bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Damage Calculation for First Wall Submitted to High Neutron Flux in a Tokamak
Authors: Velasquez C.E. , Veloso M. A. F. , Costa A. L. , Pereira C. 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTThe displacement per atom (dpa) has been a specific issue to evaluate the damage in the first wall of the Tokamak. Two different first wall materials were evaluated. In this study, MCNP5 code was used to obtain the neutron flux, the energy deposition and the main reaction rates, on the inboard and outboard first wall. The damage calculations were performed by the SPECTER code using the neutronic parameters obtained by MCNP5. The Tokamak reactor modeled has similar dimensions to the ITER. Tungsten and beryllium alloys were simulated on the outboard first wall. The results indicate which material has a higher resistance to be damage and dpa values for the analyzed material.
Role of Irradiation Embrittlement in RPV Lifetime Assessment
Authors: Brumovský Milan 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTIntegrity and lifetime of reactor pressure vessels are practically determined by their material resistance against fast/non-ductile failure and consequently by their radiation damage resulting in irradiation embrittlement and hardening. Mechanism of irradiation embrittlement of RPV materials depends on selected materials and operation conditions but their values depend in a large extent on reactor design, i.e. on neutron flux/fluence depending on RPV wall. Generally, new RPV design allows smaller neutron fluences but absolute value of irradiation embrittlement still depends on a choice of RPV material. Even though radiation damage (especially irradiation embrittlement) is important for RPV behavior, integrity and lifetime depends, in principle, on final value of applied fracture mechanics parameter –transition temperature. Thus, its initial value as well as its shift due to irradiation embrittlement is of interest but only the embrittlement can be affected during operation.
Texture evolution in metals under mechanical stress: Application of a tensile stage on a laboratory X-ray system
Authors: te Nijenhuis J. , Dadivanyan N. , Götz D.J. 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTThe evolution of texture in copper has been studied in situ as a function of the applied mechanical stress. A uniaxial tensile stage was integrated onto a Eulerian cradle in a laboratory X-ray diffraction system, providing a platform for pole figure measurements on samples under an externally applied mechanical load. Thin strips of rolled copper were investigated at various stages of elongation. The pole figures were of good quality such that the orientation distribution function could be well determined. Changes in the orientation distribution function as a function of strain along the β-fiber could be clearly observed; the initial main component S is replaced by the Copper component at higher stages of elongation.
Phase equilibrium between bcc solid solution matrix and B2 aluminides in Nb-based alloy
Authors: Yamanouchi Takuya , Miura Seiji 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTB2 aluminides have a role of Al reservoir for Al2O3 surface and it is expected to increase oxidation resistance of (Nb,Mo)-bccss substrate. For the accumulation of the basic information to design the alloy composed of B2 coating on bccss matrix, bccss - B2 two-phase field was investigated in the Nb-Mo-Ni-Pd-Al system at 1273 K. It is found that Pd-rich B2-(Ni,Pd)Al phase is in equilibrium with Nb-rich bccss phase, while without Pd, the composition range of bccss coexisting with B2-NiAl phase is limited to be low Nb.
REU in Physics at Howard University
Authors: Misra Prabhakar , Hubsch Tristan , Venable Demetrius , Gatica Silvina , Stancil Kimani , Demoz Belay , Jenkins Gregory 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTThe NSF-funded REU summer program in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Howard University provided cutting-edge research opportunities in Computational Nanophysics, Experimental Nanophysics, Laser Spectroscopy, Atmospheric Physics and Superstring Theory to six undergraduate students recruited from across the U.S. The REU students were engaged in challenging research projects under the supervision of seasoned mentors across a variety of stimulating physics sub-disciplines that included: (1) computation-intensive surface nanophysics of condensed phase systems focused on the adsorption of gases in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs); (2) experimental measurements using light scattering techniques on gels and polymers in the condensed phase; (3) experimental laser spectroscopy with special emphasis on Raman spectral measurements on tungsten oxide nanolayer deposited on a silicon substrate; (4) observation-based and modeling-intensive atmospheric physics project for developing better understanding of wind lidar performance under various aerosol/cloud loading and relative humidity scenarios in the U.S. and regional ozone and aerosols modeling and analysis of data recorded in West Africa; and (5) a cross-disciplinary project involving quantum theory, supersymmetry, graph theory, encryption, and super-commutative algebra and algebraic geometry with applications to string theory. Each student learned a multitude of relevant techniques related to their research projects, with the vision of teaching and nurturing knowledge, both theoretical and experimental, that will be useful throughout their academic careers both in their major discipline and in interdisciplinary research as a whole. Raman Spectroscopy, 3D Physics Modeling, Monte Carlo Simulations, Algebraic Geometry and Graph Theory are some of the techniques that the students learned that illustrate the importance of physics research in general and have wide-ranging applications in interdisciplinary studies. In addition, the students participated in field trips to the University of Maryland (visit coinciding with NanoDay), Georgetown University (cleanroom tour and research presentations), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (visit coinciding with Science Jamboree Day), and Smithsonian Museums (coinciding with evening fireworks viewing on the Mall on July 4). The REU students gave midterm and final research presentations and submitted a research paper in refereed journal format at the end of their internship. A comprehensive assessment of the REU program was conducted by an independent project evaluator.
Impact of Sustainable Structural Systems Undergraduate Research on Education and Program Development at MSU Denver
Authors: Balogh Jeno , Haynes Sandra , Brown Aaron 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the impact of three undergraduate research projects focusing on constructability assessment of adhesive-based wood-concrete composite structural members, on a solar heating technology that can be utilized in conjunction with this system and how these projects relate to engineering education and program development at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver). The sustainable structures topic was pursued within senior project classes offered in summer 2013 and 2014 at MSU Denver. The first project addressed new members, while the second dealt with retrofits. These projects were motivated by faculty research in developing new sustainable construction systems using composites. Since underlining faculty research is on an international scale, students had direct access to researchers world-wide. Such research was used as an instrument in the “Experimental Methods in Structural Engineering” course. The students were also exposed to a broader-range of diverse ideas within the field of research by attending an international conference on timber bridges. The solar furnace project was run in parallel, providing students an opportunity to conduct research targeted at design and performance optimization of the heating units with the intention to assess the benefits of incorporating these devices into future buildings using the sustainable structural system technology. Experiences gained through the undergraduate research activities were applied in the design of a proposed Sustainable Systems Engineering degree program.
Chemo-ionic-conformational memory from reactive dense gels: a way to explore new multivalent memories and brain memory
Authors: Otero Toribio F. , Martinez Jose G. 
Published: February 2015

ABSTRACTSo far we ignore how brain stores memory. Neurons communicate by pulses where the charges are carried between them by ions flowing through channels. Those pulses present a characteristic maximum related to the conformational movements of the channel protein opening and closing. Electrochemical responses from dense gel electrodes of conducting polymers mimic those pulses. Here we proved that the biomimetic pulse includes simultaneously electrical, chemical and conformational information related to the energy stored by the initial conformational packed state of the polymer. This energetic memory increases linearly with the potential used to reduce and pack (write) the initial state: hundreds of different values can be written (stored) in a full reproducible way (multivalent memory). Every state constitutes a chemo-ionic-conformational (CHEMICONF) memory. Each multivalent memory is read and erased by the reverse electrochemical reaction. Crosslinking states produce permanent memories not erased while reading. Developing CHEMICONF memories can provide new hypothesis to reveal brain memory mechanisms.
Numerics for Liquid Crystals with Variable Degree of Orientation
Authors: Nochetto Ricardo H. , Walker Shawn W. , Zhang Wujun 
Published: February 2015

AbstractWe consider the simplest one-constant model, put forward by J. Eriksen, for nematic liquid crystals with variable degree of orientation. The equilibrium state is described by a director field n and its degree of orientation s, where the pair (n, s) minimizes a sum of Frank-like energies and a double well potential. In particular, the Euler-Lagrange equations for the minimizer contain a degenerate elliptic equation for n, which allows for line and plane defects to have finite energy. Using a special discretization of the liquid crystal energy, and a strictly monotone energy decreasing gradient flow scheme, we present a simulation of a plane-defect in three dimensions to illustrate our method.
Marshaling the Evidence: The Prioritized Public Health Accreditation Research Agenda
Authors: Kronstadt Jessica , Beitsch Leslie M. , Bender Kaye 
Published: February 2015

A national public health department accreditation program was recently developed and implemented by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) to improve the quality and performance of public health departments. Because of its potential to transform public health, it is critical that the evidence base around accreditation be strong. With input from public health practitioners and researchers, PHAB developed a research agenda that highlights priority questions related to barriers and facilitators to seeking and obtaining accreditation, the PHAB standards and review process, metrics to determine the impact of accreditation, and benefits and outcomes associated with accreditation for the departments that undergo the process. We present that agenda, discuss the potential challenges of conducting accreditation research, and call on researchers to build a greater base of evidence related to accreditation.
Economies of Scale in the Production of Public Health Services: An Analysis of Local Health Districts in Florida
Authors: Bernet Patrick M. , Singh Simone 
Published: February 2015

Objectives. We examined the existence and the extent of scale and scope economies in the delivery of public health services. We also tested the strength of agency, population, and community characteristics that moderate scale and scope economies. Methods. We collected service count and cost data for all Florida local health districts for 2008 and 2010, complemented with data on agency, population, and community characteristics. Using translog cost functions, we built models of operating efficiencies for 5 core public health activities: communicable disease surveillance, chronic disease prevention, food hygiene, on-site sewage treatment, and vital records. Results. Economies of scale were found in most activities, with cost per unit decreasing as volume increased. The models did not, however, identify meaningful economies of scope. Conclusions. Consolidation or regionalization might lower cost per unit for select public health activities. This could free up resources for use in other areas, further improving the public’s health.
Defining and Assessing Quality Improvement Outcomes: A Framework for Public Health
Authors: McLees Anita W. , Nawaz Saira , Thomas Craig , Young Andrea 
Published: February 2015

We describe an evidence-based framework to define and assess the impact of quality improvement (QI) in public health. Developed to address programmatic and research-identified needs for articulating the value of public health QI in aggregate, this framework proposes a standardized set of measures to monitor and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public health programs and operations. We reviewed the scientific literature and analyzed QI initiatives implemented through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Public Health Improvement Initiative to inform the selection of 5 efficiency and 8 effectiveness measures. This framework provides a model for identifying the types of improvement outcomes targeted by public health QI efforts and a means to understand QI’s impact on the practice of public health.
Subsea Needs To Make the Right Connections
Authors: Herbert Pat 
Published: February 2015

Guest editorial
The subsea market is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the international oil and gas industry, involving the development and deployment of some of the most advanced technology ever created in increasingly inhospitable environments. Where once a water depth of 500 m or 1000 m was considered an industry challenge, many technologies are being designed for or can now operate at 3,000 m. And depths of 4000 m and 5000 m may not be too far away.
More shallow regions will continue to be extremely important as subsea installations migrate to deeper depths for economic and environmental reasons. More and more subsea processing benefits all offshore production where the lack or the removal of permanent structures becomes the norm and all production is tied back to floating systems or directly to shore.
The drive to place technology and equipment on the seabed as close as possible to the hydrocarbon source will continue. In the next few years, this trend could result in the emergence of production systems similar or more advanced than those coined as “subsea villages” or “subsea factories,” which may incorporate full processing capabilities. As these subsea centers continue to grow, so too does the size and scale of the systems now being considered.
Every “village” or “factory” needs chemicals, communications, information, and power. The question of how that will be delivered to these subsea centers of the future is a key factor that needs to be considered in the early stages of development. However, when the industry refers to subsea “systems,” umbilicals and cables appear to be an afterthought. Most subsea equipment suppliers and operators seem to believe these are purchasable, off-the-shelf products. Contrary to this belief, umbilicals and power cables have become increasingly more complex and require a more customized approach to design and connectivity. These products should be at the forefront of an operator’s vision when it comes to powering the future systems.
In his June 2014 JPT column, SPE President Jeff Spath wrote: “The power and the value of integration across several product lines, within a single company, could not be more evident than in subsea systems. Over time, contracting methods for subsea systems have changed from a best-in-class approach—with operators buying Christmas trees, manifolds, and controls from different suppliers and providing the integration and interface management internally—to a more likely scenario in which entire systems are being procured from a single supplier.” I could not agree more because providing products for more technically challenging systems cannot be done discretely without unacceptable cost escalation.
Federal Spending Cuts Test Appetite for Exploration and Production Research
Authors: Rassenfoss Stephen 
Published: February 2015

Research Partnership Funding
Last year, lawmakers in the United States sent a blunt message to the oil business: If it wants new exploration and production technology, it will need to pick up more of the cost. Specifically, federal budget cuts eliminated further funding for the technology development organization known as RPSEA (Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America).
While outside observers have talked about the end of RPSEA, those inside have been seeking new sources of support. “You might consider it a turnaround situation,” said James Pappas, president of RPSEA. “We are continuing to manage current projects. As we are closing the books on those, we have a couple of different avenues” to replace them.
The effect of the federal cutoff will not be immediate. The last payment to RPSEA was USD 3.8 million covering administrative costs through 30 September 2014. Another federal agency, though, will pay it to manage the technical aspects of projects already under way over the next 2 years.
In July, the small RPSEA staff was busy winning US Department of Energy approval for the last 19 contracts to do research and development (R&D) work valued at USD 32.7 million: USD 18.5 million in federal funding and USD 14.2 million in corporate matching money. That will give it nearly 79 projects to manage, but the total dwindles rather quickly and runs out at the close of 2016.
RPSEA is working on finding other sources of government-funded research, with much of it related to safety and the environment, Pappas said. It will be using its membership base and industry connections to put together privately funded projects, such as joint industry research projects.
It will be a tough test. RPSEA is seeking new sources of funding at a time when aggressive US federal spending cuts have reduced support for research of all kinds. One sign of the times is the growing number of oil industry research consortia appearing at major universities, where academics run R&D programs addressing member company problems. Others doing oil industry technology development work are the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, and industry-supported research groups such as DeepStar, which focuses on deepwater technology development.
Technology Focus: Reservoir Performance and Monitoring (September 2014)
Authors: Vikane Erik 
Published: February 2015

Technology Focus
“If you have one watch, you know the time. If you have two, you will never be sure.”
This was a quote that my professor in reservoir engineering, T.D. van Golf-Racht, once stated when he tried to make us students reflect upon the availability and the quality of the data given for a specific exercise. This was in the late 1980s, and the amount of data was rather limited compared with today’s vast amount of data available. The cost of new data is increasing; most operators are cutting cost, and the cost/ benefit exercise is getting more and more challenging. Actionable information is even more important, and payback time is the crucial number to know.
When you have obtained the necessary funding for acquiring data, make sure that you spend it wisely by collecting the data the right way and understanding the data you have gathered. Paper SPE 169539, related to diagnostic fracture injection tests, highlights the pitfalls when acquiring data to prepare for a hydraulic-fracture treatment.
Understanding well and reservoir performance is the ultimate goal of data gathering, and this gives the necessary foundation for making decisions. Regardless of the amount of data available and supercomputers at hand, analytical methods still play an important role in today’s analysis of reservoir performance. Another featured paper describes the use of modern analytical tools in an excellent way.
Data are of particular importance when you try to establish fundamental knowledge, whether it is drainage strategy for a new discovery or (even more fundamental) recovery processes for new types of hydrocarbons such as hydrates, described in paper OTC 25328.
We, the engineers, need to prepare for tougher times ahead. We need to make sure that key data are collected and be prepared to skip the rest. We need to make sure that more time is spent understanding the data than gathering them. We need to make sure that we perform cost/benefit analysis both before and after data acquisition. JPT
FeS-Scale Cleanout With High-Pressure Coiled Tubing and Tailored Fluid
Authors: Denney Dennis 
Published: February 2015

This article, written by Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 169759, ’Extreme Challenges in FeS-Scale-Cleanout Operation Overcome Using Temporary Isolation, High-Pressure Coiled Tubing, and Tailored Fluid Systems,’ by Mustafa Buali, Noel Ginest, SPE, Jairo Leal, and Oscar Sambo, Saudi Aramco, and Alejandro Chacon and Jose Vielma, Halliburton—Boots & Coots, prepared for the 2014 SPE International Oilfield Scale Conference and Exhibition, Aberdeen, 14-15 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
The gas-producing carbonate zones of the Ghawar field in eastern Saudi Arabia have been affected by extensive iron sulfide (FeS) scale deposition, reducing overall gas production and increasing risks during well interventions. Previous remediation attempts used workover rigs, which can be costly because of the time necessary for workovers and lost production. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) levels (2 to 5%) in the reservoir also contribute to higher costs and risks with the use of workover rigs. H2S in the reservoir poses a safety concern with the returns at surface and a concern with potential corrosion of the coiled tubing (CT) and completion. Therefore, the safest and most economical method was deemed to be mechanical descaling with CT.
Introduction
Two wells were descaled mechanically by use of CT. Each well involved four major challenges: low reservoir pressure, higher reservoir temperature, horizontal openhole completion, and highspecific- gravity (3.7 to 4.3) scale. The low reservoir pressure required payzone isolation to enable circulating out the heavy scale and to minimize fluid losses to the formation. With a bottomhole temperature as high as 310°F, the operational envelope of temporary chemical packers in combination with lost-circulation materials (LCMs) to isolate the openhole section had to be expanded. Following mechanical descaling with CT, the final challenge was cleaning out the LCM in the horizontal open hole and bringing the well back to maximum gas production by use of pinpoint stimulation techniques.
Scale Composition
Many scale samples have been collected and characterized throughout the years with X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron micrographs, and microscopic methods (thin section). Although the exact chemical composition of the scale changes from well to well and varies with depth in a given well, the scale deposits are mixtures of many compounds, usually dominated by FeS minerals including pyrrhotite, troilite, mackinawite, greigite, pyrite, and marcasite.