Turbine-engine applications of thermographic-phosphor temperature measurements

The thermographic-phosphor (TP) method can measure temperature, heat flux, strain, and other physical quantities remotely in hostile and/or inaccessible environments such as the first-stage turbine components in turbine engines. It is especially useful in situations in which no other known method works well. This paper is a brief review of engine tests that demonstrated the utility of the TP method. For the most part, the results presented here are discussed only qualitatively. The papers in the bibliography describe these and other experiments and results in detail. The first viewgraph summarizes the many desirable features of the TP method. The second viewgraph describes TPs, and the third summarizes how the TP method works. To measure single-point temperatures in turbine-engine applications, we use the decay-time method, which depends on the fact that the luminescence following an impulse of ultraviolet excitation decays, with a characteristic decay time that. Is a monotonically decreasing function of temperature over some range of temperatures. The viewgraph is a set of calibration curves showing the behavior of some useful emission lines for ten important TPs. Consider Lu PO{sub 4}:Eu as an example. Below the {open_quotes}quenching{close_quotes} temperature near 900 Y, the decay time is nearly constant. Above it, the decay time decreases exponentially with the temperature. This strong functional dependence means that one can have a fairly large error in the lifetime measurement, as in environments with poor signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), yet still obtain high accuracy in the temperature measurement. Our more-recent data up to 1900 K show the same behavior

High-pressure melt curve of shock-compressed tin measured using pyrometry and reflectance techniques

We have developed a new technique to measure the melt curve of a shocked metal sample and have used it to measure the high-pressure solid-liquid phase boundary of tin from 10 to 30 GPa and 1000 to 1800 K. Tin was shock compressed by plate impact using a single-stage powder gun, and we made accurate, time-resolved radiance, reflectance, and velocimetry measurements at the interface of the tin sample and a lithium fluoride window. From these measurements, we determined temperature and pressure at the interface vs time. We then converted these data to temperature vs pressure curves and plotted them on the tin phase diagram. The tin sample was initially shocked into the high-pressure solid γ phase, and a subsequent release wave originating from the back of the impactor lowered the pressure at the interface along a constant entropy path (release isentrope). When the release isentrope reaches the solid-liquid phase boundary, melt begins and the isentrope follows the phase boundary to low pressure. The onset of melt is identified by a significant change in the slope of the temperature-pressure release isentrope. Following the onset of melt, we obtain a continuous and highly accurate melt curve measurement. The technique allows a measurement along the melt curve with a single radiance and reflectance experiment. The measured temperature data are compared to the published equation of state calculations. Our data agree well with some but not all of the published melt curve calculations, demonstrating that this technique has sufficient accuracy to assess the validity of a given equation of state model

Phosphor Thermometry of Gas Turbine Surfaces

This paper describes a nondestructive method for thermometry applicable to ceramic surfaces and coatings. To date our primary application has been to turbine engine and air vehicle surfaces. This method makes use of thermally sensitive phosphors many of which, as it turns out, are also ceramics. These materials fluoresce when suitably illuminated by ultraviolet light. The fluorescence intensity and decay time are well-behaved functions of temperature and therefore serve as reliable indicators of the temperature of the substrate to which the fluorescing material is attached. It is a non- contact method in that the light delivery and collection optics can be remotely located. A range of phosphor materials have been tested and any temperature ranging from 8 to 1900 K can be measured by selection of the appropriate phosphor. Turbine blades, vanes, thermal barrier coatings, and panels are examples of surfaces which have been diagnosed to date in either engine or engine-simulation facilities. A variety of coating methods are used, including electron-beam deposition, radio-frequency sputtering, and curing with inorganic binders. This paper summarizes the results to date and status of this technology

Doing it differently: Engaging interview participants with imaginative variation

Imaginative variation was identified by Husserl (1936/1970) as a phenomenological technique for the purpose of elucidating the manner in which phenomena appear to consciousness. Briefly, by engaging in the phenomenological reduction and using imaginative variation, phenomenologists are able to describe the experience of consciousness, having stepped outside of the natural attitude through the epochē. Imaginative variation is a stage aimed at explicating the structures of experience, and is best described as a mental experiment. Features of the experience are imaginatively altered in order to view the phenomenon under investigation from varying perspectives. Husserl argued that this process will reveal the essences of an experience, as only those aspects that are invariant to the experience of the phenomenon will not be able to change through the variation. Often in qualitative research interviews, participants struggle to articulate or verbalise their experiences. The purpose of this article is to detail a radical and novel way of using imaginative variation with interview participants, by asking the participants to engage with imaginative variation, in order to produce a rich and insightful experiential account of a phenomenon. We will discuss how the first author successfully used imaginative variation in this way in her study of the erotic experience of bondage, discipline, dominance & submission, and sadism & masochism (BDSM), before considering the usefulness of this technique when applied to areas of study beyond sexuality

High-pressure melt curve of shock-compressed tin measured using pyrometry and reflectance techniques

We have developed a new technique to measure the melt curve of a shocked metal sample and have used it to measure the high-pressure solid-liquid phase boundary of tin from 10 to 30 GPa and 1000 to 1800 K. Tin was shock compressed by plate impact using a single-stage powder gun, and we made accurate, time-resolved radiance, reflectance, and velocimetry measurements at the interface of the tin sample and a lithium fluoride window. From these measurements, we determined temperature and pressure at the interface vs time. We then converted these data to temperature vs pressure curves and plotted them on the tin phase diagram. The tin sample was initially shocked into the high-pressure solid γ phase, and a subsequent release wave originating from the back of the impactor lowered the pressure at the interface along a constant entropy path (release isentrope). When the release isentrope reaches the solid-liquid phase boundary, melt begins and the isentrope follows the phase boundary to low pressure. The onset of melt is identified by a significant change in the slope of the temperature-pressure release isentrope. Following the onset of melt, we obtain a continuous and highly accurate melt curve measurement. The technique allows a measurement along the melt curve with a single radiance and reflectance experiment. The measured temperature data are compared to the published equation of state calculations. Our data agree well with some but not all of the published melt curve calculations, demonstrating that this technique has sufficient accuracy to assess the validity of a given equation of state model

Plasma cholesterol levels and brain development in preterm newborns.

BackgroundTo assess whether postnatal plasma cholesterol levels are associated with microstructural and macrostructural regional brain development in preterm newborns.MethodsSixty preterm newborns (born 24-32 weeks gestational age) were assessed using MRI studies soon after birth and again at term-equivalent age. Blood samples were obtained within 7 days of each MRI scan to analyze for plasma cholesterol and lathosterol (a marker of endogenous cholesterol synthesis) levels. Outcomes were assessed at 3 years using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition.ResultsEarly plasma lathosterol levels were associated with increased axial and radial diffusivities and increased volume of the subcortical white matter. Early plasma cholesterol levels were associated with increased volume of the cerebellum. Early plasma lathosterol levels were associated with a 2-point decrease in motor scores at 3 years.ConclusionsHigher early endogenous cholesterol synthesis is associated with worse microstructural measures and larger volumes in the subcortical white matter that may signify regional edema and worse motor outcomes. Higher early cholesterol is associated with improved cerebellar volumes. Further work is needed to better understand how the balance of cholesterol supply and endogenous synthesis impacts preterm brain development, especially if these may be modifiable factors to improve outcomes