Search results for "Nuclear engineering"
showing 10 items of 533 documents
Reactive Powder Concrete Containing Basalt Fibers: Strength, Abrasion and Porosity
2020
The paper presents the test results of basalt fiber impact on a compressive and flexural strength, resistance to abrasion and porosity of Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC). The reasons for testing were interesting mechanical properties of basalt fibers, the significant tensile strength and flexural strength, and in particular the resistance to high temperatures, as well as a relatively small number of RPC tests performed with those fibers and different opinions regarding the impact of those fibers on concrete strength. The composition of the concrete mix was optimized to obtain the highest packing density of particles in the composite, based on the optimum particle size distribution curve acc.…
Accelerated Tests on Si and SiC Power Transistors with Thermal, Fast and Ultra-Fast Neutrons
2020
Neutron test campaigns on silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs and IGBTs were conducted at the TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) Mark II (Pavia, Italy) nuclear reactor and ChipIr-ISIS Neutron and Muon Source (Didcot, U.K.) facility. About 2000 power transistors made by STMicroelectronics were tested in all the experiments. Tests with thermal and fast neutrons (up to about 10 MeV) at the TRIGA Mark II reactor showed that single-event burnout (SEB) failures only occurred at voltages close to the rated drain-source voltage. Thermal neutrons did not induce SEB, nor degradation in the electrical parameters of the devices. SEB failures during testing at ChipIr …
A fast heuristic for solving the D1EC coloring problem
2010
In this paper we propose an efficient heuristic for solving the Distance-1 Edge Coloring problem (D1EC) for the on-the-fly assignment of orthogonal wireless channels in wireless as soon as a topology change occurs. The coloring algorithm exploits the simulated annealing paradigm, i.e., a generalization of Monte Carlo methods for solving combinatorial problems. We show that the simulated annealing-based coloring converges fast to a sub optimal coloring scheme even for the case of dynamic channel allocation. However, a stateful implementation of the D1EC scheme is needed in order to speed-up the network coloring upon topology changes. In fact, a stateful D1EC reduces the algorithm’s convergen…
On Randomness and Structure in Euclidean TSP Instances: A Study With Heuristic Methods
2021
Prediction of the quality of the result provided by a specific solving method is an important factor when choosing how to solve a given problem. The more accurate the prediction, the more appropriate the decision on what to choose when several solving applications are available. In this article, we study the impact of the structure of a Traveling Salesman Problem instance on the quality of the solution when using two representative heuristics: the population-based Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and the local search Lin-Kernighan (LK) algorithm. The quality of the result for a solving method is measured by the computation accuracy, which is expressed using the percent error between its soluti…
Conceptual design of the enhanced coolant purification systems for the European HCLL and HCPB test blanket modules
2019
Abstract The Coolant Purification Systems (CPSs) is one of the most relevant ancillary systems of European Helium Cooled Lead Lithium (HCLL) and Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) Test Blanket Modules (TBMs) which are currently in the preliminary design phase in view of their installation and operation in ITER. The CPS implements mainly two functions: the extraction and concentration of the tritium permeated from the TBM modules into the primary cooling circuit and the chemistry control of helium primary coolant. During the HCLL and HCPB-TBSs (Test Blanket Systems) Conceptual Design Review (CDR) in 2015 it was recognized the need of reducing the tritium permeation into the Port Cell #16 of ITE…
Potential and limits of water-cooled Pb–17Li blankets and divertors for a fusion power plant
2000
Abstract Blankets and divertors are key components of a fusion power plant. They have a large impact on the overall plant design, its performance and availability, and on the cost of electricity. The water-cooled Pb–17Li (WCLL) blanket uses reduced activation ferritic–martensitic steel as structural material. It was previously validated under numerous aspects such as TBR, mechanical and thermo-mechanical stability, thermal–hydraulics, MHD, safety and others. This was done assuming the specifications for a European DEMOnstration reactor which were fixed back in 1989. A WCLL blanket would best be combined with a water-cooled divertor so that a single coolant could be used for the entire react…
The European contribution to the development and validation activities for the design of IFMIF lithium facility
2013
The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) is an accelerator-driven intense neutron source where candidate materials for fusion reactors will be tested and validated. The high energy neutron flux is produced by means of two deuteron beams (total current of 250 mA, energy of 40 MeV) that strikes a liquid lithium target circulating in a lithium loop of IFMIF plant. The European (EU) contribution to the development of the lithium facility comprises five procurement packages, as follow: (1) participation to the experimental activities of the EVEDA lithium test loop in Oarai (Japan); (2) study aimed at evaluating the corrosion and erosion phenomena, promoted by lithium, for …
CERN-MEDICIS: A Review Since Commissioning in 2017
2021
The CERN-MEDICIS (MEDical Isotopes Collected from ISolde) facility has delivered its first radioactive ion beam at CERN (Switzerland) in December 2017 to support the research and development in nuclear medicine using non-conventional radionuclides. Since then, fourteen institutes, including CERN, have joined the collaboration to drive the scientific program of this unique installation and evaluate the needs of the community to improve the research in imaging, diagnostics, radiation therapy and personalized medicine. The facility has been built as an extension of the ISOLDE (Isotope Separator On Line DEvice) facility at CERN. Handling of open radioisotope sources is made possible thanks to i…
Bioactivity of bioceramic materials used in the dentin-pulp complex therapy : a systematic review
2019
Este es el artículo que se ha publicado de forma definitiva en: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/12/7/1015 Dentistry-applied bioceramic materials are ceramic materials that are categorized asbioinert, bioactive and biodegradable. They share a common characteristic of being specificallydesigned to fulfil their function; they are able to act as root canal sealers, cements, root repair or fillingmaterials. Bioactivity is only attributed to those materials which are capable of inducing a desiredtissue response from the host. The aim of this study is to present a systematic review of availableliterature investigating bioactivity of dentistry-applied bioceramic materials towards dental pulp stemcel…
Marginal and Internal Precision of Zirconia Four-Unit Fixed Partial Denture Frameworks Produced Using Four Milling Systems
2021
Background: CAD/CAM systems enable the production of fixed partial dentures with small and reproducible internal and marginal gaps. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of the marginal and internal adaptations of four-unit fixed partial denture frameworks produced using four CAD/CAM systems. Materials and Methods: Prepared dies of a master model that simulated the loss of the first left molar were measured. Fifteen frameworks were manufactured using four CAD/CAM systems (A–D). The internal fit was determined by the replica technique, and the marginal gap was determined by microscopy. ANOVA was carried out to detect significant differences, and the Bonferron…