Electrode of electrostatic suspension experimental device and image processing method of suspended sample

Abstract

The application discloses an electrode of an electrostatic suspension experimental device and a suspension sample image processing method, and relates to the technical field of material science. The electrode comprises an electromagnetic suspension support, an electromagnetic suspension support column, a ceramic fixing disc, a main electrode and an auxiliary electrode. The electromagnetic suspension support comprises an upper support and a lower support. The main electrode and the auxiliary electrode are matched to realize the suspension of a surface charged material in a Coulomb force in an electric field. After the material is suspended, the state of the material is photographed by a CCD camera, and digital image processing is performed on the image. The target of the image processing is to remove the virtual image from the image in the photographing process of the CCD camera, and the size of the real image is counted by the number of pixels. The electrode structure designed by the method is simple, the technical condition is easy to implement, and the stability and reliability of the electrostatic suspension experiment are greatly improved. After the image obtained under the electrode suspension condition is processed by the method, a clear image of the suspended sample can be obtained.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of materials science and technology, specifically to an improvement in the electrode and suspended sample image processing method of an electrostatic levitation experimental device. Background Technology

[0002] The level of development in the field of materials science reflects a nation's basic scientific research strength and plays an increasingly important role in fields such as aerospace, energy, and military. In measuring the thermal properties of high-temperature molten materials and obtaining new metastable materials using deep supercooling techniques, electrostatic levitation technology offers unparalleled advantages over other levitation technologies such as air levitation, acoustic levitation, and electromagnetic levitation, including low noise. In electrostatic levitation experiments, materials are heated and melted in a undisturbed vacuum levitation state. Maintaining stable levitation of charged materials in an electric field is crucial for the success of electrostatic levitation experiments.

[0003] Currently, the high-voltage electrode in an electrostatic levitation experimental device is the actuator in the electrostatic levitation position control system. The electric field between the upper and lower electrodes is formed by the voltage difference applied between them. The shape, size, and position of the high-voltage electrode directly affect the electric field. Designing a high-voltage electrode system for an electrostatic levitation experimental device that provides both a sufficiently vertical upward component and a large horizontal constraint component is a key issue for the stable levitation of materials. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to address the shortcomings and deficiencies of existing technologies by providing an electrode and image processing method for a suspended sample in an electrostatic levitation experimental apparatus. This method achieves levitation by utilizing the Coulomb force experienced by a surface-charged material in an electric field through the cooperation of a main electrode and an auxiliary electrode. After the material is levied, a CCD camera is used to photograph its state, and digital image processing is performed on the images. The goal of image processing is to remove ghosting images from the CCD camera's capture and to statistically determine the size of the real image by counting the number of pixels. This method features a simple electrode structure, is easy to implement, and significantly improves the stability and reliability of electrostatic levitation experiments. Images obtained under these electrode levitation conditions, after processing using this method, yield clear images of the suspended sample.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: it includes an electromagnetic levitation support 1, an electromagnetic levitation support column 2, a ceramic fixing plate 3, a main electrode 4, and an auxiliary electrode 5. The electromagnetic levitation support 1 includes an upper support 11 and a lower support 12. The upper support 11 is connected to the lower support 12 through a plurality of electromagnetic levitation support columns 2. The ceramic fixing plate 3 includes an upper fixing plate 31 and a lower fixing plate 32. The upper fixing plate 31 is mounted on the upper support 11, and the lower fixing plate 32 is mounted on the lower support 12. The main electrode 4 includes an upper main electrode 41 and a lower main electrode 42. The upper main electrode 41 and the auxiliary electrode 5 are mounted on the upper fixing plate 31, and a plurality of auxiliary electrodes 5 are disposed on the outer ring of the upper main electrode 41. The lower main electrode 42 is mounted on the lower fixing plate 32.

[0006] The upper main electrode 41 and the lower main electrode 42 are coaxial in the vertical direction and are 10mm apart vertically.

[0007] The upper main electrode 41 includes a first threaded bar 411 and a first cylindrical electrode 412, with the first threaded bar 411 disposed on the top of the first cylindrical electrode 412. The first threaded bar 411 is used to fix it on the upper ceramic mounting plate and connect it to the high-voltage source.

[0008] The bottom of the upper main electrode 41 is a plane or an arc surface. The center of the electric field formed in this way is an approximately uniform electric field, which can provide a large vertical electric field component.

[0009] At least four auxiliary electrodes 5 are provided, and they are arranged in a cross shape with the upper main electrode 41 as the center, and are on the same horizontal line. The lower plane of the auxiliary electrode 5 is 2mm lower than the lower plane of the upper main electrode 41.

[0010] The auxiliary electrode 5 has a second threaded bar 51 above it, and a protrusion 52 is provided on the bottom side of the auxiliary electrode 5. The protrusion 52 is designed to form an electric field potential well in the horizontal direction, thereby increasing the sample's anti-interference capability in the horizontal direction.

[0011] The outer side of the protrusion 52 is an arc surface, with the center point of the upper main electrode 41 as the center and the radius as 10mm. The distance between the arc surface and the upper main electrode 41 is 5mm.

[0012] The lower main electrode 42 has a groove 421 in the middle of its top and a threaded hole 422 in the middle of its bottom. The groove 421 facilitates rapid and repeated experiments. Due to gravity, the sample will roll to the middle of the groove, eliminating the need to open the vacuum chamber to adjust the sample position, while ensuring the stability of the sample when suspended. The threaded hole 422 is used to connect the output voltage of the bias voltage source.

[0013] The cylindrical electrode 412 has a diameter of 8-10 mm. The diameter of the cylindrical electrode can be appropriately changed according to the size and properties of the material.

[0014] Its digital image processing procedure is as follows:

[0015] After batch reading the same set of images, the images are processed as follows: Gaussian smoothing is applied to all images to remove noise; then, all images are sharpened. Sharpening aims to make the boundaries of material shapes, which were blurred during Gaussian processing, clearer and more distinct. After sharpening, the images are binarized. At this point, the images will produce a lot of salt-and-pepper noise, which needs to be processed using median filtering. Since it is necessary to eliminate ghosting caused by camera issues, the images need to be cropped. The cropping method is to extract the contour of the last image in the same set. Because in some cases, the ghosting of the material shape partially overlaps with the material shape, the watershed method is used for contour extraction. Since the relative positions of the ghosting and real images in the same set of images are fixed, the ghosting positions calculated based on the last image are used to crop other images in the same set. The new images are then subjected to an erosion operation to obtain the final image, and the number of white points in the final image is counted.

[0016] The working principle of this invention is as follows: An electromagnetic levitation support 1 includes an upper support 11 and a lower support 12. The upper support 11 is connected to the lower support 12 via several electromagnetic levitation support columns 2. A ceramic fixing plate 3 includes an upper fixing plate 31 and a lower fixing plate 32. The upper fixing plate 31 is mounted on the upper support 11, and the lower fixing plate 32 is mounted on the lower support 12. The main electrode 4 includes an upper main electrode 41 and a lower main electrode 42. The upper main electrode 41 and auxiliary electrodes 5 are mounted on the upper fixing plate 31, with several auxiliary electrodes 5 arranged around the outer ring of the upper main electrode 41. The lower main electrode 42 is mounted on the lower fixing plate 32. The upper main electrode 41 is connected to a negative high-voltage power supply, and the lower main electrode 42 is grounded, thus connecting the upper and lower electrodes... An upward electric field is formed between the electrodes. At the beginning of the experiment, the material falls onto the lower main electrode 42. As the negative voltage of the upper main electrode 41 is gradually increased, the electric field strength between the upper and lower electrodes gradually increases, and the surface charge of the material also gradually increases. When the upward Coulomb force on the material is just equal to the weight of the material, further increasing the negative voltage of the upper main electrode 41 can achieve the material's levitation. Electrostatic levitation can be used to study a wide range of materials, such as metals, alloys, semiconductors, etc. The diameter of the upper main electrode 41 can be appropriately changed according to the size and properties of the material. Generally, the diameter of the cylindrical electrode is 8-10 mm. Smaller diameter samples generally use smaller diameter electrodes. The bottom of the upper main electrode is a flat surface or a slightly curved arc surface, which creates an approximately uniform electric field at the center of the electric field, providing a large vertical electric field component. The four auxiliary electrodes 5 are divided into two pairs facing each other. In one pair of auxiliary electrodes 5, one electrode is grounded and the other is connected to a high-voltage source, so that the horizontal component of the electric field between the upper and lower electrodes changes accordingly according to the horizontal position of the material, improving the stability of the material suspension. The lower part of the auxiliary electrode 5 is a protrusion with an arc surface. The arc surface is centered on the axis of the upper main electrode and has a radius of 10 mm. The purpose is to form an electric field potential well in the horizontal direction, increasing the sample's anti-interference ability in the horizontal direction. Depending on the size of the sample, a ceramic shim can be added between the auxiliary electrode and the upper ceramic to adjust the relative position between the auxiliary electrode and the upper main electrode.

[0017] The beneficial effects of this invention, achieved by employing the above technical solution, are as follows: It suspends the surface-charged material in an electric field through the combination of a main electrode and an auxiliary electrode, utilizing the Coulomb force. After suspending the material, a CCD camera is used to photograph its state, and the images undergo digital image processing. The goal of image processing is to remove ghosting images captured by the CCD camera and to statistically determine the size of the real image by counting the number of pixels. This method features a simple electrode structure, is easy to implement, and significantly improves the stability and reliability of electrostatic levitation experiments. Images obtained under these electrode levitation conditions, after processing using this method, yield clear images of the suspended sample. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the upper main electrode 41 in this invention.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the lower main electrode 42 in this invention.

[0023] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the auxiliary electrode 5 in this invention.

[0024] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of the digital image processing algorithm in this invention.

[0025] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached drawings: Electromagnetic levitation bracket 1, upper bracket 11, lower bracket 12, electromagnetic levitation support column 2, ceramic fixing plate 3, upper fixing plate 31, lower fixing plate 32, main electrode 4, upper main electrode 41, threaded strip 411, first cylindrical electrode 412, lower main electrode 42, groove 421, threaded hole 422, auxiliary electrode 5, second threaded strip 51, protrusion 52. Detailed Implementation

[0026] See Figures 1-5 As shown, the technical solution adopted in this specific embodiment is as follows: It includes an electromagnetic levitation bracket 1, an electromagnetic levitation support column 2, a ceramic fixing plate 3, a main electrode 4, and an auxiliary electrode 5. The electromagnetic levitation bracket 1 includes an upper bracket 11 and a lower bracket 12. The electromagnetic levitation bracket 1 is used to install and fix the ceramic fixing plate 3. The upper bracket 11 is connected to the lower bracket 12 through several electromagnetic levitation support columns 2. The ceramic fixing plate 3 includes an upper fixing plate 31 and a lower fixing plate 32. The ceramic fixing plate 3 is used to install and fix the main electrode 4 and the auxiliary electrode 5. The upper fixing plate 31 is installed on the upper bracket 11, and the lower fixing plate 32 is installed on the lower bracket 12. The main electrode 4 includes an upper main electrode 41 and a lower main electrode 42. The upper main electrode 41 and the auxiliary electrode 5 are installed on the upper fixing plate 31. Several auxiliary electrodes 5 are arranged on the outer ring of the upper main electrode 41. The upper main electrode 41 is used to connect to a negative high-voltage power supply. The lower main electrode 42 is installed on the lower fixing plate 32 and is used to connect to the ground wire.

[0027] The upper main electrode 41 and the lower main electrode 42 are coaxial in the vertical direction and are 10mm apart vertically.

[0028] The upper main electrode 41 includes a first threaded bar 411 and a first cylindrical electrode 412, with the first threaded bar 411 disposed on the top of the first cylindrical electrode 412. The first threaded bar 411 is used to fix it on the upper ceramic mounting plate and connect it to the high-voltage source.

[0029] The bottom of the upper main electrode 41 is a plane or an arc surface. The center of the electric field formed in this way is an approximately uniform electric field, which can provide a large vertical electric field component.

[0030] At least four auxiliary electrodes 5 are provided, and they are arranged in a cross shape with the upper main electrode 41 as the center, and are on the same horizontal line. The lower plane of the auxiliary electrode 5 is 2mm lower than the lower plane of the upper main electrode 41.

[0031] The auxiliary electrode 5 has a second threaded bar 51 above it, and a protrusion 52 is provided on the bottom side of the auxiliary electrode 5. The protrusion 52 is designed to form an electric field potential well in the horizontal direction, thereby increasing the sample's anti-interference capability in the horizontal direction.

[0032] The outer side of the protrusion 52 is an arc surface, with the center point of the upper main electrode 41 as the center and the radius of the arc surface being 10mm. The distance between the arc surface and the upper main electrode 41 is 5mm.

[0033] The lower main electrode 42 has a groove 421 in the middle of its top and a threaded hole 422 in the middle of its bottom. The groove 421 facilitates rapid and repeated experiments. Due to gravity, the sample will roll to the middle of the groove, eliminating the need to open the vacuum chamber to adjust the sample position, while ensuring the stability of the sample when suspended. The threaded hole 422 is used to connect the output voltage of the bias voltage source.

[0034] The cylindrical electrode 412 has a diameter of 8-10 mm. The diameter of the cylindrical electrode can be appropriately changed according to the size and properties of the material.

[0035] Its digital image processing procedure is as follows:

[0036] After batch reading the same set of images, the images are processed as follows: Gaussian smoothing is applied to all images to remove noise; then, all images are sharpened. Sharpening aims to make the boundaries of material shapes, which were blurred during Gaussian processing, clearer and more distinct. After sharpening, the images are binarized. At this point, the images will produce a lot of salt-and-pepper noise, which needs to be processed using median filtering. Since it is necessary to eliminate ghosting caused by camera issues, the images need to be cropped. The cropping method is to extract the contour of the last image in the same set. Because in some cases, the ghosting of the material shape partially overlaps with the material shape, the watershed method is used for contour extraction. Since the relative positions of the ghosting and real images in the same set of images are fixed, the ghosting positions calculated based on the last image are used to crop other images in the same set. The new images are then subjected to an erosion operation to obtain the final image, and the number of white points in the final image is counted.

[0037] The working principle of this invention is as follows: An electromagnetic levitation support 1 includes an upper support 11 and a lower support 12. The upper support 11 is connected to the lower support 12 via several electromagnetic levitation support columns 2. A ceramic fixing plate 3 includes an upper fixing plate 31 and a lower fixing plate 32. The upper fixing plate 31 is mounted on the upper support 11, and the lower fixing plate 32 is mounted on the lower support 12. The main electrode 4 includes an upper main electrode 41 and a lower main electrode 42. The upper main electrode 41 and auxiliary electrodes 5 are mounted on the upper fixing plate 31, with several auxiliary electrodes 5 arranged around the outer ring of the upper main electrode 41. The lower main electrode 42 is mounted on the lower fixing plate 32. The upper main electrode 41 is connected to a negative high-voltage power supply, and the lower main electrode 42 is grounded, thus connecting the upper and lower electrodes... An upward electric field is formed between the electrodes. At the beginning of the experiment, the material falls onto the lower main electrode 42. As the negative voltage of the upper main electrode 41 is gradually increased, the electric field strength between the upper and lower electrodes gradually increases, and the surface charge of the material also gradually increases. When the upward Coulomb force on the material is just equal to the weight of the material, further increasing the negative voltage of the upper main electrode 41 can achieve the material's levitation. Electrostatic levitation can be used to study a wide range of materials, such as metals, alloys, semiconductors, etc. The diameter of the upper main electrode 41 can be appropriately changed according to the size and properties of the material. Generally, the diameter of the cylindrical electrode is 8-10 mm. Smaller diameter samples generally use smaller diameter electrodes. The bottom of the upper main electrode is a flat surface or a slightly curved arc surface, which creates an approximately uniform electric field at the center of the electric field, providing a large vertical electric field component. The four auxiliary electrodes 5 are divided into two pairs facing each other. In one pair of auxiliary electrodes 5, one electrode is grounded and the other is connected to a high-voltage source, so that the horizontal component of the electric field between the upper and lower electrodes changes accordingly according to the horizontal position of the material, improving the stability of the material suspension. The lower part of the auxiliary electrode 5 is a protrusion with an arc surface. The arc surface is centered on the axis of the upper main electrode and has a radius of 10 mm. The purpose is to form an electric field potential well in the horizontal direction, increasing the sample's anti-interference ability in the horizontal direction. Depending on the size of the sample, a ceramic shim can be added between the auxiliary electrode and the upper ceramic to adjust the relative position between the auxiliary electrode and the upper main electrode.

[0038] The beneficial effects of this invention, achieved by employing the above technical solution, are as follows: It suspends the surface-charged material in an electric field through the combination of a main electrode and an auxiliary electrode, utilizing the Coulomb force. After suspending the material, a CCD camera is used to photograph its state, and the images undergo digital image processing. The goal of image processing is to remove ghosting images captured by the CCD camera and to statistically determine the size of the real image by counting the number of pixels. This method features a simple electrode structure, is easy to implement, and significantly improves the stability and reliability of electrostatic levitation experiments. Images obtained under these electrode levitation conditions, after processing using this method, yield clear images of the suspended sample.

[0039] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing this invention and for simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0040] The above description is only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention and is not intended to limit it. Any other modifications or equivalent substitutions made by those skilled in the art to the technical solution of the present invention, as long as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention, should be covered within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A high-voltage electrode for an electrostatic levitation experimental device, characterized in that: It consists of an electromagnetic levitation bracket (1), electromagnetic levitation support columns (2), a ceramic fixing plate (3), a main electrode (4), and an auxiliary electrode (5). The electromagnetic levitation bracket (1) includes an upper bracket (11) and a lower bracket (12). The upper bracket (11) is connected to the lower bracket (12) through several electromagnetic levitation support columns (2). The ceramic fixing plate (3) includes an upper fixing plate (31) and a lower fixing plate (32). The upper fixing plate (31) is mounted on the upper bracket (11), and the lower fixing plate (32) is mounted on the lower bracket (12). The main electrode (4) includes an upper main electrode (41) and a lower main electrode (42). The upper main electrode (41) and the auxiliary electrode (5) are mounted on the upper fixing plate (31). Several auxiliary electrodes (5) are arranged on the outer ring of the upper main electrode (41), and the lower main electrode (42) is installed on the lower fixed plate (32); at least four auxiliary electrodes (5) are provided, and they are arranged in a cross shape with the upper main electrode (41) as the center and are on the same horizontal line. The lower plane of the auxiliary electrode (5) is 2mm lower than the lower plane of the upper main electrode (41); the upper part of the auxiliary electrode (5) is a second threaded strip (51), and the bottom side of the auxiliary electrode (5) is provided with a protrusion (52); the outer side of the protrusion (52) is an arc surface, and the arc surface is centered on the axis of the upper main electrode (41), with a radius of 10mm, and the distance between the arc surface and the upper main electrode (41) is 5mm.

2. A method for image processing of a sample suspended by a high-voltage electrode in an electrostatic levitation experimental device, characterized in that: After capturing the material's state using a CCD camera, a digital image processing algorithm is applied. This algorithm removes ghosting images captured by the CCD camera from the image and counts the size of the real image by pixel count. The specific steps are as follows: First, a batch of images from the same group are read, and then the images undergo the following batch processing: Gaussian smoothing is applied to all images to remove noise; then, sharpening is applied to all images to make the blurred boundaries of the material shapes clearer; after sharpening, the images are binarized, at which point the image will generate many... The salt-and-pepper noise needs to be processed using median filtering. Since it's necessary to eliminate ghosting caused by camera issues, image cropping is required. The cropping method involves extracting the contour of the last image in the same group. Because in some cases, the ghosting of the material shape partially overlaps with the material shape, the watershed method is used for contour extraction. Since the relative positions of the ghosting and real images in the same group are fixed, the ghosting positions calculated from the last image are used to crop other images in the same group. The resulting new images undergo another erosion operation to obtain the final image, and the number of white points in the final image is counted.

3. The high-voltage electrode of the electrostatic levitation experimental device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper main electrode (41) and the lower main electrode (42) are coaxial in the vertical direction and are 10 mm apart.

4. The high-voltage electrode of the electrostatic levitation experimental device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper main electrode (41) includes a first threaded bar (411) and a first cylindrical electrode (412), with the first threaded bar (411) disposed on the top of the first cylindrical electrode (412).

5. The high-voltage electrode of the electrostatic levitation experimental device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom of the upper main electrode (41) is a plane or an arc surface.

6. The high-voltage electrode of the electrostatic levitation experimental device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lower main electrode (42) has a groove (421) in the middle of its top and a threaded hole (422) in the middle of its bottom.

7. The high-voltage electrode of the electrostatic levitation experimental device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The cylindrical electrode (412) has a diameter of 8-10 mm.

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