MuBeta Laboratory Staff Profile


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Charlene Chua

Engineer & Research Associate
MuBeta Laboratory

Address: DBE, Monash University Clayton
Phone: +61 (0)3 990 59715
Fax: +61 (0)3 990 59724
Email: Email Charlene



Qualifications: B.E. (Mech.) Monash 2008, B.T. (Aero.) Monash 2008

Affiliations:

  • Fluids Laboratory for Aeronautical and Industrial Research (FLAIR), Monash University

Research Interests: Design and development of experimental equipment for synchrotron use, vascular fluid dynamics.

High speed X-ray shutter

Experiments performed at synchrotrons are not only stressed for time, but equipment and specimens are exposed to high and continuous doses of X-ray radiation. In order to save expensive imaging equipment and biological specimens from destructive radiation damage, an X-ray shutter must be implemented between the X-ray beamline and the specimen/detector. The high-speed X-ray shutter must operate reliably (good repeatability), provide sufficient X-ray attenuation, have an opening/closing time as fast as possible, and operate with precise timing so that it can be synced accurately with the camera's exposure times and frame rates.

Mach 3 of the MuBeta Lab's X-ray shutter utilises moving parts which operate at over 100G's of acceleration, to produce sub-millisecond opening or closing times for a 4mm x 6mm aperture. The electronic controls for the X-ray shutter are currently being redesigned at Monash University.

stenosis model Haemodynamics of obstructed vessels

Arterial disease is the leading cause of death in the developed world. A common form of arterial disease is atherosclerosis; a progressive degenerative disease where plaques form on the inner surfaces of arteries — comprising of an abnormal accumulation of inflammatory cells, lipids and connective tissue. The presence of an arterial constriction, often called stenoses, sees normal blood flow disturbed as the haemodynamic effects of the flow are influenced. The downstream flow will subsequently be more turbulent, causing different conditions at the downstream pipe wall.

By modelling stenoses of different eccentricities and geometries, both computationally and experimentally, the physical severity of stenoses may be assessed based on flow parameters such as vorticity, wall shear and recirculation stagnation, of which are experienced by the downstream vessel wall.

Other Interests: Webdesign, website maintenance, markup languages.

Paper(s) currently in progress:

  1. Chua, C.S., Higgins, S.A., Fouras, A. & Hourigan, K. "A sub-millisecond asynchronous X-ray shutter" In preparation for submission to Review of Scientific Instruments.

Publications/Conferences/Seminars:

  1. PDF Download Chua, C.S., Sheard, G.J., Dubsky, S., Higgins, S., Jamison, R.A., Fouras, A. & Hourigan, K. (2009) Particle image velocimetry of non-axisymmetric stenosis models, in Proc. 8th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry — PIV09, Melbourne, Australia, 25–28 August 2009.
  2. PDF Download Chua, C.S., Sheard, G.J., Ryan, K. & Fouras, A. (2009) Changes in flow and wall shear stresses through arterial constrictions offset from the vessel centre, ANZIAM Journal, 50, C744–C759.
    Also in Proc. 14th Biennial Computational Techniques and Applications Conference (CTAC'08), Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 13–16 July 2008.