Fracture propagation in sandstone and slateeLaboratory experiments, acoustic emissions and fracture mechanics

Fracturing of highly anisotropic rocks is a problem often encountered in the stimulation of unconventional hydrocarbon or geothermal reservoirs by hydraulic fracturing. Fracture propagation in isotropic material is well understood but strictly isotropic rocks are rarely found in nature. This study aims at the examination of fracture initiation and propagation processes in a highly anisotropic rock, specifically slate. We performed a series of tensile fracturing laboratory experiments under uniaxial as well as triaxial loading. Cubic specimens with edge lengths of 150 mm and a central borehole with a diameter of13 mm were prepared from Fredeburg slate. An experiment using the rather isotropic Bebertal sandstone as a rather isotropic rock was also performed for comparison. Tensile fractures were generated using the sleeve fracturing technique, in which a polymer tube placed inside the borehole is pressurized to generate tensile fractures emanating from the borehole. In the uniaxial test series, the loading was varied in order to observe the transition from strength-dominated fracture propagation at low loading magnitudes to stress-dominated fracture propagation at high loading magnitudes.

Ehrenfest Approach to the Adiabatic Invariants and Calculation of the Intervals of Time Entering the Energy Emission Process in Simple Quantum Systems

In the first step, the Ehrenfest reasoning concerning the adiabatic invariance of the angular orbital momentum is applied to the electron motion in the hydrogen atom. It is demonstrated that the time of the energy emission from the quantum level n+1 to level n can be deduced from the orbital angular momentum examined in the hydrogen atom. This time is found precisely equal to the time interval dictated by the Joule-Lenz law governing the electron transition between the levels n+1 and n. In the next step, the mechanical parameters entering the quantum systems are applied in calculating the time intervals characteristic for the electron transitions. This concerns the neighbouring energy levels in the hydrogen atom as well as the Landau levels in the electron gas submitted to the action of a constant magnetic field.

Magnetic emission intensity enhancement for amorphous alloys by constructing a multi-phase structure withα-Fe nanocrystals

The perturbation in the magnetic field generated by the rotation or oscillation of magnetic domains in magnetic materials can emit low-frequency electromagnetic waves,which are expected to be used in low-frequency communications.However,the magnetic emission intensity,defined by the perturbation ability,of current commercially applied amorphous alloys,such as Metglas,cannot meet the application requirements for low-frequency antennas due to the domain motion energy loss.Herein,a multi-phase Metglas amorphous alloy was constructed by incorporatingα-Fe nanocrystals using rapid annealing to manipulate the domain movement.It was found that 3.89 times higher magnetic emission intensity is obtained compared to the pristine due to the synergism of the deformation and displacement mechanisms.Moreover,the low-frequency magnetic emission performance verification was carried out by preparing magnetoelectric composites as the antenna vibrator by assembling the alloy and macro piezoelectric fiber composites(MFC).Enhancements of magnetic emission intensity are found at 93.3%and 49.2%at the first and second harmonic frequencies compared with the unmodified alloy vibrator.Therefore,the approach leads to the development of high-performance communication with a novel standard for evaluation.

An experimental study on fracture mechanical behavior of rock-like materials containing two unparallel fissures under uniaxial compression

Strength and deformability characteristics of rock with pre-existing fissures are governed by cracking behavior. To further research the effects of pre-existing fissures on the mechanical properties and crack coalescence process, a series of uniaxial compression tests were carried out for rock-like material with two unparallel fissures.In the present study, cement, quartz sand, and water were used to fabricate a kind of brittle rock-like material cylindrical model specimen. The mechanical properties of rock-like material specimen used in this research were all in good agreement with the brittle rock materials. Two unparallel fissures（a horizontal fissure and an inclined fissure） were created by inserting steel during molding the model specimen.Then all the pre-fissured rock-like specimens were tested under uniaxial compression by a rock mechanics servocontrolled testing system. The peak strength and Young＇s modulus of pre-fissured specimen all first decreased and then increased when the fissure angle increased from 0？to 75？.In order to investigate the crack initiation, propagation and coalescence process, photographic monitoring was adopted to capture images during the entire deformation process.Moreover, acoustic emission（AE） monitoring technique was also used to obtain the AE evolution characteristic of prefissured specimen. The relationship between axial stress, AE events, and the crack coalescence process was set up： when a new crack was initiated or a crack coalescence occurred, thecorresponding axial stress dropped in the axial stress–time curve and a big AE event could be observed simultaneously.Finally, the mechanism of crack propagation under microscopic observation was discussed. These experimental results are expected to increase the understanding of the strength failure behavior and the cracking mechanism of rock containing unparallel fissures.

Source mechanism of acoustic emission produced by pitting corrosion

Studies have been made on the source mechanism of acoustic emission produced by pitting corrosion. Methods for identifying pitting corrosion-related AE signals were proposed and the magnitude of surface displacement due to single pitting was estimated. It is concluded that differentiation between background noise and corrosion induced genuine AE signal is possible through using plate wave acoustic emission theory combined with parameter analysis method.

OH and O radicals production in atmospheric pressure air/Ar/H_2O gliding arc discharge plasma jet

Atmospheric pressure air/Ar/H_2O gliding arc discharge plasma is produced by a pulsed dc power supply. An optical emission spectroscopic（OES） diagnostic technique is used for the characterization of plasmas and for identifications of OH and O radicals along with other species in the plasmas. The OES diagnostic technique reveals the excitation Tx？≈？5550–9000 K, rotational Tr？≈？1350–2700 K and gas Tg？≈？850–1600 K temperatures, and electron density n？（1.1-1.9） ′101 4 cm^（-3） e under different experimental conditions. The production and destruction of OH and O radicals are investigated as functions of applied voltage and air flow rate. Relative intensities of OH and O radicals indicate that their production rates are increased with increasing Ar content in the gas mixture and applied voltage. nereveals that the higher densities of OH and O radicals are produced in the discharge due to more effective electron impact dissociation of H_2O and O_2 molecules caused by higher kinetic energies as gained by electrons from the enhanced electric field as well as by enhanced n e.The productions of OH and O are decreasing with increasing air flow rate due to removal of Joule heat from the discharge region but enhanced air flow rate significantly modifies discharge maintenance properties. Besides, Tgsignificantly reduces with the enhanced air flow rate. This investigation reveals that Ar plays a significant role in the production of OH and O radicals.

A review on recent progress of thermionic cathode

As the performance of vacuum electron devices is essentially governed by the properties of their cathodes,developing efficient and durable thermionic cathode is necessary and highly desired to meet the boosting requirements of vacuum electron devices.This review summarized the progress made in the past decades with a detailed discussion on the occurred various thermionic cathodes and their features,and the understandings of the correlation between the emission properties and the composition,where structure and synthesis method are well illustrated.Furthermore,dispenser cathodes with novel structures and emission mechanism are highlighted to indicate the recent achievement in this area of research,and Sc-cathode is considered as a promising candidate for the next-generation vacuum electron devices due to the greatly improved efficiency.However,challenges still exist to meet the ever-growing demands of thermionic cathode with collaborative requirement of high performance,easy fabrication and inadequate reproducibility.