This study investigates the mechanical and geometrical attributes of egg–box energy absorbing structures as crash safety barriers in the automotive industry. The research herein was originated from the earlier work of Prof. Shirvani, patented and further investigated by Cellbond Composites Ltd. who has invested in further research, for developing an analytical tool for geometric optimisation as an enhanced resolution to various shapes and materials. Energy absorption in egg-box occurs through plastic deformation of cell walls, examined through non–linear finite element simulations using ANSYS® and ANSYS/LS–DYNA® FE packages. Experimental dynamic crash tests have been designed to verify the validity of the FE simulations. Geometrical models are defined as 3D graphical representations, outlined in detail. Further, the impact behaviour of commercially pure aluminium egg-box energy absorbers is studied to identify the optimum design parameters describing the geometry of the structure. A simulation-based multi-objective optimisation strategy is employed to find a set of Pareto-optimal solutions where each solution represents a trade-off point with respect to the two conflicting objectives: the maximum impact force and the energy absorption capacity of the structure. The aim is to simultaneously minimise the former and maximise the latter, in the attempt to find purpose–specific optimal egg–box geometries. In light of the associated outcomes, it is shown that egg–box geometries with < ω ), thin walls (t < 1mm), short inter–peak distances and small peak diameters. M – < ω ), thin walls (t < 1mm), lengthy inter–peak distances and smaller peak diameters. It is concluded that, egg–box structures combined in the form of sandwich panels can be designed per application to act as optimised energy absorbers. Results of the proposed optimised sandwich structure are verified using analytical techniques.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Brian R. Washburn / Optical frequency combs produced by mode-locked fiber lasers are useful tools for high precision frequency metrology and molecular spectroscopy in a robust and portable format. We have specifically investigated erbium doped fiber mode-locked lasers that use single-walled carbon nanotubes as a saturable absorber. We have, for the first time, developed and phase- stabilized a carbon nanotube fiber laser (CNFL) frequency comb. The carbon nanotube saturable absorber, which was fabricated using an optically driven deposition method, permits a high repetition frequency (>150 MHz) since an optical nonlinearity of fibers is not used for mode-locking. The CNFL comb combined with a parabolic pulse erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) has shown a compact, robust, and cost-effective supercontinuum source. The amplified pulse from the parabolic pulse EDFA was compressed with a hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber, which produced a wave-breaking-free pulse with an all-fiber set-up. The stabilized comb has demonstrated a fractional instability of 1.2 ×10[superscript]-11 at 1 sec averaging time, the reference-limited instability. We have performed optical frequency metrology with the CNFL comb and have measured an optical frequency, P(13) which is a molecular overtone transition of C2H2. The measured frequency has shown a good agreement with the known value within an uncertainty of 10 kHz. In order to extend the application of the CNFL comb such as multi-heterodyne dual comb spectroscopy, we have investigated the noise of the CNFL comb and particularly, the broad carrier envelope offset frequency (f[subscript]0) linewidth of the CNFL comb. The primary noise source is shown to be white amplitude noise on the oscillator pump laser combined with the sensitivity of the mode-locked laser to pump power fluctuations. The control bandwidth of f[subscipt]0 was limited by the response dynamics of the CNFL comb. The significant reduction of comb noise has been observed by implementing a phase-lead compensation to extend control bandwidth of the comb and by reducing the pump relative intensity noise simultaneously. Therefore the f[subscipt]0 linewidth has been narrower from 850 kHz to 220 kHz. The integrated phase noise for the f[subscipt]0 lock is 1.6 radians from 100 Hz to 102 kHz.

In 2013, the worldwide production of renewable electricity accounted for 22.1% of the total energy production with 0.9% coming from solar photovoltaics (PVs). Recently, there has been a growing interest for Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) quaternary semiconductor due to the abundance and low cost of its precursors. Moreover, this chalcopyrite material has an ideal direct band gap around 1.5 eV, high absorption coefficient (α >104 cm-1) and high conductivity, making it suitable for nanostructured and dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications. Here, CZTS nanoparticles have been synthesized by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and simultaneously deposited in the interstitial space of ZnO nanowire arrays to form bulk heterojunction 3D nanostructured solar cells. Secondly, vertically oriented CZTS nanoplates have been synthesized by PLD and used as counter electrode in platinum-free dye-sensitized solar cells. These CZTS nanostructures proved to be suitable in achieving workable solar cells, which could significantly cut down the cell cost and provide environmentally friendly photovoltaic devices. Alternately, hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells have become one of the most attractive photovoltaic technologies with easy solution fabrication and high conversion efficiencies. However, the devices remain unstable under certain processing and environmental conditions. Herein, formamidinium lead tri-halide perovskite (FAPbI3) planar heterojunction solar cells have been fabricated under a controlled environment. The fabrication parameters (precursor concentration, annealing, etc) and the effect of humidity on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of FAPbI3 thin films and devices have been investigated and proved to be critical in the processing of efficient devices. Solar cells with conversion efficiency of 16.6% have been obtained. Furthermore, in-situ techniques such as in-situ (scanning) transmission electron microscopy and in-situ XRD were performed to understand the crystallization and degradation mechanisms of FAPbI3 thin films.The in-situ data were correlated with planar heterojunction FAPbI3 devices efficiency data in order to improve the device fabrication process.

In this dissertation, the synthesis of the triplet absorptive topology is presented in detail. The coupling matrix of this topology is derived. The synthesis theory extends to arbitrary phase of the transmission line used in the topology. A new FSL that yields the state-of-the-art performance is proposed. It employs the triplet absorptive filter topology, which enables absorptive response in a wider tuning range, to achieve high isolation (70 dB) everywhere in its octave tuning range. This was not possible with any existing FSLs. This triplet filter topology also gives bandstop-to-all-pass response, which enables controlled attenuation, or variable-attenuation control. The filter is implemented in high-Q evanescent-mode cavity technology, which yields low insertion loss in all-pass response. The proposed FSL is integrated with feedback control loops to enable in-field operations. For one step further, the FSL system is redesigned for optimization of robustness and reliability without compromising the state-of-the-art RF performance.

Neste trabalho utilizamos a técnica de mistura de duas ondas quase degeneradas na investigação das propriedades ópticas não lineares, associadas à mudança de índice de refração com a intensidade da luz, em materiais dopados com cromo: Al2O3:Cr3+ (rubi), BeAl2O4:Cr3+ (alexandrita) e GdAlO3:Cr3+ (aluminato de gadolínio dopado com cromo). A não linearidade Kerr para o GdAlO3: Cr3+ é bastante significativa, de modo que neste material o parâmetro de ganho do feixe de prova apresenta um comportamento muito peculiar e que não encontra explicação nos tratamentos teóricos usuais do processo de mistura de duas ondas. Em particular, o ganho do feixe de prova neste material atinge percentuais superiores a 200%. Desta forma, desenvolvemos um tratamento teórico que descreve a mistura de duas ondas quase degeneradas em meios onde o índice de refração depende da intensidade (n= n0+n2I). Esta abordagem teórica leva em consideração os efeitos de saturação da grade de população produzida pela intersecção dos feixes de luz no meio Kerr (não harmonicidades da grade) e o processo de mistura de duas ondas é considerado como um caso particular do fenômeno da auto-difração difração de ordem zero. Os resultados teóricos foram comparados com os resultados experimentais e várias previsões teóricas como, a dependência do parâmetro de ganho do feixe de prova com a intensidade de saturação do meio, a dependência da diferença de freqüência entre os dois feixes incidentes onde o ganho é máximo com a intensidade do feixe de bombeamento, foram confirmadas experimentalmente / In this work nearly degenerate two-wave mixing technique is used in order to investigate nonlinear optical properties, associated to the refractive índex change by incident light, in a few doped crystals: Al2O3:Cr3+ (ruby), BeAl2O4:Cr3+ (alexandrite) e GdAlO3:Cr3+ (gadolinium aluminate chromium doped). The Kerr nonlinearity in GdAlO3:Cr3+ is very high, so that the probe gain parameter has peculiar behavior in this material and this cannot be explained by using the current approach found in the literature. In particular, the probe gain parameter in this material reaches percentuals above 200%. In this way, we develop a theoretical approach which describes nearly degenerate two-wave mixing in media where the refractive índex is intensity dependent. This theoretical approach takes into account the saturation of the travelling population grating produced by two interesting beams (anharmonicities of the population grating) and the two-wave mixing process is regarded as the zero-order self-diffraction of the incident waves in this grating. The theoretical results are compared with the experimental ones and several theoretical predictions such as, the dependence of the probe gain parameter on the médium saturation intensity were experimentally verified

Les nanoparticules de métaux nobles possèdent des propriétés optiques étonnantes. Sous l’effet de la lumière, elles sont capables de résonner pour générer des plasmons de surface localisés. Ces plasmons absorbent ou diffusent la lumière aux longueurs d’ondes de ces résonnances et sont fortement dépendants de la forme, de la taille et de l’environnement des nanoparticules. Dans ce manuscrit, elles sont impliquées dans la conception de matériaux furtifs à des fins militaires.Des nanoparticules d’argent de formes contrôlées ont été associées à un polymère pour élaborer de nouveaux matériaux hybrides déposables par voie liquide sous la forme de couches minces.Un absorbeur quasi-parfait (98,8%) sur une gamme étroite de longueur d’onde a été obtenu en maintenant une très bonne dispersion des nanoparticules dans la couche, alors qu’un absorbeur large bande efficace (~90%) sur toute la gamme spectrale du visible a été réalisé en provoquant l’agrégation des nanoparticules. Une étude qualitative par microscopie et spectroscopie sur la densité et l’organisation des nanoparticules au sein de la couche mince a mis en évidence la présence de couplages plasmoniques de natures et d’intensités différentes en fonction de l’espacement entre les cubes. Il a été montré que les propriétés optiques mesurées étaient indépendantes de la nature du substrat utilisé, mais aussi indépendantes de l’angle de la lumière incidente sur une large gamme angulaire. Enfin, des systèmes multicouches déposés par voie liquide ont été explorés afin d’étendre l’absorption des couches jusqu’au proche infrarouge par l’ajout de matériaux tel que le l’oxyde de tungstène. / Nanoparticles of noble metals have unexpected optical properties. Under the effect of light, they are able to resonate, generating localized surface plasmon resonances that are used in many applications. These plasmons absorb and scatter the light at the wavelengths of these resonances and are highly dependent on the shape, the size and the environment of the nanoparticles. In this thesis, they are applied for the design of stealth materials for military purposes. For this, controlled shapes of silver nanoparticles were blended within a polymer to develop new hybrid materials that are solution-processed as thin layers. A quasi-perfect absorber (98,8%) in a precise range of wavelengths has been obtained by maintaining well-dispersed nanoparticles in the layer, while an effective broadband absorber (~90%) over the entire visible range has been achieved by triggering the aggregation of the nanoparticles. Microscopy and spectroscopy qualitative studies performed on the density and organization of the nanoparticles within the thin layers revealed the presence of plasmonic couplings of different natures and intensities as a function of the spacing between the cubes. It has been shown that the optical properties measured are independent of the nature of the substrates used and independent of the angle of the incident light on a wide angular range. Finally, solution-processing of multilayers systems was explored to extend the absorption of the layers to the near infrared by the addition of other materials such as tungsten oxide.

As perdas gasosas nitrogenadas são consideráveis em pastagens e a utilização de métodos simples e acessíveis para mensurá-las é de extrema necessidade na avaliação do ciclo de N nesses sistemas. O objetivo desse trabalho foi determinar métodos para quantificar o NH3 volatilizado de fertilizantes nitrogenados aplicados ao solo, que tenham pouca interferência nos processos de volatilização. Foram conduzidos dois experimentos em casa de vegetação pertencente ao Departamento de Zootecnia da Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi inteiramente casualizado com cinco repetições. No primeiro experimento os tratamentos foram: absorvedor de espuma a 1, 10, 20 e 30 cm do solo; absorvedor de papel a 1, 10, 20 e 30 cm do solo; coletor semi-aberto estático; e balanço de 15N (método de referência). E no segundo experimento os tratamentos foram: absorvedor de espuma a 1, 5, 10 e 20 cm do solo; absorvedor de papel a 1, 5, 10 e 20 cm do solo; absorvedor com ácido a 1, 5 e 10 cm do solo; coletor semi-aberto estático; e balanço de 15N (método de referência). Nos dois experimentos quantificou-se o N (NH3) volatilizado. As perdas de N-NH3 determinadas pelo método do balanço de 15N, no experimento 1, foram elevadas (73% do N aplicado) e nenhum dos absorvedores avaliados apresentou volatilização de N-NH3 igual ao balanço de 15N. Isso provavelmente ocorreu devido ao elevado valor de pH do solo e a intensa corrente de ar formada pelos exaustores da casa de vegetação, o que contribuiu para o aumento da volatilização de N-NH3 e prejudicou a sua captação pelos absorvedores. No experimento 2, o coletor semi-aberto, o absorvedor de espuma a 1cm, os absorvedores de papel a 1 e 5 cm e os absorvedores com ácido a 1; 5 e 10 cm apresentaram valores acumulados de N-NH3 volatilizado iguais ao balanço de 15N, estimando portanto as reais perdas acumuladas de N-NH3 (p<0,0001). O absorvedor de espuma a 1 cm foi o que apresentou a curva de perdas de N-NH3 mais semelhante a do coletor semi-aberto, que foi considerado o método de referência para as comparações de perdas de N-NH3 a cada dois dias durante o período experimental. / Gaseous losses are considerable in pastures, therefore the utilization of simple and accessible methods to measure them are extremely necessary to evaluate the cycle of N in these systems. This work aimed to determine methods that quantify volatilized NH3 of nitrogenous fertilizers applied to soil which have little interferente in the volatilization processes. Two experiments in a greenhouse from Departamento de Zootecnia of Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos were conducted. Completely randomized experimental design was used with five repetitions. Treatments from the first experiment were: foam absorber at 1, 10, 20 and 30 cm from the ground; paper absorber at 1, 10, 20 and 30 cm from the ground; static semi-open collector and 15N balance (reference method). In the second experiment the treatments used were as follows: foam absorber at 1, 5, 10 and 20 cm from the ground; paper absorber at 1, 5, 10 and 20 cm from the ground; acid absorber at 1, 5 and 10 cm from the ground; static semi-open collector and 15N balance (reference method). Both experiments quantified volatilized N –NH3. N-NH3 losses determined by 15N balance method in experiment 1 were high (73% of the applied N) and none of the evaluated absorbers presented the same N-NH3 volatilization as the 15N balance. These results probably occurred due to the high pH value from the soil and the intense airflow generated by the greenhouse fans what allowed the increase of N-NH3 volatilization and harmed its capitation by the absorbers. In experiment 2, semi-open collector, foam absorber at 1cm, paper absorbers at 1 and 5 cm and acid absorbers at 1; 5 and 10 cm presented equal accumulated values of volatilized N-NH3 as 15N balance, therefore estimating the real N-NH3 accumulated losses (p<0,0001). Foam absorber at 1cm presented curves of N-NH3 losses similar to semi-open collector, considered the reference method to compare N-NH3 losses on each two days during the experimental period.

Este projeto trata do estudo para implementação de um sistema de absorção/geração de ondas no Tanque de Provas Didático I do Departamento de Engenharia Naval e Oceânica da Universidade de São Paulo (PNV-EPUSP). As instalações já existentes incluem o tanque de provas, sensores de ondas resistivos e batedor de ondas do tipo cunha. Para a parte física do absorvedor, o sistema do servomotor foi disponibilizado pela MOOG do Brasil Controles Ltda. Dado que as propriedades desses equipamentos foram pré-definidas, os demais componentes foram escolhidos e projetados de acordo com esses parâmetros, levando-se em conta a compatibilidade com as características das instalações e a factibilidade de se adaptar e modificar os componentes para a realização de futuros ensaios com diferentes tipos de ondas. Tais componentes foram construídos com o suporte financeiro da Agência Nacional do Petróleo (ANP). O dimensionamento da placa basculante e a geometria do suporte do pistão são apresentados, bem como as caracterizações de cada item das instalações já existentes e do novo batedor de ondas destinado à absorção. Um algoritmo preliminar de controle é proposto e testado. Como houve a impossibilidade de se encaminhar o teste empírico do controlador no tanque do PNV, este foi executado na Yokohama National University (YNU, Japão). Os resultados numéricos mostram um bom desempenho do algoritmo, porém na implementação deste em equipamento físico, a análise dos testes mostrou que algumas melhorias devem ser realizadas para utilizações futuras. / This project presents the study for implementation of an absorbing/generating system in the Didactic Wave Tank I of the Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering of the Escola Politécnica of University of São Paulo (PNVEPUSP). The available facilities at the wave tank were resistance type sensors and a plunger-type wave maker. As the absorber\'s hardware, a servomotor system was applied, which was lent by MOOG do Brasil Controles Ltda., and the further components were designed and constructed with the financial support of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP). Since that equipment\'s properties were predefined, the constructed components\' geometry was decided concerning to the compatibility with the mentioned facilities. Also some attention was addressed to the requirement of being easily adaptive to modifications for later different kinds of wave experiments. The design steps of the new actuator and the description of the piston\'s support are shown, as well as the characterization of each item of the available facilities and new wave maker designated to be the absorber. A preliminary control algorithm is also proposed and tested. Since there was an impossibility of carrying out the controller\'s empirical tests in the tank of PNV, they took place in the Yokohama National University (YNU, Japan). The numerical results showed a good performance of the algorithm, however in the empirical tests\' analysis, some improvements were found necessary for future implementations.

Copper Indium Gallium DiSelenide absorber layers are fabricated using a two stage manufacturing friendly process. The first step involves the sequential deposition of Copper and Gallium and co-deposition of indium and selenium at 275oC. This is followed by the second stage where the substrate is annealed in the presence of Selenium and a thin layer of copper is deposited to neutralize the excess Indium and Gallium on the surface to form the CIGS absorber layer. The top copper thickness as well as the time of deposition was varied to study the effect of Copper on the performance of the cells. Another recipe was developed for the precursor formation, where Gallium was co-evaporated with Indium and Selenium. A large bandgap shift was seen with this recipe and the open circuit voltage was increased. The performance of CIGS/CdS/ZnO solar cells thus fabricated was characterized using techniques like I-V, C-V, Spectral Response and EDS/SEM. Cells with open circuit voltages of 420-450 mV, short circuit currents of 33-38 mA/cm², fill factors of 58-62% and efficiencies of 9-11% were routinely fabricated.

We comprehensively investigated the concentration effect of dispersed single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in polymer films for being a saturable absorber (SA) to stabilize the mode locking performance of the Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) pulse through the diagnosis of its nonlinear properties of SA. The measured modulation depth was 1 to 4.5% as the thickness increased from 18 to 265 £gm. We obtained the stable pulse of the mode-locked EDFL (MLEDFL) when the full-width half-maximum (FWHM) decreased from 3.43 to 2.02 ps as the concentrations of SWCNTs SA increased from 0.125 to 0.5 wt%. At constant concentration of 0.125 wt%, the similar pulse shortening effect of the MLEDFL was also observed when the FWHM decreased from 3.43 to 1.85 ps was the thickness of SWCNTs SA increased from 8 to 100 £gm. In EDFL system, we vary group-velocity dispersion (GVD) with different cavity length to achieve optical pulse compression. We got the shortest pulsewidth was 713 fs, and the time-bandwidth product (TBP) was 0.345. An in-depth study on the stable mode-locked pulse formation employing SWCNTs SA, it is possible to fabricate the SWCNT films for use in high performance MLEDFL and utilization of many other low-cost nanodevices.