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Periodic axial motion of the inner cylinder in Taylor–Couette flow is used to delay transition to Taylor vortices. The outer cylinder is fixed. The marginal stability diagram of Taylor–Couette flow with simultaneous periodic axial motion of the inner cylinder is determined using flow visualization. For the range of parameters studied, the degree of enhanced stability is found to be greater than that predicted by Hu & Kelly (1995), and differences in the scaling with axial Reynolds number are found. The discrepancies are attributed to essential differences between the base flow in the open system considered by Hu & Kelly, where mass is conserved over one period of oscillation, and the base flow in the enclosed experimental apparatus, where mass is conserved at all sections at all times.

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The versatility of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as an analytical method for high-temperature applications was demonstrated through measurement of the concentrations of the lanthanide elements europium (Eu) and praseodymium (Pr) in molten eutectic lithium chloride-potassium chloride (LiCl-KCl) salts at a temperature of 500 °C. Laser pulses (1064 nm, 7 ns, 120 mJ/pulse) were focused on the top surface of the molten salt samples in a laboratory furnace under an argon atmosphere, and the resulting LIBS signals were collected using a broadband Echelle-type spectrometer. Partial least squares (PLS) regression using leave-one-sample-out cross-validation was used to quantify the concentrations of Eu and Pr in the samples. The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) for Eu was 0.13% (absolute) over a concentration range of 0-3.01%, and for Pr was 0.13% (absolute) over a concentration range of 0-1.04%.