ABSTRACT
Rheological properties of the lower mantle have strong influence on the dynamics and evolution of Earth. By using the improved methods of quantitative deformation experiments at high pressures and temperatures, we deformed a mixture of bridgmanite and magnesiowüstite under the shallow lower mantle conditions. We conducted experiments up to about 100% strain at a strain rate of about 3 × 10(-5) second(-1). We found that bridgmanite is substantially stronger than magnesiowüstite and that magnesiowüstite largely accommodates the strain. Our results suggest that strain weakening and resultant shear localization likely occur in the lower mantle. This would explain the preservation of long-lived geochemical reservoirs and the lack of seismic anisotropy in the majority of the lower mantle except the boundary layers.
ABSTRACT
Here, we couple two-dimensional, 4-color multi-wavelength imaging radiometry with laser flash heating to determine temperature profiles and melting temperatures under high pressures in a diamond-anvil cell. This technique combines the attributes of flash heating (e.g., minimal chemical reactions, thermal runaway, and sample instability), with those of multi-wavelength imaging radiometry (e.g., 2D temperature mapping and reduction of chromatic aberrations). Using this new technique in conjunction with electron microscopy makes a powerful tool to determine melting temperatures at high pressures generated by a diamond-anvil cell.
ABSTRACT
In order to generate homogeneous high temperatures at high pressures, a ring-shaped graphite heater has been developed to resistively heat diamond-anvil cell (DAC) samples up to 1300 K. By putting the heater in direct contact with the diamond anvils, this graphite heater design features the following advantages: (1) efficient heating: sample can be heated to 1300 K while the DAC body temperature remains less than 800 K, eliminating the requirement of a special alloy for the DAC; (2) compact design: the sample can be analyzed with in situ measurements, e.g., x-ray, optical, and electrical probes are possible. In particular, the side access of the heater allows for radial x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements in addition to traditional axial XRD.
ABSTRACT
The angular spectrum method is applied to calculating the acoustic field of a liquid-coupled focusing transducer in an anisotropic slab-shaped solid with surfaces normal to the axis of the transducer. The stationary phase approximation (SPA) is used to determine the dominant contributions to this field and calculate the echo signals produced by waves that have been reflected off the rear surface of the solid. The dominant features of this field and of the echoes are reproduced well by a hybrid ray method devised to simulate the finite point-spread function of the lens. Both approaches in the paraxial approximation yield a split focus for each wave polarization branch for a general direction of the surface normal. Echo arrival times and amplitudes calculated by the two methods are in good agreement. The hybrid ray method is shown to be particularly suited to handling multiple stationary phase points within the angular spectrum of the incident field and stationary phase points not associated with the normally incident ray, and should be useful for dealing with scattering from cracks and other defects. Pulse echo calculations for different crystallographic directions in a nickel-based superalloy are shown to be in good agreement with measurements carried out on single crystal specimens of the alloy.
