2016, Scheffler, C., Wölfel, E., Förster, T., Poitzsch, C., Kotte, L., Mäder, G., Madsen, Bo, Biel, A., Kusano, Y., Lilholt, H., Mikkelsen, L.P., Mishnaevsky Jr., L., Sørensen, B.F.

A commercially available carbon fiber (CF) with an epoxy-based sizing (EP-sized CF) and an unsized CF have been plasma treated to study the effect on the fiber-matrix adhesion towards a polypropylene matrix. The EP-sized fiber was chosen because of its predictable low adhesion in a polypropylene (PP) matrix. The fibers have been modified using a microwave low-pressure O2/CO2/N2-gas plasma source (Cyrannus®) developed at IWS in a batch process. One aim of this study was the evaluation of parameters using high energies and short time periods in the plasma chamber to see the effect on mechanical performance of CF. These results will be the fundamental work for a planned continuous plasma modification line. The CF surface was characterized by determining the surface energies, single fiber tensile strength and XPS analysis. The adhesion behavior before and after plasma treatment was studied by single fiber pull-out test (SFPO) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was shown that the CO2- and O2-plasma increases the number of functional groups on the fiber surface during short time plasma treatment of 30 s. Carboxylic groups on the unsized CF surface resulting from O2-plasma treatment lead to an enhanced fiber-matrix adhesion, whereas the fiber strength was merely reduced.

2016, Förster, T., Sommer, G.S., Mäder, E., Scheffler, C.

Recycling of fibre reinforced polymers is in the focus of several investigations. Chemical and thermal treatments of composites are the common ways to separate the reinforcing fibres from the polymer matrices. However, most sizings on glass and basalt fibre are not designed to resist high temperatures. Hence, a heat treatment might also lead to a sizing removal, a decrease of mechanical performance and deterioration in fibre-matrix adhesion. Different basalt fibres were investigated using surface analysis methods as well as single fibre tensile tests and single fibre pull-out tests in order to reveal the possible causes of these issues. Heat treatment in air reduced the fibre tensile strength in the same level like heat treatment in nitrogen atmosphere, but it influenced the wetting capability. Re-sizing by a coupling agent slightly increased the adhesion strength and reflected a decreased post-debonding friction.

2016, Vetter, Michael, Gawlik, Annett, Plentz, Jonathan, Andrä, Gudrun, Ribeyron, Pierre-Jean, Cuevas, Andres, Weeber, Arthur, Ballif, Christophe, Glunz, Stefan, Poortmans, Jef, Brendel, Rolf, Aberle, Armin, Sinton, Ron, Verlinden, Pierre, Hahn, Giso

Liquid-phase crystallized silicon on glass (LPCSG) presents a promising material to fabricate high quality silicon thin films, e.g. for solar cells and modules. Barrier layers and a doped amorphous silicon layer are deposited on the glass substrate followed by crystallization with a line focus laser beam. In this paper we introduce injection level dependent lifetime measurements generated by the quasi steady-state photoconductance decay method (QSSPC) to characterize LPCSG absorbers. This contactless method allows a determination of the LPCSG absorber quality already at an early stage of solar cell fabrication, and provides a monitoring of the absorber quality during the solar cell fabrication steps. We found minority carrier lifetimes higher than 200ns in our layers (e.g. n-type absorber with ND=2x1015cm-3) indicating a surface recombination velocity SBL<3000cm/s at the barrier layer/Si interface.

2015, Betz, B., Rauscher, P., Siebert, R., Schaefer, R., Kaestner, A., Van Swygenhoven, H., Lehmann, E., Grünzweig, C.

The neutron Grating Interferometer (nGI) is a standard user instrument at the cold neutron imaging beamline ICON (Kaestner, 2011) at the neutron source SINQ at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland. The setup is able to deliver simultaneously information about the attenuation, phase shift (DPC) (Pfeiffer, 2006) and scattering properties in the so-called dark-field image (DFI) (Grünzweig, 2008-I) of a sample. Since neutrons only interact with the nucleus they are often able to penetrate deeper into matter than X-rays, in particular heavier materials. A further advantage of neutrons compared to X-rays is the interaction of the neutron's magnetic moment with magnetic structures that allows for the bulk investigation of magnetic domain structures using the nGI technique (Grünzweig, 2008-II). The nGI-setup and its technique for imaging with cold neutrons is presented in this contribution. The main focus will be on magnetic investigations of electrical steel laminations using the nGI technique. Both, grain-oriented (GO) and non-oriented (NO) laminations will be presented. GO-laminations are widely used in industrial transformer applications, while NO-sheets are common in electrical machines. For grain-oriented sheet, domain walls were visualized individually,spatially resolved, while in NO-sheet a relative density distribution is depicted.

2015, Alebrahim, M.A., Krafft, C., Popp, J., El-Khateeb, Mohammad Y.

The structure and chemical features of the human dentin enamel junction (DEJ) were characterized using Raman spectroscopic imaging. Slices were prepared from 10 German, and 10 Turkish teeth. Raman images were collected at 785 nm excitation and the average Raman spectra were calculated for analysis. Univariate and multivariate spectral analysis were applied for investigation. Raman images were obtained based on the intensity ratios of CH at 1450 cm-1 (matrix) to phosphate at 960 cm-1 (mineral), and carbonate to phosphate (1070/960) ratios. Different algorithms (HCA, K-means cluster and VCA) also used to study the DEJ. The obtained results showed that the width of DEJ is about 5 pm related to univariate method while it varies from 6 to 12 μm based on multivariate spectral technique. Both spectral analyses showed increasing in carbonate content inside the DEJ compared to the dentin, and the amide I (collagen) peak in dentin spectra is higher than DEJ spectra peak.

2014, Hahne, Barbara, Thomas, Rüdiger, Bruckman, Viktor J., Hangx, Suzanne, Ask, Maria

For the economic success of a geothermal project the hydraulic properties and temperature of the geothermal reservoir are crucial. New methodologies in seismics, geoelectrics and reservoir geology are tested within the frame of the collaborative research programme “Geothermal Energy and High-Performance Drilling” (gebo). Within nine geoscientific projects, tools were developed that help in the evaluation and interpretation of acquired data. Special emphasis is placed on the investigation of rock properties, on the development of early reservoir assessment even during drilling, and on the interaction between the drilling devices and the reservoir formation. The propagation of fractures and the transport of fluid and heat within the regional stress field are investigated using different approaches (field studies, seismic monitoring, multi-parameter modelling). Geologic structural models have been created for simulation of the local stress field and hydromechanical processes. Furthermore, a comprehensive dataset of hydrogeochemical environments was collected allowing characterisation and hydrogeochemical modelling of the reservoir.

2016, Klein, Olaf, Recupero, Vincenzo

Sweeping processes are a class of evolution differential inclusions arising in elastoplasticity and were introduced by J.J. Moreau in the early seventies. The solution operator of the sweeping processes represents a relevant example of rate independent operator. As a particular case we get the so called play operator, which is a typical example of a hysteresis operator. The continuity properties of these operators were studied in several works. In this note we address the continuity with respect to the strict metric in the space of functions of bounded variation with values in the metric space of closed convex subsets of a Hilbert space. We provide counterexamples showing that for all BV-formulations of the sweeping process the corresponding solution operator is not continuous when its domain is endowed with the strict topology of BV and its codomain is endowed with the L1-topology. This is at variance with the play operator which has a BV-extension that is continuous in this case.

2015, Ganz, Britta, Ask, Maria, Hangx, Suzanne, Bruckman, Viktor, Kühn, Michael

The development of deep geothermal energy sources in Germany still faces many uncertainties and high upfront investment costs. Methodical approaches to assess the exploration risk are thus of major importance for geothermal project development. Since 2002, expert reports to quantify the exploration risk for geothermal projects in Germany were carried out. These reports served as a basis for insurance contracts covering the exploration risk. Using data from wells drilled in the meantime, the reports were evaluated and the stated probabilities compared with values actually reached.

2013, Cacace, Mauro, Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena, Noack, Vera, Cherubini, Yvonne, Schellschmidt, Rüdiger, Kühn, Michael, Juhlin, Christopher, Held, Hermann, Bruckman, Viktor, Tambach, Tim, Kempka, Thomas

A lithosphere scale geological model has been used to determine the surface heat flow component due to conductive heat transport for the area of Brandenburg. The modelling results have been constrained by a direct comparison with available heat flow measurements. The calculated heat flow captures the regional trend in the surface heat flow distribution which can be related to existing thermal conductivity variations between the different sedimentary units. An additional advective component due to topography induced regional flow and focused flow within major fault zones should be considered to explain the spatial variation observed in the surface heat flow.

2015, Kiebert, Florian, König, Jörg, Kykal, Carsten, Schmidt, Hagen

Utilizing surface acoustic waves (SAW) to induce tailored fluid motion via the acoustic streaming requires detailed knowledge about the acoustic bulk wave excitation. For the first time, the Defocus Digital Particle Image Velocimetry is used to measure the fluid motion originating from a fluid loaded SAW-device. With this flow measurement technique, the acoustic streaming-induced fluid motion can be observed volumetrically, which is attractive not only for application, but also for simulation in order to gain deeper insights regarding three-dimensional acoustic effects.