjusted to improve the data collection process. Investigations of CeO 2 indicate that there is not a critical dose required for the accumulation of electron beam damage. Instead, measurements using annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy demonstrate that the onset of measurable damage occurs when a critical dose rate is exceeded. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is that oxygen vacancies created by exposure to a 300keV electron beam are actively annihilated as the sample re-oxidizes in the microscope environment. As a result, only when the rate of vacancy creation exceeds the recovery rate will beam damage begin to accumulate. This observation suggests that dose-intensive experiments can be accomplished without disrupting the native structure of the sample when executed using dose rates below the appropriate threshold. Furthermore, the presence of an encapsulating carbonaceous layer inhibits processes that cause beam damage, markedly increasing the dose rate threshold for the accumulation of damage. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Dose-rate-dependent damage of cerium dioxide in the scanning transmission electron microscope

PubMed Central

Johnston-Peck, Aaron C.; DuChene, Joseph S.; Roberts, Alan D.; Wei, Wei David; Herzing, Andrew A.

2016-01-01

Beam damage caused by energetic electrons in the transmission electron microscope is a fundamental constraint limiting the collection of artifact-free information. Through understanding the influence of the electron beam, experimental routines may be adjusted to improve the data collection process. Investigations of CeO2 indicate that there is not a critical dose required for the accumulation of electron beam damage. Instead, measurements using annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy demonstrate that the onset of measurable damage occurs when a critical dose rate is exceeded. The mechanism behind this phenomenon is that oxygen vacancies created by exposure to a 300 keV electron beam are actively annihilated as the sample re-oxidizes in the microscope environment. As a result, only when the rate of vacancy creation exceeds the recovery rate will beam damage begin to accumulate. This observation suggests that dose-intensive experiments can be accomplished without disrupting the native structure of the sample when executed using dose rates below the appropriate threshold. Furthermore, the presence of an encapsulating carbonaceous layer inhibits processes that cause beam damage, markedly increasing the dose rate threshold for the accumulation of damage. PMID:27469265

Comparison between 355 nm and 1064 nm damage of high grade dielectric mirror coatings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bodemann, A.; Kaiser, N.

1996-12-31

Advanced reactive e-beam evaporation process was used to deposit HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} HR coatings for 355 nm high power laser applications. Atomic force microscopy studies and Nomarski microscopy have shown that the defect density of these coatings is extremely low exhibiting nearly no nodular defects known for an increased susceptibility to laser damage in the IR spectral region. Standard damage testing (conditioned and unconditioned) was conducted at LLNL at 355 nm (3 ns) for normal (0{degrees}) and nonnormal-incident designs (45{degrees}). Damage thresholds between 5 J/cm{sup 2} and 8 J/cm{sup 2} were obtained. No significant conditioning effect could be demonstrated. Themore » same evaporation technique was used to manufacture normal incident HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} HR coatings for 1064 nm wavelength from 2 different types of evaporant grade HfO{sub 2} as well as from a Hf metal source. Damage test results, as well as defect concentrations and conditioning effect, were compared to the 355 nm samples. Moreover, care was taken on the detection of the origin of damage at fluences near the damage thresholds.« less

75 FR 75911 - Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents for Calendar...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-07

...This rule increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold from $9,200 to $9,400 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that occur during calendar year 2011. This action is needed to ensure that FRA's reporting requirements reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last computed in December of 2009.

76 FR 72850 - Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents for Calendar...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-28

...This rule increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold from $9,400 to $9,500 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that occur during calendar year 2012. This action is needed to ensure that FRA's reporting requirements reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last published in December of 2010.

77 FR 71354 - Adjustment of Monetary Threshold for Reporting Rail Equipment Accidents/Incidents for Calendar...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-30

...This rule increases the rail equipment accident/incident reporting threshold from $9,500 to $9,900 for certain railroad accidents/incidents involving property damage that occur during calendar year 2013. This action is needed to ensure that FRA's reporting requirements reflect cost increases that have occurred since the reporting threshold was last published in November of 2011.

Precipitation thresholds for triggering floods in Corgo hydrographic basin (Northern Portugal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Monica; Fragoso, Marcelo

2016-04-01

The precipitation is a major cause of natural hazards and is therefore related to the flood events (Borga et al., 2011; Gaál et al., 2014; Wilhelmi & Morss, 2013). The severity of a precipitation event and their potential damage is dependent on the total amount of rain but also on the intensity and duration event (Gaál et al., 2014). In this work, it was established thresholds based on critical combinations: amount / duration of flood events with daily rainfall data for Corgo hydrographic basin, in northern Portugal. In Corgo basin are recorded 31 floods events between 1865 and 2011 (Santos et al., 2015; Zêzere et al., 2014). We determined the minimum, maximum and pre-warning thresholds that define the boundaries so that an event may occur. Additionally, we applied these thresholds to different flood events occurred in the past in the study basin. The results show that the ratio between the flood events and precipitation events that occur above the minimum threshold has relatively low probability of a flood happen. These results may be related to the reduced number of floods events (only those that caused damage reported by the media and produced some type of damage). The maximum threshold is not useful for floods forecasting, since the majority of true positives are below this limit. The retrospective analysis of the thresholds defined suggests that the minimum and pre warning thresholds are well adjusted. The application of rainfall thresholds contribute to minimize possible situations of pre-crisis or immediate crisis, reducing the consequences and the resources involved in emergency response of flood events. References Borga, M., Anagnostou, E. N., Blöschl, G., & Creutin, J. D. (2011). Flash flood forecasting, warning and risk management: the HYDRATE project. Environmental Science & Policy, 14(7), 834-844. doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2011.05.017 Gaál, L., Molnar, P., & Szolgay, J. (2014). Selection of intense rainfall events based on intensity thresholds and lightning data in Switzerland. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18(5), 1561-1573. doi: 10.5194/hess-18-1561-2014 Santos, M., Santos, J. A., & Fragoso, M. (2015). Historical damaging flood records for 1871-2011 in Northern Portugal and underlying atmospheric forcings. Journal of Hydrology, 530, 591-603. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.10.011 Wilhelmi, O. V., & Morss, R. E. (2013). Integrated analysis of societal vulnerability in an extreme precipitation event: A Fort Collins case study. Environmental Science & Policy, 26, 49-62. doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2012.07.005 Zêzere, J. L., Pereira, S., Tavares, A. O., Bateira, C., Trigo, R. M., Quaresma, I., Santos, P. P., Santos, M., & Verde, J. (2014). DISASTER: a GIS database on hydro-geomorphologic disasters in Portugal. Nat. Hazards, 1-30. doi: 10.1007/s11069-013-1018-y

Impacts after four years of experimental trampling on alpine/sub-alpine environments in western Tasmania.

PubMed

Whinam, Jennie; Chilcott, Nicole M

2003-04-01

Experimental trials were undertaken over four years to assess the impact of recreational trampling in undisturbed alpine and sub-alpine vegetation communities in the Western Arthur Range, western Tasmania. Data on 'pad' formation due to human trampling were collected using vegetation cover assessments, biomass estimates and detailed cross-sectional surface profiles. In sub-alpine buttongrass and alpine herbfield, prolonged and sustained damage may occur after 100 passes by walkers. The environmental threshold of the flat alpine herbfield site was breached after 200 passes. Plant morphology was one determinant of resistance and resilience, with upright woody shrubs and tall tussock graminoids most vulnerable to sustained trampling damage. Cushions are susceptible to trampling impacts at 500 passes. Loss of vegetation cover peaks 6-12 months after trampling. Our results show that pads formed with as few as 30-100 passes per annum and tracks form at between 100 and 500 passes per annum. Two years after the cessation of trampling, there is some small recovery in vegetation cover after 30 and 100 passes per annum applied for three years, but no evidence of recovery at the 500 pass treatments. The low trampling threshold and slow recovery rates in western Tasmania suggest that concentrating walkers on a minimal number of sites may be the best management option for these untracked alpine and sub-alpine environments.

Laser-driven formation of a high-pressure phase in amorphous silica.

PubMed

Salleo, Alberto; Taylor, Seth T; Martin, Michael C; Panero, Wendy R; Jeanloz, Raymond; Sands, Timothy; Génin, François Y

2003-12-01

Because of its simple composition, vast availability in pure form and ease of processing, vitreous silica is often used as a model to study the physics of amorphous solids. Research in amorphous silica is also motivated by its ubiquity in modern technology, a prominent example being as bulk material in transmissive and diffractive optics for high-power laser applications such as inertial confinement fusion (ICF). In these applications, stability under high-fluence laser irradiation is a key requirement, with optical breakdown occurring when the fluence of the beam is higher than the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the material. The optical strength of polished fused silica transmissive optics is limited by their surface LIDT. Surface optical breakdown is accompanied by densification, formation of point defects, cratering, material ejection, melting and cracking. Through a combination of electron diffraction and infrared reflectance measurements we show here that synthetic vitreous silica transforms partially into a defective form of the high-pressure stishovite phase under high-intensity (GW cm(-2)) laser irradiation. This phase transformation offers one suitable mechanism by which laser-induced damage grows catastrophically once initiated, thereby dramatically shortening the service lifetime of optics used for high-power photonics.

Temperature impact on the micro structure of tungsten exposed to He irradiation in LHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernard, Elodie; Sakamoto, Ryuichi; Tokitani, Masayuki; Masuzaki, Suguru; Hayashi, Hiromi; Yamada, Hiroshi; Yoshida, Naoaki

2017-02-01

A new temperature controlled material probe was designed for the exposure of tungsten samples to helium plasma in the LHD. Samples were exposed to estimated fluences of ∼1023 m-2 and temperatures ranging from 65 to 600 °C. Transmission Electron Microscopy analysis allowed the study of the impact of He irradiation under high temperatures on tungsten micro structure for the first time in real-plasma exposure conditions. Both dislocation loops and bubbles appeared from low to medium temperatures and saw an impressive increase of size (factor 4 to 6) most probably by coalescence as the temperature reaches 600 °C, with 500 °C appearing as a threshold for bubble growth. Annealing of the samples up to 800 C highlighted the stability of the dislocation damages formed by helium irradiation at high surface temperature, as bubbles and dislocation loops seem to conserve their characteristics. Additional studies on cross-sections showed that bubbles were formed much deeper (70-100 nm) than the heavily damaged surface layer (10-20 nm), raising concern about the impact on the material mechanical properties conservation and potential additional trapping of hydrogen isotopes.

Damage threshold from large retinal spot size repetitive-pulse laser exposures.

PubMed

Lund, Brian J; Lund, David J; Edsall, Peter R

2014-10-01

The retinal damage thresholds for large spot size, multiple-pulse exposures to a Q-switched, frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser (532 nm wavelength, 7 ns pulses) have been measured for 100 μm and 500 μm retinal irradiance diameters. The ED50, expressed as energy per pulse, varies only weakly with the number of pulses, n, for these extended spot sizes. The previously reported threshold for a multiple-pulse exposure for a 900 μm retinal spot size also shows the same weak dependence on the number of pulses. The multiple-pulse ED50 for an extended spot-size exposure does not follow the n dependence exhibited by small spot size exposures produced by a collimated beam. Curves derived by using probability-summation models provide a better fit to the data.

Setting limits: Using air pollution thresholds to protect and restore US ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fenn, Mark E.; Lambert, Kathleen F.; Blett, Tamara F.; Burns, Douglas A.; Pardo, Linda H.; Lovett, Gary M.; Haeuber, Richard A.; Evers, David C.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Jeffries, Dean S.

2011-01-01

More than four decades of research provide unequivocal evidence that sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury pollution have altered, and will continue to alter, our nation's lands and waters. The emission and deposition of air pollutants harm native plants and animals, degrade water quality, affect forest productivity, and are damaging to human health. Many air quality policies limit emissions at the source but these control measures do not always consider ecosystem impacts. Air pollution thresholds at which ecological effects are observed, such as critical loads, are effective tools for assessing the impacts of air pollution on essential ecosystem services and for informing public policy. U.S. ecosystems can be more effectively protected and restored by using a combination of emissions-based approaches and science-based thresholds of ecosystem damage.

Preservation of auditory brainstem response thresholds after cochleostomy and titanium microactuator implantation in the lateral wall of cat scala tympani.

PubMed

Lesinski, S George; Prewitt, Jessica; Bray, Victor; Aravamudhan, Radhika; Bermeo Blanco, Oscar A; Farmer-Fedor, Brenda L; Ward, Jonette A

2014-04-01

The safety of implanting a titanium microactuator into the lateral wall of cat scala tympani was assessed by comparing preoperative and postoperative auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds for 1 to 3 months. The safety of directly stimulating cochlear perilymph with an implantable hearing system requires maintaining preoperative hearing levels. This cat study is an essential step in the development of the next generation of fully implantable hearing devices for humans. Following GLP surgical standards, a 1-mm cochleostomy was drilled into the lateral wall of the scala tympani, and a nonfunctioning titanium anchor/microactuator assembly was inserted in 8 cats. The scala media was damaged in the 1 cat. ABR thresholds with click and 4- and 8-kHz stimuli were measured preoperatively and compared with postoperative thresholds at 1, 2, and 3 months. Nonimplanted ear thresholds were also measured to establish statistical significance for threshold shifts (>28.4 dB). Two audiologists independently interpreted thresholds. Postoperatively, 7 cats implanted in the scala tympani demonstrated no significant ABR threshold shift for click stimulus; one shifted ABR thresholds to 4- and 8-kHz stimuli. The eighth cat, with surgical damage to the scala media, maintained stable click threshold but had a significant shift to 4- and 8-kHz stimuli. This cat study provides no evidence of worsening hearing thresholds after fenestration of the scala tympani and insertion of a titanium anchor/microactuator, provided there is no surgical trauma to the scala media and the implanted device is securely anchored in the cochleostomy. These 2 issues have been resolved in the development of a fully implantable hearing system for humans. The long-term hearing stability (combined with histologic studies) reaffirm that the microactuator is well tolerated by the cat cochlea.

Effects of electrolysis by low-amperage electric current on the chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of Microcystis aeruginosa.

PubMed

Lin, Li; Feng, Cong; Li, Qingyun; Wu, Min; Zhao, Liangyuan

2015-10-01

Effects of electrolysis by low-amperage electric current on the chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of Microcystis aeruginosa were investigated in order to reveal the mechanisms of electrolytic inhibition of algae. Threshold of current density was found under a certain initial no. of algae cell. When current density was equal to or higher than the threshold (fixed electrolysis time), growth of algae was inhibited completely and the algae lost the ability to survive. Effect of algal solution volume on algal inhibition was insignificant. Thresholds of current density were 8, 10, 14, 20, and 22 mA cm(-2) at 2.5 × 10(7), 5 × 10(7), 1 × 10(8), 2.5 × 10(8), and 5 × 10(8) cells mL(-1) initial no. of algae cell, respectively. Correlativity between threshold of current and initial no. of algae cells was established for scale-up and determining operating conditions. Changes of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters demonstrated that photosystem (PS) II of algae was damaged by electrolysis but still maintained relatively high activity when algal solution was treated by current densities lower than the threshold. The activity of algae recovered completely after 6 days of cultivation. On the contrary, when current density was higher than the threshold, connection of phycobilisome (PBS) and PS II core complexes was destroyed, PS II system of algae was damaged irreversibly, and algae could not survive thoroughly. The inactivation of M. aeruginosa by electrolysis can be attributed to irreversible separation of PBS from PS II core complexes and the damage of PS II of M. aeruginosa.

Heat shock protein expression as guidance for the therapeutic window of retinal laser therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jenny; Huie, Philip; Dalal, Roopa; Lee, Seungjun; Tan, Gavin; Lee, Daeyoung; Lavinksy, Daniel; Palanker, Daniel

2016-03-01

Unlike conventional photocoagulation, non-damaging retinal laser therapy (NRT) limits laser-induced heating to stay below the retinal damage threshold and therefore requires careful dosimetry. Without the adverse effects associated with photocoagulation, NRT can be applied to critical areas of the retina and repeatedly to manage chronic disorders. Although the clinical benefits of NRT have been demonstrated, the mechanism of therapeutic effect and width of the therapeutic window below damage threshold are not well understood. Here, we measure activation of heat shock response via laser-induced hyperthermia as one indication of cellular response. A 577 nm laser is used with the Endpoint Management (EpM) user interface, a titration algorithm, to set experimental pulse energies relative to a barely visible titration lesion. Live/dead staining and histology show that the retinal damage threshold in rabbits is at 40% of titration energy on EpM scale. Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) expression in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was detected by whole-mount immunohistochemistry after different levels of laser treatment. We show HSP70 expression in the RPE beginning at 25% of titration energy indicating that there is a window for NRT between 25% and 40% with activation of the heat shock protein expression in response to hyperthermia. HSP70 expression is also seen at the perimeter of damaging lesions, as expected based on a computational model of laser heating. Expression area for each pulse energy setting varied between laser spots due to pigmentation changes, indicating the relatively narrow window of non-damaging activation and highlighting the importance of proper titration.

Measurment of threshold friction velocities at potential dust sources in semi-arid regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Matthew A.

The threshold friction velocities of potential dust sources in the US Southwest were measured in the field using a Portable Wind Tunnel, which is based on the Desert Research Institute's Portable In-Situ Wind Erosion Laboratory (PI-SWERL). A mix of both disturbed and undisturbed surfaces were included in this study. It was found that disturbed surfaces, such as those at the Iron King Mine tailings site, which is part of the EPA's Superfund program and contains surface concentrations of arsenic and lead reaching as high as 0.5% (w/w), had lower threshold friction velocities (0.32 m s -1 to 0.40 m s-1) in comparison to those of undisturbed surfaces (0.48 to 0.61 m s-1). Surface characteristics, such as particle size distribution, had effects on the threshold friction velocity (smaller grain sized distributions resulted in lower threshold friction velocities). Overall, the threshold friction velocities of disturbed surfaces were within the range of natural wind conditions, indicating that surfaces disturbed by human activity are more prone to causing windblown dust.

Inertial Confinement Fusion Quarterly Report January-March 1999, Volume 9, Number 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Atherton, J.

1999-03-31

This quarterly report covers the following topics: (1) Properties of and Manufacturing Methods for NIF Laser Glasses (J. H. Campbell)--The NIF amplifiers require 3380 Nd-doped laser glass slabs; continuous glass melting methods will be used for the first time to manufacture these slabs. The properties of the laser glasses are summarized and the novel continuous melting method is described. (2) Diffractive Optics for the NIF (J. A. Britten)--We have fabricated demonstration diffractive optics according to the NIF baseline design at full scale, via wet-chemical etching of patterns into fused silica. We have examined the effects of dip-coated sol-gel antireflection coatingsmore » on the performance of these optics, and have concluded that diffractive optics should remain uncoated to minimize laser-induced damage to downstream optics and to maximize environmental stability. We have also demonstrated the feasibility of combining all diffractive structures required by NIF, which vary over orders of magnitude in lateral and vertical scales, onto a single surface. (3) Producing KDP and DKDP Crystals for the NIF Laser (A. K. Burnham)--Rapid-growth KDP has overcome most of the hurdles for production of boules for NIF switch crystals and doublers, but some improvements in process reliability at the tripler's 3{omega} damage threshold are needed. The ability to meet KDP finishing specifications has been demonstrated, and the equipment for efficient NIF production is being built. (4) Engineering High-Damage-Threshold NIF Polarizers and Mirrors (C. J. Stolz)--High-fluence polarizer and mirror coatings for the NIF can be realized by engineering the coating process and design once the laser interaction with coating defects is understood. (5) Improved Antireflection Coatings for the NIF (P. K. Whitman)--We summarize our progress in developing antireflection coatings and applications processes for the NIF laser optics. We describe new materials and coating treatments to minimize the sensitivity of these porous sol-gel coatings to environmental humidity and organic contamination. (6) Developing Optics Finishing Technologies for the National Ignition Facility (T. G. Parham)--Fabrication of the 7500 meter-class lenses and flats for the NIF required extension of finishing technologies to meet cost and schedule targets. Developments at LLNL and our industrial partners are described for improved shaping, grinding, polishing, figuring, and metrology of large optics. (7) Laser-Damage Testing and Modeling Methods for Predicting the Performance of Large-Area NIF Optics (M. R. Kozlowski)--Laser damage to high-quality laser optics is limited by localized, defect-initiated processes. The damage performance of such materials is better described by statistical distributions than by discrete damage thresholds. The prediction of the damage performance of a Beamlet focus lens, based on new statistics-based damage data measurement and analysis techniques, is demonstrated. (8) Development of the NIF Target Chamber First Wall and Beam Dumps (A. K. Burnham)--NIF target designs and target chamber ablations are listed by a 1-nm/shot contamination rate of the final optics debris shield, as determined by transmittance and damage lifetime. This constraint forces a self-cleaning louvre design for the first wall and unconverted-light beam dumps. Nickel-free stainless steel is the cheapest and most practical material.« less

Intrinsic fatigue crack propagation in aluminum-lithium alloys - The effect of gaseous environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Piascik, Robert S.; Gangloff, Richard P.

1989-01-01

Gaseous environmental effects on intrinsic fatigue crack growth are significant for the Al-Li-Cu alloy 2090, peak aged. For both moderate Delta K-low R and low Delta K-high R regimes, crack growth rates decrease according to the environment order: purified water vapor, moist air, helium and oxygen. Gaseous environmental effects are pronounced near threshold and are not closure dominated. Here, embrittlement by low levels of H2O (ppm) supports hydrogen embrittlement and suggests that molecular transport controlled cracking, established for high Delta K-low R, is modified near threshold. Localized crack tip reaction sites or high R crack opening shape may enable the strong, environmental effect at low levels of Delta K. Similar crack growth in He and O2 eliminates the contribution of surface films to fatigue damage in alloy 2090. While 2090 and 7075 exhibit similar environmental trends, the Al-Li-Cu alloy is more resistant to intrinsic corrosion fatigue crack growth.

Pilot study about dose-effect relationship of ocular injury in argon laser photocoagulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, P.; Zhang, C. P.; Fu, X. B.; Zhang, T. M.; Wang, C. Z.; Qian, H. W.; San, Q.

2011-03-01

The aim of this article was to study the injury effect of either convergent or parallel argon laser beam on rabbit retina, get the dose-effect relationship for the two types of laser beams, and calculate the damage threshold of argon laser for human retinas. An argon laser therapeutic instrument for ophthalmology was used in this study. A total of 80 rabbit eyes were irradiated for 600 lesions, half of which were treated by convergent laser and the other half were done with parallel laser beam. After irradiation, slit lamp microscope and fundus photography were used to observe the lesions, change and the incidence of injury was processed statistically to get the damage threshold of rabbit retina. Based on results from the experiments on animals and the data from clinical cases of laser treatment, the photocoagulation damage thresholds of human retinas for convergent and parallel argon laser were calculated to be 0.464 and 0.285 mJ respectively. These data provided biological reference for safely operation when employing laser photocoagulation in clinical practice and other fields.

Ocular dynamics and visual tracking performance after Q-switched laser exposure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwick, Harry; Stuck, Bruce E.; Lund, David J.; Nawim, Maqsood

2001-05-01

In previous investigations of q-switched laser retinal exposure in awake task oriented non-human primates (NHPs), the threshold for retinal damage occurred well below that of the threshold for permanent visual function loss. Visual function measures used in these studies involved measures of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. In the present study, we examine the same relationship for q-switched laser exposure using a visual performance task, where task dependency involves more parafoveal than foveal retina. NHPs were trained on a visual pursuit motor tracking performance task that required maintaining a small HeNe laser spot (0.3 degrees) centered in a slowly moving (0.5deg/sec) annulus. When NHPs reliably produced visual target tracking efficiencies > 80%, single q-switched laser exposures (7 nsec) were made coaxially with the line of sight of the moving target. An infrared camera imaged the pupil during exposure to obtain the pupillary response to the laser flash. Retinal images were obtained with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope 3 days post exposure under ketamine and nembutol anesthesia. Q-switched visible laser exposures at twice the damage threshold produced small (about 50mm) retinal lesions temporal to the fovea; deficits in NHP visual pursuit tracking were transient, demonstrating full recovery to baseline within a single tracking session. Post exposure analysis of the pupillary response demonstrated that the exposure flash entered the pupil, followed by 90 msec refractory period and than a 12 % pupillary contraction within 1.5 sec from the onset of laser exposure. At 6 times the morphological threshold damage level for 532 nm q-switched exposure, longer term losses in NHP pursuit tracking performance were observed. In summary, q-switched laser exposure appears to have a higher threshold for permanent visual performance loss than the corresponding threshold to produce retinal threshold injury. Mechanisms of neural plasticity within the retina and at higher visual brain centers may mediat

Clusterin Seals the Ocular Surface Barrier in Mouse Dry Eye

PubMed Central

Bauskar, Aditi; Mack, Wendy J.; Mauris, Jerome; Argüeso, Pablo; Heur, Martin; Nagel, Barbara A.; Kolar, Grant R.; Gleave, Martin E.; Nakamura, Takahiro; Kinoshita, Shigeru; Moradian-Oldak, Janet; Panjwani, Noorjahan; Pflugfelder, Stephen C.; Wilson, Mark R.; Fini, M. Elizabeth; Jeong, Shinwu

2015-01-01

Dry eye is a common disorder caused by inadequate hydration of the ocular surface that results in disruption of barrier function. The homeostatic protein clusterin (CLU) is prominent at fluid-tissue interfaces throughout the body. CLU levels are reduced at the ocular surface in human inflammatory disorders that manifest as severe dry eye, as well as in a preclinical mouse model for desiccating stress that mimics dry eye. Using this mouse model, we show here that CLU prevents and ameliorates ocular surface barrier disruption by a remarkable sealing mechanism dependent on attainment of a critical all-or-none concentration. When the CLU level drops below the critical all-or-none threshold, the barrier becomes vulnerable to desiccating stress. CLU binds selectively to the ocular surface subjected to desiccating stress in vivo, and in vitro to the galectin LGALS3, a key barrier component. Positioned in this way, CLU not only physically seals the ocular surface barrier, but it also protects the barrier cells and prevents further damage to barrier structure. These findings define a fundamentally new mechanism for ocular surface protection and suggest CLU as a biotherapeutic for dry eye. PMID:26402857

Clusterin Seals the Ocular Surface Barrier in Mouse Dry Eye.

PubMed

Bauskar, Aditi; Mack, Wendy J; Mauris, Jerome; Argüeso, Pablo; Heur, Martin; Nagel, Barbara A; Kolar, Grant R; Gleave, Martin E; Nakamura, Takahiro; Kinoshita, Shigeru; Moradian-Oldak, Janet; Panjwani, Noorjahan; Pflugfelder, Stephen C; Wilson, Mark R; Fini, M Elizabeth; Jeong, Shinwu

2015-01-01

Dry eye is a common disorder caused by inadequate hydration of the ocular surface that results in disruption of barrier function. The homeostatic protein clusterin (CLU) is prominent at fluid-tissue interfaces throughout the body. CLU levels are reduced at the ocular surface in human inflammatory disorders that manifest as severe dry eye, as well as in a preclinical mouse model for desiccating stress that mimics dry eye. Using this mouse model, we show here that CLU prevents and ameliorates ocular surface barrier disruption by a remarkable sealing mechanism dependent on attainment of a critical all-or-none concentration. When the CLU level drops below the critical all-or-none threshold, the barrier becomes vulnerable to desiccating stress. CLU binds selectively to the ocular surface subjected to desiccating stress in vivo, and in vitro to the galectin LGALS3, a key barrier component. Positioned in this way, CLU not only physically seals the ocular surface barrier, but it also protects the barrier cells and prevents further damage to barrier structure. These findings define a fundamentally new mechanism for ocular surface protection and suggest CLU as a biotherapeutic for dry eye.

Prediction of load threshold of fibre-reinforced laminated composite panels subjected to low velocity drop-weight impact using efficient data filtering techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farooq, Umar; Myler, Peter

This work is concerned with physical testing of carbon fibrous laminated composite panels with low velocity drop-weight impacts from flat and round nose impactors. Eight, sixteen, and twenty-four ply panels were considered. Non-destructive damage inspections of tested specimens were conducted to approximate impact-induced damage. Recorded data were correlated to load-time, load-deflection, and energy-time history plots to interpret impact induced damage. Data filtering techniques were also applied to the noisy data that unavoidably generate due to limitations of testing and logging systems. Built-in, statistical, and numerical filters effectively predicted load thresholds for eight and sixteen ply laminates. However, flat nose impact of twenty-four ply laminates produced clipped data that can only be de-noised involving oscillatory algorithms. Data filtering and extrapolation of such data have received rare attention in the literature that needs to be investigated. The present work demonstrated filtering and extrapolation of the clipped data using Fast Fourier Convolution algorithm to predict load thresholds. Selected results were compared to the damage zones identified with C-scan and acceptable agreements have been observed. Based on the results it is proposed that use of advanced data filtering and analysis methods to data collected by the available resources has effectively enhanced data interpretations without resorting to additional resources. The methodology could be useful for efficient and reliable data analysis and impact-induced damage prediction of similar cases' data.

Predictive performance of rainfall thresholds for shallow landslide triggering in Switzerland from daily gridded precipitation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonarduzzi, E.; Molnar, P.; McArdell, B. W.

2017-12-01

In Switzerland floods are responsible for most of the damage caused by rainfall-triggered natural hazards (89%), followed by landslides (6%, almost 600 M USD) as reported in Hilker et al. (2009) for the period 1972-2007. A high-resolution gridded daily precipitation dataset is combined with a landslide inventory containing over 2000 events in the period 1972-2012 to analyze rainfall thresholds that lead to landsliding in Switzerland. First triggering rainfall and landslides are co-located obtaining the distributions of triggering and non-triggering rainfall event properties at the scale of the precipitation data (2*2 km2) and considering 1 day as the interarrival time to separate events. Then rainfall thresholds are obtained by maximizing true positives (accurate predictions) while minimizing false negatives (false alarms), using the True Skill Statistic. The best predictive performance is obtained by the intensity-duration ID threshold curve, followed by peak daily intensity (Imax) and mean event intensity (Imean). Event duration by itself has very low predictive power. In addition to country-wide thresholds, local ones are also defined by regionalization based on surface erodibility and local long-term climate (mean daily precipitation). Different Imax thresholds are determined for each of the regions separately. It is found that wetter local climate and lower erodibility lead to significantly higher rainfall thresholds required to trigger landslides. However, the improvement in model performance due to regionalization is marginal and much lower than what can be achieved by having a high quality landslide database. In order to validate the performance of the Imax rainfall threshold model, reference cases will be presented in which the landslide locations and timing are randomized and the landslide sample size is reduced. Jack-knife and cross-validation experiments demonstrate that the model is robust. The results highlight the potential of using rainfall I-D threshold curves and Imax threshold values for predicting the occurrence of landslides on a country or regional scale even with daily precipitation data, with possible applications in landslide warning systems.

Hard tissue ablation with a spray-assisted mid-IR laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, H. W.; Rizoiu, I.; Welch, A. J.

2007-12-01

The objective of this study was to understand the dominant mechanism(s) for dental enamel ablation with the application of water spray. A free-running Er,Cr:YSGG (yttrium, scandium, gallium, garnet) laser was used to ablate human enamel tissue at various radiant exposures. During dental ablation, distilled water was sprayed on the sample surface, and these results were compared to ablation without a spray (dry ablation). In order to identify dominant ablation mechanisms, transient acoustic waves were compared to ablation thresholds and the volume of material removed. The ablation profile and depth were measured using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Irregular surface modification, charring and peripheral cracks were associated with dry ablation, whereas craters for spray samples were relatively clean without thermal damage. In spite of a 60% higher ablation threshold for spray associated irradiations owing to water absorption, acoustic peak pressures were six times higher and ablation volume was up to a factor of 2 larger compared to dry ablation. The enhanced pressure and ablation performance of the spray-assisted process was the result of rapid water vaporization, material ejection with recoil stress, interstitial water explosion and possibly liquid-jet formation. With water cooling and abrasive/disruptive mechanical effects, the spray ablation can be a safe and efficient modality for dental treatment.

Development of high damage threshold multilayer thin film beam combiner for laser application

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nand, Mangla, E-mail: mnand@rrcat.gov.in; Babita,; Jena, S.

2016-05-23

A polarized wavelength multiplexer with high laser induced damage threshold has been developed to combine two laser beam of high peak power in the visible region. The present wavelength multiplexer is a multilayer thin film device deposited by reactive electron beam evaporation. The developed device is capable of combining two p-polarized laser beams of peak power density of 1.7 GW/cm{sup 2} at an angle of incidence of 45°. High transmission (T> 90%) in high pass region and high reflection (R> 99%) in stop band region have been achieved.

Development of high damage threshold multilayer thin film beam combiner for laser application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nand, Mangla; Babita, Jena, S.; Tokas, R. B.; Rajput, P.; Mukharjee, C.; Thakur, S.; Jha, S. N.; Sahoo, N. K.

2016-05-01

A polarized wavelength multiplexer with high laser induced damage threshold has been developed to combine two laser beam of high peak power in the visible region. The present wavelength multiplexer is a multilayer thin film device deposited by reactive electron beam evaporation. The developed device is capable of combining two p-polarized laser beams of peak power density of 1.7 GW/cm2 at an angle of incidence of 45°. High transmission (T> 90%) in high pass region and high reflection (R> 99%) in stop band region have been achieved.

High-efficiency, broad band, high-damage threshold high-index gratings for femtosecond pulse compression.

PubMed

Canova, Frederico; Clady, Raphael; Chambaret, Jean-Paul; Flury, Manuel; Tonchev, Svtelen; Fechner, Renate; Parriaux, Olivier

2007-11-12

High efficiency, broad-band TE-polarization diffraction over a wavelength range centered at 800 nm is obtained by high index gratings placed on a non-corrugated mirror. More than 96% efficiency wide band top-hat diffraction efficiency spectra, as well as more than 1 J/cm(2) damage threshold under 50 fs pulses are demonstrated experimentally. This opens the way to high-efficiency Chirped Pulse Amplification for high average power laser machining by means of all-dielectric structures as well as for ultra-short high energy pulses by means of metal-dielectric structures.

Investigations of the Cavitation and Damage Thresholds of Histotripsy and Applications in Targeted Tissue Ablation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vlaisavljevich, Eli

Histotripsy is a noninvasive ultrasound therapy that controls acoustic cavitation to mechanically fractionate soft tissue. This dissertation investigates the physical thresholds to initiate cavitation and produce tissue damage in histotripsy and factors affecting these thresholds in order to develop novel strategies for targeted tissue ablation. In the first part of this dissertation, the effects of tissue properties on histotripsy cavitation thresholds and damage thresholds were investigated. Results demonstrated that the histotripsy shock scattering threshold using multi-cycle pulses increases in stiffer tissues, while the histotripsy intrinsic threshold using single-cycle pulses is independent of tissue stiffness. Further, the intrinsic threshold slightly decreases with lower frequencies and significantly decreases with increasing temperature. The effects of tissue properties on the susceptibility to histotripsy-induced tissue damage were also investigated, demonstrating that stiffer tissues are more resistant to histotripsy. Two strategies were investigated for increasing the effectiveness of histotripsy for the treatment of stiffer tissues, with results showing that thermal preconditioning may be used to alter tissue susceptibility to histotripsy and that lower frequency treatments may increase the efficiency of histotripsy tissue ablation due to enhanced bubble expansion. In the second part of this dissertation, the feasibility of using histotripsy for targeted liver ablation was investigated in an intact in vivo porcine model, with results demonstrating that histotripsy was capable of non-invasively creating precise lesions throughout the entire liver. Additionally, a tissue selective ablation approach was developed, where histotripsy completely fractionated the liver tissue surrounding the major hepatic vessels and gallbladder while being self-limited at the boundaries of these critical structures. Finally, the long-term effects of histotripsy liver ablation were investigated in an intact in vivo rodent model, showing that the liver homogenate resulting from histotripsy-induced tissue fractionation was completely resorbed over the course of 28 days. In the final part of this dissertation, a novel ablation method combining histotripsy with acoustically sensitive nanodroplets was developed for targeted cancer cell ablation, demonstrating the potential of using nanodroplet-mediated histotripsy (NMH) for targeted, multi-focal ablation. Studies demonstrated that lower frequency and higher boiling point perfluorocarbon droplets can improve NMH therapy. The role of positive and negative pressure on cavitation nucleation in NMH was also investigated, showing that NMH cavitation nucleation is caused directly from the peak negative pressure of the incident wave, similar to histotripsy bubbles generated above the intrinsic threshold. Overall, the results of this dissertation provide significant insight into the physical mechanisms underlying histotripsy tissue ablation and will help to guide the future development of histotripsy for clinical applications such as the treatment of liver cancer.

A Single Swede Midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) Larva Can Render Cauliflower Unmarketable.

PubMed

Stratton, Chase A; Hodgdon, Elisabeth A; Zuckerman, Samuel G; Shelton, Anthony M; Chen, Yolanda H

2018-05-01

Swede midge, Contarinia nasturtii Kieffer (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is an invasive pest causing significant damage on Brassica crops in the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. Heading brassicas, like cauliflower, appear to be particularly susceptible. Swede midge is difficult to control because larvae feed concealed inside meristematic tissues of the plant. In order to develop damage and marketability thresholds necessary for integrated pest management, it is important to determine how many larvae render plants unmarketable and whether the timing of infestation affects the severity of damage. We manipulated larval density (0, 1, 3, 5, 10, or 20) per plant and the timing of infestation (30, 55, and 80 d after seeding) on cauliflower in the lab and field to answer the following questions: 1) What is the swede midge damage threshold? 2) How many swede midge larvae can render cauliflower crowns unmarketable? and 3) Does the age of cauliflower at infestation influence the severity of damage and marketability? We found that even a single larva can cause mild twisting and scarring in the crown rendering cauliflower unmarketable 52% of the time, with more larvae causing more severe damage and additional losses, regardless of cauliflower age at infestation.

Physics must join with biology in better assessing risk from low-dose irradiation.

PubMed

Feinendegen, L E; Neumann, R D

2005-01-01

This review summarises the complex response of mammalian cells and tissues to low doses of ionising radiation. This thesis encompasses induction of DNA damage, and adaptive protection against both renewed damage and against propagation of damage from the basic level of biological organisation to the clinical expression of detriment. The induction of DNA damage at low radiation doses apparently is proportional to absorbed dose at the physical/chemical level. However, any propagation of such damage to higher levels of biological organisation inherently follows a sigmoid function. Moreover, low-dose-induced inhibition of damage propagation is not linear, but instead follows a dose-effect function typical for adaptive protection, after an initial rapid rise it disappears at doses higher than approximately 0.1-0.2 Gy to cells. The particular biological response duality at low radiation doses precludes the validity of the linear-no-threshold hypothesis in the attempt to relate absorbed dose to cancer. In fact, theory and observation support not only a lower cancer incidence than expected from the linear-no-threshold hypothesis, but also a reduction of spontaneously occurring cancer, a hormetic response, in the healthy individual.

A new qualitative acoustic emission parameter based on Shannon's entropy for damage monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chai, Mengyu; Zhang, Zaoxiao; Duan, Quan

2018-02-01

An important objective of acoustic emission (AE) non-destructive monitoring is to accurately identify approaching critical damage and to avoid premature failure by means of the evolutions of AE parameters. One major drawback of most parameters such as count and rise time is that they are strongly dependent on the threshold and other settings employed in AE data acquisition system. This may hinder the correct reflection of original waveform generated from AE sources and consequently bring difficulty for the accurate identification of the critical damage and early failure. In this investigation, a new qualitative AE parameter based on Shannon's entropy, i.e. AE entropy is proposed for damage monitoring. Since it derives from the uncertainty of amplitude distribution of each AE waveform, it is independent of the threshold and other time-driven parameters and can characterize the original micro-structural deformations. Fatigue crack growth test on CrMoV steel and three point bending test on a ductile material are conducted to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed parameter. The results show that the new parameter, compared to AE amplitude, is more effective in discriminating the different damage stages and identifying the critical damage.

Revision of laser-induced damage threshold evaluation from damage probability data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bataviciute, Gintare; Grigas, Povilas; Smalakys, Linas

2013-04-15

In this study, the applicability of commonly used Damage Frequency Method (DFM) is addressed in the context of Laser-Induced Damage Threshold (LIDT) testing with pulsed lasers. A simplified computer model representing the statistical interaction between laser irradiation and randomly distributed damage precursors is applied for Monte Carlo experiments. The reproducibility of LIDT predicted from DFM is examined under both idealized and realistic laser irradiation conditions by performing numerical 1-on-1 tests. A widely accepted linear fitting resulted in systematic errors when estimating LIDT and its error bars. For the same purpose, a Bayesian approach was proposed. A novel concept of parametricmore » regression based on varying kernel and maximum likelihood fitting technique is introduced and studied. Such approach exhibited clear advantages over conventional linear fitting and led to more reproducible LIDT evaluation. Furthermore, LIDT error bars are obtained as a natural outcome of parametric fitting which exhibit realistic values. The proposed technique has been validated on two conventionally polished fused silica samples (355 nm, 5.7 ns).« less

The structure of crystallographic damage in GaN formed during rare earth ion implantation with and without an ultrathin AlN capping layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gloux, F.; Ruterana, P.; Wojtowicz, T.; Lorenz, K.; Alves, E.

2006-10-01

The crystallographic nature of the damage created in GaN implanted by rare earth ions at 300 keV and room temperature has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy versus the fluence, from 7×10 13 to 2×10 16 at/cm 2, using Er, Eu or Tm ions. The density of point defect clusters was seen to increase with the fluence. From about 3×10 15 at/cm 2, a highly disordered 'nanocrystalline layer' (NL) appears on the GaN surface. Its structure exhibits a mixture of voids and misoriented nanocrystallites. Basal stacking faults (BSFs) of I 1, E and I 2 types have been noticed from the lowest fluence, they are I 1 in the majority. Their density increases and saturates when the NL is observed. Many prismatic stacking faults (PSFs) with Drum atomic configuration have been identified. The I 1 BSFs are shown to propagate easily through GaN by folding from basal to prismatic planes thanks to the PSFs. When implanting through a 10 nm AlN cap, the NL threshold goes up to about 3×10 16 at/cm 2. The AlN cap plays a protective role against the dissociation of the GaN up to the highest fluences. The flat surface after implantation and the absence of SFs in the AlN cap indicate its high resistance to the damage formation.

Ion-assisted coating for large-scale Bimorph deformable mirror

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikami, Takuya; Okamoto, Takayuki; Yoshida, Kunio; Jitsuno, Takahisa; Motokoshi, Shinji; Samarkin, Vadim V.; Kudryashov, Alexis V.; Kawanaka, Junji; Miyanaga, Noriaki

2016-07-01

We have fabricated a 410 x 468 mm size deformable mirror with 100 Bimorph piezoceramic actuators for the LFEX laser system at Osaka University. In the case of Bimorph-type deformable mirrors, the mirror surface had to be polished and coated after bonding the piezoceramic actuators to the rear side of the thin mirror substrate. This provides a good surface figure, but the coating temperature for the high-reflection mirror was strictly limited because of the thermal fragility of piezoceramic actuators. The mirror substrate with the actuators was polished, and an ion-assisted multilayer dielectric coating was produced at 60 degrees Celsius with our 80-inch coating chamber. The flatness of the mirror just after coating was 7 μm, and reduced by aging to 3.2 μm when the mirror was assembled. The surface figure of the assembled mirror with 20 piezostack bonded actuators is demonstrated and a laser-induced damage threshold tested with a witness sample is also reported.

Effect of Proximity of Features on the Damage Threshold During Submicron Additive Manufacturing Via Two-Photon Polymerization

DOE PAGES

Saha, Sourabh K.; Divin, Chuck; Cuadra, Jefferson A.; ...

2017-05-12

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is a laser writing process that enables fabrication of millimeter scale three-dimensional (3D) structures with submicron features. In TPP, writing is achieved via nonlinear two-photon absorption that occurs at high laser intensities. Thus, it is essential to carefully select the incident power to prevent laser damage during polymerization. Currently, the feasible range of laser power is identified by writing small test patterns at varying power levels. Here in this paper, we demonstrate that the results of these tests cannot be generalized, because the damage threshold power depends on the proximity of features and reduces by as muchmore » as 47% for overlapping features. We have identified that this reduction occurs primarily due to an increase in the single-photon absorptivity of the resin after curing. We have captured the damage from proximity effects via X-ray 3D computed tomography (CT) images of a non-homogenous part that has varying feature density. Part damage manifests as internal spherical voids that arise due to boiling of the resist. We have empirically quantified this proximity effect by identifying the damage threshold power at different writing speeds and feature overlap spacings. In addition, we present a first-order analytical model that captures the scaling of this proximity effect. Based on this model and the experiments, we have identified that the proximity effect is more significant at high writing speeds; therefore, it adversely affects the scalability of manufacturing. The scaling laws and the empirical data generated here can be used to select the appropriate TPP writing parameters.« less

Optics Recycle Loop Strategy for NIF Operations above UV Laser-Induced Damage Threshold

DOE PAGES

Spaeth, M. L.; Wegner, P. J.; Suratwala, T. I.; ...

2017-03-23

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) houses the world’s largest laser system, composed of 192 individual, 40-cm-aperture beamlines. The NIF laser routinely operates at ultraviolet (UV) fluences above 8 J/cm 2, more than twice the (3ω only) damage threshold of commercially available UV-grade fused silica. NIF is able to maintain such high fluence operation by using an optics recycling loop strategy. Successful operation of the loop relies on a number of technologies specifically developed for NIF. One of the most important is the capability developed by LLNL and their vendors for producing highly damage-resistant optics.more » Other technologies developed for the optics recycle loop raise the operating point of NIF by keeping damage growth in check. LLNL has demonstrated the capability to sustain UV fused silica optic recycling rates of up to 40 optics per week. The optics are ready for reinstallation after a 3-week trip through a recycle loop where the damage state of each optic is assessed and repaired. The impact of the optics recycle loop has been profound, allowing the experimental program to routinely employ energies and fluences that would otherwise have been unachievable. Without the recycle loop, it is likely that the NIF fluence would need to be kept below the UV threshold for damage growth, ~4 J/cm 2, thus keeping the energy delivered to the target significantly below 1 MJ. With the recycle loop implemented during the National Ignition Campaign, NIF can routinely deliver >1.8 MJ on target, an increase in operational capability of more than 100%. Finally, in this paper, the enabling technological advances, optical performance, and operational capability implications of the optics recycle loop are discussed.« less

Optics Recycle Loop Strategy for NIF Operations above UV Laser-Induced Damage Threshold

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spaeth, M. L.; Wegner, P. J.; Suratwala, T. I.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) houses the world’s largest laser system, composed of 192 individual, 40-cm-aperture beamlines. The NIF laser routinely operates at ultraviolet (UV) fluences above 8 J/cm 2, more than twice the (3ω only) damage threshold of commercially available UV-grade fused silica. NIF is able to maintain such high fluence operation by using an optics recycling loop strategy. Successful operation of the loop relies on a number of technologies specifically developed for NIF. One of the most important is the capability developed by LLNL and their vendors for producing highly damage-resistant optics.more » Other technologies developed for the optics recycle loop raise the operating point of NIF by keeping damage growth in check. LLNL has demonstrated the capability to sustain UV fused silica optic recycling rates of up to 40 optics per week. The optics are ready for reinstallation after a 3-week trip through a recycle loop where the damage state of each optic is assessed and repaired. The impact of the optics recycle loop has been profound, allowing the experimental program to routinely employ energies and fluences that would otherwise have been unachievable. Without the recycle loop, it is likely that the NIF fluence would need to be kept below the UV threshold for damage growth, ~4 J/cm 2, thus keeping the energy delivered to the target significantly below 1 MJ. With the recycle loop implemented during the National Ignition Campaign, NIF can routinely deliver >1.8 MJ on target, an increase in operational capability of more than 100%. Finally, in this paper, the enabling technological advances, optical performance, and operational capability implications of the optics recycle loop are discussed.« less

Effect of Proximity of Features on the Damage Threshold During Submicron Additive Manufacturing Via Two-Photon Polymerization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saha, Sourabh K.; Divin, Chuck; Cuadra, Jefferson A.

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is a laser writing process that enables fabrication of millimeter scale three-dimensional (3D) structures with submicron features. In TPP, writing is achieved via nonlinear two-photon absorption that occurs at high laser intensities. Thus, it is essential to carefully select the incident power to prevent laser damage during polymerization. Currently, the feasible range of laser power is identified by writing small test patterns at varying power levels. Here in this paper, we demonstrate that the results of these tests cannot be generalized, because the damage threshold power depends on the proximity of features and reduces by as muchmore » as 47% for overlapping features. We have identified that this reduction occurs primarily due to an increase in the single-photon absorptivity of the resin after curing. We have captured the damage from proximity effects via X-ray 3D computed tomography (CT) images of a non-homogenous part that has varying feature density. Part damage manifests as internal spherical voids that arise due to boiling of the resist. We have empirically quantified this proximity effect by identifying the damage threshold power at different writing speeds and feature overlap spacings. In addition, we present a first-order analytical model that captures the scaling of this proximity effect. Based on this model and the experiments, we have identified that the proximity effect is more significant at high writing speeds; therefore, it adversely affects the scalability of manufacturing. The scaling laws and the empirical data generated here can be used to select the appropriate TPP writing parameters.« less

Subepidermal moisture detection of pressure induced tissue damage on the trunk: The pressure ulcer detection study outcomes.

PubMed

Bates-Jensen, Barbara M; McCreath, Heather E; Patlan, Anabel

2017-05-01

We examined the relationship between subepidermal moisture measured using surface electrical capacitance and visual skin assessment of pressure ulcers at the trunk location (sacral, ischial tuberosities) in 417 nursing home residents residing in 19 facilities. Participants were on average older (mean age of 77 years), 58% were female, over half were ethnic minorities (29% African American, 12% Asian American, and 21% Hispanic), and at risk for pressure ulcers (mean score for Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Ulcer Risk of 15.6). Concurrent visual assessments and subepidermal moisture were obtained at the sacrum and right and left ischium weekly for 16 weeks. Visual assessment was categorized as normal, erythema, stage 1 pressure ulcer, Deep Tissue Injury or stage 2+ pressure ulcer using the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel 2009 classification system. Incidence of any skin damage was 52%. Subepidermal moisture was measured with a dermal phase meter where higher readings indicate greater moisture (range: 0-70 tissue dielectric constant), with values increasing significantly with the presence of skin damage. Elevated subepidermal moisture values co-occurred with concurrent skin damage in generalized multinomial logistic models (to control for repeated observations) at the sacrum, adjusting for age and risk. Higher subepidermal moisture values were associated with visual damage 1 week later using similar models. Threshold values for subepidermal moisture were compared to visual ratings to predict skin damage 1 week later. Subepidermal moisture of 39 tissue dielectric constant units predicted 41% of future skin damage while visual ratings predicted 27%. Thus, this method of detecting early skin damage holds promise for clinicians, especially as it is objective and equally valid for all groups of patients. © 2017 by the Wound Healing Society.

Modelling Pre-eruptive Progressive Damage in Basaltic Volcanoes: Consequences for the Pre-eruptive Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Got, J. L.; Amitrano, D.; Carrier, A.; Marsan, D.; Jouanne, F.; Vogfjord, K. S.

2017-12-01

At Grimsvötn volcano, high-quality earthquake and continuous GPS data were recorded by the Icelandic Meteorological Office during its 2004-2011 inter-eruptive period and exhibited remarkable patterns : acceleration of the cumulated earthquake number, and a 2-year exponential decrease in displacement rate followed by a 4-year constant inflation rate. We proposed a model with one magma reservoir in a non-linear elastic damaging edifice, with incompressible magma and a constant pressure at the base of the magma conduit. We first modelled seismicity rate and damage as a function of time, and show that Kachanov's elastic brittle damage law may be used to express the decrease of the effective shear modulus with time. We then derived simple analytical expressions for the magma reservoir overpressure and the surface displacement as a function of time. We got a very good fit of the seismicity and surface displacement data by adjusting only three phenomenological parameters and computed magma reservoir overpressure, magma flow and strain power as a function of time. Overpressure decrease is controlled by damage and shear modulus decrease. Displacement increases, although overpressure is decreasing, because shear modulus decreases more than overpressure. Normalized strain power reaches a maximum 0.25 value. This maximum is a physical limit, after which the elasticity laws are no longer valid, earthquakes cluster, cumulative number of earthquakes departs from the model. State variable extrema provide four reference times that may be used to assess the mechanical state and dynamics of the volcanic edifice. We also performed the spatial modelling of the progressive damage and strain localization around a pressurized magma reservoir. We used Kachanov's damage law and finite element modelling of an initially elastic volcanic edifice pressurized by a spherical magma reservoir, with a constant pressure in the reservoir and various external boundary conditions. At each node of the model, Young's modulus is decreased if deviatoric stress locally reaches the Mohr-Coulomb plastic threshold. For a compressive horizontal stress, the result shows a complex strain localization pattern, showing reverse and normal faulting very similar to what is obtained from analog modelling and observed at volcanic resurgent domes.

Addressing the limits to adaptation across four damage--response systems

EPA Science Inventory

Our ability to adapt to climate change is not boundless, and previous modeling shows that capacity limited adaptation will play a policy-significant role in future decisions about climate change. These limits are delineated by capacity thresholds, after which climate damages beg...

Towards a damage tolerance philosophy for composite materials and structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

O'Brien, T. Kevin

1990-01-01

A damage-threshold/fail-safe approach is proposed to ensure that composite structures are both sufficiently durable for economy of operation, as well as adequately fail-safe or damage tolerant for flight safety. Matrix cracks are assumed to exist throughout the off-axis plies. Delamination onset is predicted using a strain energy release rate characterization. Delamination growth is accounted for in one of three ways: either analytically, using delamination growth laws in conjunction with strain energy release rate analyses incorporating delamination resistance curves; experimentally, using measured stiffness loss; or conservatively, assuming delamination onset corresponds to catastrophic delamination growth. Fail-safety is assessed by accounting for the accumulation of delaminations through the thickness. A tension fatigue life prediction for composite laminates is presented as a case study to illustrate how this approach may be implemented. Suggestions are made for applying the damage-threshold/fail-safe approach to compression fatigue, tension/compression fatigue, and compression strength following low velocity impact.

Mitigation of laser damage on National Ignition Facility optics in volume production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Folta, James; Nostrand, Mike; Honig, John; Wong, Nan; Ravizza, Frank; Geraghty, Paul; Taranowski, Mike; Johnson, Gary; Larkin, Glenn; Ravizza, Doug; Peterson, John; Welday, Brian; Wegner, Paul

2013-12-01

The National Ignition Facility has recently achieved the milestone of delivering over 1.8 MJ and 500 TW of 351 nm laser energy and power on target, which required average fluences up to 9 J/cm2 (3 ns equivalent) in the final optics system. Commercial fused silica laser-grade UV optics typically have a maximum operating threshold of 5 J/cm2. We have developed an optics recycling process which enables NIF to operate above the laser damage initiation and growth thresholds. We previously reported a method to mitigate laser damage with laser ablation of the damage site to leave benign cone shaped pits. We have since developed a production facility with four mitigation systems capable of performing the mitigation protocols on full-sized (430 mm) optics in volume production. We have successfully repaired over 700 NIF optics (unique serial numbers), some of which have been recycled as many as 11 times. We describe the mitigation systems, the optics recycle loop process, and optics recycle production data.

Effects of γ-ray irradiation on optical absorption and laser damage performance of KDP crystals containing arsenic impurities.

PubMed

Guo, D C; Jiang, X D; Huang, J; Wang, F R; Liu, H J; Xiang, X; Yang, G X; Zheng, W G; Zu, X T

2014-11-17

The effects of γ-irradiation on potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals containing arsenic impurities are investigated with different optical diagnostics, including UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy, photo-thermal common-path interferometer and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The optical absorption spectra indicate that a new broad absorption band near 260 nm appears after γ-irradiation. It is found that the intensity of absorption band increases with the increasing irradiation dose and arsenic impurity concentration. The simulation of radiation defects show that this absorption is assigned to the formation of AsO₄⁴⁻ centers due to arsenic ions substituting for phosphorus ions. Laser-induced damage threshold test is conducted by using 355 nm nanosecond laser pulses. The correlations between arsenic impurity concentration and laser induced damage threshold are presented. The results indicate that the damage performance of the material decreases with the increasing arsenic impurity concentration. Possible mechanisms of the irradiation-induced defects formation under γ-irradiation of KDP crystals are discussed.

Towards a damage tolerance philosophy for composite materials and structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Obrien, T. Kevin

1988-01-01

A damage-threshold/fail-safe approach is proposed to ensure that composite structures are both sufficiently durable for economy of operation, as well as adequately fail-safe or damage tolerant for flight safety. Matrix cracks are assumed to exist throughout the off-axis plies. Delamination onset is predicted using a strain energy release rate characterization. Delamination growth is accounted for in one of three ways: either analytically, using delamination growth laws in conjunction with strain energy release rate analyses incorporating delamination resistance curves; experimentally, using measured stiffness loss; or conservatively, assuming delamination onset corresponds to catastrophic delamination growth. Fail-safety is assessed by accounting for the accumulation of delaminations through the thickness. A tension fatigue life prediction for composite laminates is presented as a case study to illustrate how this approach may be implemented. Suggestions are made for applying the damage-threshold/fail-safe approach to compression fatigue, tension/compression fatigue, and compression strength following low velocity impact.

Progress of p-channel bottom-gate poly-Si thin-film transistor by nickel silicide seed-induced lateral crystallization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sol Kyu; Seok, Ki Hwan; Park, Jae Hyo; Kim, Hyung Yoon; Chae, Hee Jae; Jang, Gil Su; Lee, Yong Hee; Han, Ji Su; Joo, Seung Ki

2016-06-01

Excimer laser annealing (ELA) is known to be the most common crystallization technology for the fabrication of low-temperature polycrystalline-silicon (poly-Si) thin-film transistors (TFTs) in the mass production industry. This technology, however, cannot be applied to bottom-gate (BG) TFTs, which are well developed for the liquid-crystal display (LCD) back-planes, because strong laser energy of ELA can seriously damage the other layers. Here, we propose a novel high-performance BG poly-Si TFT using Ni silicide seed-induced lateral crystallization (SILC). The SILC technology renders it possible to ensure low damage in the layers, smooth surface, and longitudinal large grains in the channel. It was observed that the electrical properties exhibited a steep subthreshold slope of 110 mV/dec, high field-effect mobility of 304 cm2/Vsec, high I on/ I off ratio of 5.9 × 107, and a low threshold voltage of -3.9 V.

Simulation of tokamak armour erosion and plasma contamination at intense transient heat fluxes in ITER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landman, I. S.; Bazylev, B. N.; Garkusha, I. E.; Loarte, A.; Pestchanyi, S. E.; Safronov, V. M.

2005-03-01

For ITER, the potential material damage of plasma facing tungsten-, CFC-, or beryllium components during transient processes such as ELMs or mitigated disruptions are simulated numerically using the MHD code FOREV-2D and the melt motion code MEMOS-1.5D for a heat deposition in the range of 0.5-3 MJ/m 2 on the time scale of 0.1-1 ms. Such loads can cause significant evaporation at the target surface and a contamination of the SOL by the ions of evaporated material. Results are presented on carbon plasma dynamics in toroidal geometry and on radiation fluxes from the SOL carbon ions obtained with FOREV-2D. The validation of MEMOS-1.5D against the plasma gun tokamak simulators MK-200UG and QSPA-Kh50, based on the tungsten melting threshold, is described. Simulations with MEMOS-1.5D for a beryllium first wall that provide important details about the melt motion dynamics and typical features of the damage are reported.

Microstructure formation on liquid metal surface under pulsed action

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Genin, D. E.; Beloplotov, D. V.; Panchenko, A. N.; Tarasenko, V. F.

2018-04-01

Experimental study and theoretical analysis of growth of microstructures (microtowers) on liquid metals by fs laser pulses have been carried out. Theoretical analysis has been performed on the basis of the two-temperature model. Compared to ns laser pulses, in fs irradiation regimes the heat-affected zone is strongly localized resulting in much larger temperatures and temperature gradients. In the experimental irradiation regimes, the surface temperature of liquid metals studied may reach or even exceed a critical level that culminates in phase explosion or direct atomization of a metal surface layer. However, before explosive ablation starts, a stress wave with an amplitude up to several GPa is formed which demolishes oxide covering. Moreover, at high laser fluences laser-induced breakdown is developed in oxide layer covering the metal surface that leads to destruction/ablation of oxide without damaging metal underneath. An overall scenario of microstructure growth with fs laser pulses is similar to that obtained for ns irradiation regimes though the growth threshold is lower due to smaller heat-conduction losses. Also we managed to obtain microstructures formation by the action of spark discharge.

Characteristics of EMI generated by negative metal-positive dielectric voltage stresses due to spacecraft charging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chaky, R. C.; Inouye, G. T.

1985-01-01

Charging of spacecraft surfaces by the environmental plasma can result in differential potentials between metallic structure and adjacent dielectric surfaces in which the relative polarity of the voltage stress is either negative dielectric/positive metal or negative metal/positive dielectric. Negative metal/positive dielectric is a stress condition that may arise if relatively large areas of spacecraft surface metals are shadowed from solar UV and/or if the UV intensity is reduced as in the situation in which the spacecraft is entering into or leaving eclipse. The results of experimental studies of negative metal/positive dielectric systems are given. Information is given on: enhanced electron emission I-V curves; e(3) corona noise vs e(3) steady-state current; the localized nature of e(3) and negative metal arc discharge currents; negative metal arc discharges at stress thresholds below 1 kilovolt; negative metal arc discharge characteristics; dependence of blowoff arc discharge current on spacecraft capacitance to space (linear dimension); and damage to second surface mirrors due to negative metal arcs.

Real-time seismic monitoring and functionality assessment of a building

USGS Publications Warehouse

Celebi, M.; ,

2005-01-01

This paper presents recent developments and approaches (using GPS technology and real-time double-integration) to obtain displacements and, in turn, drift ratios, in real-time or near real-time to meet the needs of the engineering and user community in seismic monitoring and assessing the functionality and damage condition of structures. Drift ratios computed in near real-time allow technical assessment of the damage condition of a building. Relevant parameters, such as the type of connections and story structural characteristics (including geometry) are used in computing drifts corresponding to several pre-selected threshold stages of damage. Thus, drift ratios determined from real-time monitoring can be compared to pre-computed threshold drift ratios. The approaches described herein can be used for performance evaluation of structures and can be considered as building health-monitoring applications.

Recent advances to obtain real - Time displacements for engineering applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Celebi, M.

2005-01-01

This paper presents recent developments and approaches (using GPS technology and real-time double-integration) to obtain displacements and, in turn, drift ratios, in real-time or near real-time to meet the needs of the engineering and user community in seismic monitoring and assessing the functionality and damage condition of structures. Drift ratios computed in near real-time allow technical assessment of the damage condition of a building. Relevant parameters, such as the type of connections and story structural characteristics (including geometry) are used in computing drifts corresponding to several pre-selected threshold stages of damage. Thus, drift ratios determined from real-time monitoring can be compared to pre-computed threshold drift ratios. The approaches described herein can be used for performance evaluation of structures and can be considered as building health-monitoring applications.

Low Threshold Voltage Continuous Wave Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-04-26

Data are presented demonstrating a design and fabrication process for the realization of low- threshold , high-output vertical-cavity surface-emitting...layers), the low series resistance of the design results in a bias voltage on o 1.8 V at a threshold current of 1.9 mA for 10-micrometer-diam devices.... Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.

Nanomanufacturing of silicon surface with a single atomic layer precision via mechanochemical reactions.

PubMed

Chen, Lei; Wen, Jialin; Zhang, Peng; Yu, Bingjun; Chen, Cheng; Ma, Tianbao; Lu, Xinchun; Kim, Seong H; Qian, Linmao

2018-04-18

Topographic nanomanufacturing with a depth precision down to atomic dimension is of importance for advancement of nanoelectronics with new functionalities. Here we demonstrate a mask-less and chemical-free nanolithography process for regio-specific removal of atomic layers on a single crystalline silicon surface via shear-induced mechanochemical reactions. Since chemical reactions involve only the topmost atomic layer exposed at the interface, the removal of a single atomic layer is possible and the crystalline lattice beneath the processed area remains intact without subsurface structural damages. Molecular dynamics simulations depict the atom-by-atom removal process, where the first atomic layer is removed preferentially through the formation and dissociation of interfacial bridge bonds. Based on the parametric thresholds needed for single atomic layer removal, the critical energy barrier for water-assisted mechanochemical dissociation of Si-Si bonds was determined. The mechanochemical nanolithography method demonstrated here could be extended to nanofabrication of other crystalline materials.

Limitations to laser machining of silicon using femtosecond micro-Bessel beams in the infrared

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grojo, David, E-mail: grojo@lp3.univ-mrs.fr; Mouskeftaras, Alexandros; Delaporte, Philippe

We produce and characterize high-angle femtosecond Bessel beams at 1300-nm wavelength leading to nonlinearly ionized plasma micro-channels in both glass and silicon. With microjoule pulse energy, we demonstrate controlled through-modifications in 150-μm glass substrates. In silicon, strong two-photon absorption leads to larger damages at the front surface but also a clamping of the intensity inside the bulk at a level of ≈4 × 10{sup 11 }W cm{sup −2} which is below the threshold for volume and rear surface modification. We show that the intensity clamping is associated with a strong degradation of the Bessel-like profile. The observations highlight that the inherent limitation tomore » ultrafast energy deposition inside semiconductors with Gaussian focusing [Mouskeftaras et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 191103 (2014)] applies also for high-angle Bessel beams.« less

Physical Biology of Axonal Damage.

PubMed

de Rooij, Rijk; Kuhl, Ellen

2018-01-01

Excessive physical impacts to the head have direct implications on the structural integrity at the axonal level. Increasing evidence suggests that tau, an intrinsically disordered protein that stabilizes axonal microtubules, plays a critical role in the physical biology of axonal injury. However, the precise mechanisms of axonal damage remain incompletely understood. Here we propose a biophysical model of the axon to correlate the dynamic behavior of individual tau proteins under external physical forces to the evolution of axonal damage. To propagate damage across the scales, we adopt a consistent three-step strategy: First, we characterize the axonal response to external stretches and stretch rates for varying tau crosslink bond strengths using a discrete axonal damage model. Then, for each combination of stretch rates and bond strengths, we average the axonal force-stretch response of n = 10 discrete simulations, from which we derive and calibrate a homogenized constitutive model. Finally, we embed this homogenized model into a continuum axonal damage model of [1-d]-type in which d is a scalar damage parameter that is driven by the axonal stretch and stretch rate. We demonstrate that axonal damage emerges naturally from the interplay of physical forces and biological crosslinking. Our study reveals an emergent feature of the crosslink dynamics: With increasing loading rate, the axonal failure stretch increases, but axonal damage evolves earlier in time. For a wide range of physical stretch rates, from 0.1 to 10 /s, and biological bond strengths, from 1 to 100 pN, our model predicts a relatively narrow window of critical damage stretch thresholds, from 1.01 to 1.30, which agrees well with experimental observations. Our biophysical damage model can help explain the development and progression of axonal damage across the scales and will provide useful guidelines to identify critical damage level thresholds in response to excessive physical forces.

LONG-TERM SD-OCT/SLO IMAGING OF NEURORETINA AND RETINAL PIGMENT EPITHELIUM AFTER SUB-THRESHOLD INFRARED LASER TREATMENT OF DRUSEN

PubMed Central

MOJANA, FRANCESCA; BRAR, MANPREET; CHENG, LINGYUN; BARTSCH, DIRK-UWE G.; FREEMAN, WILLIAM R.

2012-01-01

PURPOSE To determine the long-term effect of sub-threshold diode laser treatment for drusen in patients with non-exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with spectral domain optical coherence tomography combined with simultaneous scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SD-OCT/SLO). METHODS 8 eyes of 4 consecutive AMD patients with bilateral drusen previously treated with sub-threshold diode laser were imaged with SD-OCT/SLO. Abnormalities in the outer retina layers reflectivity as seen with SD-OCT/SLO were retrospectively analyzed and compared with color fundus pictures and autofluorescence images (AF) acquired immediately before and after the laser treatment. RESULTS A focal discrete disruptions in the reflectivity of the outer retinal layers was noted in 29% of the laser lesions. The junction in between the inner and outer segment of the photoreceptor was more frequently affected, with associated focal damage of the outer nuclear layer. Defects of the RPE were occasionally detected. These changes did not correspond to threshold burns on color fundus photography, but corresponded to focal areas of increased AF in the majority of the cases. CONCLUSIONS Sub-threshold diode laser treatment causes long-term disruption of the retinal photoreceptor layer as analyzed by SD-OCT/SLO. The concept that sub-threshold laser treatment can achieve a selected RPE effect without damage to rods and cones may be flawed. PMID:21157398

Mechanism and Safety at the Threshold of the Blood-Brain Barrier Opening In Vivo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konofagou, Elisa E.; Choi, James; Baseri, Babak; Selert, Kirsten; Tung, Yao-Sheng

2010-03-01

Current treatments of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases are limited due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In this paper, the threshold of BBB opening and its dependence on the microbubble diameter as well as the associated mechanism and safety are identified in vivo. In vivo BBB opening in mice (n = 13) was achieved by systemically injecting microbubbles (Definity and 1-2 and 4-5-μm lipid-shelled, gas-filled) and applying pulsed FUS (frequency: 1.525 MHz, peak-rarefactional pressure: 150-600 kPa) to the left hippocampus through the intact skin and skull. Systemically administered, BBB-impermeable, fluorescent-tagged dextrans at 3 kDa were injected to confirm BBB opening. H&E histology was also performed to determine any associated vascular or neuronal damage. Detection of stable and inertial cavitation was performed using a passive cavitation device (PCD) in a blood vessel phantom at the same pressure amplitudes as those used in vivo. Larger microbubbles (4-5 μm) resulted in a lower threshold of BBB opening. Cavitation studies confirmed that stable cavitation occurs at the threshold of BBB opening. The mechanism of BBB opening at the threshold was identified to be mainly related to stable cavitation. Histological studies indicated that, at the BBB opening threshold, no red-blood cell extravasation or neuronal damage was noted.

Structural Health Monitoring: Leveraging Pain in the Human Body

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nayak, Subhadarshi

2012-07-01

Tissue damage, or the perception thereof, is managed through pain experience. The neurobiological process of pain triggers most effective defense mechanisms for our safety. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is also a very similar function, albeit in engineering systems. SHM technology can leverage many aspects of pain mechanisms to progress in several critical areas. Discrimination between features from the undamaged and damaged structures can follow the threshold gate mechanism of the pain perception. Furthermore, the sensing mechanisms can be adaptive to changes by adjusting the threshold as does the pain perception. A distributed sensor network, often advanced by SHM, can be made fault-tolerant and robust by following the perception way of self-organization and redundancy. Data handling in real life is a huge challenge for large-scale SHM. As sensory data of pain is first cleaned, the threshold is then processed through experiential information gathering and use.

Quantification of a thermal damage threshold for astrocytes using infrared laser generated heat gradients.

PubMed

Liljemalm, Rickard; Nyberg, Tobias

2014-04-01

The response of cells and tissues to elevated temperatures is highly important in several research areas, especially in the area of infrared neural stimulation. So far, only the heat response of neurons has been considered. In this study, primary rat astrocytes were exposed to infrared laser pulses of various pulse lengths and the resulting cell morphology changes and cell migration was studied using light microscopy. By using a finite element model of the experimental setup the temperature distribution was simulated and the temperatures and times to induce morphological changes and migration were extracted. These threshold temperatures were used in the commonly used first-order reaction model according to Arrhenius to extract the kinetic parameters, i.e., the activation energy, E a, and the frequency factor, A c, for the system. A damage signal ratio threshold was defined and calculated to be 6% for the astrocytes to change morphology and start migrating.

Refinement of determination of critical thresholds of stress-strain behaviour by using AE data: potential for evaluation of durability of natural stone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prikryl, Richard; Lokajíček, Tomáš

2017-04-01

According to previous studies, evaluation of stress-strain behaviour (in uniaxial compression) of various rocks appears to be effective tool allowing for prediction of resistance of natural stone to some physical weathering processes. Precise determination of critical thresholds, specifically of 'crack initiation' and 'crack damage' is fundamental issue in this approach. In contrast to 'crack damage stress/strain threshold', which can be easily read from deflection point on volumetric curve, detection of 'crack initiation' is much more difficult. Besides previously proposed mathematical processing of axial stress-strain curve, recording of acoustic emission (AE) data and their processing provide direct measure of various stress/strain thresholds, specifically of 'crack initiation'. This specific parameter is required during successive computation of energetic parameters (mechanical work), that can be stored by a material without formation of new defects (microcracks) due to acting stress. Based on our experimental data, this mechanical work seems to be proportional to the resistance of a material to formation of mode I (tensile) cracks that are responsible for destruction of subsurface below exposed faces of natural stone.

Correlation of Superior Canal Dehiscence Surface Area With Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials, Audiometric Thresholds, and Dizziness Handicap.

PubMed

Hunter, Jacob B; O'Connell, Brendan P; Wang, Jianing; Chakravorti, Srijata; Makowiec, Katie; Carlson, Matthew L; Dawant, Benoit; McCaslin, Devin L; Noble, Jack H; Wanna, George B

2016-09-01

To correlate objective measures of vestibular and audiometric function as well as subjective measures of dizziness handicap with the surface area of the superior canal dehiscence (SCD). Retrospective chart review and radiological analysis. Single tertiary academic referral center. Preoperative computed tomography imaging, patient survey, audiometric thresholds, and vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) testing in patients with confirmed SCD. Image analysis techniques were developed to measure the surface area of each SCD in computed tomography imaging. Preoperative ocular and cervical VEMPs, air and bone conduction thresholds, air-bone gap, dizziness handicap inventory scores, and surface area of the SCD. Fifty-three patients (mean age 52.7 yr) with 84 SCD were analyzed. The median surface area of dehiscence was 1.44 mm (0.068-8.23 mm). Ocular VEMP amplitudes (r = 0.61, p <0.0001), cervical VEMP amplitudes (r = 0.62, p <0.0001), air conduction thresholds at 250 Hz (r = 0.25, p = 0.043), and air-bone gap at 500 Hz (r = 0.27, p = 0.01) positively correlated with increasing size of dehiscence. An inverse relationship between cervical VEMP thresholds (r = -0.56, p < 0.0001) and surface area of the dehiscence was observed. No association between dizziness handicap and surface area was identified. Among patients with confirmed SCD, ocular and cervical VEMP amplitudes, cervical VEMP thresholds, and air conduction thresholds at 250 Hz are significantly correlated with the surface area of the dehiscence.

On 1064 nm and 350 nm laser damage thresholds of high index oxide films deposited from organic solutions and sols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, I.; Wilder, J.; Gonzales, R.; George, D.

1987-06-01

High index oxide coatings TiO2, Ta2O5, ZrO2 and HfO2 have been prepared from organic solutions of metal organic precursors or from colloidal oxide suspensions. Room temperature processing gives porous coatings of comparatively low index (1.8 to 1.9). Heat treatments can, in some cases, increase the index. Laser damage threshold levels at 1064 nm with a single 1 ns pulse are in the range 6 to 10 J/sq cm. Lower figures are obtained at 350 nm with a 25 ns pulse under multishot (25 Hz) conditions.

Cell rejuvenation and social behaviors promoted by LPS exchange in myxobacteria.

PubMed

Vassallo, Christopher; Pathak, Darshankumar T; Cao, Pengbo; Zuckerman, David M; Hoiczyk, Egbert; Wall, Daniel

2015-06-02

Bacterial cells in their native environments must cope with factors that compromise the integrity of the cell. The mechanisms of coping with damage in a social or multicellular context are poorly understood. Here we investigated how a model social bacterium, Myxococcus xanthus, approaches this problem. We focused on the social behavior of outer membrane exchange (OME), in which cells transiently fuse and exchange their outer membrane (OM) contents. This behavior requires TraA, a homophilic cell surface receptor that identifies kin based on similarities in a polymorphic region, and the TraB cohort protein. As observed by electron microscopy, TraAB overexpression catalyzed a prefusion OM junction between cells. We then showed that damage sustained by the OM of one population was repaired by OME with a healthy population. Specifically, LPS mutants that were defective in motility and sporulation were rescued by OME with healthy donors. In addition, a mutant with a conditional lethal mutation in lpxC, an essential gene required for lipid A biosynthesis, was rescued by Tra-dependent interactions with a healthy population. Furthermore, lpxC cells with damaged OMs, which were more susceptible to antibiotics, had resistance conferred to them by OME with healthy donors. We also show that OME has beneficial fitness consequences to all cells. Here, in merged populations of damaged and healthy cells, OME catalyzed a dilution of OM damage, increasing developmental sporulation outcomes of the combined population by allowing it to reach a threshold density. We propose that OME is a mechanism that myxobacteria use to overcome cell damage and to transition to a multicellular organism.

Surface receptor Toso controls B cell-mediated regulation of T cell immunity.

PubMed

Yu, Jinbo; Duong, Vu Huy Hoang; Westphal, Katrin; Westphal, Andreas; Suwandi, Abdulhadi; Grassl, Guntram A; Brand, Korbinian; Chan, Andrew C; Föger, Niko; Lee, Kyeong-Hee

2018-05-01

The immune system is tightly controlled by regulatory processes that allow for the elimination of invading pathogens, while limiting immunopathological damage to the host. In the present study, we found that conditional deletion of the cell surface receptor Toso on B cells unexpectedly resulted in impaired proinflammatory T cell responses, which led to impaired immune protection in an acute viral infection model and was associated with reduced immunopathological tissue damage in a chronic inflammatory context. Toso exhibited its B cell-inherent immunoregulatory function by negatively controlling the pool of IL-10-competent B1 and B2 B cells, which were characterized by a high degree of self-reactivity and were shown to mediate immunosuppressive activity on inflammatory T cell responses in vivo. Our results indicate that Toso is involved in the differentiation/maintenance of regulatory B cells by fine-tuning B cell receptor activation thresholds. Furthermore, we showed that during influenza A-induced pulmonary inflammation, the application of Toso-specific antibodies selectively induced IL-10-competent B cells at the site of inflammation and resulted in decreased proinflammatory cytokine production by lung T cells. These findings suggest that Toso may serve as a novel therapeutic target to dampen pathogenic T cell responses via the modulation of IL-10-competent regulatory B cells.

The components of shear stress affecting insect cells used with the baculovirus expression vector system.

PubMed

Weidner, Tobias; Druzinec, Damir; Mühlmann, Martina; Buchholz, Rainer; Czermak, Peter

2017-09-26

Insect-based expression platforms such as the baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) are widely used for the laboratory- and industrial-scale production of recombinant proteins. Thereby, major drawbacks to gain high-quality proteins are the lytic infection cycle and the shear sensitivity of infected insect cells due to turbulence and aeration. Smaller bubbles were formerly assumed to be more harmful than larger ones, but we found that cell damage is also dependent on the concentration of protective agents such as Pluronic®. At the appropriate concentration, Pluronic forms a layer around air bubbles and hinders the attachment of cells, thus limiting the damage. In this context, we used microaeration to vary bubble sizes and confirmed that size is not the most important factor, but the total gas surface area in the reactor is. If the surface area exceeds a certain threshold, the concentration of Pluronic is no longer sufficient for cell protection. To investigate the significance of shear forces, a second study was carried out in which infected insect cells were cultivated in a hollow fiber module to protect them from shear forces. Both model studies revealed important aspects of the design and scale-up of BEVS processes for the production of recombinant proteins.

Magnetorheological elastic super-smooth finishing for high-efficiency manufacturing of ultraviolet laser resistant optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Feng; Shu, Yong; Dai, Yifan; Peng, Xiaoqiang; Li, Shengyi

2013-07-01

Based on the elastic-plastic deformation theory, status between abrasives and workpiece in magnetorheological finishing (MRF) process and the feasibility of elastic polishing are analyzed. The relationship among material removal mechanism and particle force, removal efficiency, and surface topography are revealed through a set of experiments. The chemical dominant elastic super-smooth polishing can be fulfilled by changing the components of magnetorheological (MR) fluid and optimizing polishing parameters. The MR elastic super-smooth finishing technology can be applied in polishing high-power laser-irradiated components with high efficiency, high accuracy, low damage, and high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT). A 430×430×10 mm fused silica (FS) optic window is polished and surface error is improved from 538.241 nm [peak to valley (PV)], 96.376 nm (rms) to 76.372 nm (PV), 8.295 nm (rms) after 51.6 h rough polishing, 42.6 h fine polishing, and 54.6 h super-smooth polishing. A 50×50×10 mm sample is polished with exactly the same parameters. The roughness is improved from 1.793 nm [roughness average (Ra)] to 0.167 nm (Ra) and LIDT is improved from 9.77 to 19.2 J/cm2 after MRF elastic polishing.

Laser-induced damage in optical materials: sixteenth ASTM symposium.

PubMed

Bennett, H E; Guenther, A H; Milam, D; Newnam, B E

1987-03-01

The Sixteenth Annual Symposium on Optical Materials for High Power Lasers (Boulder Damage Symposium) was held at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, CO, 15-17 Oct. 1984. The Symposium was held under the auspices of ASTM Committee F-1, Subcommittee on Laser Standards, with the joint sponsorship of NBS, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the Department of Energy, the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Approximately 180 scientists attended the Symposium, including representatives from England, France, The Netherlands, Scotland, and West Germany. The Symposium was divided into sessions concerning Materials and Measurements, Mirrors and Surfaces, Thin Films, and Fundamental Mechanisms. As in previous years, the emphasis of the papers presented at the Symposium was directed toward new frontiers and new developments. Particular emphasis was given to materials for high-power apparatus. The wavelength range of prime interest was from 10.6,microm to the UV region. Highlights included surface characterization, thin-film-substrate boundaries, and advances in fundamental laser-matter threshold interactions and mechanisms. Harold E. Bennett of the U.S. Naval Weapons Center, Arthur H. Guenther of the U.S. Air Force Weapons Laboratory, David Milam of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Brian E. Newnam of the Los Alamos National Laboratory were cochairmen of the Symposium.

Implications of Sensory Stimulation in Self-Destructive Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edelson, Stephen M.

1984-01-01

The author extends the self stimulatory theory of self destructive behavior in autistic, schizophrenic, and mentally retarded individuals to suggest that damage of the skin's nerve structure lowers the tactile sensory threshold for physical input and enables individuals to obtain sensory stimulation by repeatedly depressing the damaged area. (CL)

Visible lesion thresholds and model predictions for Q-switched 1318-nm and 1540-nm laser exposures to porcine skin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zohner, Justin J.; Schuster, Kurt J.; Chavey, Lucas J.; Stolarski, David J.; Kumru, Semih S.; Rockwell, Benjamin A.; Thomas, Robert J.; Cain, Clarence P.

2006-02-01

Skin damage thresholds were measured and compared with theoretical predictions using a skin thermal model for near-IR laser pulses at 1318 nm and 1540 nm. For the 1318-nm data, a Q-switched, 50-ns pulse with a spot size of 5 mm was applied to porcine skin and the damage thresholds were determined at 1 hour and 24 hours postexposure using Probit analysis. The same analysis was conducted for a Q-switched, 30-ns pulse at 1540 nm with a spot size of 5 mm. The Yucatan mini-pig was used as the skin model for human skin due to its similarity to pigmented human skin. The ED 50 for these skin exposures at 24 hours postexposure was 10.5 J/cm2 for the 1318-nm exposures, and 6.1 J/cm2 for the 1540-nm exposures. These results were compared to thermal model predictions. We show that the thermal model fails to account for the ED 50 values observed. A brief discussion of the possible causes of this discrepancy is presented. These thresholds are also compared with previously published skin minimum visible lesion (MVL) thresholds and with the ANSI Standard's MPE for 1318-nm lasers at 50 ns and 1540-nm lasers at 30 ns.

Thresholds for thermal damage to normal tissues: an update.

PubMed

Yarmolenko, Pavel S; Moon, Eui Jung; Landon, Chelsea; Manzoor, Ashley; Hochman, Daryl W; Viglianti, Benjamin L; Dewhirst, Mark W

2011-01-01

The purpose of this review is to summarise a literature survey on thermal thresholds for tissue damage. This review covers published literature for the consecutive years from 2002-2009. The first review on this subject was published in 2003. It included an extensive discussion of how to use thermal dosimetric principles to normalise all time-temperature data histories to a common format. This review utilises those same principles to address sensitivity of a variety of tissues, but with particular emphasis on brain and testis. The review includes new data on tissues that were not included in the original review. Several important observations have come from this review. First, a large proportion of the papers examined for this review were discarded because time-temperature history at the site of thermal damage assessment was not recorded. It is strongly recommended that future research on this subject include such data. Second, very little data is available examining chronic consequences of thermal exposure. On a related point, the time of assessment of damage after exposure is critically important for assessing whether damage is transient or permanent. Additionally, virtually no data are available for repeated thermal exposures which may occur in certain recreational or occupational activities. For purposes of regulatory guidelines, both acute and lasting effects of thermal damage should be considered.

Link between mechanical strength and laser damage threshold for antireflective coating made by sol-gel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avice, J.; Piombini, H.; Boscher, C.; Belleville, P.; Vaudel, G.; Brotons, G.; Ruello, P.; Gusev, V.

2017-11-01

The MegaJoule Laser (LMJ) for inertial confinement fusion experiments is currently in operation at CEA-CESTA in France. All the lenses are coated by an antireflective (AR) layer to optimize the light power transmission. This AR layer is manufactured by sol-gel process, a soft chemical process, associated with a liquid phase coating technique to realize thin film of metal oxide. These optical components are hardened into ammoniac vapors in order to mechanically reinforce the AR coating and to make them more handling. This hardening induces a thickness reduction of the layer so an increase of the stiffness and sometimes a crazing of the layer. As these optical components undergo a high-power laser beam, so, it is important to verify if the AR properties (optical and mechanical) influence the value of the threshold laser damage. A series of coated samples have been manufactured having variable elastic moduli to discuss this point. In that purpose, a homemade Laser Induced Damage Threshold (LIDT) setup has been developed to test the layers under laser flux. We describe the used methods and different results are given. Preliminary results obtained on several coated samples with variable elastic moduli are presented. We show that whatever are the elastic stiffness of the AR coating, an overall decrease of the threshold appears with no noticeable effect of the mechanical properties of the AR coatings. Some possible explanations are given.

Colour changes by laser irradiation of reddish building limestones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grossi, C. M.; Benavente, D.

2016-10-01

We have used X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as a novel method to investigate the causes of colour changes in a reddish limestone under irradiation by a Q-switched Nd:YAG 1064 nm laser. We irradiated clean dry and wet surfaces of Pidramuelle Roja, a building stone frequently used in the Asturian heritage, at fluences ranging from 0.12 to 1.47 J cm-2. We measured the colour coordinates and undertook XPS analysis of the state of oxidation of iron both before and after irradiation. Visible colour changes and potential aesthetic damage occurred on dry surfaces from a fluence of 0.31 J cm-2, with the stone showing a greening effect and very intense darkening. The colour change on dry surfaces was considerably higher than on wet surfaces, which at the highest fluence (1.47 J cm-2) was also above the human visual detection threshold. The use of XPS demonstrated that the change in colour (chroma and hue) is associated with a reduction in the iron oxidation state on dry surfaces during laser irradiation. This points out to a potential routinary use of XPS to analyse causes of colour changes during laser cleaning in other types of coloured building stones.

Analysis of laser jamming to satellite-based detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Si-wen; Guo, Li-hong; Guo, Ru-hai

2009-07-01

The reconnaissance satellite, communication satellite and navigation satellite used in the military applications have played more and more important role in the advanced technique wars and already become the significant support and aid system for military actions. With the development of all kinds of satellites, anti-satellite laser weapons emerge as the times require. The experiments and analyses of laser disturbing CCD (charge coupled detector) in near ground have been studied by many research groups, but their results are not suitable to the case that using laser disturbs the satellite-based detector. Because the distance between the satellite-based detector and the ground is very large, it is difficult to damage it directly. However the optical receive system of satellite detector has large optical gain, so laser disturbing satellite detector is possible. In order to determine its feasibility, the theoretical analyses and experimental study are carried out in the paper. Firstly, the influence factors of laser disturbing satellite detector are analyzed in detail, which including laser power density on the surface of the detector after long distance transmission, and laser power density threshold for disturbing etc. These factors are not only induced by the satellite orbit, but dependence on the following parameters: laser average power in the ground, laser beam quality, tracing and aiming precision and atmospheric transmission. A calculation model is developed by considering all factors which then the power density entering into the detector can be calculated. Secondly, the laser disturbing experiment is performed by using LD (laser diode) with the wavelength 808 nm disturbing CCD 5 kilometer away, which the disturbing threshold value is obtained as 3.55×10-4mW/cm2 that coincides with other researcher's results. Finally, using the theoretical model, the energy density of laser on the photosensitive surface of MSTI-3 satellite detector is estimated as about 100mW/cm2, which is largely exceed the disturbing threshold and therefore verify the feasibility of using this kind of laser disturbing the satellite-based detector. According to the results. using the similar laser power density absolutely saturate the requirements to laser disturbing satellite-based detector. If considering the peak power of pulsed laser, even decrease laser average power, it is also possible to damage the detector. This result will provide the reliable evidences to evaluate the effect of laser disturbing satellite-based detector.

Strip Coating Metrology on Large Scale Telescope Optics: Scalable Cost Saving Preventative Maintenance with First Contact Polymer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, J.

2012-09-01

Protection and cleaning of precision optical surfaces on large scale astronomical instruments has entered a new era. First surface mirrors have been restored to "like-new" condition avoiding the expense and downtime of recoating. Nearly 10 years of testing and evaluation at a variety of sites including optics at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and the W.M Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea, have yielded impressive results: restored reflectivity, no residue, insitu cleaning and better coating performance when used as a precleaner when coating. Metrology and research in our labs has resulted in these novel, commercially available polymeric stripcoatings that are applied as a liquid and subsequently peeled off the substrate as a solid film. These designer polymer solutions safely clean and protect a wide variety of nanostructured surfaces and leave the surface almost atomically clean. Contaminant removal was monitored by a variety of techniques including Reflectivity, Nomarski, Atomic Force and Scanning Electron Microscopy as well as XPS. In addition, data demonstrates that the material safely removes particulate contamination and finger oils from nanostructures such as the 300nm wide lines on diffraction gratings and similar submicron features on Si wafers. High power laser damage testing found no residue on the optical surfaces following dried film removal and YAG laser damage thresholds after cleaning on coated BK7 of 15J/cm2 at 20ns and 20Hz were unchanged. Additionally to these adhesion tunable polymer systems, nanotube and graphene doped, ESD free polymer strip coatings for surface protection, nanoreplication, cleaning and dust mitigation have also been developed. Our coatings have been successfully used on diverse surfaces like high power laser optics, the Hope Diamond in Washington DC, CCD s for the 520 megapixel Dark Energy Survey Camera being built at Fermilab and lithographically fabbed detector surfaces for the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search.

Empirical development of ground acceleration, velocity, and displacement for accidental explosions at J5 or the proposed large altitude rocket cell at Arnold Engineering Development Center

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, B.C.

This study is an assessment of the ground shock which may be generated in the event of an accidental explosion at J5 or the Proposed Large Altitude Rocket Cell (LARC) at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC). The assessment is accomplished by reviewing existing empirical relationships for predicting ground motion from ground shock. These relationships are compared with data for surface explosions at sites with similar geology and with yields similar to expected conditions at AEDC. Empirical relationships are developed from these data and a judgment made whether to use existing empirical relationships or the relationships developed in this study.more » An existing relationship (Lipner et al.) is used to predict velocity; the empirical relationships developed in the course of this study are used to predict acceleration and displacement. The ground motions are presented in table form and as contour plots. Included also is a discussion of damage criteria from blast and earthquake studies. This report recommends using velocity rather than acceleration as an indicator of structural blast damage. It is recommended that v = 2 ips (v = .167 fps) be used as the damage threshold value (no major damage for v less than or equal to 2 ips). 13 references, 25 figures, 6 tables.« less

Laser induced damage in optical materials: 8th ASTM symposium.

PubMed

Glass, A J; Guenther, A H

1977-05-01

The Eighth Annual Symposium on Optical Materials for High Power Lasers (Boulder Damage Symposium) was hosted by the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, from 13 to 15 July 1976. The Symposium was held under the auspices of ASTM Committee F-1, Subcommittee on Laser Standards, with the joint sponsorship of NBS, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, and the Office of Naval Research. About 160 scientists attended the Symposium, including representatives of the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Brazil. The Symposium was divided into five half-day sessions concerning Bulk Material Properties and Thermal Behavior, Mirrors and Surfaces, Thin Film Properties, Thin Film Damage, and Scaling Laws and Fundamental Mechanisms. As in previous years, the emphasis of the papers presented at the Symposium was directed toward new frontiers and new developments. Particular emphasis was given to new materials for use at 10.6 microm in mirror substrates, windo s, and coatings. New techniques in film deposition and advances in diamond-turning of optics were described. The scaling of damage thresholds with pulse duration, focal area, and wavelength were discussed. Alexander J. Glass of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Arthur H. Guenther of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory were co-chairpersons of the Symposium. The Ninth Annual Symposium is scheduled for 4-6 October 1977 at the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado.

Effects of stress waves on cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Campbell, H L; Da Silva, L B; Visuri, S R

Laser induced stress waves are being used in a variety of medical applications, including drug delivery and targeted tissue disruption. Stress waves can also be an undesirable side effect in laser procedures such as ophthalmology and angioplasty. Thus, a study of the effects of stress waves on a cellular level is useful. Thermoelastic stress waves were produced using a Q-switched frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser (@.=532nm) with a pulse duration of 4 ns. The laser radiation was delivered to an absorbing media. A thermoelastic stress wave was produced in the absorbing media and propagated into plated cells. The energy per pulse deliveredmore » to a sample and the spot size were varied. Stress waves were quantified. We assayed for cell viability and damage using two methods. The laser parameters within which cells maintain viability were investigated and thresholds for cell damage were defined. A comparison of cell damage thresholds for different cell lines was made.« less

Laser-induced damage of intrinsic and extrinsic defects by picosecond pulses on multilayer dielectric coatings for petawatt-class lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Negres, Raluca A.; Carr, Christopher W.; Laurence, Ted A.

2016-08-01

Here, we describe a damage testing system and its use in investigating laser-induced optical damage initiated by both intrinsic and extrinsic precursors on multilayer dielectric coatings suitable for use in high-energy, large-aperture petawatt-class lasers. We employ small-area damage test methodologies to evaluate the intrinsic damage resistance of various coatings as a function of deposition methods and coating materials under simulated use conditions. In addition, we demonstrate that damage initiation by raster scanning at lower fluences and growth threshold testing are required to probe the density of extrinsic defects, which will limit large-aperture optics performance.

Improvement in performance and reliability with CF4 plasma pretreatment on the buffer oxide layer for low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Ching-Lin; Lin, Yi-Yan; Yang, Chun-Chieh

2012-03-01

This study applies CF4 plasma pretreatment to a buffer oxide layer to improve the performance of low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistors (LTPS TFTs). Results show that the fluorine atoms piled up at the interface between the bulk channel and buffer oxide layer and accumulated in the bulk channel. The reduction of the trap states density by fluorine passivation can improve the electrical characteristics of the LTPS TFTs. It is found that the threshold voltage reduced from 4.32 to 3.03 V and the field-effect mobility increased from 29.71 to 45.65 cm2 V-1 S-1. In addition, the on current degradation and threshold voltage shift after stressing were significantly improved about 31% and 70%, respectively. We believe that the proposed CF4 plasma pretreatment on the buffer oxide layer can passivate the trap states and avoid the plasma induced damage on the polysilicon channel surface, resulting in the improvement in performance and reliability for LTPS-TFT mass production application on AMOLED displays with critical reliability requirement.

Defect Detection of Steel Surfaces with Global Adaptive Percentile Thresholding of Gradient Image

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neogi, Nirbhar; Mohanta, Dusmanta K.; Dutta, Pranab K.

2017-12-01

Steel strips are used extensively for white goods, auto bodies and other purposes where surface defects are not acceptable. On-line surface inspection systems can effectively detect and classify defects and help in taking corrective actions. For detection of defects use of gradients is very popular in highlighting and subsequently segmenting areas of interest in a surface inspection system. Most of the time, segmentation by a fixed value threshold leads to unsatisfactory results. As defects can be both very small and large in size, segmentation of a gradient image based on percentile thresholding can lead to inadequate or excessive segmentation of defective regions. A global adaptive percentile thresholding of gradient image has been formulated for blister defect and water-deposit (a pseudo defect) in steel strips. The developed method adaptively changes the percentile value used for thresholding depending on the number of pixels above some specific values of gray level of the gradient image. The method is able to segment defective regions selectively preserving the characteristics of defects irrespective of the size of the defects. The developed method performs better than Otsu method of thresholding and an adaptive thresholding method based on local properties.

Forecasting Frost Damage: Follow the Water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rempel, A. W.

2015-12-01

Frost damage takes place when the pressure exerted against pore walls exceeds the cohesive strength of water-infiltrated rock and causes cracks to extend. Elegant theoretical treatments supported by meticulous field and laboratory observations have combined to unravel the basic mechanical and thermodynamic controls in idealized systems. Frost damage is most vigorous when conditions are cold enough that the net pressure exerted against the pore walls can cause crack extension, yet warm enough to enable the flow that supplies further ice growth in the newly opened space. This insight is applied here to develop practical geomorphic process laws for the effects of frost damage at the larger scales that are relevant for describing the evolution of landscapes. To this end, a direct connection is made between the intensity of frost damage and the porosity increase that results from gradients in water flux under conditions that are cold enough for ice-rock interactions to propagate cracks. This implies that the annual temperature variation at the ground surface can be combined with considerations of heat and mass transport to derive rigorous forecasts of the potential for frost damage that are tied to the increases in water mass that accompany solidification in porous rock. As an example, the image shows the depth-integrated porosity change λ promoted by crack growth at temperatures colder than -ΔTc over an annual cycle for different choices of mean annual temperature MAT and surface amplitude A (assuming a thermal diffusivity of 1 mm2/s and a power-law relationship between permeability and undercooling with exponent α=4, such that a base value of 10-14m2 is reached at a reference undercooling of 0.1 ºC). The abrupt onset in cracking once MAT decreases below a threshold is produced by the requirement that undercooling surpass ΔTc in order to generate sufficient pressures to propagate cracks. The eventual reduction and gradual tail in λ at colder MAT is produced by the clogging of the permeable pathways needed to supply additional water to propmote crack growth.

QCM operating in threshold mode as a gas sensor.

PubMed

Dultsev, Fedor N; Kolosovsky, Eugeny A

2009-10-20

Application of the threshold mode allowed us to use the quartz resonator (quartz crystal microbalance, QCM) as a highly sensitive gas sensor measuring the forces of the rupture of adsorbed gas components from the resonator surface oscillating with increasing amplitude. This procedure allows one to analyze different gas components using the same surface modification, just varying the rupture threshold by varying the amplitude of shear oscillations. The sensitivity of the threshold measurements is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than for the gravimetric procedure. It is demonstrated that the QCM operating as an active element can be used as a gas sensor. This procedure seems to be promising in investigating the reactivity of the surface or the interactions of gaseous components with the surface containing various functional groups, thus contributing to the surface chemistry.

A comparison of LIDT behavior of metal-dielectric mirrors in ns and ps pulse regime at 1030 nm with regard to the coating technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Škoda, Václav; Vanda, Jan; Uxa, Štěpán

2017-11-01

Several sets of mirror samples with multilayer system Ta2O5/SiO2 on silver metal layer were manufactured using either PVD or IAD coating technology. Both BK7 and fused silica substrates were used for preparation of samples. Laserinduced- damage-threshold (LIDT) of metal-dielectric mirrors was tested using a laser apparatus working at 1030 nm wavelength, in ns and ps pulse length domains in S-on-1 test mode. The measured damage threshold values at 45 deg angle of incidence and P-polarization were compared for different pulse length, substrate materials and coating technology.

Optimization design and laser damage threshold analysis of pulse compression multilayer dielectric gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Shuwei; Bai, Liang; Chen, Nana

2016-08-01

As one of the key elements of high-power laser systems, the pulse compression multilayer dielectric grating is required for broader band, higher diffraction efficiency and higher damage threshold. In this paper, the multilayer dielectric film and the multilayer dielectric gratings(MDG) were designed by eigen matrix and optimized with the help of generic algorithm and rigorous coupled wave method. The reflectivity was close to 100% and the bandwith were over 250nm, twice compared to the unoptimized film structure. The simulation software of standing wave field distribution within MDG was developed and the electric field of the MDG was calculated. And the key parameters which affected the electric field distribution were also studied.

Developments in seismic monitoring for risk reduction

USGS Publications Warehouse

Celebi, M.

2007-01-01

This paper presents recent state-of-the-art developments to obtain displacements and drift ratios for seismic monitoring and damage assessment of buildings. In most cases, decisions on safety of buildings following seismic events are based on visual inspections of the structures. Real-time instrumental measurements using GPS or double integration of accelerations, however, offer a viable alternative. Relevant parameters, such as the type of connections and structural characteristics (including storey geometry), can be estimated to compute drifts corresponding to several pre-selected threshold stages of damage. Drift ratios determined from real-time monitoring can then be compared to these thresholds in order to estimate damage conditions drift ratios. This approach is demonstrated in three steel frame buildings in San Francisco, California. Recently recorded data of strong shaking from these buildings indicate that the monitoring system can be a useful tool in rapid assessment of buildings and other structures following an earthquake. Such systems can also be used for risk monitoring, as a method to assess performance-based design and analysis procedures, for long-term assessment of structural characteristics of a building, and as a possible long-term damage detection tool.

Atomic layer deposition for fabrication of HfO2/Al2O3 thin films with high laser-induced damage thresholds.

PubMed

Wei, Yaowei; Pan, Feng; Zhang, Qinghua; Ma, Ping

2015-01-01

Previous research on the laser damage resistance of thin films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is rare. In this work, the ALD process for thin film generation was investigated using different process parameters such as various precursor types and pulse duration. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was measured as a key property for thin films used as laser system components. Reasons for film damaged were also investigated. The LIDTs for thin films deposited by improved process parameters reached a higher level than previously measured. Specifically, the LIDT of the Al2O3 thin film reached 40 J/cm(2). The LIDT of the HfO2/Al2O3 anti-reflector film reached 18 J/cm(2), the highest value reported for ALD single and anti-reflect films. In addition, it was shown that the LIDT could be improved by further altering the process parameters. All results show that ALD is an effective film deposition technique for fabrication of thin film components for high-power laser systems.

Bringing social standards into project evaluation under dynamic uncertainty.

PubMed

Knudsen, Odin K; Scandizzo, Pasquale L

2005-04-01

Society often sets social standards that define thresholds of damage to society or the environment above which compensation must be paid to the state or other parties. In this article, we analyze the interdependence between the use of social standards and investment evaluation under dynamic uncertainty where a negative externality above a threshold established by society requires an assessment and payment of damages. Under uncertainty, the party considering implementing a project or new technology must not only assess when the project is economically efficient to implement but when to abandon a project that could potentially exceed the social standard. Using real-option theory and simple models, we demonstrate how such a social standard can be integrated into cost-benefit analysis through the use of a development option and a liability option coupled with a damage function. Uncertainty, in fact, implies that both parties interpret the social standard as a target for safety rather than an inflexible barrier that cannot be overcome. The larger is the uncertainty, in fact, the greater will be the tolerance for damages in excess of the social standard from both parties.

Smooth e-beam-deposited tin-doped indium oxide for III-nitride vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser intracavity contacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonard, J. T.; Cohen, D. A.; Yonkee, B. P.; Farrell, R. M.; DenBaars, S. P.; Speck, J. S.; Nakamura, S.

2015-10-01

We carried out a series of simulations analyzing the dependence of mirror reflectance, threshold current density, and differential efficiency on the scattering loss caused by the roughness of tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) intracavity contacts for 405 nm flip-chip III-nitride vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). From these results, we determined that the ITO root-mean-square (RMS) roughness should be <1 nm to minimize scattering losses in VCSELs. Motivated by this requirement, we investigated the surface morphology and optoelectronic properties of electron-beam (e-beam) evaporated ITO films, as a function of substrate temperature and oxygen flow and pressure. The transparency and conductivity were seen to increase with increasing temperature. Decreasing the oxygen flow and pressure resulted in an increase in the transparency and resistivity. Neither the temperature, nor oxygen flow and pressure series on single-layer ITO films resulted in highly transparent and conductive films with <1 nm RMS roughness. To achieve <1 nm RMS roughness with good optoelectronic properties, a multi-layer ITO film was developed, utilizing a two-step temperature scheme. The optimized multi-layer ITO films had an RMS roughness of <1 nm, along with a high transparency (˜90% at 405 nm) and low resistivity (˜2 × 10-4 Ω-cm). This multi-layer ITO e-beam deposition technique is expected to prevent p-GaN plasma damage, typically observed in sputtered ITO films on p-GaN, while simultaneously reducing the threshold current density and increasing the differential efficiency of III-nitride VCSELs.

Modelling of surface-water temperature for the estimation of the Czech fishery productivity under the climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svobodová, Eva; Trnka, Miroslav; Kopp, Radovan; Mareš, Jan; Dubrovský, Martin; Spurný, Petr; Žalud, Zděněk

2015-04-01

Freshwater fish production is significantly correlated with water temperature which is expected to increase under the climate change. This study is dealing with the estimation of the change of water temperature in productive ponds and its impact on the fishery in the Czech Republic. Calculation of surface-water temperature which was based on three-day mean of the air temperature was developed and tested in several ponds in three main fish production areas. Output of surface-water temperature model was compared with measured data and showed that the lower range of model accuracy is surface-water temperature 3°C, under this temperature threshold the model loses its predictive competence. In the expecting of surface-water temperature above the temperature 3°C the model has proved the well consistence between observed and modelled surface-water temperature (R 0.79 - 0.96). Verified model was applied in the conditions of climate change determined by the pattern scaling method, in which standardised scenarios were derived from five global circulation models MPEH5, CSMK3, IPCM4, GFCM21 and HADGEM. Results were evaluated with regard to thresholds which characterise the fish species requirements on water temperature. Used thresholds involved the upper temperature threshold for fish survival and the tolerable number of days in continual period with mentioned threshold surface-water temperature. Target fish species were Common carp (Cyprinus carpio), Maraene whitefish (Coregonus maraena), Northern whitefish (Coregonus peled) and Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykis). Results indicated the limitation of the Czech fish-farming in terms of i) the increase of the length of continual periods with surface-water temperature above the threshold appropriate to given fish species toleration, ii) the increase of the number of continual periods with surface-water temperature above the threshold, both appropriate to given fish species toleration, and iii) the increase of overall number of days within the continual period with temperature above the threshold tolerated by given fish species. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This study was funded by project "Building up a multidisciplinary scientific team focused on drought" No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0248.

Characteristics and mechanism of laser-induced surface damage initiated by metal contaminants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Shuang; Sun, Mingying; Shi, Shuaixu; Li, Zhaoyan; Zhang, Ya-nan; Liu, Zhigang

2015-08-01

In high power laser facility, contaminants on optics surfaces reduce damage resistance of optical elements and then decrease their lifetime. By damage test experiments, laser damage induced by typical metal particles such as stainless steel 304 is studied. Optics samples with metal particles of different sizes on surfaces are prepared artificially based on the file and sieve. Damage test is implemented in air using a 1-on-1 mode. Results show that damage morphology and mechanism caused by particulate contamination on the incident and exit surfaces are quite different. Contaminants on the incident surface absorb laser energy and generate high temperature plasma during laser irradiation which can ablate optical surface. Metal particles melt and then the molten nano-particles redeposit around the initial particles. Central region of the damaged area bears the same outline as the initial particle because of the shielding effect. However, particles on the exit surface absorb a mass of energy, generate plasma and splash lots of smaller particles, only a few of them redeposit at the particle coverage area on the exit surface. Most of the laser energy is deposited at the interface of the metal particle and the sample surface, and thus damage size on the exit surface is larger than that on the incident surface. The areas covered by the metal particle are strongly damaged. And the damage sites are more serious than that on the incident surface. Besides damage phenomenon also depends on coating and substrate materials.

Relaxed damage threshold intensity conditions and nonlinear increase in the conversion efficiency of an optical parametric oscillator using a bi-directional pump geometry.

PubMed

Norris, G; McConnell, G

2010-03-01

A novel bi-directional pump geometry that nonlinearly increases the nonlinear optical conversion efficiency of a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is reported. This bi-directional pumping method synchronizes the circulating signal pulse with two counter-propagating pump pulses within a linear OPO resonator. Through this pump scheme, an increase in nonlinear optical conversion efficiency of 22% was achieved at the signal wavelength, corresponding to a 95% overall increase in average power. Given an almost unchanged measured pulse duration of 260 fs under optimal performance conditions, this related to a signal wavelength peak power output of 18.8 kW, compared with 10 kW using the traditional single-pass geometry. In this study, a total effective peak intensity pump-field of 7.11 GW/cm(2) (corresponding to 3.55 GW/cm(2) from each pump beam) was applied to a 3 mm long periodically poled lithium niobate crystal, which had a damage threshold intensity of 4 GW/cm(2), without impairing crystal integrity. We therefore prove the application of this novel pump geometry provides opportunities for power-scaling of synchronously pumped OPO systems together with enhanced nonlinear conversion efficiency through relaxed damage threshold intensity conditions.

Normally-off AlGaN/GaN-based MOS-HEMT with self-terminating TMAH wet recess etching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Son, Dong-Hyeok; Jo, Young-Woo; Won, Chul-Ho; Lee, Jun-Hyeok; Seo, Jae Hwa; Lee, Sang-Heung; Lim, Jong-Won; Kim, Ji Heon; Kang, In Man; Cristoloveanu, Sorin; Lee, Jung-Hee

2018-03-01

Normally-off AlGaN/GaN-based MOS-HEMT has been fabricated by utilizing damage-free self-terminating tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) recess etching. The device exhibited a threshold voltage of +2.0 V with good uniformity, extremely small hysteresis of ∼20 mV, and maximum drain current of 210 mA/mm. The device also exhibited excellent off-state performances, such as breakdown voltage of ∼800 V with off-state leakage current as low as ∼10-12 A and high on/off current ratio (Ion/Ioff) of 1010. These excellent device performances are believed to be due to the high quality recessed surface, provided by the simple self-terminating TMAH etching.

Simulation of Anisotropic Rock Damage for Geologic Fracturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Busetti, S.; Xu, H.; Arson, C. F.

2014-12-01

A continuum damage model for differential stress-induced anisotropic crack formation and stiffness degradation is used to study geologic fracturing in rocks. The finite element-based model solves for deformation in the quasi-linear elastic domain and determines the six component damage tensor at each deformation increment. The model permits an isotropic or anisotropic intact or pre-damaged reference state, and the elasticity tensor evolves depending on the stress path. The damage variable, similar to Oda's fabric tensor, grows when the surface energy dissipated by three-dimensional opened cracks exceeds a threshold defined at the appropriate scale of the representative elementary volume (REV). At the laboratory or wellbore scale (<1m) brittle continuum damage reflects microcracking, grain boundary separation, grain crushing, or fine delamination, such as in shale. At outcrop (1m-100m), seismic (10m-1000m), and tectonic (>1000m) scales the damaged REV reflects early natural fracturing (background or tectonic fracturing) or shear strain localization (fault process zone, fault-tip damage, etc.). The numerical model was recently benchmarked against triaxial stress-strain data from laboratory rock mechanics tests. However, the utility of the model to predict geologic fabric such as natural fracturing in hydrocarbon reservoirs was not fully explored. To test the ability of the model to predict geological fracturing, finite element simulations (Abaqus) of common geologic scenarios with known fracture patterns (borehole pressurization, folding, faulting) are simulated and the modeled damage tensor is compared against physical fracture observations. Simulated damage anisotropy is similar to that derived using fractured rock-mass upscaling techniques for pre-determined fracture patterns. This suggests that if model parameters are constrained with local data (e.g., lab, wellbore, or reservoir domain), forward modeling could be used to predict mechanical fabric at the relevant REV scale. This reference fabric also can be used as the starting material property to pre-condition subsequent deformation or fluid flow. Continuing efforts are to expand the present damage model to couple damage evolution with plasticity and with permeability for more geologically realistic simulation.

Development of binomial sequential sampling plans for forecasting Listronotus maculicollis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) larvae based on the relationship to adult counts and turfgrass damage.

PubMed

McGraw, Benjamin A; Koppenhöfer, Albrecht M

2009-06-01

Binomial sequential sampling plans were developed to forecast weevil Listronotus maculicollis Kirby (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), larval damage to golf course turfgrass and aid in the development of integrated pest management programs for the weevil. Populations of emerging overwintered adults were sampled over a 2-yr period to determine the relationship between adult counts, larval density, and turfgrass damage. Larval density and composition of preferred host plants (Poa annua L.) significantly affected the expression of turfgrass damage. Multiple regression indicates that damage may occur in moderately mixed P. annua stands with as few as 10 larvae per 0.09 m2. However, > 150 larvae were required before damage became apparent in pure Agrostis stolonifera L. plots. Adult counts during peaks in emergence as well as cumulative counts across the emergence period were significantly correlated to future densities of larvae. Eight binomial sequential sampling plans based on two tally thresholds for classifying infestation (T = 1 and two adults) and four adult density thresholds (0.5, 0.85, 1.15, and 1.35 per 3.34 m2) were developed to forecast the likelihood of turfgrass damage by using adult counts during peak emergence. Resampling for validation of sample plans software was used to validate sampling plans with field-collected data sets. All sampling plans were found to deliver accurate classifications (correct decisions were made between 84.4 and 96.8%) in a practical timeframe (average sampling cost < 22.7 min).

Laser processing of sapphire with picosecond and sub-picosecond pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashkenasi, D.; Rosenfeld, A.; Varel, H.; Wähmer, M.; Campbell, E. E. B.

1997-11-01

Laser processing of sapphire using a Ti:sapphire laser at 790 and 395 nm and pulse widths varying between 0.2 and 5 ps is reported. A clear improvement in quality is demonstrated for multi-shot processing with sub-ps laser pulses. For fluences between 3 and 12 J/cm 2 two ablation phases were observed, in agreement with previous work from Tam et al. using 30 ps, 266 nm laser pulses [A.C. Tam, J.L. Brand, D.C. Cheng, W. Zapka, Appl. Phys. Lett. 55 (20) (1994) 2045]. During the `gentle ablation' phase periodic wavelike structures, i.e. ripples, were observed on the Al 2O 3 surface, perpendicular to the laser polarisation and with a spacing almost equalling the laser wavelength, indicating metallic-like behaviour. The ripple modulation depth was in the order of a few tens of nm. For fluences between 1 and 2.5 J/cm 2, below the single-shot surface damage threshold and at a pulse width above 200 fs, microstructures could be produced at the rear side of a 1 mm thick sapphire substrate without affecting the front surface.

Damage of multilayer optics with varying capping layers induced by focused extreme ultraviolet beam

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jody Corso, Alain; Nicolosi, Piergiorgio; Nardello, Marco

2013-05-28

Extreme ultraviolet Mo/Si multilayers protected by capping layers of different materials were exposed to 13.5 nm plasma source radiation generated with a table-top laser to study the irradiation damage mechanism. Morphology of single-shot damaged areas has been analyzed by means of atomic force microscopy. Threshold fluences were evaluated for each type of sample in order to determine the capability of the capping layer to protect the structure underneath.

Laser-induced damage threshold of camera sensors and micro-optoelectromechanical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwarz, Bastian; Ritt, Gunnar; Koerber, Michael; Eberle, Bernd

2017-03-01

The continuous development of laser systems toward more compact and efficient devices constitutes an increasing threat to electro-optical imaging sensors, such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS) and charge-coupled devices. These types of electronic sensors are used in day-to-day life but also in military or civil security applications. In camera systems dedicated to specific tasks, micro-optoelectromechanical systems, such as a digital micromirror device (DMD), are part of the optical setup. In such systems, the DMD can be located at an intermediate focal plane of the optics and it is also susceptible to laser damage. The goal of our work is to enhance the knowledge of damaging effects on such devices exposed to laser light. The experimental setup for the investigation of laser-induced damage is described in detail. As laser sources, both pulsed lasers and continuous-wave (CW)-lasers are used. The laser-induced damage threshold is determined by the single-shot method by increasing the pulse energy from pulse to pulse or in the case of CW-lasers, by increasing the laser power. Furthermore, we investigate the morphology of laser-induced damage patterns and the dependence of the number of destructive device elements on the laser pulse energy or laser power. In addition to the destruction of single pixels, we observe aftereffects, such as persistent dead columns or rows of pixels in the sensor image.

Non-damaging laser therapy of the macula: Titration algorithm and tissue response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palanker, Daniel; Lavinsky, Daniel; Dalal, Roopa; Huie, Philip

2014-02-01

Retinal photocoagulation typically results in permanent scarring and scotomata, which limit its applicability to the macula, preclude treatments in the fovea, and restrict the retreatments. Non-damaging approaches to laser therapy have been tested in the past, but the lack of reliable titration and slow treatment paradigms limited their clinical use. We developed and tested a titration algorithm for sub-visible and non-damaging treatments of the retina with pulses sufficiently short to be used with pattern laser scanning. The algorithm based on Arrhenius model of tissue damage optimizes the power and duration for every energy level, relative to the threshold of lesion visibility established during titration (and defined as 100%). Experiments with pigmented rabbits established that lesions in the 50-75% energy range were invisible ophthalmoscopically, but detectable with Fluorescein Angiography and OCT, while at 30% energy there was only very minor damage to the RPE, which recovered within a few days. Patients with Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) and Central Serous Retinopathy (CSR) have been treated over the edematous areas at 30% energy, using 200μm spots with 0.25 diameter spacing. No signs of laser damage have been detected with any imaging modality. In CSR patients, subretinal fluid resolved within 45 days. In DME patients the edema decreased by approximately 150μm over 60 days. After 3-4 months some patients presented with recurrence of edema, and they responded well to retreatment with the same parameters, without any clinically visible damage. This pilot data indicates a possibility of effective and repeatable macular laser therapy below the tissue damage threshold.

Refinement of a thermal threshold probe to prevent burns.

PubMed

Dixon, M J; Taylor, P M; Slingsby, L C; Murrell, J C

2016-02-01

Thermal threshold testing is commonly used for pain research. The stimulus may cause burning and merits prevention. Thermal probe modifications hypothesized to reduce burning were evaluated for practicality and effect. Studies were conducted on two humans and eight cats. Unmodified probe 0 was tested on two humans and promising modifications were also evaluated on cats. Probe 1 incorporated rapid cooling after threshold was reached: probe 1a used a Peltier system and probe 1b used water cooling. Probe 2 released skin contact immediately after threshold. Probe 3 (developed in the light of evidence of 'hot spots' in probe 0) incorporated reduced thermal mass and even heating across the skin contact area. Human skin was heated to 48℃ (6℃ above threshold) and the resulting burn was evaluated using area of injury and a simple descriptive scale (SDS). Probe 1a cooled the skin but required further heat dissipation, excessive power, was not 'fail-safe' and was inappropriate for animal mounting. Probe 1b caused less damage than no cooling (27 ± 13 and 38 ± 11 mm(2) respectively, P = 0.0266; median SDS 1.5 and 4 respectively, P = 0.0317) but was cumbersome. Probe 2 was unwieldy and was not evaluated further. Probe 3 produced even heating without blistering in humans. With probe 3 in cats, after opioid treatment, thermal threshold reached cut-out (55℃) on 24 occasions, exceeded 50℃ in a further 32 tests and exceeded 48℃ in the remainder. No skin damage was evident immediately after testing and mild hyperaemia in three cats at 2-3 days resolved rapidly. Probe 3 appeared to be suitable for thermal threshold testing. © The Author(s) 2015.

Quaternary IPM (integrated pest management)--concept for the control of powdery mildew in sugar beets.

PubMed

Wolf, P F J; Verreet, A

2008-01-01

Powdery mildew, caused by Erysiphe betae (Vanha) Weltzien, may be assumed as an important leaf disease in sugar beet growing areas of central Europe. Although the causal agent is mainly adapted to arid climatic zones, the disease is appearing every year, where the extent of infection is mainly dependent on weather conditions and susceptibility of cultivar. The losses caused by powdery mildew seldom exceed 10% of sugar yield; moreover, losses are likely only under the condition that the epidemic onset occurs before end-August. Nevertheless, the epidemic onset varies in a wide range, as there are years with high incidence followed by growing periods without severe infection. Therefore, in order to have a flexible control of the disease, where the use of fungicides could be minimised to an essential amount, a quaternary IPM (Integrated Pest Management) -concept was developed. The development is based on epidemiological field studies (Germany, 1993-2004, n = 76) of sugar beet leaf diseases under variation of year, site and cultivar. Efficacy of fungicide treatment timing was assessed in relation to the epidemic development. Comparison of treatments comprised fungicide sprays carried out from disease initiation till later stages of the epidemic. Additionally, the assessments were performed in relation to an untreated and a healthy control--the latter was three times treated according to a treatment regime with three to four week intervals. The effect of different application timings was measured by the potential of disease and yield loss control. The quaternary concept combines the advantages of four elements in order to compensate the constraints of the single tools: The period without disease risk is determined by a so-called negative-prognosis (i). First symptoms appear in the period from mid-July till the beginning of September. If disease initiation cannot be excluded, field observations by a sample of 100 leaves are advised. The disease scores enable the appliance of action thresholds (ii). The latter are defined as early stages of the epidemic in order to optimize the efficiency of fungicide treatments. For an initial treatment a threshold of 5% infected leaves is defined. However, incidence in the height of action thresholds is not affecting an instant damage. The stage when a sugar beet is damaged effectively is rather defined by the economic damage threshold (iii). As a consequence, because exceeding of action threshold doesn't implicate immediate yield risk, loss prediction (iv) is required. The loss prediction assesses the likelihood of disease progress will exceed the economic damage threshold at harvest time. Loss risk is existent in case of action threshold exceeding till mid-August if cultivar susceptibility is low respectively end-August if susceptibility is high.

Identifying Hail Signatures in Satellite Imagery from the 9-10 August 2011 Severe Weather Event

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dryden, Rachel L.; Molthan, Andrew L.; Cole, Tony A.; Bell, Jordan R.

2014-01-01

Hail scars are identifiable in MODIS satellite imagery based on NDVI change, which was dominantly negative. Hail damage spatially correlates with SPC hail reports and MESH. This study developed a proxy for quantifying crop loss at varying thresholds to address the gap between SPC damage estimates and insurance payouts.

Research of polishing process to control the iron contamination on the magnetorheological finished KDP crystal surface.

PubMed

Chen, Shaoshan; Li, Shengyi; Peng, Xiaoqiang; Hu, Hao; Tie, Guipeng

2015-02-20

A new nonaqueous and abrasive-free magnetorheological finishing (MRF) method is adopted for processing a KDP crystal. MRF polishing is easy to result in the embedding of carbonyl iron (CI) powders; meanwhile, Fe contamination on the KDP crystal surface will affect the laser induced damage threshold seriously. This paper puts forward an appropriate MRF polishing process to avoid the embedding. Polishing results show that the embedding of CI powders can be avoided by controlling the polishing parameters. Furthermore, on the KDP crystal surface, magnetorheological fluids residua inevitably exist after polishing and in which the Fe contamination cannot be removed completely by initial ultrasonic cleaning. To solve this problem, a kind of ion beam figuring (IBF) polishing is introduced to remove the impurity layer. Then the content of Fe element contamination and the depth of impurity elements are measured by time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. The measurement results show that there are no CI powders embedding in the MRF polished surface and no Fe contamination after the IBF polishing process, respectively. That verifies the feasibility of MRF polishing-IBF polishing (cleaning) for processing a KDP crystal.

Saltation threshold on Mars - The effect of interparticle force, surface roughness, and low atmospheric density. [from wind-tunnel experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iversen, J. D.; White, B. R.; Pollack, J. B.; Greeley, R.

1976-01-01

Results are reported for wind-tunnel experiments performed to determine the threshold friction speed of particles with different densities. Experimentally determined threshold speeds are plotted as a function of particle diameter and in terms of threshold parameter vs particle friction Reynolds number. The curves are compared with those of previous experiments, and an A-B curve is plotted to show differences in threshold speed due to differences in size distributions and particle shapes. Effects of particle diameter are investigated, an expression for threshold speed is derived by considering the equilibrium forces acting on a single particle, and other approximately valid expressions are evaluated. It is shown that the assumption of universality of the A-B curve is in error at very low pressures for small particles and that only predictions which take account of both Reynolds number and effects of interparticle forces yield reasonable agreement with experimental data. Effects of nonerodible surface roughness are examined, and threshold speeds computed with allowance for this factor are compared with experimental values. Threshold friction speeds on Mars are then estimated for a surface pressure of 5 mbar, taking into account all the factors considered.

Combined meso-scale modeling and experimental investigation of the effect of mechanical damage on the transport properties of cementitious composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raghavan, Balaji; Niknezhad, Davood; Bernard, Fabrice; Kamali-Bernard, Siham

2016-09-01

The transport properties of cementitious composites such as concrete are important indicators of their durability, and are known to be heavily influenced by mechanical loading. In the current work, we use meso-scale hygro-mechanical modeling with a morphological 3D two phase mortar-aggregate model, in conjunction with experimentally obtained properties, to investigate the coupling between mechanical loading and damage and the permeability of the composite. The increase in permeability of a cylindrical test specimen at 28% aggregate fraction during a uniaxial displacement-controlled compression test at 85% of the peak load was measured using a gas permeameter. The mortar's mechanical behavior is assumed to follow the well-known compression damaged plasticity (CDP) model with isotropic damage, at varying thresholds, and obtained from different envelope curves. The damaged intrinsic permeability of the mortar evolves according to a logarithmic matching law with progressive loading. We fit the matching law parameters to the experimental result for the test specimen by inverse identification using our meso-scale model. We then subject a series of virtual composite specimens to quasi-static uniaxial compressive loading with varying boundary conditions to obtain the simulated damage and strain evolutions, and use the damage data and the previously identified parameters to determine the evolution of the macroscopic permeability tensor for the specimens, using a network model. We conduct a full parameter study by varying aggregate volume fraction, granulometric distribution, loading/boundary conditions and "matching law" parameters, as well as for different strain-damage thresholds and uniaxial loading envelope curves. Based on this study, we propose Avrami equation-based upper and lower bounds for the evolution of the damaged permeability of the composite.

Development of post-fire crown damage mortality thresholds in ponderosa pine

Treesearch

James F. Fowler; Carolyn Hull Sieg; Joel McMillin; Kurt K. Allen; Jose F. Negron; Linda L. Wadleigh; John A. Anhold; Ken E. Gibson

2010-01-01

Previous research has shown that crown scorch volume and crown consumption volume are the major predictors of post-fire mortality in ponderosa pine. In this study, we use piecewise logistic regression models of crown scorch data from 6633 trees in five wildfires from the Intermountain West to locate a mortality threshold at 88% scorch by volume for trees with no crown...

The optical breakdown threshold of air on a polished metal surface for radiation at lambda=10.6 microns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arkhipov, Iu. V.; Belashkov, I. N.; Datskevich, N. P.; Egorov, V. N.; Iziumov, A. F.

1986-01-01

Threshold conditions for the formation of a plasma due to optical breakdown of air on the polished surfaces of Al, Co, Mi, and W samples have been investigated experimentally. The optical breakdown was initiated by pulsed radiation from two CO2 lasers having pulse powers 0.5 and 1.0 kJ, respectively. The thresholds for the formation of the plasma were determined for two exposure spots of o/14 sq mm and 46 sq cm, respectively. A metallographic study was carried out in order to identify the specific types of defects corresponding to the lowest optical breakdown thresholds. Before-and-after photographs of the metal surfaces are provided.

A study and comparison of the effects of low speed change vehicle collisions on the human body.

PubMed

Hoyes, Philip; Henderson, Brian

2013-03-01

In motor vehicle collisions there is a well-established relationship between the level of damage sustained by the vehicle, its change in speed during the collision period, the movement of occupants and the potential for their injury. Greater damage, with respect to structure, means a greater potential for injury. In terms of rear-end impacts, speed change thresholds for injury have been suggested in previous literature. This research uses human test subjects and three full-scale vehicle, rear-end collisions to investigate the correlation between speed change and occupant movement and uses it to test the suggestion of a second threshold where the accelerations are similar to an everyday activity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A laser scanning system for metrology and viewing in ITER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spampinato, P.T.; Barry, R.E.; Menon, M.M.

1996-05-01

The construction and operation of a next-generation fusion reactor will require metrology to achieve and verify precise alignment of plasma-facing components and inspection in the reactor vessel. The system must be compatible with the vessel environment of high gamma radiation (10{sup 4} Gy/h), ultra-high-vacuum (10{sup {minus}8} torr), and elevated temperature (200 C). The high radiation requires that the system be remotely deployed. A coherent frequency modulated laser radar-based system will be integrated with a remotely operated deployment mechanism to meet these requirements. The metrology/viewing system consists of a compact laser transceiver optics module which is linked through fiber optics tomore » the laser source and imaging units that are located outside of a biological shield. The deployment mechanism will be a mast-like positioning system. Radiation-damage tests will be conducted on critical sensor components at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to determine threshold damage levels and effects on data transmission. This paper identifies the requirements for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor metrology and viewing and describes a remotely operated precision ranging and surface mapping system.« less

Fabrication of micro-optical components using femtosecond oscillator pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodrigues, Vanessa R. M.; Ramachandran, Hema; Chidangil, Santhosh; Mathur, Deepak

2017-06-01

With a penchant for integrated photonics and miniaturization, the fabrication of micron sized optical elements using precision laser pulse management is drawing attention due to the possibility of minimizing tolerances for collateral material damage. The work presented here deals with the design, fabrication and characterization of a range of diffractive optics - gratings, grids and Fresnel zone plates - on transparent and metallic samples. Their low volume, light weight, transmission bandwidth, high damage threshold and flexible design make them suited for replacing conventional refractive optical elements. Our one-step, mask-less, 3-D laser direct writing process is a green fabrication technique which is in stark contrast to currently popular Photo-lithography based micro-structuring. Our method provides scope for modifications on the surface as well as within the bulk of the material. The mechanism involved in the fabrication of these optics on transparent and thin metallic substrates differ from each other. Our studies show that both amplitude and phase versions of micro-structures were achieved successfully with performances bearing 98% accuracy vis-a-vis theoretical expectations.

Selective retinal therapy with a continuous line scanning laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paulus, Yannis M.; Jain, ATul; Gariano, Ray F.; Nomoto, Hiroyuki; Schuele, Georg; Sramek, Christopher; Charalel, Resmi; Palanker, Daniel

2010-02-01

This study evaluates the effects of exposure duration, beam diameter, and power on the safety, selectivity, and healing of retinal lesions created using a continuous line scanning laser. A 532 nm laser (PASCALTM) with retinal beam diameters of 40 and 66 μm was applied to 60 eyes of 30 Dutch-Belted rabbits. Retinal exposure duration varied from 15 to 60 μs. Lesions were acutely assessed by ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography (FA). RPE flatmounts were evaluated with live-dead fluorescent assay (LD). Histological analysis was performed at 1 hour, 1 and 3 days, 1 and 2 weeks, and 1 and 2 months following laser treatment. Ophthalmoscopic visibility (OV) of the lesions corresponded to photoreceptor damage on histological analysis at 1 hour. In subvisible lesions, FA and LD yielded similar thresholds of RPE damage. The ratios of the threshold of rupture and of OV to FA visibility (measures of safety and selectivity) increased with decreasing duration and beam diameter. Above the threshold of OV, histology showed focal RPE damage and photoreceptor loss at one day without inner retinal effects. By one week, continuity of photoreceptor and RPE layers was restored. By 1 month, photoreceptors appeared normal while hypertrophy and hyperpigmentation of the RPE persisted. Retinal therapy with a fast scanning continuous laser achieves selective targeting of the RPE and, at higher power, of the photoreceptors. The damage zone in the photoreceptor layer is quickly filled-in, likely due to photoreceptor migration from adjacent zones. Continuous scanning laser can treat large retinal areas within standard eye fixation time.

Detection of Anomalous Machining Damages in Inconel 718 and TI 6-4 by Eddy Current Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lo, C. C. H.; Shimon, M.; Nakagawa, N.

2010-02-01

This paper reports on an eddy current (EC) study aimed at detecting anomalous machining damages in Inconel 718 and Ti 6-4 samples, including (i) surface discontinuities such as re-depositing of chips onto the machined surface, and (ii) microstructural damages manifested as a white surface layer and a subsurface layer of distorted grains, typically tens of microns thick. A series of pristine and machine-damaged coupons were studied by EC scans using a differential probe operated at 2 MHz to detect discontinuous surface anomalies, and by swept high frequency EC (SHFEC) measurements from 0.5 MHz to 65.5 MHz using proprietary detection coils to detect surface microstructural damages. In general, the EC c-scan data from machine-damaged surfaces show spatial variations with larger standard deviations than those from the undamaged surfaces. In some cases, the c-scan images exhibit characteristic bipolar indications in good spatial correlation with surface anomalies revealed by optical microscopy and laser profilometry. Results of the SHFEC measurements indicate a reduced near-surface conductivity of the damaged surfaces compared to the undamaged surfaces.

Options to Improve Rain Snow Parameterization in Surface Based Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feiccabrino, J. M.

2017-12-01

Precipitation phase determination is of upmost importance in a number of surface based hydrological, ecological, and safety models. However, precipitation phase at Earth's surface is a result of cloud and atmospheric properties not measured by surface weather stations. Nonetheless, they can be inferred from the available surface datum. This study uses 681,620 weather observations with air temperatures between -3 and 5°C and identified precipitation occurring at the time of the observation to determine simple, yet accurate, thresholds for precipitation phase determination schemes (PPDS). This dataset represents 38% and 42% of precipitation observations over a 16 year period for 85 Swedish, and 84 Norwegian weather stations. The misclassified precipitation (error) from PPDS using AT, dew-point temperature (DT) and wet-bulb temperature (WB) thresholds were compared using a single threshold PPDS. The Norwegian observations between -3 and 5°C resulted in 11.64%, 11.21%, and 8.42% error for DT (-0.2°C), AT (1.2°C), and WB (0.3°C) thresholds respectively. Individual station thresholds had a range of -0.7 to 1.2°C, -1.2 to 0.9°C, and -0.1 to 2.5°C for WB, DP, and AT respectively. To address threshold variance while decreasing error, weather stations were grouped into nine landscape categories; windward (WW) ocean, WW coast, WW fjord, WW hill, WW mountain, leeward (LW) mountain, LW hill, LW rolling hills, and LW coast. Landscape classification was based on location relative to the Scandinavian Mountains, and the % water or range of elevation within 15KM. Within landscapes, stations share similar land atmosphere exchanges which differ from other landscapes. These differences change optimal thresholds for PPDS between landscapes. Also tested were threshold temperature affects based on assumed atmospheric differences for the following observation groups; 1.) occurring before and after an air mass boundary, 2.) with different water temperatures and/or NAO phases, 3.) with snow cover, 4.) coupled with higher elevation stations and 5.) with different cloud heights. For example, in Norway, as the unsaturated layer depth beneath clouds increased, AT thresholds warmed. Cloud height adjusted AT thresholds reduced error by 5% before threshold adjustments for landscapes.

EFFECTS OF LASER RADIATION ON MATTER: Laser damage behaviour of titania coatings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skvortsov, L. A.

2010-01-01

A model is proposed for the generation of defects responsible for laser damage in thin titania films during repetitive exposure to nanosecond near-IR laser pulses. The model relies on the hypothesis that there is charge transfer between two point defect centres differing in photoionisation cross section, one of which has an adsorptive nature. The model's predictions agree well with the experimentally determined accumulation curve and the temperature dependence of the damage threshold at low temperatures and clarify the role of protective coatings.

Experimental constraints on dynamic fragmentation as a dissipative process during seismic slip.

PubMed

Barber, Troy; Griffith, W Ashley

2017-09-28

Various fault damage fabrics, from gouge in the principal slip zone to fragmented and pulverized rocks in the fault damage zone, have been attributed to brittle deformation at high strain rates during earthquake rupture. Past experimental work has shown that there exists a critical threshold in stress-strain rate space through which rock failure transitions from failure along a few discrete fracture planes to intense fragmentation. We present new experimental results on Arkansas Novaculite (AN) and Westerly Granite (WG) in which we quantify fracture surface area produced by dynamic fragmentation under uniaxial compressive loading and examine the controls of pre-existing mineral anisotropy on dissipative processes at the microscale. Tests on AN produced substantially greater new fracture surface area (approx. 6.0 m 2  g -1 ) than those on WG (0.07 m 2  g -1 ). Estimates of the portion of energy dissipated into brittle fracture were significant for WG (approx. 5%), but appeared substantial in AN (10% to as much as 40%). The results have important implications for the partitioning of dissipated energy under extreme loading conditions expected during earthquakes and the scaling of high-speed laboratory rock mechanics experiments to natural fault zones.This article is part of the themed issue 'Faulting, friction and weakening: from slow to fast motion'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Thermal effects of white light illumination during microsurgery: clinical pilot study on the application safety of surgical microscopes.

PubMed

Hibst, Raimund; Saal, David; Russ, Detlef; Kunzi-Rapp, Karin; Kienle, Alwin; Stock, Karl

2010-01-01

Modern operating microscopes offer high power illumination to ensure optimal visualization, but can also cause thermal damage. The aim of our study is to quantify the thermal effects in vivo and discuss conditions for safe use. In a pilot study on volunteers, we measured the temperature at the skin surface during microscope illumination, including the influence of anaesthesia and the effects of staining, draping, or moistening of the skin. Irradiation within the limit given by safety regulations (200 mW/cm(2)) results in skin surface temperature of 43 degrees C. Higher intensities (forearm 335 mW/cm(2), back 250 mW/cm(2)) are tolerated, resulting in reversible hyperaemia. At a very high illumination intensity (750 mW/cm(2)), pain occurs within 30 s at temperatures of 46 degrees C+/-1 degrees C (hand and forearm), and 43 degrees C+/-2 degrees C (back), respectively. Anaesthesia has no distinct effect on the temperature, whereas staining and drapes result in much higher temperatures (>100 degrees C). Moistening at practicable flow rates can reduce temperature efficiently when combined with a light absorbing and water absorbent drape. In conclusion, surgeons must be aware that surgical microscope illumination without protective means can cause skin temperatures to rise much above pain threshold, which in our study serves as a (conservative) benchmark for potential damage.

Thermal effects of white light illumination during microsurgery: clinical pilot study on the application safety of surgical microscopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibst, Raimund; Saal, David; Russ, Detlef; Kunzi-Rapp, Karin; Kienle, Alwin; Stock, Karl

2010-07-01

Modern operating microscopes offer high power illumination to ensure optimal visualization, but can also cause thermal damage. The aim of our study is to quantify the thermal effects in vivo and discuss conditions for safe use. In a pilot study on volunteers, we measured the temperature at the skin surface during microscope illumination, including the influence of anaesthesia and the effects of staining, draping, or moistening of the skin. Irradiation within the limit given by safety regulations (200 mW/cm2) results in skin surface temperature of 43 °C. Higher intensities (forearm 335 mW/cm2, back 250 mW/cm2) are tolerated, resulting in reversible hyperaemia. At a very high illumination intensity (750 mW/cm2), pain occurs within 30 s at temperatures of 46 °C+/-1 °C (hand and forearm), and 43 °C+/-2 °C (back), respectively. Anaesthesia has no distinct effect on the temperature, whereas staining and drapes result in much higher temperatures (>100 °C). Moistening at practicable flow rates can reduce temperature efficiently when combined with a light absorbing and water absorbent drape. In conclusion, surgeons must be aware that surgical microscope illumination without protective means can cause skin temperatures to rise much above pain threshold, which in our study serves as a (conservative) benchmark for potential damage.

Significance of hair-dye base-induced sensory irritation.

PubMed

Fujita, F; Azuma, T; Tajiri, M; Okamoto, H; Sano, M; Tominaga, M

2010-06-01

Oxidation hair-dyes, which are the principal hair-dyes, sometimes induce painful sensory irritation of the scalp caused by the combination of highly reactive substances, such as hydrogen peroxide and alkali agents. Although many cases of severe facial and scalp dermatitis have been reported following the use of hair-dyes, sensory irritation caused by contact of the hair-dye with the skin has not been reported clearly. In this study, we used a self-assessment questionnaire to measure the sensory irritation in various regions of the body caused by two model hair-dye bases that contained different amounts of alkali agents without dyes. Moreover, the occipital region was found as an alternative region of the scalp to test for sensory irritation of the hair-dye bases. We used this region to evaluate the relationship of sensitivity with skin properties, such as trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL), stratum corneum water content, sebum amount, surface temperature, current perception threshold (CPT), catalase activities in tape-stripped skin and sensory irritation score with the model hair-dye bases. The hair-dye sensitive group showed higher TEWL, a lower sebum amount, a lower surface temperature and higher catalase activity than the insensitive group, and was similar to that of damaged skin. These results suggest that sensory irritation caused by hair-dye could occur easily on the damaged dry scalp, as that caused by skin cosmetics reported previously.

Expected radiation damage of reverse-type APDs for the Astro-H mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kataoka, J.; Saito, T.; Yoshino, M.; Mizoma, H.; Nakamori, T.; Yatsu, Y.; Ishikawa, Y.; Matsunaga, Y.; Tajima, H.; Kokubun, M.; Edwards, P. G.

2012-06-01

Scheduled for launch in 2014, Astro-H is the sixth Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite mission. More than 60 silicon avalanche photodiodes (Si-APDs; hereafter APDs) will be used to read out BGO scintillators, which are implemented to generate a veto signal to reduce background contamination for the hard X-ray imager (HXI) and a soft gamma-ray detector (SGD). To date, however, APDs have rarely been used in space experiments. Moreover, strict environmental tests are necessary to guarantee APD performance for missions expected to extend beyond five years. The radiation hardness of APDs, as for most semiconductors, is particularly crucial, since radiation in the space environment is severe. In this paper, we present the results of radiation tests conducted on reverse-type APDs (provided by Hamamatsu Photonics) irradiated by gamma rays (60Co) and 150 MeV protons. We show that, even under the same 100 Gy dose, high energy protons can cause displacement (bulk) damage in the depletion region and possibly change the activation energy, whereas gamma-ray irradiation is less prone to cause damage, because ionization damage dominates only the surface region. We also present quantitative guidance on how to estimate APD noise deterioration over a range of temperatures and radiation doses. As a practical example, we discuss the expected degradation of the BGO energy threshold for the generation of veto signals, following several years of Astro-H operation in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and directly compare it to experimental results obtained using a small BGO crystal.

Computer modeling of tank track elastomers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lesuer, D.R.; Goldberg, A.; Patt, J.

Computer models of the T142, T156 and the British Chieftain tank tracks have been studied as part of a program to examine the tank-track-pad failure problem. The modeling is based on the finite element method with two different models being used to evaluate the thermal and mechanical response of the tracks. Modeling has enabled us to evaluate the influence of track design, elastomer formulation and operating scenario on the response of the track. the results of these analyses have been evaluated with experimental tests that quantify the extent of damage development in elastomers and thus indicate the likelihood of padmore » failure due to ''cutting and chunking.'' The primary characteristics influencing the temperatures achieved in the track are the heat-generation rate and the track geometry. The heat-generation rate is related to the viscoelastic material properties of the elastomer, track design and loading/operating scenario. For all designs and materials studied, stresses produced during contact with a flat roadway surface were not considered large enough to damage the pad. Operating scenarios were studied in which the track pad contacts rigid bars representing idealized obstacles in cross country terrain. A highly localized obstacle showed the possibility for subsurface mechanical damage to the track pad due to obstacle contact. Contact with a flat rigid bar produced higher tensile stresses that were near the damage thresholds for this material and thus capable of producing cutting and chunking failures.« less

Electrohydraulic shock wave generation as a means to increase intrinsic permeability of mortar

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maurel, O.; Reess, T.; Matallah, M.

2010-12-15

This article discusses the influence of compressive shock waves on the permeability of cementitious materials. Shock waves are generated in water by Pulsed Arc Electrohydraulic Discharges (PAED). The practical aim is to increase the intrinsic permeability of the specimens. The maximum pressure amplitude of the shock wave is 250 MPa. It generates damage in the specimens and the evolution of damage is correlated with the intrinsic permeability of the mortar. A threshold of pressure is observed. From this threshold, the increase of permeability is linear in a semi-log plot. The influence of repeated shocks on permeability is also discussed. Qualitativemore » X Ray Tomography illustrates the evolution of the microstructure of the material leading to the increase of permeability. Comparative results from mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) show that the micro-structural damage process starts at the sub-micrometric level and that the characteristic size of pores of growing volume increases.« less

Effect of Li and NH4 doping on the crystal perfection, second harmonic generation efficiency and laser damage threshold of potassium pentaborate crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vigneshwaran, A. N.; Kalainathan, S.; Raja, C. Ramachandra

2018-03-01

Potassium pentaborate (KB5) is an excellent nonlinear optical material especially in the UV region. In this work, Li and NH4 doped KB5 crystals were grown using slow evaporation solution growth method. The incorporation of dopant has been confirmed and analysed by Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis and Raman spectroscopy. The crystalline perfection of pure and doped KB5 crystals was studied by High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) analysis. Structural grain boundaries were observed in doped crystals. Second harmonic generation was confirmed for pure and doped crystals and output values revealed the enhancement of SHG efficiency in doped crystals. Resistance against laser damage was carried out using 1064 nm Nd-YAG laser of pulse width 10 ns. The laser damage threshold value is increased in Li doped crystal and decreased in NH4 doped crystal when compared to pure KB5 crystal.

Ab initio and Molecular Dynamic models of displacement damage in crystalline and turbostratic graphite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenna, Alice

One of the functions of graphite is as a moderator in several nuclear reactor designs, including the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR). In the reactor graphite is used to thermalise the neutrons produced in the fission reaction thus allowing a self-sustained reaction to occur. The graphite blocks, acting as the moderator, are constantly irradiated and consequently suffer damage. This thesis examines the types of damage caused using molecular dynamic (MD) simulations and ab intio calculations. Neutron damage starts with a primary knock-on atom (PKA), which is travelling so fast that it creates damage through electronic and thermal excitation (this is addressed with thermal spike simulations). When the PKA has lost energy the subsequent cascade is based on ballistic atomic displacement. These two types of simulations were performed on single crystal graphite and other carbon structures such as diamond and amorphous carbon as a comparison. The thermal spike in single crystal graphite produced results which varied from no defects to a small number of permanent defects in the structure. It is only at the high energy range that more damage is seen but these energies are less likely to occur in the nuclear reactor. The thermal spike does not create damage but it is possible that it can heal damaged sections of the graphite, which can be demonstrated with the motion of the defects when a thermal spike is applied. The cascade simulations create more damage than the thermal spike even though less energy is applied to the system. A new damage function is found with a threshold region that varies with the square root of energy in excess of the energy threshold. This is further broken down in to contributions from primary and subsequent knock-on atoms. The threshold displacement energy (TDE) is found to be Ed=25eV at 300K. In both these types of simulation graphite acts very differently to the other carbon structures. There are two types of polycrystalline graphite structures which simulations have been performed on. The difference between the two is at the grain boundaries with one having dangling bonds and the other one being bonded. The cascade showed the grain boundaries acting as a trap for the knock-on atoms which produces more damage compared with the single crystal. Finally the effects of turbostratic disorder on damage is considered. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to look at interstitials in (002) twist boundaries and how they act compared to AB stacked graphite. The results of these calculations show that the spiro interstitial is more stable in these grain boundaries, so at temperatures where the interstitial can migrate along the c direction they will segregate to (002) twist boundaries.

Optical coating design for the annular mirrors of the Alpha I HF laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shellan, Jeffrey B.

The dielectric-coating design for the annular mirrors of the Alpha I HF laser is described along with the numerous other designs that were considered. The coatings were required to produce a 0-deg phase shift after one round trip, which involved reflections from six surfaces. Although novel high-reflectivity multilayer dielectric coatings satisfied this requirement, single-layer phase control coatings were preferred because the use of these greatly reduced coating layer-thickness control and thus resulted in significant program savings. Among the single-layer designs investigated, a coating consisting of a 0.06-micron-thick SiO layer was found to be sufficient for all surfaces except those of the rear cone, for which a 0.515-micron thick SiO layer was recommended. The metallic substrate selected was Au. These coatings were found to have a high damage threshold, provide the necessary polarization phase control, and to be quite forgiving to thickness deposition errors that were anticipated using existing chambers.

Quantifying ecological thresholds from response surfaces

Treesearch

Heather E. Lintz; Bruce McCune; Andrew N. Gray; Katherine A. McCulloh

2011-01-01

Ecological thresholds are abrupt changes of ecological state. While an ecological threshold is a widely accepted concept, most empirical methods detect them in time or across geographic space. Although useful, these approaches do not quantify the direct drivers of threshold response. Causal understanding of thresholds detected empirically requires their investigation...

Diagnostics for the detection and evaluation of laser induced damage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sheehan, L.; Kozlowski, M.; Rainer, F.

1995-12-31

The Laser Damage and Conditioning Group at LLNL is evaluating diagnostics which will help make damage testing more efficient and reduce the risk of damage during laser conditioning. The work to date has focused on photoacoustic and scattered light measurements on 1064-nm wavelength HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} multilayer mirror and polarizer coatings. Both the acoustic and scatter diagnostics have resolved 10 {mu}m diameter damage points in these coatings. Using a scanning stage, the scatter diagnostic can map both intrinsic and laser-induced scatter. Damage threshold measurements obtained using scatter diagnostics compare within experimental error with those measured using 100x Nomarski microscopy. Scattermore » signals measured during laser conditioning can be used to detect damage related to nodular defects.« less

Diagnostics for the detection and evaluation of laser induced damage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sheehan, L.; Kozlowski, M.; Rainer, F.

1995-01-03

The Laser Damage and Conditioning Group at LLNL is evaluating diagnostics which will help make damage testing more efficient and reduce the risk of damage during laser conditioning. The work to date has focused on photoacoustic and scattered light measurements on 1064-nm wavelength HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} multilayer mirror and polarizer coatings. Both the acoustic and scatter diagnostics have resolved 10 {mu}m diameter damage points in these coatings. Using a scanning stage, the scatter diagnostic can map both intrinsic and laser-induced scatter. Damage threshold measurements obtained using scatter diagnostics compare within experimental error with those measured using 100x Nomarski microscopy. Scattermore » signals measured during laser conditioning can be used to detect damage related to nodular defects.« less

Threshold Determination for Local Instantaneous Sea Surface Height Derivation with Icebridge Data in Beaufort Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, C.; Zhang, S.; Xiao, F.; Li, J.; Yuan, L.; Zhang, Y.; Zhu, T.

2018-05-01

The NASA Operation IceBridge (OIB) mission is the largest program in the Earth's polar remote sensing science observation project currently, initiated in 2009, which collects airborne remote sensing measurements to bridge the gap between NASA's ICESat and the upcoming ICESat-2 mission. This paper develop an improved method that optimizing the selection method of Digital Mapping System (DMS) image and using the optimal threshold obtained by experiments in Beaufort Sea to calculate the local instantaneous sea surface height in this area. The optimal threshold determined by comparing manual selection with the lowest (Airborne Topographic Mapper) ATM L1B elevation threshold of 2 %, 1 %, 0.5 %, 0.2 %, 0.1 % and 0.05 % in A, B, C sections, the mean of mean difference are 0.166 m, 0.124 m, 0.083 m, 0.018 m, 0.002 m and -0.034 m. Our study shows the lowest L1B data of 0.1 % is the optimal threshold. The optimal threshold and manual selections are also used to calculate the instantaneous sea surface height over images with leads, we find that improved methods has closer agreement with those from L1B manual selections. For these images without leads, the local instantaneous sea surface height estimated by using the linear equations between distance and sea surface height calculated over images with leads.

MISR Level 2 Aerosol and Land Versioning

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2017-10-11

... surfaces was changed: instead of using a surface contrast threshold, a new test is used which is based on a weighted mean equivalent reflectance threshold. A regional angular correlation screening test was added to aerosol ...

The segmentation of Thangka damaged regions based on the local distinction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xuehui, Bi; Huaming, Liu; Xiuyou, Wang; Weilan, Wang; Yashuai, Yang

2017-01-01

Damaged regions must be segmented before digital repairing Thangka cultural relics. A new segmentation algorithm based on local distinction is proposed for segmenting damaged regions, taking into account some of the damaged area with a transition zone feature, as well as the difference between the damaged regions and their surrounding regions, combining local gray value, local complexity and local definition-complexity (LDC). Firstly, calculate the local complexity and normalized; secondly, calculate the local definition-complexity and normalized; thirdly, calculate the local distinction; finally, set the threshold to segment local distinction image, remove the over segmentation, and get the final segmentation result. The experimental results show that our algorithm is effective, and it can segment the damaged frescoes and natural image etc.

Intraocular laser surgical probe for membrane disruption by laser-induced breakdown.

PubMed

Hammer, D X; Noojin, G D; Thomas, R J; Clary, C E; Rockwell, B A; Toth, C A; Roach, W P

1997-03-01

A fiber probe has been designed as a surgical aid to cut intraocular membranes with laser-induced breakdown as the mechanism. The design of the intraocular laser surgical probe is discussed. A preliminary retinal damage distance has been calculated with breakdown threshold, spot size, and shielding measurements. Collateral mechanical-damage effects caused by shock wave and cavitation are discussed.

The potential dysfunction of otolith organs in patients after mumps infection

PubMed Central

Tian, Liang; Han, Zhao; Wang, Jing; Chi, Fang-Lu

2017-01-01

Objective To investigate the relationship between mumps and the extent of hearing impairment and otolith organ damage. Methods A total of 27 patients with unilateral hearing impairment following mumps were enrolled. The degrees of hearing loss and otolith organ damage were confirmed by audiometric and vestibular evoked myogenic potential [VEMP] tests. All the results were compared and analyzed using Stata 13.0 software for Windows. Results The VEMP thresholds of the affected ears were significantly higher than those of the unaffected ears in both tests (cervical VEMP [cVEMP] test and ocular VEMP [oVEMP] test; p = 0.000 and 0.001, respectively). The mean cVEMP and oVEMP threshold values of the affected ears with hearing impairment for ≤10 years were significantly lower than those of affected ears with hearing impairment for >10 years [p = 0.009 and 0.004, respectively]. Conclusions Deafness resulting from mumps is usually profound and permanent, which indicates severe damage to the cochlea due to the disease. The functions of otolith organs in the vestibular system are also impaired. Over time, the function of the otolith organs or their neural pathway may suffer secondary damage. PMID:28746415

Damage thresholds of silica fibers in holmium:YAG laser energy delivery for medical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marolda, Matthew D.; Perrault, Donald F., Jr.; Pankratov, Michail M.; Shapshay, Stanley M.

1993-07-01

Pulsed Holmium:YAG (Ho:YAG) laser has been approved for some clinical applications and is under investigation for others. There is little published evidence on the durability or damage parameters for the fibers used in delivering energy from pulsed Ho:YAG laser. This study makes an initial attempt to investigate the damage threshold of different silica fibers under various conditions. Three types of fibers supplied by different manufacturers underwent laboratory testing. The overall finding of the study is that a new `perfect' fiber sustains no damage when fired without a target in air or in saline at energies up to 1.5 J/pulse and repetition rate up to 10 Hz. This study suggests that one may need to chose a fiber according to the clinical procedure to be performed: in cases where only soft tissue is to be manipulated - - any fiber may fare well, in cases where bone or calcified tissue is to be lased -- one may need fiber with aluminized or other hard coating. We also conclude that only professional refinishing with the removal of all exposed core-cladding material can insure trouble free performance.

How reduced vacuum pumping capability in a coating chamber affects the laser damage resistance of HfO 2/SiO 2 antireflection and high reflection coatings.

DOE PAGES

Field, Ella Suzanne; Bellum, John Curtis; Kletecka, Damon E.

2016-06-01

Optical coatings with the highest laser damage thresholds rely on clean conditions in the vacuum chamber during the coating deposition process. A low base pressure in the coating chamber, as well as the ability of the vacuum system to maintain the required pressure during deposition, are important aspects of limiting the amount of defects in an optical coating that could induce laser damage. Our large optics coating chamber at Sandia National Laboratories normally relies on three cryo pumps to maintain low pressures for e-beam coating processes. However, on occasion, one or more of the cryo pumps have been out ofmore » commission. In light of this circumstance, we explored how deposition under compromised vacuum conditions resulting from the use of only one or two cryo pumps affects the laser-induced damage thresholds of optical coatings. Finally, the coatings of this study consist of HfO 2 and SiO 2 layer materials and include antireflection coatings for 527 nm at normal incidence, and high reflection coatings for 527 nm, 45⁰ angle of incidence (AOI), in P-polarization (P-pol).« less

How reduced vacuum pumping capability in a coating chamber affects the laser damage resistance of HfO 2/SiO 2 antireflection and high-reflection coatings

DOE PAGES

Field, Ella S.; Bellum, John C.; Kletecka, Damon E.

2016-07-15

Here, optical coatings with the highest laser damage thresholds rely on clean conditions in the vacuum chamber during the coating deposition process. A low-base pressure in the coating chamber, as well as the ability of the vacuum system to maintain the required pressure during deposition, are important aspects of limiting the amount of defects in an optical coating that could induce laser damage. Our large optics coating chamber at Sandia National Laboratories normally relies on three cryo pumps to maintain low pressures for e-beam coating processes. However, on occasion, one or more of the cryo pumps have been out ofmore » commission. In light of this circumstance, we explored how deposition under compromised vacuum conditions resulting from the use of only one or two cryo pumps affects the laser-induced damage thresholds of optical coatings. The coatings of this study consist of HfO 2 and SiO 2 layer materials and include antireflection coatings for 527 nm at normal incidence and high-reflection coatings for 527 nm at 45-deg angle of incidence in P-polarization.« less

Role of HfO 2/SiO 2 thin-film interfaces in near-ultraviolet absorption and pulsed laser damage

DOE PAGES

Papernov, Semyon; Kozlov, Alexei A.; Oliver, James B.; ...

2016-07-15

Here, the role of thin-film interfaces in the near-ultraviolet (near-UV) absorption and pulsed laser-induced damage was studied for ion-beam-sputtered and electron-beam-evaporated coatings comprised from HfO 2 and SiO 2 thin-film pairs. To separate contributions from the bulk of the film and from interfacial areas, absorption and damage threshold measurements were performed for a one-wave (355-nm wavelength) thick, HfO 2 single-layer film and for a film containing seven narrow HfO 2 layers separated by SiO 2 layers. The seven-layer film was designed to have a total optical thickness of HfO 2 layers, equal to one wave at 355 nm and anmore » E-field peak and average intensity similar to a single-layer HfO 2 film. Absorption in both types of films was measured using laser calorimetry and photothermal heterodyne imaging. The results showed a small contribution to total absorption from thin-film interfaces as compared to HfO 2 film material. The relevance of obtained absorption data to coating near-UV, nanosecond-pulse laser damage was verified by measuring the damage threshold and characterizing damage morphology. The results of this study revealed a higher damage resistance in the seven-layer coating as compared to the single-layer HfO 2 film in both sputtered and evaporated coatings. The results are explained through the similarity of interfacial film structure with structure formed during the codeposition of HfO 2 and SiO 2 materials.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Papernov, Semyon; Kozlov, Alexei A.; Oliver, James B.

Here, the role of thin-film interfaces in the near-ultraviolet (near-UV) absorption and pulsed laser-induced damage was studied for ion-beam-sputtered and electron-beam-evaporated coatings comprised from HfO 2 and SiO 2 thin-film pairs. To separate contributions from the bulk of the film and from interfacial areas, absorption and damage threshold measurements were performed for a one-wave (355-nm wavelength) thick, HfO 2 single-layer film and for a film containing seven narrow HfO 2 layers separated by SiO 2 layers. The seven-layer film was designed to have a total optical thickness of HfO 2 layers, equal to one wave at 355 nm and anmore » E-field peak and average intensity similar to a single-layer HfO 2 film. Absorption in both types of films was measured using laser calorimetry and photothermal heterodyne imaging. The results showed a small contribution to total absorption from thin-film interfaces as compared to HfO 2 film material. The relevance of obtained absorption data to coating near-UV, nanosecond-pulse laser damage was verified by measuring the damage threshold and characterizing damage morphology. The results of this study revealed a higher damage resistance in the seven-layer coating as compared to the single-layer HfO 2 film in both sputtered and evaporated coatings. The results are explained through the similarity of interfacial film structure with structure formed during the codeposition of HfO 2 and SiO 2 materials.« less

Laser-induced damage threshold of camera sensors and micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwarz, Bastian; Ritt, Gunnar; Körber, Michael; Eberle, Bernd

2016-10-01

The continuous development of laser systems towards more compact and efficient devices constitutes an increasing threat to electro-optical imaging sensors such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS) and charge-coupled devices (CCD). These types of electronic sensors are used in day-to-day life but also in military or civil security applications. In camera systems dedicated to specific tasks, also micro-opto-electro-mechanical systems (MOEMS) like a digital micromirror device (DMD) are part of the optical setup. In such systems, the DMD can be located at an intermediate focal plane of the optics and it is also susceptible to laser damage. The goal of our work is to enhance the knowledge of damaging effects on such devices exposed to laser light. The experimental setup for the investigation of laser-induced damage is described in detail. As laser sources both pulsed lasers and continuous-wave (CW) lasers are used. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) is determined by the single-shot method by increasing the pulse energy from pulse to pulse or in the case of CW-lasers, by increasing the laser power. Furthermore, we investigate the morphology of laser-induced damage patterns and the dependence of the number of destructed device elements on the laser pulse energy or laser power. In addition to the destruction of single pixels, we observe aftereffects like persisting dead columns or rows of pixels in the sensor image.

Three-dimensional atomic force microscopy mapping at the solid-liquid interface with fast and flexible data acquisition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Söngen, Hagen, E-mail: soengen@uni-mainz.de; Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz, Staudinger Weg 9, 55128 Mainz; Nalbach, Martin

2016-06-15

We present the implementation of a three-dimensional mapping routine for probing solid-liquid interfaces using frequency modulation atomic force microscopy. Our implementation enables fast and flexible data acquisition of up to 20 channels simultaneously. The acquired data can be directly synchronized with commercial atomic force microscope controllers, making our routine easily extendable for related techniques that require additional data channels, e.g., Kelvin probe force microscopy. Moreover, the closest approach of the tip to the sample is limited by a user-defined threshold, providing the possibility to prevent potential damage to the tip. The performance of our setup is demonstrated by visualizing themore » hydration structure above the calcite (10.4) surface in water.« less

Studies on the growth aspects, structural, thermal, dielectric and third order nonlinear optical properties of solution grown 4-methylpyridinium p-nitrophenolate single crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devi, S. Reena; Kalaiyarasi, S.; Zahid, I. MD.; Kumar, R. Mohan

2016-11-01

An ionic organic optical crystal of 4-methylpyridinium p-nitrophenolate was grown from methanol by slow evaporation method at ambient temperature. Powder and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies revealed the crystal system and its crystalline perfection. The rocking curve recorded from HRXRD study confirmed the crystal quality. FTIR spectral analysis confirmed the functional groups present in the title compound. UV-visible spectral study revealed the optical window and band gap of grown crystal. The thermal, electrical and surface laser damage threshold properties of harvested crystal were examined by using TGA/DTA, LCR/Impedance Analyzer and Nd:YAG laser system respectively. The third order nonlinear optical property of grown crystal was elucidated by Z-scan technique.

Aging effect of AlF3 coatings for 193 nm lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Jia; Wang, Lin; Zhang, Weili; Yi, Kui; Shao, Jianda

2018-02-01

As important part of components for 193 nm lithography, AlF3 coatings deposited by resistive heating method acquire advantages like lower optical loss and higher laser damage threshold, but they also possess some disadvantages like worse stability, which is what aging effect focuses on. AlF3 single-layer coatings were deposited; optical property, surface morphology and roughness, and composition were characterized in different periods. Owing to aging effect, refractive index and extinction coefficient increased; larger and larger roughness caused more and more scattering loss, which was in the same order with absorption at 193.4 nm and part of optical loss; from composition analysis, proportional substitution of AlF3 by alumina may account for changes in refractive index as well as absorption.

Chronic Exposure of Corals to Fine Sediments: Lethal and Sub-Lethal Impacts

PubMed Central

Flores, Florita; Hoogenboom, Mia O.; Smith, Luke D.; Cooper, Timothy F.; Abrego, David; Negri, Andrew P.

2012-01-01

Understanding the sedimentation and turbidity thresholds for corals is critical in assessing the potential impacts of dredging projects in tropical marine systems. In this study, we exposed two species of coral sampled from offshore locations to six levels of total suspended solids (TSS) for 16 weeks in the laboratory, including a 4 week recovery period. Dose-response relationships were developed to quantify the lethal and sub-lethal thresholds of sedimentation and turbidity for the corals. The sediment treatments affected the horizontal foliaceous species (Montipora aequituberculata) more than the upright branching species (Acropora millepora). The lowest sediment treatments that caused full colony mortality were 30 mg l−1 TSS (25 mg cm−2 day−1) for M. aequituberculata and 100 mg l−1 TSS (83 mg cm−2 day−1) for A. millepora after 12 weeks. Coral mortality generally took longer than 4 weeks and was closely related to sediment accumulation on the surface of the corals. While measurements of damage to photosystem II in the symbionts and reductions in lipid content and growth indicated sub-lethal responses in surviving corals, the most reliable predictor of coral mortality in this experiment was long-term sediment accumulation on coral tissue. PMID:22662225

Growth, structural, optical, thermal and laser damage threshold studies of an organic single crystal: 1,3,5 – triphenylbenzene (TPB)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raja, R. Subramaniyan; Babu, G. Anandha; Ramasamy, P., E-mail: E-mail-ramasamyp@ssn.edu.in

2016-05-23

Good quality single crystals of pure hydrocarbon 1,3,5-Triphenylbenzene (TPB) have been successfully grown using toluene as a solvent using controlled slow cooling solution growth technique. TPB crystallizes in orthorhombic structure with the space group Pna2{sub 1}. The structural perfection of the grown crystal has been analysed by high resolution X-ray diffraction measurements. The range and percentage of the optical transmission are ascertained by recording the UV-vis spectrum. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) were used to study its thermal properties. Powder second harmonic generation studies were carried out to explore its NLO properties. Laser damage threshold valuemore » has been determined using Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm.« less

Simple and robust generation of ultrafast laser pulse trains using polarization-independent parallel-aligned thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Andong; Jiang, Lan; Li, Xiaowei; Wang, Zhi; Du, Kun; Lu, Yongfeng

2018-05-01

Ultrafast laser pulse temporal shaping has been widely applied in various important applications such as laser materials processing, coherent control of chemical reactions, and ultrafast imaging. However, temporal pulse shaping has been limited to only-in-lab technique due to the high cost, low damage threshold, and polarization dependence. Herein we propose a novel design of ultrafast laser pulse train generation device, which consists of multiple polarization-independent parallel-aligned thin films. Various pulse trains with controllable temporal profile can be generated flexibly by multi-reflections within the splitting films. Compared with other pulse train generation techniques, this method has advantages of compact structure, low cost, high damage threshold and polarization independence. These advantages endow it with high potential for broad utilization in ultrafast applications.

Very high laser-damage threshold of polymer-derived Si(B)CN-carbon nanotube composite coatings.

PubMed

Bhandavat, R; Feldman, A; Cromer, C; Lehman, J; Singh, G

2013-04-10

We study the laser irradiance behavior and resulting structural evolution of polymer-derived silicon-boron-carbonitride (Si(B)CN) functionalized multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite spray coatings on copper substrate. We report a damage threshold value of 15 kWcm(-2) and an optical absorbance of 0.97 after irradiation. This is an order of magnitude improvement over MWCNT (1.4 kWcm(-2), 0.76), SWCNT (0.8 kWcm(-2), 0.65) and carbon paint (0.1 kWcm(-2), 0.87) coatings previously tested at 10.6 μm (2.5 kW CO2 laser) exposure. Electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggests partial oxidation of Si(B)CN forming a stable protective SiO2 phase upon irradiation.

The effect of laser ablation parameters on optical limiting properties of silver nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gursoy, Irmak; Yaglioglu, Halime Gul

2017-09-01

This paper presents the effect of laser ablation parameters on optical limiting properties of silver nanoparticles. The current applications of lasers such as range finding, guidance, detection, illumination and designation have increased the potential of damaging optical imaging systems or eyes temporary or permanently. The applications of lasers introduce risks for sensors or eyes, when laser power is higher than damage threshold of the detection system. There are some ways to protect these systems such as neutral density (nd) filters, shutters, etc. However, these limiters reduce the total amount of light that gets into the system. Also, response time of these limiters may not be fast enough to prevent damage and cause precipitation in performance due to deprivation of transmission or contrast. Therefore, optical limiting filters are needed that is transparent for low laser intensities and limit or block the high laser intensities. Metal nanoparticles are good candidates for such optical limiting filters for ns pulsed lasers or CW lasers due to their high damage thresholds. In this study we investigated the optical limiting performances of silver nanoparticles produced by laser ablation technique. A high purity silver target immersed in pure water was ablated with a Nd:YAG nanosecond laser at 532 nm. The effect of altering laser power and ablation time on laser ablation efficiency of nanoparticles was investigated experimentally and optimum values were specified. Open aperture Zscan experiment was used to investigate the effect of laser ablation parameters on the optical limiting performances of silver nanoparticles in pure water. It was found that longer ablation time decreases the optical limiting threshold. These results are useful for silver nanoparticles solutions to obtain high performance optical limiters.

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in human progressive-intensity running: effects on exercise performance, skeletal muscle status, and oxidative stress.

PubMed

De Marchi, Thiago; Leal Junior, Ernesto Cesar Pinto; Bortoli, Celiana; Tomazoni, Shaiane Silva; Lopes-Martins, Rodrigo Alvaro Brandão; Salvador, Mirian

2012-01-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on exercise performance, oxidative stress, and muscle status in humans. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial was performed with 22 untrained male volunteers. LLLT (810 nm, 200 mW, 30 J in each site, 30 s of irradiation in each site) using a multi-diode cluster (with five spots - 6 J from each spot) at 12 sites of each lower limb (six in quadriceps, four in hamstrings, and two in gastrocnemius) was performed 5 min before a standardized progressive-intensity running protocol on a motor-drive treadmill until exhaustion. We analyzed exercise performance (VO(2 max), time to exhaustion, aerobic threshold and anaerobic threshold), levels of oxidative damage to lipids and proteins, the activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and the markers of muscle damage creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Compared to placebo, active LLLT significantly increased exercise performance (VO(2 max) p = 0.01; time to exhaustion, p = 0.04) without changing the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds. LLLT also decreased post-exercise lipid (p = 0.0001) and protein (p = 0.0230) damages, as well as the activities of SOD (p = 0.0034), CK (p = 0.0001) and LDH (p = 0.0001) enzymes. LLLT application was not able to modulate CAT activity. The use of LLLT before progressive-intensity running exercise increases exercise performance, decreases exercise-induced oxidative stress and muscle damage, suggesting that the modulation of the redox system by LLLT could be related to the delay in skeletal muscle fatigue observed after the use of LLLT.

Surface ablation of aluminum and silicon by ultrashort laser pulses of variable width

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zayarny, D. A.; Ionin, A. A.; Kudryashov, S. I.; Makarov, S. V.; Kuchmizhak, A. A.; Vitrik, O. B.; Kulchin, Yu. N.

2016-06-01

Single-shot thresholds of surface ablation of aluminum and silicon via spallative ablation by infrared (IR) and visible ultrashort laser pulses of variable width τlas (0.2-12 ps) have been measured by optical microscopy. For increasing laser pulse width τlas < 3 ps, a drastic (threefold) drop of the ablation threshold of aluminum has been observed for visible pulses compared to an almost negligible threshold variation for IR pulses. In contrast, the ablation threshold in silicon increases threefold with increasing τlas for IR pulses, while the corresponding thresholds for visible pulses remained almost constant. In aluminum, such a width-dependent decrease in ablation thresholds has been related to strongly diminished temperature gradients for pulse widths exceeding the characteristic electron-phonon thermalization time. In silicon, the observed increase in ablation thresholds has been ascribed to two-photon IR excitation, while in the visible range linear absorption of the material results in almost constant thresholds.

Ascending-ramp biphasic waveform has a lower defibrillation threshold and releases less troponin I than a truncated exponential biphasic waveform.

PubMed

Huang, Jian; Walcott, Gregory P; Ruse, Richard B; Bohanan, Scott J; Killingsworth, Cheryl R; Ideker, Raymond E

2012-09-11

We tested the hypothesis that the shape of the shock waveform affects not only the defibrillation threshold but also the amount of cardiac damage. Defibrillation thresholds were determined for 11 waveforms-3 ascending-ramp waveforms, 3 descending-ramp waveforms, 3 rectilinear first-phase biphasic waveforms, a Gurvich waveform, and a truncated exponential biphasic waveform-in 6 pigs with electrodes in the right ventricular apex and superior vena cava. The ascending, descending, and rectilinear waveforms had 4-, 8-, and 16-millisecond first phases and a 3.5-millisecond rectilinear second phase that was half the voltage of the first phase. The exponential biphasic waveform had a 60% first-phase and a 50% second-phase tilt. In a second study, we attempted to defibrillate after 10 seconds of ventricular fibrillation with a single ≈30-J shock (6 pigs successfully defibrillated with 8-millisecond ascending, 8-millisecond rectilinear, and truncated exponential biphasic waveforms). Troponin I blood levels were determined before and 2 to 10 hours after the shock. The lowest-energy defibrillation threshold was for the 8-milliseconds ascending ramp (14.6±7.3 J [mean±SD]), which was significantly less than for the truncated exponential (19.6±6.3 J). Six hours after shock, troponin I was significantly less for the ascending-ramp waveform (0.80±0.54 ng/mL) than for the truncated exponential (1.92±0.47 ng/mL) or the rectilinear waveform (1.17±0.45 ng/mL). The ascending ramp has a significantly lower defibrillation threshold and at ≈30 J causes 58% less troponin I release than the truncated exponential biphasic shock. Therefore, the shock waveform affects both the defibrillation threshold and the amount of cardiac damage.

Sequence of Changes in Maize Responding to Soil Water Deficit and Related Critical Thresholds

PubMed Central

Ma, Xueyan; He, Qijin; Zhou, Guangsheng

2018-01-01

The sequence of changes in crop responding to soil water deficit and related critical thresholds are essential for better drought damage classification and drought monitoring indicators. This study was aimed to investigate the critical thresholds of maize growth and physiological characteristics responding to changing soil water and to reveal the sequence of changes in maize responding to soil water deficit both in seedling and jointing stages based on 2-year’s maize field experiment responding to six initial soil water statuses conducted in 2013 and 2014. Normal distribution tolerance limits were newly adopted to identify critical thresholds of maize growth and physiological characteristics to a wide range of soil water status. The results showed that in both stages maize growth characteristics related to plant water status [stem moisture content (SMC) and leaf moisture content (LMC)], leaf gas exchange [net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), and stomatal conductance (Gs)], and leaf area were sensitive to soil water deficit, while biomass-related characteristics were less sensitive. Under the concurrent weather conditions and agronomic managements, the critical soil water thresholds in terms of relative soil moisture of 0–30 cm depth (RSM) of maize SMC, LMC, net Pn, Tr, Gs, and leaf area were 72, 65, 62, 60, 58, and 46%, respectively, in seedling stage, and 64, 64, 51, 53, 48, and 46%, respectively, in jointing stage. It indicated that there is a sequence of changes in maize responding to soil water deficit, i.e., their response sequences as soil water deficit intensified: SMC ≥ LMC > leaf gas exchange > leaf area in both stages. This sequence of changes in maize responding to soil water deficit and related critical thresholds may be better indicators of damage classification and drought monitoring. PMID:29765381

Towards developing drought impact functions to advance drought monitoring and early warning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachmair, Sophie; Stahl, Kerstin; Hannaford, Jamie; Svoboda, Mark

2015-04-01

In natural hazard analysis, damage functions (also referred to as vulnerability or susceptibility functions) relate hazard intensity to the negative effects of the hazard event, often expressed as damage ratio or monetary loss. While damage functions for floods and seismic hazards have gained considerable attention, there is little knowledge on how drought intensity translates into ecological and socioeconomic impacts. One reason for this is the multifaceted nature of drought affecting different domains of the hydrological cycle and different sectors of human activity (for example, recognizing meteorological - agricultural - hydrological - socioeconomic drought) leading to a wide range of drought impacts. Moreover, drought impacts are often non-structural and hard to quantify or monetarize (e.g. impaired navigability of streams, bans on domestic water use, increased mortality of aquatic species). Knowledge on the relationship between drought intensity and drought impacts, i.e. negative environmental, economic or social effects experienced under drought conditions, however, is vital to identify critical thresholds for drought impact occurrence. Such information may help to improve drought monitoring and early warning (M&EW), one goal of the international DrIVER project (Drought Impacts: Vulnerability thresholds in monitoring and Early-warning Research). The aim of this study is to test the feasibility of designing "drought impact functions" for case study areas in Europe (Germany and UK) and the United States to derive thresholds meaningful for drought impact occurrence; to account for the multidimensionality of drought impacts, we use the broader term "drought impact function" over "damage function". First steps towards developing empirical drought impact functions are (1) to identify meaningful indicators characterizing the hazard intensity (e.g. indicators expressing a precipitation or streamflow deficit), (2) to identify suitable variables representing impacts, damage, or loss due to drought, and (3) to test different statistical models to link drought intensity with drought impact information to derive meaningful thresholds. While the focus regarding drought impact variables lies on text-based impact reports from the European Drought Impact report Inventory (EDII) and the US Drought Impact Reporter (DIR), the information gain through exploiting other variables such as agricultural yield statistics and remotely sensed vegetation indices is explored. First results reveal interesting insights into the complex relationship between drought indicators and impacts and highlight differences among drought impact variables and geographies. Although a simple intensity threshold evoking specific drought impacts cannot be identified, developing drought impact functions helps to elucidate how drought conditions relate to ecological or socioeconomic impacts. Such knowledge may provide guidance for inferring meaningful triggers for drought M&EW and could have potential for a wide range of drought management applications (for example, building drought scenarios for testing the resilience of drought plans or water supply systems).

Identification of structural damage using wavelet-based data classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koh, Bong-Hwan; Jeong, Min-Joong; Jung, Uk

2008-03-01

Predicted time-history responses from a finite-element (FE) model provide a baseline map where damage locations are clustered and classified by extracted damage-sensitive wavelet coefficients such as vertical energy threshold (VET) positions having large silhouette statistics. Likewise, the measured data from damaged structure are also decomposed and rearranged according to the most dominant positions of wavelet coefficients. Having projected the coefficients to the baseline map, the true localization of damage can be identified by investigating the level of closeness between the measurement and predictions. The statistical confidence of baseline map improves as the number of prediction cases increases. The simulation results of damage detection in a truss structure show that the approach proposed in this study can be successfully applied for locating structural damage even in the presence of a considerable amount of process and measurement noise.

Damage in a Thin Metal Film by High-Power Terahertz Radiation.

PubMed

Agranat, M B; Chefonov, O V; Ovchinnikov, A V; Ashitkov, S I; Fortov, V E; Kondratenko, P S

2018-02-23

We report on the experimental observation of high-power terahertz-radiation-induced damage in a thin aluminum film with a thickness less than a terahertz skin depth. Damage in a thin metal film produced by a single terahertz pulse is observed for the first time. The damage mechanism induced by a single terahertz pulse could be attributed to thermal expansion of the film causing debonding of the film from the substrate, film cracking, and ablation. The damage pattern induced by multiple terahertz pulses at fluences below the damage threshold is quite different from that observed in single-pulse experiments. The observed damage pattern resembles an array of microcracks elongated perpendicular to the in-plane field direction. A mechanism related to microcracks' generation and based on a new phenomenon of electrostriction in thin metal films is proposed.

Damage in a Thin Metal Film by High-Power Terahertz Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agranat, M. B.; Chefonov, O. V.; Ovchinnikov, A. V.; Ashitkov, S. I.; Fortov, V. E.; Kondratenko, P. S.

2018-02-01

We report on the experimental observation of high-power terahertz-radiation-induced damage in a thin aluminum film with a thickness less than a terahertz skin depth. Damage in a thin metal film produced by a single terahertz pulse is observed for the first time. The damage mechanism induced by a single terahertz pulse could be attributed to thermal expansion of the film causing debonding of the film from the substrate, film cracking, and ablation. The damage pattern induced by multiple terahertz pulses at fluences below the damage threshold is quite different from that observed in single-pulse experiments. The observed damage pattern resembles an array of microcracks elongated perpendicular to the in-plane field direction. A mechanism related to microcracks' generation and based on a new phenomenon of electrostriction in thin metal films is proposed.

Modeling electrical power absorption and thermally-induced biological tissue damage.

PubMed

Zohdi, T I

2014-01-01

This work develops a model for thermally induced damage from high current flow through biological tissue. Using the first law of thermodynamics, the balance of energy produced by the current and the energy absorbed by the tissue are investigated. The tissue damage is correlated with an evolution law that is activated upon exceeding a temperature threshold. As an example, the Fung material model is used. For certain parameter choices, the Fung material law has the ability to absorb relatively significant amounts of energy, due to its inherent exponential response character, thus, to some extent, mitigating possible tissue damage. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the model's behavior.

Damage mechanisms of MoN/SiN multilayer optics for next-generation pulsed XUV light sources.

PubMed

Sobierajski, R; Bruijn, S; Khorsand, A R; Louis, E; van de Kruijs, R W E; Burian, T; Chalupsky, J; Cihelka, J; Gleeson, A; Grzonka, J; Gullikson, E M; Hajkova, V; Hau-Riege, S; Juha, L; Jurek, M; Klinger, D; Krzywinski, J; London, R; Pelka, J B; Płociński, T; Rasiński, M; Tiedtke, K; Toleikis, S; Vysin, L; Wabnitz, H; Bijkerk, F

2011-01-03

We investigated the damage mechanism of MoN/SiN multilayer XUV optics under two extreme conditions: thermal annealing and irradiation with single shot intense XUV pulses from the free-electron laser facility in Hamburg - FLASH. The damage was studied "post-mortem" by means of X-ray diffraction, interference-polarizing optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Although the timescale of the damage processes and the damage threshold temperatures were different (in the case of annealing it was the dissociation temperature of Mo2N and in the case of XUV irradiation it was the melting temperature of MoN) the main damage mechanism is very similar: molecular dissociation and the formation of N2, leading to bubbles inside the multilayer structure.

Integrating Oil Debris and Vibration Measurements for Intelligent Machine Health Monitoring. Degree awarded by Toledo Univ., May 2002

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dempsey, Paula J.

2003-01-01

A diagnostic tool for detecting damage to gears was developed. Two different measurement technologies, oil debris analysis and vibration were integrated into a health monitoring system for detecting surface fatigue pitting damage on gears. This integrated system showed improved detection and decision-making capabilities as compared to using individual measurement technologies. This diagnostic tool was developed and evaluated experimentally by collecting vibration and oil debris data from fatigue tests performed in the NASA Glenn Spur Gear Fatigue Rig. An oil debris sensor and the two vibration algorithms were adapted as the diagnostic tools. An inductance type oil debris sensor was selected for the oil analysis measurement technology. Gear damage data for this type of sensor was limited to data collected in the NASA Glenn test rigs. For this reason, this analysis included development of a parameter for detecting gear pitting damage using this type of sensor. The vibration data was used to calculate two previously available gear vibration diagnostic algorithms. The two vibration algorithms were selected based on their maturity and published success in detecting damage to gears. Oil debris and vibration features were then developed using fuzzy logic analysis techniques, then input into a multi sensor data fusion process. Results show combining the vibration and oil debris measurement technologies improves the detection of pitting damage on spur gears. As a result of this research, this new diagnostic tool has significantly improved detection of gear damage in the NASA Glenn Spur Gear Fatigue Rigs. This research also resulted in several other findings that will improve the development of future health monitoring systems. Oil debris analysis was found to be more reliable than vibration analysis for detecting pitting fatigue failure of gears and is capable of indicating damage progression. Also, some vibration algorithms are as sensitive to operational effects as they are to damage. Another finding was that clear threshold limits must be established for diagnostic tools. Based on additional experimental data obtained from the NASA Glenn Spiral Bevel Gear Fatigue Rig, the methodology developed in this study can be successfully implemented on other geared systems.

Evaluation of TRMM satellite-based precipitation indexes for flood forecasting over Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tekeli, Ahmet Emre; Fouli, Hesham

2016-10-01

Floods are among the most common disasters harming humanity. In particular, flash floods cause hazards to life, property and any type of structures. Arid and semi-arid regions are equally prone to flash floods like regions with abundant rainfall. Despite rareness of intensive and frequent rainfall events over Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA); an arid/semi-arid region, occasional flash floods occur and result in large amounts of damaging surface runoff. The flooding of 16 November, 2013 in Riyadh; the capital city of KSA, resulted in killing some people and led to much property damage. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) Real Time (RT) data (3B42RT) are used herein for flash flood forecasting. 3B42RT detected high-intensity rainfall events matching with the distribution of observed floods over KSA. A flood early warning system based on exceedance of threshold limits on 3B42RT data is proposed for Riyadh. Three different indexes: Constant Threshold (CT), Cumulative Distribution Functions (CDF) and Riyadh Flood Precipitation Index (RFPI) are developed using 14-year 3B42RT data from 2000 to 2013. RFPI and CDF with 90% captured the three major flooding events that occurred in February 2005, May 2010 and November 2013 in Riyadh. CT with 3 mm/h intensity indicated the 2013 flooding, but missed those of 2005 and 2010. The methodology implemented herein is a first-step simple and accurate way for flash flood forecasting over Riyadh. The simplicity of the methodology enables its applicability for the TRMM follow-on missions like Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.

Laser activated nanothermolysis of leukemia cells monitored by photothermal microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lapotko, Dmitri; Lukianova, Ekaterina; Shnip, Alexander; Zheltov, George; Potapnev, Michail; Savitsky, Valeriy; Klimovich, Olga; Oraevsky, Alexander

2005-04-01

We are developing new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for leukemia based on selective targeting of leukemia cells with gold nanoparticles and thermomechanical destruction of the tumor cells with laser-induced microbubbles. Clusters of spherical gold nanoparticles that have strong optical absorption of laser pulses at 532 nm served as nucleation sites of vapor microbubbles. The nanoparticles were targeted selectively to leukemia cells using leukemia-specific surface receptors and a set of two monoclonal antibodies. Application of a primary myeloid-specific antibody to tumor cells followed by targeting the cells with 30-nm nanoparticles conjugated with a secondary antibody (IgG) resulted in formation of nanoparticulate clusters due to aggregation of IgGs. Formation of clusters resulted in substantial decrease of the damage threshold for target cells. The results encourage development of Laser Activated Nanothermolysis as a Cell Elimination Therapy (LANCET) for leukemia. The proposed technology can be applied separately or in combination with chemotherapy for killing leukemia cells without damage to other blood cells. Potential applications include initial reduction of concentration of leukemia cells in blood prior to chemotherapy and treatment of residual tumor cells after the chemotherapy. Laser-induced bubbles in individual cells and cell damage were monitored by analyzing profile of photothermal response signals over the entire cell after irradiation with a single 10-ns long laser pulse. Photothermal microscopy was utilized for imaging formation of microbubbles around nanoparticulate clusters.

Optical monitoring of ultrasound-induced bioeffects in glass catfish.

PubMed

Maruvada, Subha; Hynynen, Kullervo

2004-01-01

This study is an investigation of the therapeutic ultrasound (US) effects on the blood vessels of optically transparent fish in vivo. Although many investigators have characterized cavitation in vivo using remote-sensing methods (i.e., measuring the acoustic emissions caused by oscillating bubbles) very few have made direct observations of cavitation-induced damage. Anesthetized glass catfish, which are optically transparent, was injected with the contrast agent, Optison, and then insonified at pressures that ranged from 0.5-10 MPa (peak negative pressures). Two focused transducers were used in these experiments to cover a frequency range of 0.7-3.3 MHz. Sonications were pulsed with pulse durations of 100, 10, 1, 0.1 and 0.01 ms and a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 1 Hz. The entire length of one sonication at a specific pressure level was 20 s. An inverted microscope combined with a digital camera and video monitor were used optically to monitor and record US interaction with the blood vessels in the tail of the anesthetized fish at 200x magnification. The effects of the burst sonication were analyzed visually at each pressure level. For the 1.091-MHz sonications, the first type of damage that occurred due to the US interaction was structural damage to the cartilage rods that comprise the tail of the fish, and was characterized by a disintegration of the lining of the rod. Damage to the rods occurred, starting at 3.5 MPa, 3.1 MPa, 4.1 MPa and 5.5 MPa for the 100-ms, 10-ms, 1-ms and 100-micros sonications, respectively. The formation of large gas bubbles was observed in the blood vessels of the fish at threshold values of 3.8 MPa, 3.8 MPa and 5.3 MPa, for the 100-ms, 10-ms and 1-ms sonications, respectively. Neither gas bubble formation nor hemorrhaging was observed during 100-micros sonications. Bubble formation was always accompanied by an increase of damage to the rods at the area surrounding the bubble. At 1.091 MHz, petechial hemorrhage thresholds were observed at 4.1 MPa, 4.1 MPa and 6.1 MPa, respectively, for the three pulse durations. The thresholds for damage were the lowest for the 0.747-MHz sonications: they were 2.6 MPa for damage to the rods, 3.7 MPa for gas bubble formation and 2.4 MPa for hemorrhaging.

Thermal perception thresholds among workers in a cold climate.

PubMed

Burström, Lage; Björ, Bodil; Nilsson, Tohr; Pettersson, Hans; Rödin, Ingemar; Wahlström, Jens

2017-10-01

To investigate whether exposure to cold could influence the thermal perception thresholds in a working population. This cross-sectional study was comprised of 251 males and females and was carried out at two mines in the northern part of Norway and Sweden. The testing included a baseline questionnaire, a clinical examination and measurements of thermal perception thresholds, on both hands, the index (Digit 2) and little (Digit 5) fingers, for heat and cold. The thermal perception thresholds were affected by age, gender and test site. The thresholds were impaired by experiences of frostbite in the fingers and the use of medication that potentially could affect neurosensory functions. No differences were found between the calculated normative values for these workers and those in other comparative investigations conducted in warmer climates. The study provided no support for the hypothesis that living and working in cold climate will lead to impaired thermal perception thresholds. Exposure to cold that had caused localized damage in the form of frostbite was shown to lead to impaired thermal perception.

Analysis of Ricefield Land Damage in Denpasar City, Bali, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suyarto, R.; Wiyanti; Dibia, I. N.

2018-02-01

Soil as a natural resource, living area, environmental media, and factors of production including biomass production that supports human life and other living beings must be preserved, on the other hand, uncontrolled biomass production activities can cause soil damage, ultimately can threaten the survival of humans and other living things. Therefore, in order to control soil damage, first must inventories the soil condition data and its damage which then visualised in soil damage potential and soil damage status. The activities of the study are the preparation of a map of the initial soil conditions and the delineation of potentially land degradation distribution. Mapping results are used as work maps for verification on the field to take soil samples and create soil damage status. In general, Denpasar City have soil damage potential at very low, low until medium rate. Soil damage status in Denpasar City generally is low damage of bulk volume, total porosity, soil permeability and electrolyte conductivity which beyond limitation thresholds.

Stem cells: Balancing resistance and sensitivity to DNA damage

PubMed Central

Liu, Julia C.; Lerou, Paul H.; Lahav, Galit

2015-01-01

Embryonic stem cells are known to be very sensitive to DNA damage and undergo rapid apoptosis even after low damage doses. In contrast, adult stem cells show variable sensitivity to damage. Here we describe the multiple pathways that have been proposed to affect the sensitivity of stem cells to damage, including proximity to the apoptotic threshold (mitochondrial priming) and the p53 signaling pathway, through activation of transcription or direct interaction with pro apoptotic proteins in the cytoplasm. We also discuss which cellular factors might connect mitochondrial priming with pluripotency and the potential therapeutic advances that can be achieved by better understanding the molecular mechanisms leading to sensitivity or resistance of embryonic or adult stem cells from different tissues. PMID:24721782

Wipe sampling for nicotine as a marker of thirdhand tobacco smoke contamination on surfaces in homes, cars, and hotels.

PubMed

Quintana, Penelope J E; Matt, Georg E; Chatfield, Dale; Zakarian, Joy M; Fortmann, Addie L; Hoh, Eunha

2013-09-01

Secondhand smoke contains a mixture of pollutants that can persist in air, dust, and on surfaces for months or longer. This persistent residue is known as thirdhand smoke (THS). Here, we detail a simple method of wipe sampling for nicotine as a marker of accumulated THS on surfaces. We analyzed findings from 5 real-world studies to investigate the performance of wipe sampling for nicotine on surfaces in homes, cars, and hotels in relation to smoking behavior and smoking restrictions. The intraclass correlation coefficient for side-by-side samples was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87-0.94). Wipe sampling for nicotine reliably distinguished between private homes, private cars, rental cars, and hotels with and without smoking bans and was significantly positively correlated with other measures of tobacco smoke contamination such as air and dust nicotine. The sensitivity and specificity of possible threshold values (0.1, 1, and 10 μg/m(2)) were evaluated for distinguishing between nonsmoking and smoking environments. Sensitivity was highest at a threshold of 0.1 μg/m(2), with 74%-100% of smoker environments showing nicotine levels above threshold. Specificity was highest at a threshold of 10 μg/m(2), with 81%-100% of nonsmoker environments showing nicotine levels below threshold. The optimal threshold will depend on the desired balance of sensitivity and specificity and on the types of smoking and nonsmoking environments. Surface wipe sampling for nicotine is a reliable, valid, and relatively simple collection method to quantify THS contamination on surfaces across a wide range of field settings and to distinguish between nonsmoking and smoking environments.

Water's Interfacial Hydrogen Bonding Structure Reveals the Effective Strength of Surface-Water Interactions.

PubMed

Shin, Sucheol; Willard, Adam P

2018-06-05

We combine all-atom molecular dynamics simulations with a mean field model of interfacial hydrogen bonding to analyze the effect of surface-water interactions on the structural and energetic properties of the liquid water interface. We show that the molecular structure of water at a weakly interacting ( i.e., hydrophobic) surface is resistant to change unless the strength of surface-water interactions are above a certain threshold. We find that below this threshold water's interfacial structure is homogeneous and insensitive to the details of the disordered surface, however, above this threshold water's interfacial structure is heterogeneous. Despite this heterogeneity, we demonstrate that the equilibrium distribution of molecular orientations can be used to quantify the energetic component of the surface-water interactions that contribute specifically to modifying the interfacial hydrogen bonding network. We identify this specific energetic component as a new measure of hydrophilicity, which we refer to as the intrinsic hydropathy.

49 CFR Appendix B to Part 225 - Procedure for Determining Reporting Threshold

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Procedure for Determining Reporting Threshold B... Threshold 1. Wage data used in the calculation are collected from railroads by the Surface Transportation... adjust the reporting threshold has two components: (a) The average hourly earnings of certain railroad...

Individual variations in the correlation between erythemal threshold, UV-induced DNA damage and sun-burn cell formation.

PubMed

Heenen, M; Giacomoni, P U; Golstein, P

2001-10-01

A linear correlation between erythema intensity and DNA damage upon exposure to UV has not been firmly established. Many of the deleterious effects of UV exposure do occur after exposure to suberythemal doses. After DNA damage, cells undergo DNA repair. It is commonly accepted that when the burden of damage is beyond the repair capacities, the cell undergoes programmed cell death or apoptosis. The aim of this study is to quantify the amount of UV-induced DNA damage (estimated via the measurement of DNA repair or unscheduled DNA synthesis or UDS) and cellular damage (estimated via the determination of the density of sunburn cells or SBC). If DNA damage and erythema are correlated, similar intensity of UDS and similar density of SBC should be found in volunteers irradiated with a UV dose equal to two minimal erythema doses (MED). Our results show that in 15 different individuals the same relative dose (2 MEDs) provokes UDS values, which vary within a factor of 4. An even larger variability affects SBC counts after the same relative dose. When DNA damage or SBC are plotted versus the absolute dose (i.e. the dose expressed in J/m(2)), there is a rough correlation (with several exceptions) between dose and extent of UDS and SBC counts. It seems possible to divide the volunteers into two subpopulations with different susceptibilities to UV damage. It is well known that UDS and SBC measurements are often affected by large experimental indeterminacy, yet, the analysis of our results makes it plausible to suggest that for the triggering of erythema, a common threshold value for DNA damage or for SBC count are not to be found. In conclusion, the erythema response seems to be loosely correlated with DNA damage. This suggests that the protection offered by the sunscreens against DNA damage, the molecular basis of UV-induced mutagenesis, might not be related to the sun protection factor (SPF) indicated on the label of sunscreens, which is evaluated using the erythema as an endpoint.

The role of film interfaces in near-ultraviolet absorption and pulsed-laser damage in ion-beam-sputtered coatings based on HfO 2/SiO 2 thin-film pairs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ristau, Detlev; Papernov, S.; Kozlov, A. A.

2015-11-23

The role of thin-film interfaces in the near-ultraviolet absorption and pulsed-laser–induced damage was studied for ion-beam–sputtered and electron-beam–evaporated coatings comprised from HfO 2 and SiO 2 thin-film pairs. To separate contributions from the bulk of the film and from interfacial areas, absorption and damage-threshold measurements were performed for a one-wave (355-nm wavelength) thick, HfO 2 single-layer film and for a film containing seven narrow HfO 2 layers separated by SiO 2 layers. The seven-layer film was designed to have a total optical thickness of HfO 2 layers, equal to one wave at 355 nm and an E-field peak and averagemore » intensity similar to a single-layer HfO 2 film. Absorption in both types of films was measured using laser calorimetry and photothermal heterodyne imaging. The results showed a small contribution to total absorption from thin-film interfaces, as compared to HfO 2 film material. The relevance of obtained absorption data to coating near-ultraviolet, nanosecond-pulse laser damage was verified by measuring the damage threshold and characterizing damage morphology. The results of this study revealed a higher damage resistance in the seven-layer coating as compared to the single-layer HfO 2 film in both sputtered and evaporated coatings. Here, the results are explained through the similarity of interfacial film structure with structure formed during the co-deposition of HfO 2 and SiO 2 materials.« less

Subclinical chronic kidney disease modifies the diagnosis of experimental acute kidney injury.

PubMed

Succar, Lena; Pianta, Timothy J; Davidson, Trent; Pickering, John W; Endre, Zoltán H

2017-09-01

Extensive structural damage within the kidney must be present before serum creatinine increases. However, a subclinical phase of chronic kidney disease (CKD) usually goes undetected. Here we tested whether experimental subclinical CKD would modify functional and damage biomarker profiles of acute kidney injury (AKI). Subclinical CKD was induced in rats by adenine or aristolochic acid models but without increasing serum creatinine. After prolonged recovery (three to six weeks), AKI was induced with a subnephrotoxic dose of cisplatin. Urinary levels of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), cytochrome C, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), clusterin, and interleukin-18 increased during CKD induction, without an increase in serum creatinine. After AKI in adenine-induced CKD, serum creatinine increased more rapidly, while increased urinary KIM-1, clusterin, and MCP-1 were delayed and reduced. Increased serum creatinine and biomarker excretion were associated with diffuse tubulointerstitial injury in the outer stripe of outer medulla coupled with over 50% cortical damage. Following AKI in aristolochic acid-induced CKD, increased serum creatinine, urinary KIM-1, clusterin, MCP-1, cytochrome C, and interleukin-18 concentrations and excretion were greater at day 21 than day 42 and inversely correlated with cortical injury. Subclinical CKD modified functional and damage biomarker profiles in diametrically opposite ways. Functional biomarker profiles were more sensitive, while damage biomarker diagnostic thresholds and increases were diminished and delayed. Damage biomarker concentrations and excretion were inversely linked to the extent of prior cortical damage. Thus, thresholds for AKI biomarkers may need to be lower or sampling delayed in the known presence of CKD. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improved Sizing of Impact Damage in Composites Based on Thermographic Response

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winfree, William P.; Howell Patricia A.; Leckey, Cara A.; Rogge, Matthew D.

2013-01-01

Impact damage in thin carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites often results in a relatively small region of damage at the front surface, with increasing damage near the back surface. Conventional methods for reducing the pulsed thermographic responses of the composite tend to underestimate the size of the back surface damage, since the smaller near surface damage gives the largest thermographic indication. A method is presented for reducing the thermographic data to produce an estimated size for the impact damage that is much closer to the size of the damage estimated from other NDE techniques such as microfocus x-ray computed tomography and pulse echo ultrasonics. Examples of the application of the technique to experimental data acquired on specimens with impact damage are presented. The method is also applied to the results of thermographic simulations to investigate the limitations of the technique.

Damage free Ar ion plasma surface treatment on In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As-on-silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor device

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koh, Donghyi; Shin, Seung Heon; Ahn, Jaehyun

2015-11-02

In this paper, we investigated the effect of in-situ Ar ion plasma surface pre-treatment in order to improve the interface properties of In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As for high-κ top-gate oxide deposition. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs) demonstrate that Ar ion treatment removes the native oxide on In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As. The XPS spectra of Ar treated In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As show a decrease in the AsO{sub x} and GaO{sub x} signal intensities, and the MOSCAPs show higher accumulation capacitance (C{sub acc}), along with reduced frequency dispersion. In addition, Ar treatment is found to suppress the interface trap density (D{sub it}),more » which thereby led to a reduction in the threshold voltage (V{sub th}) degradation during constant voltage stress and relaxation. These results outline the potential of surface treatment for III-V channel metal-oxide-semiconductor devices and application to non-planar device process.« less

Illumination discrimination in the absence of a fixed surface-reflectance layout

PubMed Central

Radonjić, Ana; Ding, Xiaomao; Krieger, Avery; Aston, Stacey; Hurlbert, Anya C.; Brainard, David H.

2018-01-01

Previous studies have shown that humans can discriminate spectral changes in illumination and that this sensitivity depends both on the chromatic direction of the illumination change and on the ensemble of surfaces in the scene. These studies, however, always used stimulus scenes with a fixed surface-reflectance layout. Here we compared illumination discrimination for scenes in which the surface reflectance layout remains fixed (fixed-surfaces condition) to those in which surface reflectances were shuffled randomly across scenes, but with the mean scene reflectance held approximately constant (shuffled-surfaces condition). Illumination discrimination thresholds in the fixed-surfaces condition were commensurate with previous reports. Thresholds in the shuffled-surfaces condition, however, were considerably elevated. Nonetheless, performance in the shuffled-surfaces condition exceeded that attainable through random guessing. Analysis of eye fixations revealed that in the fixed-surfaces condition, low illumination discrimination thresholds (across observers) were predicted by low overall fixation spread and high consistency of fixation location and fixated surface reflectances across trial intervals. Performance in the shuffled-surfaces condition was not systematically related to any of the eye-fixation characteristics we examined for that condition, but was correlated with performance in the fixed-surfaces condition. PMID:29904786

Application of outlier analysis for baseline-free damage diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Seung Dae; In, Chi Won; Cronin, Kelly E.; Sohn, Hoon; Harries, Kent

2006-03-01

As carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates have been widely accepted as valuable materials for retrofitting civil infrastructure systems, an appropriate assessment of bonding conditions between host structures and CFRP laminates becomes a critical issue to guarantee the performance of CFRP strengthened structures. This study attempts to develop a continuous performance monitoring system for CFRP strengthened structures by autonomously inspecting the bonding conditions between the CFRP layers and the host structure. The uniqueness of this study is to develop a new concept and theoretical framework of nondestructive testing (NDT), in which debonding is detected "without using past baseline data." The proposed baseline-free damage diagnosis is achieved in two stages. In the first step, features sensitive to debonding of the CFPR layers but insensitive to loading conditions are extracted based on a concept referred to as a time reversal process. This time reversal process allows extracting damage-sensitive features without direct comparison with past baseline data. Then, a statistical damage classifier will be developed in the second step to make a decision regarding the bonding condition of the CFRP layers. The threshold necessary for decision making will be adaptively determined without predetermined threshold values. Monotonic and fatigue load tests of full-scale CFRP strengthened RC beams are conducted to demonstrate the potential of the proposed reference-free debonding monitoring system.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness After Inspiratory Threshold Loading in Healthy Adults

PubMed Central

Mathur, Sunita; Sheel, A. William; Road, Jeremy D.; Reid, W. Darlene

2010-01-01

Purpose: Skeletal muscle damage occurs following high-intensity or unaccustomed exercise; however, it is difficult to monitor damage to the respiratory muscles, particularly in humans. The aim of this study was to use clinical measures to investigate the presence of skeletal muscle damage in the inspiratory muscles. Methods: Ten healthy subjects underwent 60 minutes of voluntary inspiratory threshold loading (ITL) at 70% of maximal inspiratory pressure. Maximal inspiratory and expiratory mouth pressures, delayed onset muscle soreness on a visual analogue scale and plasma creatine kinase were measured prior to ITL, and at repeated time points after ITL (4, 24 and 48 hours post-ITL). Results: Delayed onset muscle soreness was present in all subjects 24 hours following ITL (intensity = 22 ± 6 mm; significantly higher than baseline p = 0.02). Muscle soreness was reported primarily in the anterior neck region, and was correlated to the amount of work done by the inspiratory muscles during ITL (r = 0.72, p = 0.02). However, no significant change was observed in maximal inspiratory or expiratory pressures or creatine kinase. Conclusions: These findings suggest that an intense bout of ITL results in muscle soreness primarily in the accessory muscles of inspiration, however, may be insufficient to cause significant muscle damage in healthy adults. PMID:20467514

Preventive Effects of Poloxamer 188 on Muscle Cell Damage Mechanics Under Oxidative Stress.

PubMed

Wong, Sing Wan; Yao, Yifei; Hong, Ye; Ma, Zhiyao; Kok, Stanton H L; Sun, Shan; Cho, Michael; Lee, Kenneth K H; Mak, Arthur F T

2017-04-01

High oxidative stress can occur during ischemic reperfusion and chronic inflammation. It has been hypothesized that such oxidative challenges could contribute to clinical risks such as deep tissue pressure ulcers. Skeletal muscles can be challenged by inflammation-induced or reperfusion-induced oxidative stress. Oxidative stress reportedly can lower the compressive damage threshold of skeletal muscles cells, causing actin filament depolymerization, and reduce membrane sealing ability. Skeletal muscles thus become easier to be damaged by mechanical loading under prolonged oxidative exposure. In this study, we investigated the preventive effect of poloxamer 188 (P188) on skeletal muscle cells against extrinsic oxidative challenges (H 2 O 2 ). It was found that with 1 mM P188 pre-treatment for 1 h, skeletal muscle cells could maintain their compressive damage threshold. The actin polymerization dynamics largely remained stable in term of the expression of cofilin, thymosin beta 4 and profilin. Laser photoporation demonstrated that membrane sealing ability was preserved even as the cells were challenged by H 2 O 2 . These findings suggest that P188 pre-treatment can help skeletal muscle cells retain their normal mechanical integrity in oxidative environments, adding a potential clinical use of P188 against the combined challenge of mechanical-oxidative stresses. Such effect may help to prevent deep tissue ulcer development.

[Therapeutic effect of insulin-like growth factor-1 injection into the inner ears through scala tympani fenestration on gentamicin-induced hearing loss in guinea pigs].

PubMed

Li, Yong-he; Chen, Hao; Guo, Meng-he

2008-02-01

To study the therapeutic effect of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) injection into the inner ears through a scala tympani fenestration on sensorineural deafness in a guinea pig model of gentamicin-induced hearing loss. Twenty guinea pigs with gentamicin-induced hearing loss were randomized equally into IGF-1 group and control group. In both groups, scala tympani fenestration was performed for injection of IGF-1 (10 microl) or artificial perilymphatic fluid (10 microl). Auditory brainstem responses (ABR) test was performed before and 7 and 14 days after surgery, respectively, and the cochlea was removed by decollation of 3 guinea pigs from each group after ABR test for observing the changes in the hair cells using scanning electron microscope. Significant reduction in the ABR response threshold (RT) occurred in IGF-1 group 7 and 14 days after the surgery, and on day 14, ABR RT showed significant difference between IGF-1 group and the control group. Scanning electron microscopy revealed severer damages of the hair cells in the control group, and in the IGF-1 group, finger-like microvilli was detected on the surface of the damaged hair cells. IGF-1 injection in the inner ear through the scala tympani fenestration may ameliorate the damages of the auditory function and relieve sustained toxicity of gentamicin in guinea pigs possibly by protection and partial repair of the damaged cochlea hair cells as well as protection of the afferent nerves.

Why Does Threshold Level Change in Transcranial Motor-evoked Potentials During Surgery for Supratentorial Lesions?

PubMed

Abboud, Tammam; Huckhagel, Torge; Stork, Jan-Henrich; Hamel, Wolfgang; Schwarz, Cindy; Vettorazzi, Eik; Westphal, Manfred; Martens, Tobias

2017-10-01

Rising threshold level during monitoring of motor-evoked potentials (MEP) using transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) has been described without damage to the motor pathway in the cranial surgery, suggesting the need for monitoring of affected and unaffected hemisphere. We aimed to determine the factors that lead to a change in threshold level and to establish reliable criteria for adjusting stimulation intensity during surgery for supratentorial lesions. Between October 2014 and October 2015, TES-MEP were performed in 143 patients during surgery for unilateral supratentorial lesions in motor-eloquent brain areas. All procedures were performed under general anesthesia using a strict protocol to maintain stable blood pressure. MEP were evaluated bilaterally to assess the percentage increase in threshold level, which was considered significant if it exceeded 20% on the contralateral side beyond the percentage increase on the ipsilateral side. Patients who developed a postoperative motor deficit were excluded. Volume of subdural air was measured on postoperative magnetic resonance imaging. Logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with the intraoperative recorded changes in threshold level. A total of 123 patients were included in the study. On the affected side, 82 patients (66.7%) showed an increase in threshold level, which ranged from 2% to 48% and 41 patients (33.3%) did not show any change. The difference to the unaffected side was under 20% in all patients. The recorded range of changes in the systolic and mean pressure did not exceed 20 mm Hg in any of the patients. Pneumocephalus was detected on postoperative magnetic resonance imaging scans in 87 patients (70.7%) and 81 of them (93.1%) had an intraoperative increase in threshold level on either sides. Pneumocephalus was the only factor associated with an increase in threshold level on the affected side (P<0.001), while each of pneumocephalus and length of the procedure correlated with a change in threshold level on the unaffected side (P<0.001 and 0.032, respectively). Pneumocephalus was the only factor associated with increase in threshold level during MEP monitoring without damaging motor pathway. Threshold level on the affected side can rise up to 48% without being predictive of postoperative paresis, as long as the difference between the increased threshold of the affected and unaffected side is within 20%. Changes in systolic or mean blood pressure within a range of 20 mm Hg do not seem to influence intraoperative MEP.

Nanopore formation in neuroblastoma cells following ultrashort electric pulse exposure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roth, Caleb C.; Payne, Jason A.; Wilmink, Gerald J.; Ibey, Bennett L.

2011-03-01

Ultrashort or nanosecond electrical pulses (USEP) cause repairable damage to the plasma membranes of cells through formation of nanopores. These nanopores are able to pass small ions such as sodium, calcium, and potassium, but remain impermeable to larger molecules like trypan blue and propidium iodide. What remains uncertain is whether generation of nanopores by ultrashort electrical pulses can inhibit action potentials in excitable cells. In this paper, we explored the sensitivity of excitable cells to USEP using Calcium Green AM 1 ester fluorescence to measure calcium uptake indicative of nanopore formation in the plasma membrane. We determined the threshold for nanopore formation in neuroblastoma cells for three pulse parameters (amplitude, pulse width, and pulse number). Measurement of such thresholds will guide future studies to determine if USEP can inhibit action potentials without causing irreversible membrane damage.

Limitations on gas exchange recovery following natural drought in Californian oak woodlands.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ackerly, D.; Skelton, R. P.; Dawson, T.; Thompson, S.; Feng, X.; Weitz, A.; McLaughlin, B.

2017-12-01

Abstract Background/Question/Methods Drought can cause major damage to plant communities, but species damage thresholds and post-drought recovery of forest productivity are not yet predictable. We asked the question how should forest net primary productivity recover following exposure to severe drought? We used a natural drought period to investigate whether drought responses and post-drought recovery of canopy health could be predicted by properties of the water transport system. We aimed to test the hypothesis that recovery of gas exchange and canopy health would be most severely limited by xylem embolism in stems. To do this we monitored leaf level gas exchange and water status for multiple individuals of two deciduous and two evergreen species for four years spanning a severe drought event and following subsequent rehydration. Results/Discussion Severe drought caused major declines in leaf water potential, reduced stomatal conductance and assimilation rates and increased canopy bareness in our four canopy species. Water potential surpassed levels associated with incipient embolism in leaves of most trees. In contrast, due to hydraulic segmentation, water potential only rarely surpassed critical thresholds in the stems of the study trees. Individuals that surpassed critical thresholds of embolism in the stem displayed significant canopy dieback and mortality. Thus, recovery of plant gas exchange and canopy health was predicted by xylem safety margin in stems, but not leaves, providing strong support for stem cavitation vulnerability as an index of damage under natural drought conditions.

Intraoperative identification of the facial nerve by needle electromyography stimulation with a burr

PubMed Central

KHAMGUSHKEEVA, N.N.; ANIKIN, I.A.; KORNEYENKOV, A.A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this research is to improve the safety of surgery for patients with a pathology of the middle and inner ear by preventing damage to the facial nerve by conducting intraoperative monitoring of the facial nerve by needle electromyography with continuous stimulation with a burr. Patients and Methods The clinical part of the prospective study was carried out on 48 patients that were diagnosed with suppurative otitis media. After the surgery with intraoperative monitoring, the facial nerve with an intact bone wall was stimulated electrically in the potentially dangerous places of damage. Minimum (threshold) stimulation (mA) of the facial nerve with a threshold event of 100 μV was used to register EMG events. The anatomical part of the study was carried out on 30 unformalinized cadaver temporal bones from adult bodies. The statistical analysis of obtained data was carried out with parametric methods (Student’s t-test), non-parametric correlation (Spearman’s method) and regression analysis. Results It was found that 1 mA of threshold amperage corresponded to 0.8 mm thickness of the bone wall of the facial canal. Values of transosseous threshold stimulation in potentially dangerous sections of the injury to the facial nerve were obtained. Conclusion These data lower the risk of paresis (paralysis) of the facial muscles during otologic surgery. PMID:27142821

[Heat-induced symptomatology in human teeth. An in-vitro study].

PubMed

Baldissara, P; Bortolini, S; Papale, G; Scotti, R

1998-09-01

Various dental procedures can generate thermal increase in the dental pulp, in particular if they are incorrectly conducted. In literature the pulp cells are considered very heat sensitive. In this study the symptomatological response of patients during and after thermal administration to the dental crown has been recorded. The analysis of the symptomatology was used as an indication for the definition of the threshold of thermal damage. Twelve healthy teeth of four patients programmed for extraction were subdivided into six couples of homologous teeth. One tooth out of each couple was used for the immediate in vivo recording of the symptoms; the other, once extracted, was used to determine the thermal increase applied through the insertion of a thermocouple sensor. In each couple of teeth the thermal stimulus was equal. The average thermal increase was 11.2 degrees C. Pain starts at temperatures ranging from 39.5 to 50.4 degrees C with an average of 44.6 degrees C. This agrees with classical physiological data which reports the threshold of pain at 45 degrees C. The threshold of pain registered suggests that at temperatures below 44.6 degrees C damage to the dental pulp is improbable, at least in healthy teeth. The limit of 45 degrees C appears, therefore, to be a probable safe threshold, contrary to what is reported in literature.

Surface/subsurface observation and removal mechanisms of ground reaction bonded silicon carbide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Wang; Zhang, Yu-Min; Han, Jie-cai; Zhang, Yun-long; Zhang, Jian-han; Zhou, Yu-feng; Han, Yuan-yuan

2006-01-01

Reaction Bonded Silicon Carbide (RBSiC) has long been recognized as a promising material for optical applications because of its unique combination of favorable properties and low-cost fabrication. Grinding of silicon carbide is difficult because of its high hardness and brittleness. Grinding often induces surface and subsurface damage, residual stress and other types of damage, which have great influence on the ceramic components for optical application. In this paper, surface integrity, subsurface damage and material removal mechanisms of RBSiC ground using diamond grinding wheel on creep-feed surface grinding machine are investigated. The surface and subsurface are studied with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. The effects of grinding conditions on surface and subsurface damage are discussed. This research links the surface roughness, surface and subsurface cracks to grinding parameters and provides valuable insights into the material removal mechanism and the dependence of grind induced damage on grinding conditions.

Using insurance data to learn more about damages to buildings caused by surface runoff

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernet, Daniel; Roethlisberger, Veronika; Prasuhn, Volker; Weingartner, Rolf

2015-04-01

In Switzerland, almost forty percent of total insurance loss due to natural hazards in the last two decades was caused by flooding. Those flood damages occurred not only within known inundation zones of water courses. Practitioners expect that roughly half of all flood damages lie outside of known inundation zones. In urban areas such damages may simply be caused by drainage system overload for instance. However, as several case studies show, natural and agricultural land play a major role in surface runoff formation leading to damages in rural and peri-urban areas. Although many damages are caused by surface runoff, the whole process chain including surface runoff formation, propagation through the landscape and damages to buildings is not well understood. Therefore, within the framework of a project, we focus our research on this relevant process. As such flash flood events have a very short response time and occur rather diffusely in the landscape, this process is very difficult to observe directly. Therefore indirect data sources with the potential to indicate spatial and temporal distributions of the process have to be used. For that matter, post-flood damage data may be a profitable source. Namely, insurance companies' damage claim records could provide a good picture about the spatial and temporal distributions of damages caused by surface runoff and, thus, about the process itself. In our research we analyze insurance data records of flood damage claims systematically to infer main drivers and influencing factors of surface runoff causing damages to buildings. To demonstrate the potential and drawbacks of using data from insurance companies in relation to damages caused by surface runoff, a case study is presented. A well-documented event with data from a public as well as a private insurance company is selected. The case study focuses on the differences of the datasets as well as the associated problems and advantages respectively. Furthermore, the analysis of the data, especially the crucial identification of damages caused by surface runoff opposed to damages caused by other processes such as riverine flooding, drainage system surcharges etc. are discussed.

How much can disaster and climate science contribute to loss and damage mechanisms in international climate policy?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huggel, Christian; Allen, Simon; Eicken, Hajo; Hansen, Gerrit; Stone, Dáithí

2015-04-01

As the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently has shown, there is increasing evidence of observed impacts of climate change on natural and human systems. Some of these impacts are negative and result in damage and loss of lives and assets. In international climate policy negotiations under the UNFCCC the discussions on loss and damage have gained significant traction during the past negotiation rounds. At COP 19 the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM) was created as an institutional arrangement to address this issue. Thereby, loss and damage (L&D) are typically defined as the residual damage and loss that occur beyond mitigation and adaptation efforts. This implies that effective mitigation and adaptation policy can substantially reduce L&D. While there is wide agreement that knowledge and understanding needs to be strengthened on how L&D due to climate change affects countries, in particular highly vulnerable countries and populations, there is still substantial disagreement on several aspects. In fact, after COP20 in Lima a number of options are on the table, including whether L&D should be located under the adaptation framework or form a separate institutional arrangement, or whether a compensation regime should be established to support developing countries. Similarly, the scientific framework for a clear L&D concept, its application in real-world cases, and implications for international climate policy, in particular with respect to questions of responsibility, liability, compensation and financing, is still evolving. Earlier proposals, for instance, have included a threshold concept, with payments released upon crossing of certain thresholds of climate (related) parameters, similar to insurance procedures. The threshold would be defined as a departure of the parameter from baseline conditions, for instance a rainfall event that is more intense than a certain baseline based threshold. Further proposals for mechanisms of financing suggested a role of causation and thus attribution of L&D to (anthropogenic) climate change. Yet, causation mechanisms are particularly delicate in terms of climate justice, development and implications of legal liabilities. Here, we outline potential contributions of science to L&D mechanisms in greater specificity, in particular for (i) threshold based mechanisms, and (ii) causation related mechanisms. We draw on recent concepts of L&D attribution suggesting a more comprehensive attribution framework based on risk concepts. We present a first-order proof-of-concept for the above mechanisms (i) and (ii), using case studies of recent disasters (both related to extreme events and gradual climate change) in the Indian Himalayas, Colombia, Alaska and Australia. We analyze whether science is in a position to substantially contribute to the different L&D policy proposals, including the question whether currently available data and datasets on climate and hazards, exposure and vulnerability are in line with such support, in particular with regards to developing country contexts. We conclude with a perspective on critical research and data needs to further strengthen L&D science and policy.

Characterization of laser induced damage of HR coatings with picosecond pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Cheng; Zhao, Yuan'an; Cui, Yun; Wang, Yueliang; Peng, Xiaocong; Shan, Chong; Zhu, Meiping; Wang, Jianguo; Shao, Jianda

2017-11-01

The effect of protective layer on the picosecond laser-induced damage behaviors of HfO2/SiO2 high-reflective (HR) coatings are explored. Two kinds of 1064nm HR coatings with and without protective layer are deposited by electron beam evaporation. Laser-induced damage tests are conducted with 1064nm, 30ps S-polarized and P-polarized pulses with different angle of incidence (AOI) to make the electric fields intensity in the HR coatings discrepantly. Damage morphology and cross section of damage sites were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB), respectively. It is found that SiO2 protective layer have a certain degree of improvement on laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) for every AOIs. The onset damage initiated very near to the Max peak of e-field, after which forms ripple-like pits. The damage morphology presents as layer delamination at high fluence. The Laser damage resistance is correspond with the maximum E-intensity in the coating stacks.

Antibacterial Effect of Diode Laser in Pulpectomy of Primary Teeth.

PubMed

Bahrololoomi, Zahra; Fekrazad, Reza; Zamaninejad, Shiva

2017-01-01

Introduction: Laser irradiation has been suggested as an adjunct to traditional methods of canal preparation but few studies are available on the antibacterial effect of diode laser in pulpectomy of primary teeth. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the antibacterial effect of diode laser in pulpectomy of primary teeth, in addition to define the optimal and harmless diode lasing conditions in the root canal. Methods: A total of 125 single rooted primary teeth were selected. After traditional canal cleaning, they were divided in 2 groups. Sixty-five specimens after culturing of Enterococcus faecalis into the canals, were divided in 3 groups: (1) traditional canal cleaning with 0.5% NaOCl irrigation, (2) method of group 1+ 1.5 W diode laser (980 nm, pulse), (3) without treatment (5 specimens). Then the specimens were cultured and after colony counting under light microscope, were statistically analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. For 60 specimens, temperature rise of apical and cervical parts of the external root surface were measured using 2 thermocouple type K, when radiating a 1.5 W diode laser into the canal. Results: In the first experiment, the diode laser group showed tmost reduction in bacterial count. And in the second experiment, the mean temperature rise of external root surface was less than the threshold of periodontal ligament (PDL) damage. Conclusion: Diode laser with a power output of 1.5 W, is effective in reduction of E. faecalis bacterial count without damaging periodontal structures.

SU-C-BRE-07: Sensitivity Analysis of the Threshold Energy for the Creation of Strand Breaks and of Single and Double Strand Break Clustering Conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pater, P

Purpose: To analyse the sensitivity of the creation of strand breaks (SB) to the threshold energy (Eth) and thresholding method and to quantify the impact of clustering conditions on single strand break (SSB) and double strand break (DSB) yields. Methods: Monte Carlo simulations using Geant4-DNA were conducted for electron tracks of 280 eV to 220 keV in a geometrical DNA model composed of nucleosomes of 396 phospho-diester groups (PDGs) each. A strand break was created inside a PDG when the sum of all energy deposits (method 1) or energy transfers (method 2) was higher than Eth or when at leastmore » one interaction deposited (method 3) or transferred (method 4) an energy higher than Eth. SBs were then clustered into SSBs and DSBs using clustering scoring criteria from the literature and compared to our own. Results: The total number of SBs decreases as Eth is increased. In addition, thresholding on the energy transfers (methods 2 and 4) produces a higher SB count than when thresholding on energy deposits (methods 1 and 3). Method 2 produces a step-like function and should be avoided when attempting to optimize Eth. When SBs are grouped into damage patterns, clustering conditions can underestimated SSBs by up to 18 % and DSBs can be overestimated by up to 12 % compared to our own implementation. Conclusion: We show that two often underreported simulation parameters have a non-negligible effect on overall DNA damage yields. First more SBs are counted when using energy transfers to the PDG rather than energy deposits. Also, SBs grouped according to different clustering conditions can influence reported SSB and DSB by as much as 20%. Careful handling of these parameters is required when trying to compare DNA damage yields from different authors. Research funding from the governments of Canada and Quebec. PP acknowledges partial support by the CREATE Medical Physics Research Training Network grant of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Grant number: 432290)« less

LASER PLASMA: Experimental confirmation of the erosion origin of pulsed low-threshold surface optical breakdown of air

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Min'ko, L. Ya; Chumakou, A. N.; Chivel', Yu A.

1988-08-01

Nanosecond kinetic spectroscopy techniques were used to identify the erosion origin of pulsed low-threshold surface optical breakdown of air as a result of interaction of microsecond neodymium and CO2 laser pulses with some metals (indium, lead).

Damage and strength of composite materials: Trends, predictions, and challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Obrien, T. Kevin

1994-01-01

Research on damage mechanisms and ultimate strength of composite materials relevant to scaling issues will be addressed in this viewgraph presentation. The use of fracture mechanics and Weibull statistics to predict scaling effects for the onset of isolated damage mechanisms will be highlighted. The ability of simple fracture mechanics models to predict trends that are useful in parametric or preliminary designs studies will be reviewed. The limitations of these simple models for complex loading conditions will also be noted. The difficulty in developing generic criteria for the growth of these mechanisms needed in progressive damage models to predict strength will be addressed. A specific example for a problem where failure is a direct consequence of progressive delamination will be explored. A damage threshold/fail-safety concept for addressing composite damage tolerance will be discussed.

Intrasulcal Electrocorticography in Macaque Monkeys with Minimally Invasive Neurosurgical Protocols

PubMed Central

Matsuo, Takeshi; Kawasaki, Keisuke; Osada, Takahiro; Sawahata, Hirohito; Suzuki, Takafumi; Shibata, Masahiro; Miyakawa, Naohisa; Nakahara, Kiyoshi; Iijima, Atsuhiko; Sato, Noboru; Kawai, Kensuke; Saito, Nobuhito; Hasegawa, Isao

2011-01-01

Electrocorticography (ECoG), multichannel brain-surface recording and stimulation with probe electrode arrays, has become a potent methodology not only for clinical neurosurgery but also for basic neuroscience using animal models. The highly evolved primate's brain has deep cerebral sulci, and both gyral and intrasulcal cortical regions have been implicated in important functional processes. However, direct experimental access is typically limited to gyral regions, since placing probes into sulci is difficult without damaging the surrounding tissues. Here we describe a novel methodology for intrasulcal ECoG in macaque monkeys. We designed and fabricated ultra-thin flexible probes for macaques with micro-electro-mechanical systems technology. We developed minimally invasive operative protocols to implant the probes by introducing cutting-edge devices for human neurosurgery. To evaluate the feasibility of intrasulcal ECoG, we conducted electrophysiological recording and stimulation experiments. First, we inserted parts of the Parylene-C-based probe into the superior temporal sulcus to compare visually evoked ECoG responses from the ventral bank of the sulcus with those from the surface of the inferior temporal cortex. Analyses of power spectral density and signal-to-noise ratio revealed that the quality of the ECoG signal was comparable inside and outside of the sulcus. Histological examination revealed no obvious physical damage in the implanted areas. Second, we placed a modified silicone ECoG probe into the central sulcus and also on the surface of the precentral gyrus for stimulation. Thresholds for muscle twitching were significantly lower during intrasulcal stimulation compared to gyral stimulation. These results demonstrate the feasibility of intrasulcal ECoG in macaques. The novel methodology proposed here opens up a new frontier in neuroscience research, enabling the direct measurement and manipulation of electrical activity in the whole brain. PMID:21647392

Subsurface damage in precision ground ULE(R) and Zerodur(R) surfaces.

PubMed

Tonnellier, X; Morantz, P; Shore, P; Baldwin, A; Evans, R; Walker, D D

2007-09-17

The total process cycle time for large ULE((R)) and Zerodur((R))optics can be improved using a precise and rapid grinding process, with low levels of surface waviness and subsurface damage. In this paper, the amounts of defects beneath ULE((R)) and Zerodur((R) )surfaces ground using a selected grinding mode were compared. The grinding response was characterised by measuring: surface roughness, surface profile and subsurface damage. The observed subsurface damage can be separated into two distinct depth zones, which are: 'process' and 'machine dynamics' related.

36 CFR 1192.99 - Floors, steps and thresholds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Floors, steps and thresholds... Commuter Rail Cars and Systems § 1192.99 Floors, steps and thresholds. (a) Floor surfaces on aisles, step... shall be slip-resistant. (b) All thresholds and step edges shall have a band of color(s) running the...

Speech-in-Noise Tests and Supra-threshold Auditory Evoked Potentials as Metrics for Noise Damage and Clinical Trial Outcome Measures.

PubMed

Le Prell, Colleen G; Brungart, Douglas S

2016-09-01

In humans, the accepted clinical standards for detecting hearing loss are the behavioral audiogram, based on the absolute detection threshold of pure-tones, and the threshold auditory brainstem response (ABR). The audiogram and the threshold ABR are reliable and sensitive measures of hearing thresholds in human listeners. However, recent results from noise-exposed animals demonstrate that noise exposure can cause substantial neurodegeneration in the peripheral auditory system without degrading pure-tone audiometric thresholds. It has been suggested that clinical measures of auditory performance conducted with stimuli presented above the detection threshold may be more sensitive than the behavioral audiogram in detecting early-stage noise-induced hearing loss in listeners with audiometric thresholds within normal limits. Supra-threshold speech-in-noise testing and supra-threshold ABR responses are reviewed here, given that they may be useful supplements to the behavioral audiogram for assessment of possible neurodegeneration in noise-exposed listeners. Supra-threshold tests may be useful for assessing the effects of noise on the human inner ear, and the effectiveness of interventions designed to prevent noise trauma. The current state of the science does not necessarily allow us to define a single set of best practice protocols. Nonetheless, we encourage investigators to incorporate these metrics into test batteries when feasible, with an effort to standardize procedures to the greatest extent possible as new reports emerge.

ZERODUR - bending strength: review of achievements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, Peter

2017-08-01

Increased demand for using the glass ceramic ZERODUR® with high mechanical loads called for strength data based on larger statistical samples. Design calculations for failure probability target value below 1: 100 000 cannot be made reliable with parameters derived from 20 specimen samples. The data now available for a variety of surface conditions, ground with different grain sizes and acid etched for full micro crack removal, allow stresses by factors four to ten times higher than before. The large sample revealed that breakage stresses of ground surfaces follow the three parameter Weibull distribution instead of the two parameter version. This is more reasonable considering that the micro cracks of such surfaces have a maximum depth which is reflected in the existence of a threshold breakage stress below which breakage probability is zero. This minimum strength allows calculating minimum lifetimes. Fatigue under load can be taken into account by using the stress corrosion coefficient for the actual environmental humidity. For fully etched surfaces Weibull statistics fails. The precondition of the Weibull distribution, the existence of one unique failure mechanism, is not given anymore. ZERODUR® with fully etched surfaces free from damages introduced after etching endures easily 100 MPa tensile stress. The possibility to use ZERODUR® for combined high precision and high stress application was confirmed by the successful launch and continuing operation of LISA Pathfinder the precursor experiment for the gravitational wave antenna satellite array eLISA.

Relevance of impacter shape to nonvisible damage and residual tensile strength of a thick graphite/epoxy laminate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poe, C. C., Jr.

1990-01-01

A study was made to determine the relevance of impacter shape to nonvisible damage and tensile residual strength of a 36 mm (1.4 in.) thick graphite/epoxy motor case. The shapes of the impacters were as follows: 12.7 mm (0.5 in.) and 25.4 mm (1.0 in.) diameter hemispheres, a sharp corner, and a 6.3 mm (0.25 in.) diameter bolt-like rod. The investigation revealed that damage initiated when the contact pressure exceeded a critical level. However, the damage was not visible on the surface until an even higher pressure was exceeded. The damage on the surface consisted of a crater shaped like the impacter, and the damage below the surface consisted of broken fibers. The impact energy to initiate damage or cause visible damage on the surface increased approximately with impacter diameter to the third power. The reduction in strength for nonvisible damage increased with increasing diameter, 9 and 30 percent for the 12.7 mm (0.5 in.) and 25.4 mm (1.0 in.) diameter hemispheres, respectively. The corner impacter made visible damage on the surface for even the smallest impact energy. The rod impacter acted like a punch and sliced through the composite. Even so, the critical level of pressure to initiate damage was the same for the rod and hemispherical impacters. Factors of safety for nonvisible damage increased with increasing kinetic energy of impact. The effects of impacter shape on impact force, damage size, damage visibility, and residual tensile strength were predicted quite well assuming Hertzian contact and using maximum stress criteria and a surface crack analysis.

Adaptive threshold shearlet transform for surface microseismic data denoising

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Na; Zhao, Xian; Li, Yue; Zhu, Dan

2018-06-01

Random noise suppression plays an important role in microseismic data processing. The microseismic data is often corrupted by strong random noise, which would directly influence identification and location of microseismic events. Shearlet transform is a new multiscale transform, which can effectively process the low magnitude of microseismic data. In shearlet domain, due to different distributions of valid signals and random noise, shearlet coefficients can be shrunk by threshold. Therefore, threshold is vital in suppressing random noise. The conventional threshold denoising algorithms usually use the same threshold to process all coefficients, which causes noise suppression inefficiency or valid signals loss. In order to solve above problems, we propose the adaptive threshold shearlet transform (ATST) for surface microseismic data denoising. In the new algorithm, we calculate the fundamental threshold for each direction subband firstly. In each direction subband, the adjustment factor is obtained according to each subband coefficient and its neighboring coefficients, in order to adaptively regulate the fundamental threshold for different shearlet coefficients. Finally we apply the adaptive threshold to deal with different shearlet coefficients. The experimental denoising results of synthetic records and field data illustrate that the proposed method exhibits better performance in suppressing random noise and preserving valid signal than the conventional shearlet denoising method.

Toward automated selective retina treatment (SRT): an optical microbubble detection technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seifert, Eric; Park, Young-Gun; Theisen-Kunde, Dirk; Roh, Young-Jung; Brinkmann, Ralf

2018-02-01

Selective retina therapy (SRT) is an ophthalmological laser technique, targeting the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) with repetitive microsecond laser pulses, while causing no thermal damage to the neural retina, the photoreceptors as well as the choroid. The RPE cells get damaged mechanically by microbubbles originating, at the intracellular melanosomes. Beneficial effects of SRT on Central Serous Retinopathy (CSR) and Diabetic Macula Edema (DME) have already been shown. Variations in the transmission of the anterior eye media and pigmentation variation of RPE yield in intra- and inter- individual thresholds of the pulse energy required for selective RPE damage. Those selective RPE lesions are not visible. Thus, dosimetry-systems, designed to detect microbubbles as an indicator for RPE cell damage, are demanded elements to facilitate SRT application. Therefore, a technique based on the evaluation of backscattered treatment light has been developed. Data of 127 spots, acquired during 10 clinical treatments of CSR patients, were assigned to a RPE cell damage class, validated by fluorescence angiography (FLA). An algorithm has been designed to match the FLA based information. A sensitivity of 0.9 with a specificity close to 1 is achieved. The data can be processed within microseconds. Thus, the process can be implemented in existing SRT lasers with an automatic pulse wise increasing energy and an automatic irradiation ceasing ability to enable automated treatment close above threshold to prevent adverse effects caused by too high pulse energy. Alternatively, a guidance procedure, informing the treating clinician about the adequacy of the actual settings, is possible.

Are flowers vulnerable to xylem cavitation during drought?

PubMed

Zhang, Feng-Ping; Brodribb, Timothy J

2017-05-17

Water stress is known to cause xylem cavitation in the leaves, roots and stems of plants, but little is known about the vulnerability of flowers to xylem damage during drought. This is an important gap in our understanding of how and when plants become damaged by water stress. Here we address fundamental questions about if and when flowers suffer cavitation damage, using a new technique of cavitation imaging to resolve the timing of cavitation in water-stressed flower petals compared with neighbouring leaves. Leaves and flowers from a sample of two herbaceous and two woody eudicots were exposed to a severe water stress while the spatial and temporal propagation of embolism through veins was recorded. Although in most cases water potentials inducing 50% embolism of herbaceous flower veins were more negative than neighbouring leaves, there was no significant difference between the average vulnerability of leaves and petals of herbaceous species. In both woody species, petals were more vulnerable to cavitation than leaves, in one case by more than 3 MPa. Early cavitation and subsequent damage of flowers in the two woody species would thus be expected to precede leaf damage during drought. Similar cavitation thresholds of flowers and leaves in the herb sample suggest that cavitation during water shortage in these species will occur simultaneously among aerial tissues. Species-specific differences in the cavitation thresholds of petals provide a new axis of variation that may explain contrasting flowering ecology among plant species. © 2017 The Author(s).

Low Velocity Impacts of Variable Tip Radius on Carbon/Epoxy Plates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delaney, Mac P.

With a growing use of composite materials in aircraft structures, there is a greater need to understand the response of these materials to low velocity impacts. Low velocity impacts from tool drops or ground equipment collisions can be of varying bluntness and can leave little or no visible evidence of damage. Therefore, a need exists to investigate the initiation of internal damage and the relationship between this internal damage and the external visible damage with respect to the bluntness of the impactor. A pendulum impactor was used to impact 76.2 x 127 mm carbon/epoxy panels that were 8, 16, and 24 plies thick. The panels were impacted by hardened steel tips with radii of 12.7 to 76.2 mm. The experimental results show that the failure threshold energies for each panel thickness and tip radius combination occur at a distinct and consistent energy. This threshold increases with impactor bluntness, and this effect is greater for the 8 ply panel than it is for the 16 or 24 ply panels. To describe the visibility of impact damage, the area of delamination was compared to the depth of the dents resulting from the impacts. For the sharper impact tips, there is a clear relationship between the delamination area and the depth of the dents. However, these relationships are dependent on the radius of the impact tip, and for the blunter impact tips no strong correlation could be determined between the delamination area and the depth of the dents.

Health diagnosis of arch bridge suspender by acoustic emission technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dongsheng; Ou, Jinping

2007-01-01

Conventional non-destructive methods can't be dynamically monitored the suspenders' damage levels and types, so acoustic emission (AE) technique is proposed to monitor its activity. The validity signals are determined by the relationship with risetime and duration. The ambient noise is eliminated using float threshold value and placing a guard sensor. The cement mortar and steel strand damage level is analyzed by AE parameter method and damage types are judged by waveform analyzing technique. Based on these methods, all the suspenders of Sichuan Ebian Dadu river arch bridge have been monitored using AE techniques. The monitoring results show that AE signal amplitude, energy, counts can visually display the suspenders' damage levels, the difference of waveform and frequency range express different damage type. The testing results are well coincide with the practical situation.

[Temperature conditions of the formation of frost damages in conifer trees in the high latitudes of Western Siberia].

PubMed

Gurskaia, M A

2014-01-01

Frost damage to the bottom of the stem at a height of 0.2 m and at the height of the position of the thermometer in the weather station (2 m) and higher in the Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) growing at the northern limits of their natural habitat were studied in order to reveal the upper threshold temperature conditions of their formation. Possible causes of differences in the distribution of frost damage in the stem of the spruce and larch are discussed.

Prediction and measurement of radiation damage to CMOS devices on board spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cliff, R. A.; Danchenko, V.; Stassinopoulos, E. G.; Sing, M.; Brucker, G. J.; Ohanian, R. S.

1976-01-01

The initial results obtained from the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors Radiation Effects Measurement experiment are presented. Predictions of radiation damage to C-MOS devices are based on standard environment models and computational techniques. A comparison of the shifts in CMOS threshold potentials, that is, those measured in space to those obtained from the on the ground simulation experiment with Co 60, indicated that the measured space damage is greater than predicted by a factor of two for shields thicker than 100 mils (2.54 mm), but agrees well with predictions for the thinner shields.

Surface characteristics and damage distributions of diamond wire sawn wafers for silicon solar cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sopori, Bhushan; Devayajanam, Srinivas; Basnyat, Prakash

2016-01-01

This paper describes surface characteristics, in terms of its morphology, roughness and near-surface damage of Si wafers cut by diamond wire sawing (DWS) of Si ingots under different cutting conditions. Diamond wire sawn Si wafers exhibit nearly-periodic surface features of different spatial wavelengths, which correspond to kinematics of various movements during wafering, such as ingot feed, wire reciprocation, and wire snap. The surface damage occurs in the form of frozen-in dislocations, phase changes, and microcracks. The in-depth damage was determined by conventional methods such as TEM, SEM and angle-polishing/defect-etching. However, because these methods only provide local information, we have alsomore » applied a new technique that determines average damage depth over a large area. This technique uses sequential measurement of the minority carrier lifetime after etching thin layers from the surfaces. The lateral spatial damage variations, which seem to be mainly related to wire reciprocation process, were observed by photoluminescence and minority carrier lifetime mapping. Our results show a strong correlation of damage depth on the diamond grit size and wire usage.« less

Comparison of memory thresholds for planar qudit geometries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marks, Jacob; Jochym-O'Connor, Tomas; Gheorghiu, Vlad

2017-11-01

We introduce and analyze a new type of decoding algorithm called general color clustering, based on renormalization group methods, to be used in qudit color codes. The performance of this decoder is analyzed under a generalized bit-flip error model, and is used to obtain the first memory threshold estimates for qudit 6-6-6 color codes. The proposed decoder is compared with similar decoding schemes for qudit surface codes as well as the current leading qubit decoders for both sets of codes. We find that, as with surface codes, clustering performs sub-optimally for qubit color codes, giving a threshold of 5.6 % compared to the 8.0 % obtained through surface projection decoding methods. However, the threshold rate increases by up to 112% for large qudit dimensions, plateauing around 11.9 % . All the analysis is performed using QTop, a new open-source software for simulating and visualizing topological quantum error correcting codes.

Numerical analysis of static strength for different damages of hydraulic structures when changing stressed and strained state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volosukhin, V. A.; Bandurin, M. A.; Vanzha, V. V.; Mikheev, A. V.; Volosukhin, Y. V.

2018-05-01

The results of finite element state simulation of stressed and strained changes under different damages of hydraulic structures are presented. As a result of the experiment, a solidstate model of bearing elements was built. Stressed and strained state of reinforced concrete bearing elements under different load combinations is considered. Intensive threshold of danger to form longitudinal cracks and defects in reinforced concrete elements is determined.

Propagation Effects in the Assessment of Laser Damage Thresholds to the Eye and Skin

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

Conference on Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells [18th] Held in San Jose, California on January 22-24, 2007 To order the complete compilation report...evaluation of the role of propagation with regard to laser damage to tissues. Regions of the optical spectrum, where linear and non-linear propagation...photo-chemical toxicity. Exposure limits commonly address skin and eye hazards through separate definitions. Differing optical absorption and scattering

An Investigation of Laser Induced Surface Damage in glass.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-01

ROA-RI60 669 RN INVESTIGATION OF LASER INDUCED SURFACE DAMAG IN In1 1 6lo GLASS (U) NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA R D UYAK JUN 85IUNCLASSIFIED...ii -0 NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California bor OCT THESIS AN INVESTIGATION OF LASER INDUCED SURFACE DAMAGE IN GLASS by )Richard David Uyak ,L...Subtitle) EPORT 6 PERIOD COVERED %An Investigation of Laser Induced Master’s Thesis Surface Damage in Glass June 1985S. PERFORMING ORG. REPORT MUMMER 7

36 CFR 1192.117 - Floors, steps and thresholds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Floors, steps and thresholds... Intercity Rail Cars and Systems § 1192.117 Floors, steps and thresholds. (a) Floor surfaces on aisles, step.... (b) All step edges and thresholds shall have a band of color(s) running the full width of the step or...

30 CFR 71.700 - Inhalation hazards; threshold limit values for gases, dust, fumes, mists, and vapors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Inhalation hazards; threshold limit values for... SURFACE WORK AREAS OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Airborne Contaminants § 71.700 Inhalation hazards; threshold... containing quartz, and asbestos dust) in excess of, on the basis of a time-weighted average, the threshold...

Repetition rate dependency of low-density plasma effects during femtosecond-laser-based surgery of biological tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuetemeyer, K.; Baumgart, J.; Lubatschowski, H.; Heisterkamp, A.

2009-11-01

Femtosecond laser based nanosurgery of biological tissue is usually done in two different regimes. Depending on the application, low kHz repetition rates above the optical breakdown threshold or high MHz repetition rates in the low-density plasma regime are used. In contrast to the well understood optical breakdown, mechanisms leading to dissection below this threshold are not well known due to the complexity of chemical effects with high numbers of interacting molecules. Furthermore, the laser repetition rate may influence their efficiency. In this paper, we present our study on low-density plasma effects in biological tissue depending on repetition rate by static exposure of porcine corneal stroma to femtosecond pulses. We observed a continuous increase of the laser-induced damage with decreasing repetition rate over two orders of magnitude at constant numbers of applied laser pulses or constant laser pulse energies. Therefore, low repetition rates in the kHz regime are advantageous to minimize the total delivered energy to biological tissue during femtosecond laser irradiation. However, due to frequent excessive damage in this regime directly above the threshold, MHz repetition rates are preferable to create nanometer-sized cuts in the low-density plasma regime.

Computational Prediction of Shock Ignition Thresholds and Ignition Probability of Polymer-Bonded Explosives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Yaochi; Kim, Seokpum; Horie, Yasuyuki; Zhou, Min

2017-06-01

A computational approach is developed to predict the probabilistic ignition thresholds of polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs). The simulations explicitly account for microstructure, constituent properties, and interfacial responses and capture processes responsible for the development of hotspots and damage. The specific damage mechanisms considered include viscoelasticity, viscoplasticity, fracture, post-fracture contact, frictional heating, and heat conduction. The probabilistic analysis uses sets of statistically similar microstructure samples to mimic relevant experiments for statistical variations of material behavior due to inherent material heterogeneities. The ignition thresholds and corresponding ignition probability maps are predicted for PBX 9404 and PBX 9501 for the impact loading regime of Up = 200 --1200 m/s. James and Walker-Wasley relations are utilized to establish explicit analytical expressions for the ignition probability as a function of load intensities. The predicted results are in good agreement with available experimental measurements. The capability to computationally predict the macroscopic response out of material microstructures and basic constituent properties lends itself to the design of new materials and the analysis of existing materials. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

Ocular hazards of Q-switched near-infrared lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lund, David J.; Edsall, Peter R.; Stuck, Bruce E.

2003-06-01

The threshold for laser-induced retinal damage in the rhesus eye was determined for wavelengths between 900 nm and 1300 nm. The laser source was a tunable Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO) pumped by the 3rd harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser. The laser pulse duration was 3.5 ns. The wavelength dependence of the injury threshold is consistent with the prediction of a model based on the transmission of the preretinal ocular media, absorption in the retinal pigment epithelium, and variation of irradiance diameter resulting from chromatic aberration of the eye optics for wavelengths shorter than 1150 nm but was less consistent for longer wavelengths. The threshold for 24-hour observation was slightly lower than the threshold for 1-hour observation. These data form a basis for reexamination of the currently defined MPEs for wavelengths longer than 1100 nm.

Fatigue Crack Growth Threshold Testing of Metallic Rotorcraft Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, John A.; James, Mark A.; Johnson, William M.; Le, Dy D.

2008-01-01

Results are presented for a program to determine the near-threshold fatigue crack growth behavior appropriate for metallic rotorcraft alloys. Four alloys, all commonly used in the manufacture of rotorcraft, were selected for study: Aluminum alloy 7050, 4340 steel, AZ91E Magnesium, and Titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V (beta-STOA). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) sponsored this research to advance efforts to incorporate damage tolerance design and analysis as requirements for rotorcraft certification. Rotorcraft components are subjected to high cycle fatigue and are typically subjected to higher stresses and more stress cycles per flight hour than fixed-wing aircraft components. Fatigue lives of rotorcraft components are generally spent initiating small fatigue cracks that propagate slowly under near-threshold cracktip loading conditions. For these components, the fatigue life is very sensitive to the near-threshold characteristics of the material.

Ridge-width dependence of the threshold of long wavelength (λ ≈ 14 µm) Quantum Cascade lasers with sloped and vertical sidewalls.

PubMed

Huang, Xue; Chiu, Yenting; Charles, William O; Gmachl, Claire

2012-01-30

We investigate the ridge-width dependence of the threshold of Quantum Cascade lasers fabricated by wet and dry etching, respectively. The sloped sidewalls resulting from wet etching affect the threshold in two ways as the ridge gets narrower. First, the transverse modes are deeper in the substrate, hence reducing the optical confinement factor. Second, more important, a non-negligible field exists in the lossy SiO2 insulation layer, as a result of transverse magnetic mode coupling to the surface plamon mode at the insulator/metal surface, which increases the waveguide loss. By contrast, dry etching is anisotropic and leads to waveguides with vertical sidewalls, which avoids the shift of the modes to the substrate layer and coupling to the surface plasmons, resulting in improved threshold compared with wet-etched lasers, e.g., for narrow ridge widths below 20 µm, the threshold of a 14 µm wide λ ≈ 14 µm laser by dry etching is ~60% lower than that of a wet-etched laser of the same width, at 80 K.

Analysis of the damage threshold of the GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor induced by the electromagnetic pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, Xiao-Wen; Chai, Chang-Chun; Liu, Yang; Yang, Yin-Tang; Fan, Qing-Yang; Shi, Chun-Lei

2016-08-01

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP)-induced damage model based on the internal damage mechanism of the GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (PHEMT) is established in this paper. With this model, the relationships among the damage power, damage energy, pulse width and signal amplitude are investigated. Simulation results show that the pulse width index from the damage power formula obtained here is higher than that from the empirical formula due to the hotspot transferring in the damage process of the device. It is observed that the damage energy is not a constant, which decreases with the signal amplitude increasing, and then changes little when the signal amplitude reaches up to a certain level. Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2014CB339900) and the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Complex Electromagnetic Environment Science and Technology, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) (Grant No. 2015-0214.XY.K).

Visuomotor sensitivity to visual information about surface orientation.

PubMed

Knill, David C; Kersten, Daniel

2004-03-01

We measured human visuomotor sensitivity to visual information about three-dimensional surface orientation by analyzing movements made to place an object on a slanted surface. We applied linear discriminant analysis to the kinematics of subjects' movements to surfaces with differing slants (angle away form the fronto-parallel) to derive visuomotor d's for discriminating surfaces differing in slant by 5 degrees. Subjects' visuomotor sensitivity to information about surface orientation was very high, with discrimination "thresholds" ranging from 2 to 3 degrees. In a first experiment, we found that subjects performed only slightly better using binocular cues alone than monocular texture cues and that they showed only weak evidence for combining the cues when both were available, suggesting that monocular cues can be just as effective in guiding motor behavior in depth as binocular cues. In a second experiment, we measured subjects' perceptual discrimination and visuomotor thresholds in equivalent stimulus conditions to decompose visuomotor sensitivity into perceptual and motor components. Subjects' visuomotor thresholds were found to be slightly greater than their perceptual thresholds for a range of memory delays, from 1 to 3 s. The data were consistent with a model in which perceptual noise increases with increasing delay between stimulus presentation and movement initiation, but motor noise remains constant. This result suggests that visuomotor and perceptual systems rely on the same visual estimates of surface slant for memory delays ranging from 1 to 3 s.

Morphology and mechanisms of picosecond ablation of metal films on fused silica substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bass, Isaac L.; Negres, Raluca A.; Stanion, Ken; Guss, Gabe; Keller, Wesley J.; Matthews, Manyalibo J.; Rubenchik, Alexander M.; Yoo, Jae Hyuck; Bude, Jeffrey D.

2016-12-01

The ablation of magnetron sputtered metal films on fused silica substrates by a 1053 nm, picosecond class laser was studied as part of a demonstration of its use for in-situ characterization of the laser spot under conditions commonly used at the sample plane for laser machining and damage studies. Film thicknesses were 60 and 120 nm. Depth profiles and SEM images of the ablation sites revealed several striking and unexpected features distinct from those typically observed for ablation of bulk metals. Very sharp thresholds were observed for both partial and complete ablation of the films. Partial film ablation was largely independent of laser fluence with a surface smoothness comparable to that of the unablated surface. Clear evidence of material displacement was seen at the boundary for complete film ablation. These features were common to a number of different metal films including Inconel on commercial neutral density filters, stainless steel, and aluminum. We will present data showing the morphology of the ablation sites on these films as well as a model of the possible physical mechanisms producing the unique features observed.

Thermal effects on pulp due to laser and handpiece usage.

PubMed

Penn, Christina; Beninati, Christopher; Mariano, Alissa; Dooley, Daniel; Harsono, Masly; Perry, Ronald; Kugel, Gerard

2014-01-01

The study was designed to compare changes in pulpal temperature during ablation of dental hard tissue while using two established erbium dental laser systems, a new CO2 laser system, and a conventional high-speed handpiece. Eighty non-carious human extracted molars were separated into four sample groups of 20 teeth each. Three laser systems were used, respectively, to ablate the occlusal surface of the teeth in three of the groups for 60 seconds each. The high-speed handpiece was used to drill the occlusal surface of the fourth group for 60 seconds. Pulpal temperatures were measured using thermocouples inserted into each tooth's pulpal chamber prior to ablation. None of the average temperature increases approached the threshold of 5.5°C at which pulpal damage begins. On average, the pulpal temperature of teeth ablated with the Waterlase MD system increased the most (3.56°C). The traditional handpiece caused the lowest average temperature increase (1.57°C), followed by the LightWalker DT system (3.20°C) and the Solea CO2 system (3.30°C).