This thesis is concerned with the design and development of measuring devices for the characterisation of acoustic transients with high temporal and spatial resolution. Three new techniques are demonstrated characterising acoustic transients generated by Nd-YAG laser (1060nm, 30ns, 55mJ) assisted breakdown of water and air. The first technique demonstrates the use of a high power semiconductor laser in a high speed multiple exposure imaging system. This system developed is capable of illuminating an event with up to 10 pulses of light at a maximum repetition rate of 5MHz, with a timing accuracy of ≈5ns. Each semiconductor laser light pulse has a FWHM duration of 50ns, peak power of 30W, and a wavelength of 860nm. Images of individual acoustic transients are displayed on the same CCD camera frame, and it was found that this is best achieved using a dark field imaging technique such as Schlieren imaging.

Master of Science / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Mohammad H. Hosni / A traditional cooling/refrigeration cycle has four main system components which are an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion valve. This type of cycle requires use of refrigerants which have been found to be harmful to the environment, including causing damage to the atmospheric ozone layer. The main objective of the project was to investigate a water-based non-vapor compression cooling system. Water as a working fluid has the advantages of being inexpensive and environmentally safe for use, as compared to commercially available chemical refrigerants. The water-based cooling system investigated employed cavitation phenomena in converging-diverging glass nozzles. Cavitation is an important phenomenon in fluids, and is common occurring in many devices such as pumps, refrigeration expansion valves, and capillary tubes. It occurs when the static pressure of the fluid falls below the vapor pressure, into a metastable liquid state. Cavitation can be in the form of traveling bubble cavitation, vortex cavitation, cloud cavitation, or attached wall cavitation. In this thesis, the focus was first on visualizing cavitation for water flowing through converging- diverging glass nozzles. These nozzles had throat diameters between 2 mm and 4 mm. Two systems were used: (1) a continuous flow system, where water was driven by a centrifugal pump, and (2) a transient blow down system, where water flow was initiated using a suction pump. A high-speed camera was used to record videos and images of the associated cavitation phenomena. A thermal infrared camera was used in an attempt to measure temperature drop in the nozzle while the system was running The second part of this thesis focused on the understanding of the fundamental thermodynamics phenomena and on the development of practical knowledge relevant to the cavitation process. Two equations of state were used in the analysis, the van der walls equation of state, and the Peng Robinson equation of state. Equations of state were used to predict the transition from vapor to liquid. At a given temperature, the equations were solved for a pressure value corresponding to saturated liquid and saturated vapor specific volume values. Then, the equations were used to determine the spinodal liquid and vapor lines, which represent the metastabillity limits for the liquid and vapor. The characteristic equations of state, combined with implementation of the Law of Corresponding States and thermodynamic theory, were used to estimate the temperature reduction available for refrigeration.

Lors du fonctionnement des machines hydrauliques, le développement de structures de cavitation peut entraîner une chute de performance. De plus, la cavitation peut être responsable de l'usure des pièces mécaniques par érosion. La taille et la vitesse de rotation des pompes étant fortement dépendantes du niveau de cavitation acceptable, la présence de cavitation dans une installation hydraulique est liée à un compromis technico-économique. La prévision de l'érosion de cavitation serait utile à la fois pour améliorer la conception des matériels en projet mais également pour optimiser les périodes de maintenance de ceux existants. Bien que des essais, permettant de caractériser le comportement à l'érosion d'une machine, soient possibles, ceux-ci restent coûteux. Bénéficiant des progrès de la simulation des écoulements, une prévision par voie numérique de l'érosion de cavitation parait accessible.L'érosion est un phénomène multi-physique et multi-échelle. Multi-physique car elle fait intervenir la mécanique des fluides et la réponse du solide ; multi-échelle car les échelles en temps et en espace vont de celles caractérisant l'écoulement autour du composant hydraulique (0.1 m - 1 ms) jusqu'à celles de la déformation plastique observée sur le matériau (1 µm - 10 ns) . Dans cette thèse, seule la partie fluide est considérée, plus particulièrement, le chargement d'un écoulement cavitant sur une paroi solide, appelé "intensité de cavitation". L'objectif est d'estimer cette intensité à partir de la simulation d'un écoulement cavitant.Des écoulements instationnaires 3D en régime cavitant sont simulés en utilisant un modèle homogène, implémenté dans le Code_Saturne cavitant. Une description du modèle numérique et de l'approche physique considérée est présentée dans le mémoire. Le modèle de prédiction de l'endommagement, basé sur une approche énergétique, est développé et appliqué sur un hydrofoil NACA 65012 testé au LMH-EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) et sur la pompe centrifuge SHF testée au sein d'EDF R&D. Des comparaisons entre des simulations 3D sur différents maillages sont analysées et une bonne estimation qualitative de l'érosion est obtenue via ce modèle à différentes vitesses d'écoulement. Une tentative de validation quantitative pour le cas de l'hydrofoil est mise en place et semble prometteuse.Dans le but d'enrichir le modèle de prévision de l'intensité de cavitation, des simulations à l'échelle d'une bulle sont également menées. Ces simulations permettent une meilleure compréhension des interactions entre une onde incidente et l'implosion d'une bulle en proche paroi. Des phénomènes d'amplification des collapsus de bulles ont pu être simulés, pouvant être à l'origine de fortes ondes de pression dont l'impact serait responsable de l'endommagement des matériaux avoisinants. / The development of cavitation structures can lead to efficiency losses during hydraulic machinery duty. Moreover, cavitation can be responsible for wear of mechanical parts through cavitation erosion. The presence of cavitation in a hydraulic machine is also linked to a technical and economical trade-off, because the size and rotational speed of pumps are highly dependent on the acceptable cavitation level. Therefore, it seems likely that cavitation will remain present in current and future pump designs and its consequences must be dealt with. The prediction of the erosion is important both for the improvement of hydraulic components at the design stage but also for the optimization of maintenance periods of existing machinery. Experimental tests can be carried out to characterize the erosion behaviour of a machine, but are still expensive. With the recent advances in Computational Fluid Dynamics, the numerical prediction of cavitation erosion appears as a reachable and cost-effective alternative.The erosion is a multi-physical and multi-scale phenomenon. Multi-physical because it deals with both fluid and solid mechanics and multi-scale because the length and time scales of the flow around the hydraulic component (0.1 m - 1 ms) and of the plastic deformation observed on the material (1 µm - 10 ns) are not of the same order of magnitude. In this thesis, only the fluid part is considered, more particularly, the mechanical load imposed by a cavitating flow on a material, called "cavitation intensity". The objective is to estimate this intensity from cavitating flow simulations.In this work, 3D unsteady simulations of cavitation regimes are carried out using a homogeneous model, implemented in the CFD code Code_Saturne cavitant. The prediction damage model, based on an energy approach, is developed and applied to a NACA 65012 hydrofoil tested at the LMH-EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) and on the SHF centrifugal pump tested at EDF R&D. Comparisons between 3D simulations on different meshes show that the model provides good qualitative predictions of erosion at different flow velocities. An attempt is made to propose a quantitative validation for the case of the hydrofoil, with promising results.In order to enrich the cavitation intensity prediction model, simulations at the bubble scale are also performed. These simulations allow for a better understanding of the interaction between an incident pressure wave and the implosion of a near-wall bubble. The mechanism of bubble collapse amplification is simulated, and is shown to be associated with high magnitude pressure waves. This amplification phenomenon is suspected to be a strong contributor to the damage of neighbouring materials.

Le travail présenté ici porte sur l’étude et le contrôle de la cavitation acoustique dans le but de développer un système de sonoporation efficace pour les cellules en suspension et les cellules adhérentes. Le manuscrit est composé de trois chapitres. Tout d’abord, une revue de la littérature sur les différentes techniques physiques utilisées en transfection cellulaire, et plus particulièrement la sonoporation. Il a été démontré que le principal mécanisme de la sonoporation est étroitement lié au phénomène de cavitation acoustique. Un contrôle de ce phénomène aléatoire apparaît alors intéressant afin d’augmenter le taux de transfection tout en gardant une forte viabilité cellulaire. Dans le second chapitre, un système de régulation de cavitation ultrasonore basé sur un indice acoustique de cavitation a été étudié. Cet indice, est basé sur la mesure de bruit large bande émis lors de l’implosion des bulles de cavitation. Les avantages d’un tel système sont : un suivi en temps réel du niveau de cavitation durant l’irradiation, des informations quasi-instantanées sur les composantes spectrales caractéristiques de la cavitation, une meilleure reproductibilité et stabilité du niveau de cavitation surtout pour les intensités modérés. Dans le troisième chapitre, pour comprendre les mécanismes de la sonoporation, un deuxième système de cavitation contrôlé a été conçu dans le but de permettre une visualisation du milieu en cours d’insonification. Ce nouveau dispositif est adapté à un fonctionnement sous microscope photonique à transmission et à fluorescence. Des essais de transfection de siRNAs, sur les cellules en suspension (RL du lymphome folliculaire) et sur les cellules adhérentes (cancer du sein ; MDA-MB 231) ont permis de valider in vitro l’efficacité de ce système en atteignant un taux de 40 % de transfection pour ces deux types de cellules, avec un très faible taux de mortalité (< 10 %) / The aim of the present work, which is based on the study and the control of acoustic cavitation, is to develop an efficient sonoporation system to transfect the cells in suspension and the adherent cells. The manuscript is composed of three chapters. The first one takes a glance on the state of art of different physical techniques used in cells transfection, and more precisely on sonoporation. It has been shown that the principal mechanism of sonoporation is closely linked to acoustic cavitation. Thus, a control of this random phenomenon is important to increase the rate of transfection while keeping strong cell viability. In the second chapter, a regulated cavitation generator based on an acoustic index was studied. This index is based on the measure of broad band noise emitted during the implosion of the cavitation bubbles. The advantage of such a system is: a control in real time of the level cavitation during sonication, leading to a better reproducibility and stability of the cavitation level, especially for the moderate intensities. In the third chapter, in order further study the sonoporation mechanisms, a second regulated cavitation generator was studied; its aim is to be able to visualize the medium during sonication. This new device is adapted to the performance under a fluorescencemicroscope with fluorescence transmission. SiRNAs transfection, was validated in vitro by attending a rate of 40 % of transfection for the two types of cells, with a very low rate of mortality (< 10%), for both suspended cells (RL of follicular lymphoma) and adherent cells (Cancer of breast; MDA-MB 231)

Dans nombre d’applications thérapeutiques des ultrasons, il peut être intéressant d’augmenter l’activité de cavitation inertielle tout en limitant au maximum les intensités utilisées : ceci permet de maximiser les effets mécaniques des ultrasons au niveau des tissus visés tout en minimisant les échauffements des tissus environnants. L’étude expérimentale présentée ici ² porte sur la modification des seuils de cavitation inertielle et de l’activité de cavitation au-delà du seuil lorsqu’un signal bifréquentiel comportant deux composantes fréquentielles proches est utilisé. Le caractère non linéaire de la modification du seuil est démontré. Ainsi, des réductions significatives de l’intensité nécessaire à l’obtention de cavitation inertielle peuvent être obtenues dans des milieux où les seuils sont élevés. De plus, l’évolution de l’activité de cavitation lorsque l’intensité ultrasonore est augmentée au-delà du seuil montre qu’avec une excitation bifréquentielle, de fortes activités de cavitation peuvent être atteintes pour des intensités plus proches du seuil. Ce point présente un double intérêt sur le plan de l’application pratique, puisque cela signifie une meilleure séparation des régimes cavitant et non cavitant et permet de réduire encore, par rapport à une excitation monofréquentielle, les intensités requises pour atteindre une activité de cavitation donnée. Des essais sur modèle de caillots sanguins ont permis de valider in vitro l’efficacité de cette excitation bifréquentielle pour la thrombolyse purement ultrasonore. / Enhancing cavitation activity using lower acoustic intensities is interesting to a variety of therapeutic applications, where the mechanical effects of cavitation are required with minimal heating of surrounding tissues. The present experimental work is focused on the modification of the inertial cavitation threshold and on the cavitation activity beyond the threshold where an excitation signal made of two neighbouring frequency components is used. A significant reduction of the acoustic intensity required to trigger cavitation can be obtained in a medium with a strong cavitation threshold. Moreover, comparing the evolution of the cavitation activity beyond the threshold where mono- and bi-frequency excitations are used, it is shown, in the latter case, that strong activities can be reached with intensities closer to the threshold value. This fact would offer a dual-benefit in terms of therapeutic applications, as it enables a better separation between the cavitating and non-cavitating regime and allows lower intensities to be used to attain a given cavitation activity. The evolution of the bifrequency threshold as function of the external parameters shows that the mechanisms involved are nonlinear. Experiments on in vitro blood clot models have validated the efficiency of this bifrequency excitation for purely ultrasound thrombolysis

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Electromechanical Engineering

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Electromechanical Engineering

Raw produce has frequently been identified as the source of bacterial pathogens that can cause human illnesses, including listeriosis and salmonellosis. Microbial pathogens may attach and form biofilms on raw fruit surfaces and can be difficult to remove. A cavitation process (formation of bubbles in water) was studied for its effectiveness for removal and inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Newport from the surfaces of fresh Roma tomatoes and cantaloupes. Individual fruit were separately inoculated with each pathogen, then submerged in a water tank and treated with a bubble flow through an air stone using one airflow rate (0 – 14 liters/min.) for up to 60 sec. As air flow increased, pathogen reduction increased up to 1.2 log CFU/fruit greater than with water alone (no bubbles). Additional pathogen reduction in the tank water (organisms detached from the fruit) was observed with the bubble treatments. Therefore, these bubble streams can be used to enhance the detachment of bacteria from fruit surfaces and to inactivate a proportion of these detached microorganisms. Additionally, recoveries of Salmonella from inoculated Roma tomatoes and cantaloupe were determined for treatment water that contained 50 or 150 ppm sodium hypochlorite. The combination of cavitation and chlorine resulted in greater efficacy of inactivating the pathogen in treatment water, but not in removing this organism from the fruit surfaces. The physical force of a bubble stream on raw produce can effectively reduce and inactivate surface bacteria, and has the potential to reduce antimicrobial chemical and water use in post-harvest packing operations. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Every year, one in six Americans will have been affected by a foodborne illness, many of which are caused by bacteria found on the surface of fresh fruits and vegetables. Most of these bacteria are removed with the help of a water wash with or without chlorine added. Nevertheless, microorganisms, including bacterial pathogens, may attach and form biofilms on raw fruit surfaces and can be difficult to remove. For this research, a cavitation process (formation of bubbles in water) was studied for its effectiveness for removal and inactivation of <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> and <i>Salmonella</i> Newport from the surfaces of fresh Roma tomatoes and cantaloupes. Individual fruit were separately spiked with each pathogen, then submerged in a water tank and treated with a bubble flow through an air stone using one airflow rate (up to 14 liters air per minute) for 30 or 60 seconds. As air flow increased, the number of bacteria was reduced by up to 94% more bacteria per fruit than when using water alone (no bubbles). Additional bacteria reduction in the tank water (organisms detached from the fruit) was observed with the bubble treatments. Therefore, these bubble streams can be used to enhance the detachment of bacteria from fruit surfaces and to kill or injure some of these detached microorganisms. Additionally, recoveries of <i>Salmonella</i> from inoculated Roma tomatoes and cantaloupe were determined for treatment water that contained 50 or 150 parts per million sodium hypochlorite (chlorine solution). The combination of cavitation bubbles and chlorine showed a greater ability for inactivating these bacteria in the tank water, but not in removing this organism from the fruit surfaces. The physical force of a bubble stream on raw produce can effectively reduce and inactivate surface bacteria, and this process could reduce the amount of water or chemicals used to process fresh fruits and vegetables, while ensuring that these foods will not cause people to get sick upon eating.

This thesis deals with the issue of cavitation and its effects. In this context, it describes the mechanism of origin and implosion of cavities and cavitation regimes. It lists various types of hydrodynamic cavitation. It presents the Rayleight-Plesset equation and describes micro jet. It also highlights cavitation erosion and the effects of cavitation on some types of materials. It deals with three types of cavitation resistance testing, namely cavitation tunnels, a vibrating cavitation system, supported by the ASTM G32 standard, and last but not least, cavitation nozzles, which follow the ASTM G134-17 standard. In correlation with cavitation nozzles, it frames its four basic parameters, which are stand of distance, the cavitation number, the speed of sound and the geometry of the nozzle. At the end of the theoretical part it characterizes the construction of test bench. The practical part is focused on performing the experiment. It first presents the procedure for carrying out the experiment and then evaluates this experiment. Part of the evaluation is the visual observation of selected samples of AlCu4Mg1Mn1 material and the monitoring of cavitation erosion on specific samples. First, these data are processed in the form of graphs and tables. It uses a microscope as a tool for detailed observation of samples. The conclusion of the practical part is devoted to the evaluation of the experiment.

No description available.