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It is well known that a finite-size scatterer has a set of natural resonances, which are uniquely determined by the physical properties of the scatterer. This is also the case for a breast tumor which can be regarded as a dielectric scatterer. Since the scatterer is naturally "tuned" at the resonances, it is expected that an increased electromagnetic coupling would take place at the resonance frequencies compared to other frequencies. For a breast tumor, this would mean a higher power absorption, indicating a faster temperature increase resulting in more efficient hyperthermia. In this dissertation, an adaptive microwave concept is demonstrated for breast cancer applications. The general approach is to detect and identify the tumor-specific resonance, determine the electrical location of the tumor, and apply the focused microwave hyperthermia using the identified resonance and the electrical location. The natural resonances vary depending on the tumor size, shape, and breast tissue configuration. Therefore, an adaptive tuning of the microwave source to tumor-specific resonance frequencies could improve the overall efficiency of hyperthermia treatment by allowing for a faster and more effective heating to achieve a desired therapeutic temperature level. Applying the singularity expansion method (SEM), both the resonances and the electrical location can be obtained from the poles and residues, respectively. This SEM-based approach is computationally inexpensive and can easily be implemented as a combination processing into emerging UWB microwave systems. Alternatively, a relatively simple microwave system based on this concept can potentially be used in conjunction with existing mammography. / Ph. D.

The Coulomb propulsion system has no exhaust plume impingement problem with neighboring spacecraft and does not contaminate their sensors because it requires essentially no propellant. It is suitable to close formation control on the order of dozens of meters. The Coulomb forces are internal forces of the formation and they influence all charged spacecraft at the same time. Highly nonlinear and strongly coupled equations of motion of Coulomb formation makes creating a Coulomb control method a challenging task. Instead of positioning all spacecraft, this study investigates having a sensor craft be sequentially controlled using dedicated drone craft. At least three drone craft are required to control a general sensor craft position in the inertial space. However, the singularity of a drone plane occurs when a sensor craft moves across the drone plane. A bang-bang control method with a singularity check can avoid this problem but may lose formation control as the relative distances grow bounded. A bang-coast-bang control method utilizing a reference trajectory profile and drone rest control is introduced to increase the control effectiveness. The spacecraft are assumed to be floating freely in inertial space, an approximation of environments found while underway to other solar system bodies. Numerical simulation results show the feasibility of sensor craft control using Coulomb forces. / Master of Science

Most scientist agree that, by the year 2060, research on artificial intelligence will result in the creation of constructs that exceeds human intellect, starting the most impactful event in our history, the technological singularity. Raising awareness on this concept is important and video games have their role to play, but no research has been made regarding the design principles that they should follow to succeed. This paper aims to rectify that and explain how games raise awareness on the systemic consequences of the technological singularity. To do so, a selection of games which explore singularity-related concepts were analyzed to establish how, and how well they represent the theory, following design methodologies highlighted by other studies. This review provided the necessary design principles to create an awareness raising game on the singularity but also exposed how games fail in tackling the subject, as they do not clearly incorporate or discuss the singularity in their narrative. This research paper is helpful for researchers and game designers as it provides them with the necessary information to analyze or create educational games on the systemic impacts of the singularity.

The objective of this thesis is to analyze the kinematics of a mobile parallel robot with contribution that pertain to the singularity analysis, the optimization of geometric parameters and the optimal control to avoid singularities when navigating across singular geometric configurations. The analysis of the workspace and singularities is performed in a prescribed reference workspace regions using discretization method. Serial and parallel singularities are analytically analyzed and all possible singular configurations are presented. Kinematic conditioning index is used to determine the robot’s proximity to a singular configuration. A method for the determination of a continuous and singularity-free workspace is detailed. The geometric parameters of the system are optimized in various types of pipe-like structures with respect to a suitable singularity index, in order to avoid singularities during the navigation across elbows. The optimization problem is formulated with an objective to maximize the reachable workspace and minimize the singularities. The objective function is also subjected to constraints such as collision avoidance, singularity avoidance, workspace continuity and contact constraints imposed between the boundaries and the wheels of the robot. A parametric variation method is used as a technique to optimize the design parameters. The optimal design parameters found are normalized with respect to the width of the pipe-like structures and therefore the results are generalized to be used in the development phase of the robot. An optimal control to generate singularity-free trajectories when the robotic device has to cross a geometric singularity in a sharp 90◦ elbow is proposed. Such geometric singularity inherently leads to singularities in the Jacobian of the system, and therefore a modified device with augmented number of degrees of freedom is introduced to be able to generate non-singular trajectories.

The objective of this thesis is to analyze the kinematics of a mobile parallel robot with contribution that pertain to the singularity analysis, the optimization of geometric parameters and the optimal control to avoid singularities when navigating across singular geometric configurations. The analysis of the workspace and singularities is performed in a prescribed reference workspace regions using discretization method. Serial and parallel singularities are analytically analyzed and all possible singular configurations are presented. Kinematic conditioning index is used to determine the robot’s proximity to a singular configuration. A method for the determination of a continuous and singularity-free workspace is detailed. The geometric parameters of the system are optimized in various types of pipe-like structures with respect to a suitable singularity index, in order to avoid singularities during the navigation across elbows. The optimization problem is formulated with an objective to maximize the reachable workspace and minimize the singularities. The objective function is also subjected to constraints such as collision avoidance, singularity avoidance, workspace continuity and contact constraints imposed between the boundaries and the wheels of the robot. A parametric variation method is used as a technique to optimize the design parameters. The optimal design parameters found are normalized with respect to the width of the pipe-like structures and therefore the results are generalized to be used in the development phase of the robot. An optimal control to generate singularity-free trajectories when the robotic device has to cross a geometric singularity in a sharp 90◦ elbow is proposed. Such geometric singularity inherently leads to singularities in the Jacobian of the system, and therefore a modified device with augmented number of degrees of freedom is introduced to be able to generate non-singular trajectories.

The presented diploma thesis deals with the problem of determining the stress singularity exponent of the V-notch. This task can be divided into two parts. The first deals with the theoretical background, that means the basic relations of mechanics and the basic concepts of fracture mechanics. The second part deals with the elaboration of the Williams method and the creation of a program for calculating the stress singularity exponent.

The objective of this diploma thesis is the stress-strain analysis of the crack terminating at the orthotropic bi-material interface suggested as the plane problem of the linear fracture mechanics. The first part is engaged in basic relations of the linear fracture mechanics. The second part is focused on the singularity exponent evaluation for the crack impinging and generally inclined with respect to the bi-material interface. It follows the determination of the generalized stress intensity factors applying the analytical-numerical approach represented by the finite element analysis. The last part of this work is focused on the testing of algorithms applied to the specific crack and bi-material interface configurations. A conclusion discusses the influence of the bi-material mechanical properties and the angel of the crack inclination to the obtained numerical results.

The presented diploma thesis deals with a problem of a generalized stress intensity factor determination and a consecutive study of stress distribution around the bimaterial notch tip, combining analytical and numerical methods. This task is possible to sectionalize into three parts. The first part is dedicated to the fundamentals of the linear fracture mechanics and the mechanics of composite materials. The second part deals with methods of anisotropic plane elasticity solution. Pursuant to the solution the computational models in the third part are created. The first model makes for determination of a singularity exponent eigenvalue by dint of Lekhnitskii-Eshelby-Stroh formalism. The second model makes for determination of the generalized stress intensity factor using psi-integral method, which is based on the Betti reciprocal theorem. All needed calculation are performed in the software ANSYS 12, Maple 12 and Silverforst FTN95. Results will be compared with the values obtained from a direct method of the generalised stress intensity factor determination.

The presented master’s thesis deals with fatigue crack front shape estimation. The aim of this thesis is to create an iterative process leading to the real fatigue crack front shape. Thesis is solved using finite element method. The work is divided into two logical parts. The first part of the thesis describes the basic concepts of linear elastic fracture mechanic (LEFM), methods used for estimation of stress intensity factor and stress singularity exponent. The first part further describes some phenomenon’s accompanying the mechanism of fatigue crack growth as for example crack tip curving and crack closure. In the second part of the thesis there is studied an affect of the free surface on the fracture parameters, especially the affected distance from the free surface is determined. Based on the assumption of a constant stress intensity factor and stress singularity exponent along the crack front, an iterative process leading to fatigue crack front shape is presented. The accuracy of the result is discussed by comparing of obtained crack front shapes with experimental data at the end of the thesis.