BAM Dissertationsreihe
Filtern
Erscheinungsjahr
Dokumenttyp
- Dissertation (61)
Sprache
- Englisch (61) (entfernen)
Referierte Publikation
- nein (61)
Schlagworte
- CFD (2)
- Reliability (2)
- Simulation (2)
- Welding (2)
- Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (2)
- Zuverlässigkeit (2)
- numerical modelling (2)
- 15N2 (1)
- 3D Ray Tracing Method (1)
- 3D Ray Tracing Verfahren (1)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
- 7 Bauwerkssicherheit (2)
- 7.2 Ingenieurbau (2)
- 9 Komponentensicherheit (2)
- 6 Materialchemie (1)
- 6.1 Oberflächen- und Dünnschichtanalyse (1)
- 7.3 Brandingenieurwesen (1)
- 8 Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (1)
- 8.1 Sensorik, mess- und prüftechnische Verfahren (1)
- 9.0 Abteilungsleitung und andere (1)
- 9.4 Integrität von Schweißverbindungen (1)
108
Before the development of computational science, heat conduction problems were mainly solved by analytical techniques. Analytical solutions are exact solutions of differential equations; the investigated physical phenomena, for instance the temperature, are solved locally for one single point independently of the rest of the investigated structure resulting in extremely short computational times. These analytical solutions are however only valid for some simple geometries and boundary conditions making their applications for complex industrial geometries directly not possible. Numerical techniques, such as the Finite Element Method, enable overcoming this problem. However, the numerical simulation of the structural heat effect of welding for complex and large assemblies requires high computational effort and time. Therefore, the wide application of welding simulation in industry is not established, yet. The aim of this study is to combine the advantages of analytical and numerical simulation methods to accelerate the calibration of the thermal model of structure welding simulation. This is done firstly by calibrating automatically the simulation model with a fast analytical temperature field solution and secondly by solving the welding simulation problem numerically with the analytically calibrated input parameters. In order to achieve this goal, the analytical solution of the heat conduction problem for a point source moving in an infinite solid was extended and validated against reference models until a solution for a volumetric heat source moving on a thin small sheet with several arbitrary curved welding paths was found. The potential of this analytical solution by means of computational time was subsequently demonstrated on a semi-industrial geometry with large dimensions and several curved welds. The combined method was then transferred to an industrial assembly welded with four parallel welds. For this joint geometry, it was possible to apply the extended analytical solution. The calibration of the simulation model was done automatically against experimental data by combining the extended fast analytical solution with a global optimisation algorithm. For this calibration, more than 3000 direct simulations were required which run in less computational time than one corresponding single numerical simulation. The results of the numerical simulation executed with the analytically calibrated input parameters matched the experimental data within a scatter band of ± 10 %. The limit of the combined method is shown for an industrial assembly welded with eight overlap welds. For this joint geometry, a conventional numerical approach was applied, since no analytical solution was actually available. The final simulation results matched the experimental data within a scatter band of ± 10 %. The results of this work provide a comprehensive method to accelerate the calibration of the thermal model of the structure welding simulation of complex and large welded assemblies, even though within limitation. In the future, the implementation of this method in a welding simulation tool accessible to a typical industrial user still has to be done.
31
The objective of this work is to demonstrate the practical application and sensitivity of ultrasound as a high frequency Dynamic Mechanical Analysis DMA technique for the characterisation of polymers. Conventional DMA techniques are used to determine thermo mechanical behaviour of polymers by typically employing dynamic shear or tensile loading modes at defined frequencies between 0.1 and 50 Hz. Sound waves may also be employed for DMA applications and depending on type of wave propagated, shear G´, G´´ and longitudinal L´, L´´ storage or loss modulus and tan (δ) may be determined from the measured acoustic parameters sound velocity and amplitude. The primary advantage of ultrasound DMA is that due to the compact sensor size it can easily be integrated into most manufacturing processes. To demonstrate the sensitivity of ultrasound to variations in the viscoelastic properties of polymers, the acoustic properties of a cured epoxy with an observed glass transition temperature of 86 °C (tan(δ) peak, 1Hz) were monitored in a temperature range from 20 to 200 °C and compared to conventional DMA results. The influence of measurement frequency, dispersion, hysteresis, reflections at material boundaries, and changes in material density on the measured sound velocity and amplitude were taken into account. To support conclusions a wide range of experimental data was evaluated using sensors operating in the frequency ranges 400 to 800 kHz and 3 to 6 MHz. The ultrasound results are compared to the tensile moduli E´, E´´ and tan(δ) measured using a conventional DMA technique operating at 0.1 to 33 Hz. Using different evaluation strategies such as the Williams Landel Ferry WLF equation it was possible to study the sensitivity of wave propagation to variations in the viscoelastic behaviour of a polymer. Taking advantage of this background knowledge, further experimental results are presented with the aim of demonstrating the sensitivity of this technique for cure monitoring applications and to the material transformations: gelation and vitrification. For this purpose an epoxy resin was cured at a range of constant temperatures whereby the curing reaction and the corresponding change in viscoelastic properties were monitored. Analysis techniques employed included ultrasound at 3 to 6 MHz, Differential Scanning Calorimeter DSC and Rheometry at 1 Hz. All results were summarised and presented graphically. Additionally an Arrhenius relationship was employed enabling direct comparison of results obtained from analysis techniques based on different working principles. Using this information, it was possible to demonstrate the practical application and the sensitivity of this technique to even small changes in viscoelastic properties of polymers.
27
This thesis proposes a design of experiment for testing and evaluation of the equipment and the methods used in manual mine clearance. The thesis is based on several metal detector trials and a trial of manual demining methods. The core of this dissertation comprises four metal detector trials performed in Germany and Croatian in 2003 and 2005. The purpose of these trials was to investigate the feasibility of the tests described in the CWA (Comité Européende Normalisation/CEN/Workshop Agreement) 14747:2003, the standard for testing metal detectors for humanitarian demining. The goals of the trials were: to find an appropriate design of experiment for testing metal detectors; to establish the use of ROC diagrams (Receiver Operating Characteristics) and POD curves (Probability of Detection) in the analysis of the experimental results; and to gain practical experience in organising and conducting metal detector trials. Apart of this thesis is devoted to a trial of manual demining methods performed in Mozambique in 2004. The main goal of that trial was to compare the speed of various manual demining methods, including the most common excavation methods. The outcome of this work is the proposals and recommendations for an update of the standard for testing metal detectors CWA 14747:2003. Maximum detection height measurements were performed as a part of the metal detector trial carried out in Croatiain2005. The results reveal a high variability of the maximum detection height. This high variability needs to be taken into account in all experiments. Apart of the variability is caused by the differences between the operators and by the setup of the metal detector. It is therefore recommended that two kinds of experiments with the maximum detection height as a response variable are defined in the next update of CWA 14747:2003. The first kind should include the setup, the soil and the operator as factors in the design of experiment. The in-soil measurements with the same detector should be performed with repeated setups and with several operators. The second kind of experiments should be experiments evaluating the influence of other predictor variables. In those experiments, it is recommended to perform one-factor or multiple-factor in-air measurements with the operators and the setup as a block. The main part of the metal detector trials described in this thesis was the detection reliability tests. Detection reliability tests as described in CWA14747:2003 come closest to representing the real field conditions in demining. They include many environmental influences and, most importantly, many of the human factor influences. However, each test design is a compromise between fully representative conditions and cost effectiveness. In this thesis, a fractional factorial design based on the Graeco-Latin square is proposed as a solution to the experimental problem. The results are reported in the form of ROC diagrams and POD curves. The crossover design enables each operator to work with fewer detector models with in a certain time. The variations of the design enabled an unbiased comparison of detectors in each soil and with each target model separately. It is recommended that the solutions proposed in this thesis be incorporated in the standard CWA14747:2003. It has been shown that maximum detection heights measurements provide the information about the best possible performance of a metal detector in are liability test.
168
The current practice of operating and maintaining deteriorating structural systems ensures acceptable levels of structural reliability, but it is not clear how efficient it is. Changing the current prescriptive approach to a risk-based approach has great potential to enable a more efficient management of such systems. Risk-based optimization of operation and maintenance strategies identifies the strategy that optimally balances the cost for controlling deterioration in a structural system with the achieved risk reduction. Inspections and monitoring are essential parts of operation and maintenance strategies. They are typically performed to reduce the uncertainty in the structural condition and inform decisions on future operation and maintenance actions. In risk-based optimization of operation and maintenance strategies, Bayesian updating is used to include information contained in inspection and monitoring data in the prediction of the structural reliability. All computations need to be repeated many times for different potential inspection and monitoring outcomes. This motivates the development of robust and efficient approaches to this computationally challenging task.
The reliability of deteriorating structural systems is time-variant because the loads on them and their capacities change with time. In most practical applications, the reliability analysis of deteriorating structural systems can be approached by dividing their lifetime into discrete time intervals. The time-variant reliability problem can then be represented by a series of time-invariant reliability problems. Using this methodology as a starting point, this thesis proposes a novel approach to compute the time-variant reliability of deteriorating structural systems for which inspection and monitoring data are available. The problem is formulated in a nested way in which the prediction of the structural condition is separated from the computation of the structural reliability conditional on the structural condition. Information on the structural condition provided by inspections and monitoring is included in the reliability assessment through Bayesian updating of the system deterioration model employed to predict the structural condition. The updated system reliability is obtained by coupling the updated deterioration model with a probabilistic structural model utilized to calculate the failure probability conditional on the structural condition. This approach is the first main outcome of this thesis and termed nested reliability analysis (NRA) approach. It is demonstrated in two numerical examples considering inspected and monitored steel structures subject to high-cycle fatigue.
An alternative – recently developed – approach, which also follows the strategy of discretizing time, describes deteriorating structural systems with hierarchical dynamic Bayesian networks (DBN). DBN combined with approximate or exact inference algorithms also enable the computation of the time-variant reliability of deteriorating structural systems conditional on information provided by inspection and monitoring data. In this thesis – as a proof of concept – a software prototype is developed based on the DBN approach, which can be used to assess the reliability of a corroding concrete box girder for which half-cell potential measurements are available. This is the second main outcome of this thesis.
Both approaches presented in this thesis enable an integral reliability analysis of inspected and monitored structures that accounts for system effects arising from (a) the correlation among deterioration states of different structural elements, (b) the interaction between element deterioration and system failure, and (c) the indirect information gained on the condition of all unobserved structural elements from inspecting or monitoring the condition of some structural elements. Thus, both approaches enable a systemwide risk-based optimization of operation and maintenance strategies for deteriorating structural systems.
The NRA approach can be implemented relatively easily with subset simulation, which is a sequential Monte Carlo method suitable for estimating rare event probabilities. Subset simulation is robust and considerably more efficient than crude Monte Carlo simulation. It is, however, still sampling-based and its efficiency is thus a function of the number of inspection and monitoring outcomes, as well as the value of the simulated event probabilities. The current implementation of the NRA approach performs separate subset simulation runs to estimate the reliability at different points in time. The efficiency of the NRA approach with subset simulation can be significantly improved by exploiting the fact that failure events in different years are nested. The lifetime reliability of deteriorating structural systems can thus be computed in reverse chronological order in a single subset simulation run.
The implementation of the DBN approach is much more demanding than the implementation of the NRA approach but it has two main advantages. Firstly, the graphical format of the DBN facilitates the presentation of the model and the underlying assumptions to stakeholders who are not experts in reliability analysis. Secondly, it can be combined with exact inference algorithms. In this case, its efficiency neither depends on the number of inspection and monitoring outcomes, nor on the value of the event probabilities to be calculated. However, in contrast to the NRA approach with subset simulation, the DBN approach with exact inference imposes restrictions on the number of random variables and the dependence structure that can be implemented in the model.
49
With increasing environmental awareness and the general need to economise on the use of fossil fuels, there is growing pressure for industry to produce lighter, more efficient, gas turbine engines. One such material that will help to achieve these improvements is the intermetallic gamma titanium aluminide (γ-TiAl) alloy. At only half the density of current nickel-based superalloys its weight saving capability is highly desirable, however, its mechanical properties have not yet been fully explored especially, when it is to be considered for structural components in aeronautical gas turbine engines. Critical components in these engines typically experience large variations in temperatures and multiaxial states of stress under non-isothermal conditions. These stress states are known as tri-axial thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF). The work presented here investigates the effects these multi-axial stresses, have on a γ- TiAl, (Ti-45Al-5Nb-0.2B-0.2C) alloy under TMF conditions. The uniaxial, torsional and xialtorsional TMF behaviour of this γ-TiAl alloy have been examined at 400 – 800oC with strain amplitudes ranging from 0.15% to 0.7%. The tests were conducted at both thermomechanical in-phase (IP) and out-of-phase (OP). Selected tests additionally contained a 180 seconds hold period. Fatigue lifetimes are strongly influenced by the strain amplitude, a small increase in amplitude reduces the lifetime considerably. The uniaxial IP tests showed significantly longer fatigue lifetimes than of all the tests performed. Torsional loading although have shorter fatigue lifetimes than the uniaxial IP loading they have longer fatigue lifetimes than the uniaxial OP loading. The non-proportional axial-torsional 90 degree OP test is most damaging which resulted in a shorter lifetime than the uniaxial OP test with the same Mises equivalent mechanical strain amplitude. A hold period at maximum temperatures reduced the lifetime for all tests regardless of the temperature-strain history. The effects of TMF on the microstructure were also investigated. For all types of tests intergranular fracture is predominant. Failure is strongly influenced by environmental conditions. This study compares TMF results of TiAl with previous TMF investigations on the nickelbased alloys IN 738 and Nimonic 90. IN 738 shows similar TMF behaviour to γ-TiAl in that uniaxial IP loading has the longest fatigue lifetimes. Nimonic 90 shows the opposite behaviour to both of these alloys. A lifetime model developed for this near-γ-TiAl alloy, successfully describes all temperaturestrain TMF loading conditions over the test temperature range, with the use of a single loading parameter. The loading parameter is based on the plastic work per cycle, and is not only dependant on the mean tensile stress but also on the maximum principal stress. The loading parameter responds to various strain-temperature-paths differently. It describes the lifetime relation between uniaxial IP and OP loading, axial and torsional loading and the hold period effect.
117
Thermal and Dynamic Glass Transition in Ultrathin Films of Homopolymers and a Miscible Polymer Blend
(2014)
Nowadays nanoscale thin polymer films are widely used in many fields like coatings, membranes, sensors, electronic devices and so on. Meanwhile, a lot of research work has evidenced the fact that many physical properties (glass transition, crystallization, dewetting, physical aging, etc.) of ultrathin polymer films show strong deviations from their bulk behavior. Since the aforementioned properties of polymer are closely related to their application and functionality, the discrepancies motivated us to obtain a more complete understanding of how nanoscale confinement affects the physical properties of polymer. The research work presented in this thesis is focused on understanding how the free surface (air- polymer interface), the polymer-substrate interface and the film thickness influence the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the related segmental dynamics (α-relaxation process) in both homopolymers and miscible polymer blends of thin films. Complementary experimental techniques including Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Capacitive Scanning Dilatometry (CSD), Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) and Specific Heat Spectroscopy (SHS) have been used to investigate the glass transition of thin polymer films from both the thermodynamic and the kinetic point of view. In the thesis the film thickness dependence of Tg and segmental dynamics of different thin polymer films have been investigated. For ultrathin polycarbonate (PC) films capped between two aluminum (Al) layers an increase of both the glass transition temperature (Tg) and Vogel temperature (T0) with decreasing film thickness (d) was observed when the thickness became lower than 20 nm. The segmental relaxation time at a fixed temperature was found to increase for the ultrathin PC film of 19 nm measured by BDS, whereas no thickness dependency of the segmental dynamics was detected within the experimental error limit for the PC films supported on silicon dioxide (SiO2) (10-192 nm) in the SHS measurements. These properties are discussed in terms of the thin film geometry and the relevant interfacial interaction between the polymer and the substrate. In the case of thin polystyrene (PS) films with high molecular weight (Mw), Tg is decreasing with reducing film thickness while the segmental dynamics is independent of film thickness. Moreover, the effects of the Mw and the annealing protocol performed on thin PS films on their Tg and segmental dynamics is studied. In the part of thin poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) films, no thickness dependence of the segmental dynamics was observed in the SHS measurements. The last part of the thesis was concentrated on the thin films of a miscible polymer blend, PS/PVME with the weight fraction of 50/50. It was observed that the segmental dynamics became faster with reducing the film thickness. This phenomenon is explained in terms of surface enrichment of PVME in the polymer blend system where PVME has a lower surface energy than PS. The segmental dynamics of the PVME-enriched free surface layer are faster than the bulk dynamics. Such free surface effect becomes so predominant with reducing the film thickness that it affects the segmental dynamics of the whole films detected by SHS using differential AC chip-based calorimetry. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to probe the surface composition in order to confirm such surface enrichment phenomena.
166
The present work is intended to make a contribution to the monitoring of civil engineering structures. The detection of damage to structures is based on the evaluation of spatially and temporally distributed hybrid measurements. The acquired data can be evaluated purely geometrically or physically. It is preferable to do the latter, since the cause of damage can be determined by means of geometrical-physical laws in order to be able to intervene in time and ensure the further use of the structures. For this reason, the continuum mechanical field equations in conjunction with the finite element method and hybrid measurements are combined into a single evaluation method by the adjustment calculation. This results in two challenges.
The first task deals with the relationship between the finite element method and the method of least squares. The finite element method solves certain problem classes, which are described by a system of elliptical partial differential equations. Whereas the method of least squares solves another class of problems, which is formulated as an overdetermined system of equations. The striking similarity between both methods is known since many decades. However, it remains unresolved why this resemblance exists. The contribution is to clarify this by examining the variational calculus, especially with regard to its methodological procedure. Although the well-known Gauss-Markov model within the method of least squares and the finite element method solve inherently different problem classes, it is shown that both methods can be derived by following the same methodological steps of the variational calculus. From a methodical viewpoint, this implies that both methods are not only similar, but actually the same. In addition, it is pointed out where a possible cross-connection to other methods exists.
The second task introduces a Measurement- and Model-based Structural Analysis (MeMoS) by integrating the finite element method into the adjustment calculation. It is shown in numerical examinations how this integrated analysis can be used for parameter identification of simple as well as arbitrarily shaped structural components. Based on this, it is examined with which observation types, with which precision and at which location of the structure these measurements must be carried out in order to determine the material parameters as precisely as possible. This serves to determine an optimal and economic measurement set-up. With this integrated analysis, a substitute model of a geometrically complex structure can also be determined. The issue of the detection and localisation of damage within a structure is studied by means of this structural analysis. The Measurement and Model-based Structural Analysis is validated using two different test setups, an aluminum model bridge and a bending beam.
99
The reduced size of nanoparticles (diameter < 100 nm) confers them high specific surface areas and permeability through many biological pathways resulting in high interaction with biological systems. Therefore, in the recent years, nanoparticles (NPs) have increasingly found many applications in biomedical research. Herein, silica-based NPs are among the most promising candidates for biomedical studies due to their relative low toxicity and the possibility of functional variability. The main focus of this thesis work has been the synthesis and characterisation of novel hybrid NPs with enhanced properties for biomedical studies. More specifically, suppression of protein adsorption and achievement of highly fluorescent NPs in serum-rich media are well focused. First, a chemical strategy for the preparation of highly fluorescent silica nanoparticles by covalent attachment of Alexa dyes and subsequent shielding by an additional pure silica shell is well presented. These nanoparticles were investigated by Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and fluorescence spectroscopy, the latter includes determination of absolute fluorescence quantum yields of such scattering suspensions with an integrating sphere setup and the assignment of fluorescence intensity values. At low shelling extension core-shell fluorescent silica nanoparticles show smooth surfaces and high quantum yields, even comparable to those for free dyes. However, by increasing the amount of shell precursor, nanoparticle surfaces show raspberry morphologies and decay of the quantum yields. Secondly, two different types of novel silica-poly(ethylene glycol) hybrid nanoparticles (H- SiO2-PEG and G- SiO2@PEG) have been synthesized by use of the same polymer precursor: Here the influence of concentration of the polymer precursor poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-3-(triethoxysilyl) propyl urethane (mPEG-IPTES) on the particle properties was scrutinised. For polymer grafted NPs, the concentration of polymer precursor increases the PEG density and the hydrophobicity of the NPs surface. On the other hand, for condensated NPs, the polymer precursor influences the size, but not the density of polymer chains on the NPs surface, which indicates that PEG on the surface of the NPs effectively reduces the adsorption of Bovine serum albumin (BSA). Finally, the influence of polymer length on the ability to repel BSA adsorption onto nanoparticles is reported. SNPs@PEG with different molecular weights (mPEG: 350, 2000 and 5000 g/mol) were synthesized by nucleophilic substitution of tosylated mPEG to aminated silica nanoparticles (chemical grafting). The resulted hybrid nanoparticles were consistently characterized by DLS, TEM, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). BSA at different concentrations were used as a model protein to study the protein-corona formation after adsorption onto the pristine and modified nanoparticles (SNPs@PEG). For pristine SNPs and SNPs@PEG (MW = 350 g/mol), zeta potential at different incubation times (0, 24 and 48 h) show a dynamic evolution of the nanoparticle-protein corona. Conversely, for SNPs@PEG with MW ≥ 2000 g/mol, a significant suppression of corona formation and time evolution was observed. In resume, protein corona is strongly influenced by the adsorption inhibition of PEG surfaces.
86
Saprotrophic basidiomycetes decompose wood in aerobic environments and can cause economic damage. The availability of nitrogen is determining for decomposition, and diazotrophic bacteria might enhance the nitrogen availability by fixation of atmospheric N2. Simultaneous decomposition by basidiomycetes and diazotrophs may intensify decomposition, because N2 fixation requires ATP, which could be provided during cellulose decomposition. In this study, the interaction was analysed by measurements of the nitrogen content and the δ15N values in biomass. Besides, the activity of basidiomycetes, influenced by different nitrogen sources, was determined. The analysis of the nitrogen content in biomass of Oligoporus placenta and Trametes versicolor proved the efficient uptake of organic nitrogen by wood-decomposing fungi even if only traces were available. In the presence of urea and ammonium chloride, the growth of T. versicolor was intensified. At cultivations in a 15N2/O2 atmosphere, the diazotrophic bacteria Azotobacter croococcum, Beijerinckia acida and Novosphingobium nitrogenifigens covered 1 to 13% of the nitrogen in their biomass by N2 fixation. If basidiomycetes and diazotrophs were co-cultivated, only B. acida fixed N2 and transferred it to both fungi. A. croococcum and N. nitrogenifigens did not coexist with the fungi. The effects of the nitrogen sources, i.e., organic nitrogen in the medium, organic nitrogen in sapwood and N2 from air, on the biomass of the mentioned basidiomycetes were determined in experiments according to full-factorial experimental plans. Organic nitrogen in the medium increased the growth of both basidiomycetes significantly. In additional experiments, the nitrogen source in the medium was replaced by an inoculum of B. acida. Then, atmospheric N2 supported the bacterial growth, which caused a significant decrease of basidiomycetal biomass compared to N2-free conditions. The presence of B. acida increased the biomass of T. versicolor to a low extent, but had no effect on the biomass of O. placenta. In contrast to the previously mentioned organisms, Hypholoma fasciculare and proteobacteria occur together in nature. In experiments, the growth of biomass of H. fasciculare and proteobacteria was supported by organic nitrogen, urea and ammonium chloride. The N2 fixation of the bacteria was significant but amounted to a low extent and was therefore explained by adsorption and not by nitrogenase activity. Competition between H. fasciculare and proteobacteria for the same nitrogen sources appeared more probable than N enrichment by diazotrophic activity.
69
Different amino group carrying surfaces, prepared by spin coating, self-assembly and plasma polymerization, were successfully investigated by XPS and NEXAFS. Amino groups were derivatized with the widely used primary amino group tags, PFB and TFBA, prior to analysis. Primary amino group quantification was then carried out according to the spectroscopic data. The gas-phase derivatization reactions of PFB and TFBA were also studied in order to understand their reaction behaviour, the spectral differences they cause and the time required for reaction completion. For the determination of maximum reaction yields of gas-phase surface derivatizations, a set of liquid-phase derivatization reactions was carried out. The selected amino compounds with a different degree of steric hindrance were reacted with PFB and TFBA. The yields (78-89%) were accepted as the upper limit of the gas- phase surface derivatizations. Thin films were prepared by spin coating of 4,4’-methylenebis(2,6-diethylaniline) on Si wafers and were reacted with the markers at 50ºC. The saturation time was found to be 15 min. for both reactions. XPS measurements showed the formation of a CF3 or C-F peak and a BE shift of the corresponding C=N group indicating a successful reaction. The NEXAFS results supported the XPS data by showing a sharp π*(C=N) resonance. The CF3 and C-F resonances were observed in the σ* region. The yields of the reactions were calculated from the component areas of the high resolution XP N1s spectra and from the [F]/[N] ratios. The surface amino groups were calculated from the stoichiometry and from the XP survey scans. The results were consistent with each other and showed a yield of 80-90% for PFB and 60-70% for TFBA. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of different terminal groups were prepared and investigated with XPS and NEXAFS. The spectral properties of aliphatic and aromatic SAMs were compared to the reference surfaces of poly(allylamine) and 4,4’-methylenebis(2,6-diethylaniline) spin coated on Si wafers. NEXAFS was used to determine the orientation of SAMs. An angle resolved NEXAFS was applied at the C K-edge in order to prove a successful SAM deposition on Au. The intense peaks in the difference spectra are due to the polarization dependence in the orbital responsible for the NEXAFS resonance showing a successful bond/functional group orientation. The gas-phase surface derivatization of two amino terminated SAMs, 4-aminophenylbutane-1-thiolate and 11- amino-1-undecanethiol, were studied. 4-aminophenylbutane-1-thiolate was derivatized with TFBA whereas 11- amino-1-undecanethiol with PFB at room temperature for 90 min. The stoichiometrical data were compared to the atomic percentages obtained from the XPS spectra and the results were consistent with each other. The yields of the reactions (60-80%) were obtained from the high resolution N1s spectra. Since a certain number of spectra had to be acquired to reach reasonable S/N ratios, a considerable danger of beam damage in the NEXAFS measurements occurs. The potential radiation damage effects on the C and N K- edge of 11-amino-1-undecanethiol film on Au was studied. The spectral differences before and after 1 h radiation exposure were investigated. The intensities of resonances related to unsaturated species such as C=C and C=N were increased for the C K-edge spectra. The NEXAFS N K-edge spectra of 11-amino-1-undecanethiol film showed no significant irradiation effect. Plasma deposited allylamine samples were successfully investigated by XPS and NEXAFS. Primary amino group quantification on plasma deposited allylamine surfaces was carried out by derivatization after plasma deposition. TFBA and PFB showed side reactions when plasma polymerization was used. Due to the radical mechanisms, C- F bond cleavages followed by HF releases occurred resulting in a second peak formation in XP F1s spectra. PFB derivatized surfaces suffer more from the C-F bond cleavage since fluorinated aromatic molecules are highly susceptible to nucleophilic aromatic substitution. Potential X-ray beam damage of TFBA was studied by a 10 h XPS measurement and showed a fluorine degradation. Due to the short measurement times, X-ray beam damage can be neglected. Since HF release on the TFBA surfaces are lower in percentage, it was used as the marker reagent for the coupling reactions. A series of samples deposited at 20W, 0.5 duty cycle and 15 Pa were derivatized to determine the time required for saturation (90 min.). Plasma polymerized allylamine samples with different duty cycle, power and pressure values were prepared in order to study the effects of external plasma parameters on the primary amino group retention. The [CF3] area percentages, obtained from the high resolution XP C1s spectra, vs. plasma parameter variations were compared. Duty cycle, power and pressure variation experiments showed the same trend on amino group retention. The more the plasma conditions move from mild to hard, the more rearrangements occur on the surface. Milder plasma conditions promote the retention of amino groups originating from the allylamine monomer. QEA (Quantitative Elemental Analysis) and PFA (Peak Fit Analysis) methods were used for the quantification of surface amino groups, depending on the XPS data. The results of two data evaluation methods were compared by using a Youden plot showing no deviation. NEXAFS was used along with XPS in order to study plasma parameter effects on amino groups. As being sensitive against unsaturated moieties, NEXAFS was successfully applied to plasma deposited allylamine surfaces. An increase in fragmentation rate due to a variation in plasma parameters was followed by intensity changes in NEXAFS C K-edge spectra. An inter-laboratory comparison of hydroxyl group determination on plasma surfaces was carried out. Hydroxyl groups on polypropylene foil, treated with oxygen plasma at 100 W for 90 s, were coupled with TFAA. The surfaces were investigated with XPS and the [OH] amount on the surfaces was calculated by QEA and PFA methods showing a 33% deviation between the two methods. CD-XPS is applied successfully in order to determine different functional groups on the thin film surfaces. However, a validated derivatization procedure, which can be easily applied in each lab, should be established. The used hardware and the peak fitting procedures of XPS should be defined in detail for the validation. The sample inhomogeneity and the effects of beam damage play a role on the deviations of the results. The surface thickness should be optimized for consistency. By the derivatization reactions, the surface amino groups are successfully quantified. As the next step, the studied surfaces can be used for potential biological applications, such as coupling the available amino groups with DNA or stem cells.