The main characteristics of a low-power inductive RF ion source designed for use in a compact nuclear microprobe at the IAP NASU are presented. The source operates at a frequency of 45 MHz with RF power below 10 W. The extracted beam current reaches up to 3.5 µA through a 0.6 mm diameter aperture. The beam is composed of 1H+, 2H+, and 3H+ ions, and the proton (1H+) fraction is about 10%. The measured energy spread of the ion beam is in the range of 7.5…9 eV. The beam emittance is 9.8 π·mm·mrad, and the normalized emittance is 0.037 π·mm·mrad.

It was studied effects of electron irradiation (energy E=10 MeV, dose D=5∙1019 сm-2) and ultrasonic treatment (f=20 kHz, T=300 K, t=30 min) on the evolution of the structure and creep of VT1-0 titanium alloy in two structural states: industrial production and obtained by the method of intensive plastic deformation (IPD). The relationship between the structural states obtained as a result of these effects and the regularities of plastic deformation development during creep was established. It has been shown that at test temperatures of 20 and 350 °C, the strength characteristics of the VT1-0 alloy in the nanostructured state increase by 1.5–2 times compared to the characteristics of the industrial alloy. The created nanostructure is resistant to subsequent deformation under creep conditions at a test temperature of 20 °C and after electron irradiation, as well as ultrasonic treatment, retains high strength properties and has prospects for practical application at temperatures in the region of 20 °C. At test temperature of 350 °С, the deformation nanostructure is destroyed due to the development of recrystallization processes. Electron irradiation and ultrasonic treatment lead to an increase in strength, which is associated with a slowdown in recrystallization processes and the formation of new deformation boundaries (polygonal boundaries, microtwins), which are more resistant to tensile loads. The reason for the hardening may also be the low energy of the stacking fault of the VT1-0 alloy.

In the creation of competitive products at the stage of technological development, one of the most important tasks of applied science is the development of new materials for advanced products and technologies for their strengthening. One of the types of hot metal deformation is hot pressing. It is widely used for the manufacture of products from many steels and alloys that are difficult to deform. With the development of production in various industries, a large number of varieties of the pressing process have emerged, and the number of alloys being pressed has sharply increased. Another most important advantage of pressed products is that they can be made in such a complex configuration that cannot be obtained by other methods of pressure processing or even cutting. The most widespread application of pressing is for the production of tubes from low-plasticity steels and alloys. The quality of tubes obtained by pressing is largely determined by the durability of the tool [1]. Blanks made of high-alloy steels are subjected to through drilling before pressing and, in some cases, expansion. The expansion process is used in the production of tubes from high-alloy steels because piercing them is difficult and leads to increased wall thickness variation. The expansion of the blank is carried out by an expander, with a piercing needle coaxially fixed at the front end of the expander, the length of which is 1.2–3.0 times the length of the drilled blank. Steels for hot pressing tools have prolonged contact with hot metal, and the working tool operates under conditions of high temperatures, intense sliding speeds, and significant specific pressure, which necessitates the use of high-alloy heat-resistant tool steels with increased toughness and strength as the material [2]. The article proposes and justifies the use of liquid carbonitriding after quenching and tempering of tool die steel 4X4VMFS for the manufacture of expanders for tube profile presses with the aim of increasing the strength, wear resistance, and operational durability of tube pressing tools for the production of tubes from corrosion-resistant high-alloy steels.

The electrical and dielectric properties of TlGa1-xInSe2 solids in a large temperature and frequency range, as well as the effect of γ-rays at a dose of 75 Mrad on them, were explained by means of possible mechanisms. Based on the results of the study of the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of TlGa1-xInSe2 (x=0; 0.1; 0.2) solid solutions before and after irradiation with different doses in the temperature range of 100…300 K, the temperature and frequency intervals of the presence of jump conductivity were determined. During the study of the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of solid solutions, the existence of two parts in the change of the specific conductivity was shown. In the studied solid solution samples, there is a sharp increase in the dielectric constant at a certain critical temperature. Above room temperature, the experimental points of ln(ε) are characterized by a straight line as a function of 1/T, which is a characteristic property of ionic conductivity.

Study was carried out to evaluate the biocidal effects of plasma-chemical methods for use by ozone, electric discharge with water electrode (plasma-chemical treatment) or their combination of artificially contaminated water. The preliminary contamination was achieved by inoculating water with suspensions of test cultures, including Escherichia coli #12 and Aspergillus flavus. The results showed that separate exposure to ozone or discharge with water electrode resulted in insignificant fungistatic effect on Aspergillus flavus and bacteriostatic effect on Escherichia coli #12 after exposure times of 2, 2.5, and 3 h, achieving inhibition rates of about 64%. Joint combined ozone and discharge with water electrode treatment during 2.5…3 h of water contaminated with a mixture of Escherichia coli #12 and Aspergillus flavus significantly inhibited microorganisms, causing destruction of the cell membrane and genetic material, resulting in the death of 95% of the cells. Such kind of treatment effectively improved the microbiological quality of drinking water.

he influence of impurities of the electrode material on the electrical conductivity of pulsed discharge plasma in water is considered. Experimental studies of electrical conductivity were conducted and calculations were performed based on the Grade method of moments. It is shown that a small amount of metal and carbon impurities can significantly change the value of the plasma electrical conductivity coefficient compared to the case of pure water vapor. It is found that metal and carbon impurities can cause both an increase and a decrease of the plasma electrical conductivity, which is related to the processes of interparticle collisions and the presence of clusters.

Time-dependent signals of the average electron density and Hα spectral line intensity were measured during the RF discharge, which created the dense hydrogen plasma in the Uragan-2M stellarator. These data were used as the basis for simulating the time-dependent local electron density and Hα line emission coefficient in a system of differential equations. The local electron densities were significantly modified as a result of the simulated increase in electron temperature. The similarity of the average electron density signals, the Hα line intensity signals and the corresponding simulated dependencies was confirmed.

Experimental data and results of numerical simulations are presented, concerning excitation of narrowband gigahertz-range wave trains in coaxial guiding structures that are partially filled with ferromagnetic material and may involve periodically arranged metal inserts. The experiments performed confirm the possibility of exciting weakly damped electromagnetic waves by feeding high voltage, unilateral electromagnetic pulses of short duration into the line. The coax line was of outer diameter 50.5 mm, filled with an isotropic dielectric (relative dielectric constant ε = 2.25) and a set of ferrite rings with ε=16 and saturated-state μ about 4 to 5. With a peak voltage of the primary pulse close to 160 kV and a magnetizing field of 17.5 kA/m, the parameters of the waves excited reached magnitudes as: frequency 1.89 to 2.1 GHz; bandwidth 16%; VHF power at the output about 20 MW.

This paper briefly describes intrinsic and collaborative scientific activities of the Stellarator Department (Institute of Plasma Physics of the National Science Center “Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology”) within last two years. These activities include experiments and numerical modeling for JET, Asdex-U and TCV European tokamaks, stellarators Wendelstein 7-X, TJ-II, LHD, Heliotron-J and Uragan-2M, TOMAS toroidal device and theoretical studies related to conceptual development of the stellarator-mirror fission-fusion hybrid.

The methods for determining the induced voltage based on experimental current oscillograms have been developed. Characteristic current oscillograms have been obtained. Optimal values of the charging voltage and current for the main discharge circuit have been established to provide a maximum induced voltage and the best multiplication factors. The effect of the charging voltage of the circuit of plasma gun and the number of guns on the voltage multiplication has been established. Optimal delay times between the operation of the plasma guns and the pulse current generator of the main circuit have been determined. The effect of inductance on the multiplication factor and optimal vacuum conditions has been determined.