Cross-sectioning techniques

The origin of defects causing discoloration in polyolefin pellets can be identified using light and electron microscopy. For example, PE pellets from an in-plant recycle re-pelletlzing process contained pellets that were off color and had black specks, as shown In Fig. 11.6(a). One of these defects was isolated using the cross sectioning technique, as shown in Fig. 11.6(b). The cross section revealed an intense reddish particle that caused the discoloration of the pellet. 

TEM micrographs and XES analysis of all composite materials using a cross-section technique, as weN as preliminary catalytic tests will be published in a forthcoming paper. 

Considering existing microscopical techniques, one can find that non-destmctive information from the internal stmcture of an object in natural conditions can be obtained by transmission X-ray microscopy. Combination of X-ray transmission technique with tomographical reconstmction allows getting three-dimensional information about the internal microstmcture [1-3]. In this case any internal area can be reconstmcted as a set of flat cross sections which can be used to analyze the two- and three-dimensional morphological parameters [4]. For X-ray methods the contrast in the images is a mixed combination of density and compositional information. In some cases the compositional information can be separated from the density information [5]. Recently there has been a... 

It should be noted that this technique is not without some disadvantages. The blackbody emission background in the near IR limits the upper temperature of the sample to about 200°C [43]. Then there is the dependence of the Raman cross-section ( equation (B 1.3.16) and equation ( B1.3.20)-equation ( B 1.3.21)) which calls for an order of magnitude greater excitation intensity when exciting in the near-IR rather than in the visible to produce the same signal intensity [39]. 

The detection technique can also have an effect upon the angle- and velocity-dependent intensities. Cross sections refer to fluxes of molecules into a given range of velocities and angles. The connnonly employed teclmique of mass spectrometric detection provides a measure of the density in the ionization region. Since density and flux are related by the velocity, we must include a factor of 1/v hr making the transfonnation indicated in equation (B2.3.10) from the CM cross sections to tire measured laboratory intensities. 

Another automated approach to kinetic analyses is the centrifugal analyzer, a partial cross section of which is shown in Figure 13.9. In this technique the sample and reagents are placed in separate wells oriented radially around a circular transfer disk attached to the rotor of a centrifuge. As the centrifuge spins, the... 

Specific Gravity. Fiber cross sections are often irregular and specific gravity is measured by an immersion technique. The values of 1.32 for acetate and 1.30 for triacetate are accepted for fibers of combined acetic acid contents of 55 and 61.5%, respectively (13—15). 

Cross-sectional modifications of a more extreme nature than skin-bursting, which nevertheless do not form crimp, have grown in importance since the early 1980s. These yield a permanent bulk increase which can be translated into bulky fabrics without the need for special care. The first commercial staple fiber of this type was Courtaulds hoUow Viloft, developed in the 1970s using a carbonate inflation technique (37). 

Structural Analysis. Some of the optical techniques are also used for stmctural analysis. Microscopic examinations of metallurgical cross sections or of sections through the paint layers of a painting are indeed stmctural examinations, as is ir reflectography. 

Traditionally, production of metallic glasses requites rapid heat removal from the material (Fig. 2) which normally involves a combination of a cooling process that has a high heat-transfer coefficient at the interface of the Hquid and quenching medium, and a thin cross section in at least one-dimension. Besides rapid cooling, a variety of techniques are available to produce metallic glasses. Processes not dependent on rapid solidification include plastic deformation (38), mechanical alloying (7,8), and diffusional transformations (10). 

Determination of gold concentrations to ca 1 ppm in solution via atomic absorption spectrophotometry (62) has become an increasingly popular technique because it is available in most modem analytical laboratories and because it obviates extensive sample preparation. A more sensitive method for gold analysis is neutron activation, which permits accurate determination to levels < 1 ppb (63). The sensitivity arises from the high neutron-capture cross section (9.9 x 10 = 99 barns) of the only natural isotope, Au. The resulting isotope, Au, decays by P and y emission with a half-life of 2.7 d. 

The sol—gel technique has been used mosdy to prepare alumina membranes. Figure 18 shows a cross section of a composite alumina membrane made by sHp coating successive sols with different particle sizes onto a porous ceramic support. SiUca or titanium membranes could also be made by the same principles. Unsupported titanium dioxide membranes with pore sizes of 5 nm or less have been made by the sol—gel process (57). 

Ra.m Tensile. A ram tensile test has been developed to evaluate the bond-2one tensile strength of explosion-bonded composites. The specimen is designed to subject the bonded interface to a pure tensile load. The cross-section area of the specimen is the area of the aimulus between the outer and inner diameters of the specimen. The specimen typically has a very short tensile gauge length and is constmcted so as to cause failure at the bonded interface. The ultimate tensile strength and relative ductihty of the explosion-bonded interface can be obtained by this technique. 

Textile fibers must be flexible to be useful. The flexural rigidity or stiffness of a fiber is defined as the couple required to bend the fiber to unit curvature (3). The stiffness of an ideal cylindrical rod is proportional to the square of the linear density. Because the linear density is proportional to the square of the diameter, stiffness increases in proportion to the fourth power of the filament diameter. In addition, the shape of the filament cross-section must be considered also. For textile purposes and when flexibiUty is requisite, shear and torsional stresses are relatively minor factors compared to tensile stresses. Techniques for measuring flexural rigidity of fibers have been given in the Hterature (67—73). 

Fig. 26. Photomicrograph of a series of cross sections of beefwood (Casuarina equisetifoUa) leaves, showing results with a variety of staining techniques.

By using an anionic collector and external reflux in a combined (enriching and stripping) column of 3.8-cm (1.5-in) diameter with a feed rate of 1.63 ni/n [40 gal/(h ft )] based on column cross section, D/F was reduced to 0.00027 with C JCp for Sr below 0.001 [Shou-feld and Kibbey, Nucl. AppL, 3, 353 (1967)]. Reports of the adsubble separation of 29 heavy metals, radioactive and otheiwise, have been tabulated [Lemlich, The Adsorptive Bubble Separation Techniques, in Sabadell (ed.), Froc. Conf. Traces Heavy Met. Water, 211-223, Princeton University, 1973, EPA 902/9-74-001, U.S. EPA, Reg. 11, 1974). Some separation of N from by foam fractionation has been reported [Hitchcock, Ph.D. dissertation. University of Missouri, RoUa, 1982]. 

Figure 19.17 Sequence of arc extinction through the puffer technique in an SF breaker through the cross-section of a pole (Courtesy NGEF Ltd.)...

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