Considerations on Spark- Gap Channel Radius and Electrical Conductivity

A simple phenomenological model is established to determine the temporal evolution of spark gap channel radius and electrical conductivity during the resistive phase period. The present determination is based on the Braginskii’s equation for the channel radius which includes the electrical conductivity of the discharge channel as a constant quantity. In the present model, however, the electrical conductivity is regarded as a time varyingquantity. Basing on this, a mathematical formulation for the channel radius as a function of time was derived, and this has made possible the derivation of an explicit expression for the conductivity as a function of time as well. Taking the temporal average of the electrical conductivity offers an alternative mathematical formulation for the instantaneous radius based on a steady conductivity value that can be determined according to some experimental parameters. It has been verified that both of the channel radius formulations mentioned above lead to similar results for the temporal evolution. The obtained results of the channel radius were used to determine the instantaneous inductance of the spark channel. The present model was used to examine the role of gas pressure and gap width on the temporal evolutions of the channel radius, conductivity, and inductance in nanosecond spark gaps.

Influence of AISI D2 Workpiece Roughness on Heat Partition and Plasma Channel Radius in the WEDM Process

As an important advanced machining process, in Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) certain fundamental issues remain need to be studied in-depth, such as the effect of part surface roughness on heat transfer mechanisms. In the WEDM process, roughing cut wire goes into the workpiece to do the first shaping and in trim cut the wire sweeps on the outer surface to improve the surface roughness. In both of these two cases, the generation of sparks depends on the passing surface roughness. Therefore, with AISI D2 material and brass wire, this paper presents a study of the influence of part surface roughness on heat partition and the radius of the plasma channel in the WEDM process. Through extensive single discharge experiments, it is shown that the removal capacity per discharge can increase if the discharge occurs on a smoother surface. A Finite Element thermal model was then used for inverse fitting of the values of heat partition and radius of the plasma channel. These parameters completely define the characteristics of the heat conduction problem. The results indicate a strong correlation between an increase in heat partition ratio and a decrease in part surface roughness. The values of plasma channel radius show an increase in this value when discharging on rougher surfaces. It means that with the increasing of plasma channel radius, the heat source goes into the workpiece more dispersed. In the case of rougher surface, although the there is more area that affected by the heat source, finally the temperature of most area cannot reach to the melting point and it causes the smaller crater radius and volume, while the metal removal rate decreases. These results contribute towards a more complete understanding of the influence of surface roughness to the spark occurring.

Study of flow effects on temperature-controlled radio-frequency ablation using phantom experiments and forward simulations

PurposeBlood perfusion is known to add variability to hepatic radiofrequency ablation (RFA) treatment outcomes. Simulation-assisted treatment planning taking into account blood perfusion may solve this problem in the future. Hence, this study aims to study perfusion effects on RFA in a controlled environment and to compare the outcome to a prediction made using finite volume simulations.MethodsAblation zones were induced in tissue-mimicking, thermochromic ablation phantoms with a single flow channel, using a RF generator with needle temperature controlled power delivery and a monopolar needle electrode. Channel radius and saline flow rate were varied and the impact of saline flow on the ablated cross-sectional area, on a potential occurrence of directional effects as well as on the delivered generator power input was studied. Finite-volume simulations reproducing the experimental geometry, flow conditions and generator power input were conducted in a second step and compared to the experimental ablation outcomes.ResultsVessels of different radii affected the ablation result in different manners. For the channel radius of 0.275 mm both the ablated area and energy input reduced with increasing flow rate. For radius 0.9 mm the ablated area reduced with increasing flow rate but the energy input increased. An increasing area and energy input were observed towards larger flow rates for the channel radius of 2.3 mm. Directional effects, i.e., shrinking of the lesion upstream of the needle and an extension thereof downstream, were observed only for the smallest channel radius. The simulations qualitatively confirmed these observations. When using the simulations to make a prediction of ablation outcomes with flow, the mean absolute error between experimental and predicted ablation outcomes was reduced from 23% to 12% as compared to neglecting flow effects.ConclusionSimulations can improve the prediction of RFA ablation regions in the presence of various blood flow effects. Our findings therefore underline the potential of simulation-assisted, patient-individual RFA treatment planning and guidance for the prediction of RFA outcomes in the presence of blood flow.Additional comments-Teresa Nolte and Nikhil Vaidya contributed equally to this work.-Volkmar Schulz and Karen Veroy contributed equally to this work.-A single reference experiment, i.e., not using a flow channel, and the image in the upper left corner of Figure 4 were included into a publication submitted to Int. J. Hyperthermia for model validation purposes.

SPICE model of drain induced barrier lowering in sub-10 nm junctionless cylindrical surrounding gate MOSFET

We propose a SPICE Drain Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL) model for sub-10 nm Junctionless Cylindrical Surrounding Gate (JLCSG) MOSFETs. The DIBL shows the proportionl relation to the -3 power of the channel length Lg and the 2 power of silicon thickness in MOSFET having a rectangular channel, but this relation cannot be used in cylindrical channel because of the difference in channel structure. The subthreshold currents, including the tunneling current from the WKB (Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin) approximation as well as the diffusion-drift current, are used in the model. The constant current method is used to define the threshold voltage as the gate voltage at a constant current, (2πR/Lg)10-7 A for channel length and channel radius R. The central potential of the JLCSG MOSFET is determined by the Poisson equation. As a result, it can be seen that the DIBL of the JLCSG MOSFET is proportional to the –2.76 power of the channel length, to the 1.76 power of the channel radius, and linearly to the oxide film thickness. At this time, we observe that the SPICE parameter, the static feedback coefficient, has a value less than 1 1, and this model can be used to analyze the DIBL of the JLCSG MOSFET.

Flow Field, Temperature Field, and Inclusion Removal in a New Induction Heating Tundish with Bent Channels

In order to study the flow field, temperature field, and inclusion removal in a new induction heating tundish with bent channels, a three-dimensional (3D) transient mathematical model is established. The effects of both the channel radius and heating power on the multi-physical field and inclusion removal in the bent channels’ induction heating tundish are investigated. The results show that the tundish with the channel radius of 3 m shows better flow characteristics than those with the channel radii of 4 m and 2 m. With the increase of channel length, the heating efficiency increases at first, and then decreases, while the radius of 3 m is the best one for heating efficiency. After all the inclusions are placed into the tundish, the radii of 3 m and 2 m show good efficiency regarding inclusion removal, while it is poor when the radius is 4 m. Therefore, 3 m is the optimal radius of the channel in this work. Under the optimal channel radius, the heating power of 800 kW seems better than those of 600 kW and 1000 kW on flow characteristics control in the tundish. The temperature in the receiving chamber rises gradually and distributes quite uniformly with the increasing heating power, and the removal rate of inclusions increases with the increasing heating power.

Modeling ion permeation in wild-type and mutant human α7 nachr ion channels

Molecular dynamics simulations of wild type and two mutant (T248F and L251T) human [Formula: see text]7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) have been performed. The channel transmembrane domains were modeled from the closed channel structure from torpedo ray (PDB ID 2BG9) and embedded in DPPC lipid bilayers, surrounded by physiological saline solution. An external electric field was used to obtain stable open channel structures. The adaptive biasing force (ABF) method was used to obtain potential of mean force (PMF) profiles for Na[Formula: see text] ion translocation through the wild type and mutant receptors. Based on the geometry and PMF profiles, the channel gate was found to be at one of the two hydrophobic conserved regions (V249-L251) near the lower end of the channel. The L251T mutation reduced the energetic barrier by 1.9[Formula: see text]kcal/mol, consistent with a slight increase in the channel radius in the bottleneck region. On the other hand, the T248F mutation caused a significant decrease in the channel radius (0.4 Å) and a substantial increase of 3.9[Formula: see text]kcal/mol in the energetic barrier. Ion permeation in all three structures was compared and found to be consistent with barrier height values. Using an external field in an incrementally increasing manner was found to be an effective way to obtain stable open, conducting channel structures.