The exposure needed for a clinically useful image requires much less precision when using digital radiography (DR) than when using screen/film (SF) radiography. The Automatic Exposure Control (AEC) device was developed for ensuring accurate and precise exposures with SF technology. This thesis evaluates the importance of the AEC device in...
In order to support the growing satellite propulsion industry, a hybrid Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulation with fluid treatment of electrons and neutral particles was developed to model the SPT-70 Hall thruster. The 2D, C++ code assumes azimuthal symmetry and a uniform magnetic field in the radial direction with the simulation domain...
Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) resultant from the generation of nuclear power is a chemically and radiologically diverse system which is advantageous to chemically process prior to geologic disposal. Hydrometallurgy is the primary technology for chemical processing for light water reactor spent fuels, where spent fuel is dissolved in an acid...
With the advent of next generation reactor systems and new fuel designs, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has identified the need for the resumption of transient testing of nuclear fuels. The DOE has decided that the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is best suited...
The development of solution-based methods for deposition of different thin film material is presented as an alternative to high cost vacuum-based methods. For certain materials, vacuum techniques are unsuitable for processing. Additionally, vacuum-based processes present high capital costs associated with equipment, and slow processing times. Atmospheric pressure solution based techniques...
The steel diagrid structural system is a recent load bearing and lateral resisting structural system for tall building structures that is relatively unexplored in the western United States. One possible reason for the little use of diagrid systems in earthquake prone regions is the lack of guidelines and application examples...
In 2008, the Department of Energy (DOE) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NCR) decided that the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) would be the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). In support of the licensing and validation effort of the VHTR, Oregon State University was tasked with designing, building, and operating a...
We consider the problem of wireless spectrum management in cognitive wireless networks that maximizes the revenue for a spectrum operator. Specifically, we study the problem on how a wireless spectrum operator can optimally allocate its limited spectrum to various classes users/devices who pay differently for their spectrum per unit time....
The Boltzmann transport equation derived in the Self-Adjoint Angular Flux (SAAF) formulation is applied to simulate phonon transport. The neutron transport code Rattlesnake is leveraged in this fashion, slightly modi ed to accept input from variables consistent with phonon transport simulations. Several benchmark problems are modeled to assess the potential...
Pin and hanger assemblies are a common type of connection used in past engineering practice for steel girder bridges. The connection consists of pins, hanger plates, and girder ends. The connection detail was used widely between 1930 and 1980. The connections are considered fracture critical and nonredundant because connection failure...
Material testing experiments are needed to enable the next generation of nuclear fission reactors. Concluding in 2009, the Boosted Fast Flux Loop (BFFL) project was devised as a way to test fast reactor materials and fuels in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), however the experiment location it used is now...
The objective of this work was to determine and optimize the resolution of a neutron sensitive Multi-Channel Plate (MCP) detector in order to determine its capabilities in radiography and tomography. The Oregon State University, Neutron Radiography Facility added an MCP Detector in 2012 in order to analyze these capabilities. The...
Idaho National Laboratories recently conducted micromechanical testing of nano-recrystallized UO₂ as a part of an ongoing investigation of High Burnup Structure (HBS). The goals of the test were to determine the fracture stress, and the elastic modulus of subdivided grains within UO₂ using ion irradiation rather than neutron irradiation to...
Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) designs have received renewed interest due to their superior thermal efficiencies and a rehabilitated desire for space exploration. This has resulted in improved NTR fuel designs that have unique properties that require investigation and testing in order to be more safely designed and operated.
Oak Ridge...
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer has been the material of choice for packaging industry as a result of its excellent mechanical and physical properties. These properties are highly dependent on the microstructure, chemistry, and processing conditions of this material. PET is often oriented in the machine direction (MD), the transverse direction...
Robots are being utilized in ever more complex tasks and environments to help humans with difficult or dangerous tasks. However, robotic grasping is still in its infancy and is one of the limiting factors which prevent the deployment of robots in the home and other assisted living scenarios. Traditional methods...
The Oregon State University Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor test facility is employed in a series tests to evaluate condensation heat transfer in small, high pressure containment vessels characteristic of small modular reactor designs under development. This integral system test facility was constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of a pioneering...
NuScale Power has designed a small modular reactor using natural circulation cooling dependent systems for both steady-state and transient operations. The NuScale Integral Test System (NIST-1) facility was built to supply test data to NuScale Power to verify and validate computer codes for the NuScale Power Mod- ule (NPM) with...
All nuclear reactors rely heavily on the use of level sensing instrumentation to detect the behaviour of liquid in vessels. The majority of level sensing instruments are differential pressure sensing meters, which are invasive and could be the failure source in the pressure boundary of the primary coolant system. In...
Thermoelectric materials are playing an increasingly significant role in the global effort to develop sustainable energy technologies. Consequently, the demand for materials with greater thermoelectric efficiency has stimulated the development of state-of-the-art interstitially doped skutterudite-based materials. However, since intermetallics are often embrittled by interstitial substitution, optimal skutterudite-based device design, manufacture,...