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Several acoustic techniques have been used to determine elastic and damping properties of trees, logs and beams. Time of flight (TOF) measurements in the outerwood of 14-year-old Pinus radiata trees showed that pruning operations increased the outerwood stiffness by up to 25% compared with unpruned trees. However, at the most 5% to 10% of the increased stiffness can be explained by the fact that the outerwood of the pruned trees is free of knots, as TOF measurements are little affected by knots. Thus, it is not known what causes the increase of outerwood stiffness in the pruned trees. One possible explanation could be a smaller microfibril angle (MFA) in the S2 layer of the outerwood cells, which would cause a significant increase in stiffness. Thinning operations decreased the outerwood stiffness by up to 8%. In small Eucalyptus nitens and Pinus radiata logs, which had branch nodes and nodal whorls at specific locations, MOE calculations (using the resonance technique) based on different harmonics gave different results. This indicates that defects do interact with acoustic waves. Acoustic tests on laminated beams with artificial defects (holes filled with dowels) at specific locations also had a significant impact on the MOE. Moreover, it was evident that the damping ratio (evaluated from the Q- factor) of the beams increased with increasing diameter of the holes. However, it was found that holes in laminated beams decreased stiffness while branch nodes and nodal whorls increased stiffness. This shows that relatively small defects, occupying a small volume of the beam, have an impact on acoustic measurements. It is not appropriate to base the MOE calculation on a single harmonic, considering that different harmonics investigate different parts of the specimen

The analysis of bearing systems involves the prediction of their static and dynamic characteristics. The capability to compute the dynamic characteristics for hydrodynamic bearings has been added to Bearing Design System (BRGDS), a finite element program developed by Dr. R.W. Stephenson, and the results obtained were validated. In this software, a standard finite element implementation of the Reynolds equation is used to model the land region of the bearing with pressure degrees of freedom. The assumptions of incompressible flow, constant viscosity, and no fluid inertia terms are made. The pressure solution is integrated to give the bearing load, and the stiffness and damping characteristics were calculated by a perturbation method. The static and dynamic characteristics of 60, 120 and 180 partial bearings were verified and compared for a length to diameter (L/D) ratio of 0.5. A comparison has also been obtained for the 120 bearing with L/D ratios of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0. A 360-journal bearing was verified for an L/D ratio of 0.5 and also compared to an L/D ratio of 1.0. The results are in good agreement with other verified results. The effect of providing lubricant to the recesses has been shown for a 120 hybrid hydrostatic bearing with a single and double recess.

Nonlinear parametric response of a flexible cantilever beam is simulated. In the simulations, lateral response of the beam due to an imposed axial harmonic base displacement excitation is calculated. The response frequency is approximately half the input frequency. The transient simulations include the assumption of damping proportional to the square of the velocity along the beam. Velocity-squared damping is realistic for situations in which fluid forces resisting the structural motion are significant. The commercial finite element software, ANSYS, is used to perform the simulations. A flexible method is developed and implemented in this work, based on the ANSYS Parametric Design Language, for including the quadratic damping assumption in the analysis. Variation of steady state response amplitude is examined for a range of quadratic damping coefficients over a range of axial base excitation frequencies. Further, a definition of phase angle of the response with the respect to the input is proposed for these nonlinear cases in which the input frequency is an integer multiple of the response frequency. The response phase with respect to excitation is studied over a range of damping coefficients and excitation frequencies. In addition, numerical solutions of nonlinear dynamic systems obtained from the implicit finite element method and the explicit dynamics finite element method are compared. The nonlinear dynamic systems considered are a flexible beam subjected to axial base excitation and also lateral excitations. The studies comparing explicit and implicit method results include cases of stress-stiffening and large deflections.

The high frequency dynamic magnetic responses of FeCo thin films and structures have been investigated mainly using ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) technique. The FMR resonance condition and linewidth are first derived from the dynamic Landau- Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, followed by a study of the conversion between FMR field and frequency linewidths. It is found that the linewidth conversion relation based on the derivative of resonance condition is only valid for samples with negligible extrinsic linewidth contribution. The dynamic magnetic properties obtained by using FMR measurements of FeCo thin films grown on Si/SiO2 substrates with varying deposition temperatures is then presented. The effective Landé g-factor, extrinsic linewidth, and Gilbert relaxation rate are all found to decrease in magnitude with increasing sample growth temperature from 20oC to about 400–500oC and then on further increase of the growth temperature to increase in magnitude. Samples grown at about 400–450oC display the smallest coercivity, while the smallest value of the Gilbert relaxation rate of about 0.1 GHz is obtained for samples grown at 450–500oC. An almost linear relation between extrinsic linewidth and coercivity is observed, which suggests a positive correlation between magnetic inhomogeneity, coercivity and extrinsic linewidth. Another major discovery in this study is that the Gilbert relaxation decreases with increasing lattice constant, which is ascribed to the degree of structural order in the films. A micromagnetic model is established for an asymmetric trilayer system consisting of two different ferromagnetic (FM) layers separated by thin non-magnetic (NM) layer, treating the magnetization in each FM layer as a macrospin. Based on the model, numerical simulations of magnetization curves and FMR dispersion relations, of both the acoustic mode where magentizations in the two FM layers precess in phase and the optic mode where they precess out-of-phase, have been carried out. The most significant implication from the results is that the coupling strength can be extracted by detecting only the acoustic mode resonances at many different unsaturated magnetic states using broadband FMR technique. Finally, trilayer films of FeCo(100 Å)/NM/FeNi(100 Å) with NM=Ru or Cu were prepared and studied. The thickness of the Ru and Cu spacer was varied from 0 to 50 Å. For the Ru spacer series, the film with 10 Å Ru spacer shows antiferromagnetic coupling while all other films are ferromagnetically coupled. For the Cu spacer trilayers, it is found that all films are ferromagnetically coupled and that films with thin Cu spacer are surprisingly strongly coupled (the coupling constant is 3 erg/cm2 for the sample with 5 Å Cu spacer). The strong coupling strength is qualitatively understood within the framework of a combined effect of Ruderman-Kittel- Kasuya-Yosida interaction and pinhole coupling, which is evidenced by transmission electron microscopy analysis. The magnetic coupling constant decreases exponentially with increasing Cu spacer thickness, without showing an oscillatory thickness dependence. The results have implications for the design of multilayers for spintronic applications.

Vlasov's equation describes the time evolution of the distribution function for a collisionless physical system of identical particles, such as plasma or galaxies. Together with Poisson's equation, which yields the potential, it forms the Vlasov-Poisson system. In Euclidean space this system has been extensively studied in the past century. It has been recently shown that the Valsov-Poisson system exhibits an interesting, counter-intuitive phenomenon called Landau damping. Our universe, however, may not be at on a large scale, so it is important to introduce and study a natural extension of the Vlasov-Poisson systems to spaces of constant curvature. Our starting point is the unit sphere S2, but we further restrict our study to one of its great circles. We show that, even for this reduced model, the potential function has more singularities than in the classical case. Our main result is to derive a Penrose stability criterion for the linear Landau damping phenomenon. / Graduate / 0405 / shengyis@uvic.ca

In a recent study, an environment-friendly material, corrugated cardboard, was used as a building block for the vibration isolator with a preliminary study. The present thesis was motivated to advance technology for improving the design of such a corrugated cardboard vibration isolator with a focus on the modeling of its stiffness and damping. In particular, this study has performed the following works: (1) improving the FE (finite element) model of the stiffness of the corrugated cardboards by more accurately identifying the material parameters in the cardboard material constitutive equation; (2) analyzing the effect of the error in geometry of the corrugated cardboards in the FE model; (3) developing the Rayleigh damping model of the corrugated cardboards and evaluating its accuracy. Several conclusions were drawn from this study: (1) the parameter identification procedure based on the inverse analysis is feasible for improving the accuracy of the model of the stiffness of the cardboard. (2) The FE model of the cardboards with a greater in-plane geometrical deflection has less vertical compressive stiffness. The geometrical deflections of the corrugated cardboards also change the condition of the contact friction stress and the compressive deformation. (3) Rayleigh damping model is accurate enough for calculating the damping of the corrugated cardboards. The contributions of the thesis include: (1) provision of a more accurate model for the compressive stiffness the corrugated cardboards, (2) finding that the friction between the cardboard and the vibrator and the geometrical error of the cardboards have a significant influence over the accuracy of the FE model, (3) finding that in practice the foregoing influence can significantly degraded the performance of the cardboards as a vibrator isolator, and (4) provision of a model for the compressive damping of the corrugated cardboards.

The self-centering energy dissipative (SCED) brace is an innovative cross-bracing system that eliminates residual building deformations after seismic events and prevents the progressive drifting that other inelastic systems are prone to experience under long-duration ground motions. This research improves upon the design and use of SCED braces through three large-scale experimental studies and an associated numerical building model study. The first experimental study increased the strength capacity of SCED braces and refined the design procedure through the design and testing of a new high-capacity full-scale SCED brace. This brace exhibited full self-centering behaviour and did not show significant degradation of response after multiple earthquake loadings. The second experimental study extended the elongation capacity of SCED braces through the design and testing of a new telescoping SCED (T-SCED) brace that provided self-centering behaviour over a deformation range that was two times the range that was achieved by the original SCED bracing system. It exhibited full self-centering in a single storey full-scale frame that was laterally deformed to 4% of its storey height. The third experimental study confirmed the dynamic behaviour of a multi-storey SCED-frame in different seismic environments and confirmed the ability of computer models of differing complexity to accurately predict the seismic response. To achieve these goals, a three-storey SCED-braced frame was designed, constructed, and tested on a shake table. Lastly, a numerical six-storey SCED-braced building model was constructed. This model used realistic brace properties that were determined using a new software tool that simulates the full detailed mechanics of SCED and T-SCED braces. The building model showed that initial SCED brace stiffness does not have a significant effect on SCED frame behaviour, that T-SCEDs generally perform better than traditional SCEDs, and that the addition of viscous dampers in parallel with SCED braces can significantly reduce drifts and accelerations while only causing a small increase in the base shear.

The self-centering energy dissipative (SCED) brace is an innovative cross-bracing system that eliminates residual building deformations after seismic events and prevents the progressive drifting that other inelastic systems are prone to experience under long-duration ground motions. This research improves upon the design and use of SCED braces through three large-scale experimental studies and an associated numerical building model study. The first experimental study increased the strength capacity of SCED braces and refined the design procedure through the design and testing of a new high-capacity full-scale SCED brace. This brace exhibited full self-centering behaviour and did not show significant degradation of response after multiple earthquake loadings. The second experimental study extended the elongation capacity of SCED braces through the design and testing of a new telescoping SCED (T-SCED) brace that provided self-centering behaviour over a deformation range that was two times the range that was achieved by the original SCED bracing system. It exhibited full self-centering in a single storey full-scale frame that was laterally deformed to 4% of its storey height. The third experimental study confirmed the dynamic behaviour of a multi-storey SCED-frame in different seismic environments and confirmed the ability of computer models of differing complexity to accurately predict the seismic response. To achieve these goals, a three-storey SCED-braced frame was designed, constructed, and tested on a shake table. Lastly, a numerical six-storey SCED-braced building model was constructed. This model used realistic brace properties that were determined using a new software tool that simulates the full detailed mechanics of SCED and T-SCED braces. The building model showed that initial SCED brace stiffness does not have a significant effect on SCED frame behaviour, that T-SCEDs generally perform better than traditional SCEDs, and that the addition of viscous dampers in parallel with SCED braces can significantly reduce drifts and accelerations while only causing a small increase in the base shear.

The study of mechanical energy and electrical energy dissipation in cementitious materials can lead to development of high damping concrete for structural applications, and new non-destructive testing techniques for use on existing concrete structures. This research aims to improve mechanical damping properties of cementitious materials and determine durability parameters from complex permittivity measurements. Damping was improved by utilizing poromechanical effects, and by adding viscoelastic and nanometric inclusions. Poromechanics was utilized to model and predict damping on specimens designed to maximize poromechanical effects, and composite theory was used to predict composite bounds for the loss tangent, i.e. modeling the effects on damping due to the addition of viscoelastic inclusions. Experimental results indicated that substantial damping improvement can be realized by both poromechanical effects and adding novel inclusions into cement pastes. The models were able to predict experimentally measured damping as a function of loading frequency. The electrical energy dissipation in cementitious materials was studied by dielectric spectroscopy as a function of moisture state and pore structure/permeability. The results were compared to predictions from multiphase composite modeling, where the properties of the confined water was inversely determined and used to predict moisture content. It was found that moisture state of cementitious materials has a linear relation to the complex permittivity over a wide variety of frequency ranges. Composite model prediction indicated that permeability of saturated cementitious materials studied in this research is likely dependent on the amount of free water in the pores. Permeability can be inferred from the pore structure of the cement paste via complex permittivity measurements by conditioning cement paste at different levels of relative humidity.