Une des données essentielles que recherche le clinicien ORL lors de son diagnostic concerne la fonctionnalité des fosses nasales. Dans certains cas, cette fonction n’est approchée que de manière partielle par les diverses méthodes de mesures mises à sa disposition. La prévalence des obstructions nasales chroniques dans la population générale1 (30% de la population) souligne l’intérêt que les orthodontistes doivent porter aux pathologies respiratoires. L’acquisition d’un outil de diagnostic fiable de l’obstruction nasale permettra d’effectuer un traitement plus précoce afin de guider au mieux la croissance crânio-faciale. La RAA ne peut pas être actuellement utilisée comme unique examen diagnostique, car sa corrélation avec les évaluations subjectives peut rester faible. L’objectif de ce travail est de fournir un modèle d’aide au diagnostic de l’obstruction nasale pour tous les patients. Dans les cas où la RAA ne permet pas un diagnostic certain de l’obstruction nasale, la simulation numérique permettrait, après avoir identifié les situations anatomiques particulières, d’obtenir une approche fonctionnelle objective en confirmant ou non le diagnostic de la RAA. La méthode utilisée pour ce travail de thèse consiste en une résolution complète des équations de Navier-Stokes dans des géométries reconstruites en 3D, c’est-à-dire ayant bénéficié d’un traitement numérique pour extraire les contours puis créer les maillages surfaciques et volumiques. Le développement d'outils de mesure objectifs est un enjeu capital pour déterminer les stratégies thérapeutiques optimales et pour évaluer les résultats des traitements. La modélisation par ordinateur de la dynamique des flux aériens au sein des fosses nasales à partir de reconstructions tomodensitométriques tridimensionnelles peut présenter des applications cliniques. Une de ses applications permettrait à l’ORL de visualiser l’écoulement post-opératoire virtuellement. / One of the essential data sought by the clinician in his diagnosis on the functionality of the nasal cavity. In some cases, this function is only partially approached by various measurement methods at its disposal. The prevalence of chronic nasal obstruction in the population (30% of the population) underlines the interest to orthodontists must wear respiratory disorders. The acquisition of a reliable diagnostic tool of nasal obstruction will allow for earlier treatment to guide the best craniofacial growth. The RAA can not be currently used as single diagnostic test, because its correlation with subjective assessments can remain low. The objective of this work is to provide a model for the diagnosis of nasal obstruction for all patients. In cases where the RAA does not allow a definite diagnosis of nasal obstruction, numerical simulations allow, after identifying the particular anatomical situations, to obtain a functional objective or not confirming the diagnosis of rheumatic fever. The methodology for this thesis consists of a complete resolution of the Navier-Stokes equations in geometries reconstructed in 3D, that is to say who received a digital processing to extract the contours and surface meshes and create volume. The development of objective measurement tools is a key issue in determining optimal treatment strategies and to evaluate treatment outcomes. Computer modeling of the dynamics of air flow within the nasal cavity from three-dimensional CT reconstructions may have clinical applications. One of its applications allow to visualize the flow postoperative virtually.

This PhD involved computational fluid dynamic simulations of finned generators cooling under forced convection in an oscillating water column environment. Various design changes to the upstream Wells turbine and its effect on the consequent cooling of the generator were investigated. Simulations were run in steady-state to obtain an initial condition, thereafter, unsteady simulations revealed a steadying of heat transfer over the course of multiple blade rotation cycles. This justified the use of steady-state for the remaining simulations over a range of flow coefficients. The results revealed that the heat transfer from the generator increased for tighter blade tip clearances, thicker blade profiles and greater turbine solidity. The heat transfer was found to increase with rising flow rate coefficient, which was adjusted by increasing the inlet velocity whilst maintaining the angular velocity of the turbine at a constant 2000 RPM. Additionally, the variation of turbine angular velocity at a fixed flow rate coefficient was investigated, the heat transfer was also found to increase with angular velocity, albeit by a far lesser extent. The inclusion of the Wells turbine upstream of the generator was investigated initially and was found to increase heat transfer due to the resulting impingement of airflow across the generator. In all design scenarios in which the heat transfer increases, there is also an observed increase in the mass flow rate of air, radially, towards the generator.

Evidence based performance of novel ventilation systems in existing low energy buildings is invaluable as it provides data on the system operation in a real dynamic environment. This thesis presents the outcomes from research involving a number of experimental field studies of a single sided ventilation system installed in a single cell office space as part of a building retrofit pilot project in Cork, Ireland. The solution consists of a purpose provided, multi configuration opening, comprising a narrow slotted architectural louvre component split across a low level manual opening section and a high level automated opening section. A review of published research found that little experimental data exists on the performance of such systems and air flow rate correlations developed for plain openings are currently used by designers to make predictions about their performance. Three experimental campaigns were designed and carried out. First, in order to quantify performance of the system, long term and short term monitoring of the internal thermal and air flow environment at the experimental building was completed. Second, ventilation rate measurements in existing and retrofit spaces were completed using a tracer gas concentration decay technique. Thirdly, air flow through the single sided slot louvre opening was investigated. In addition, the annual cooling potential of the multi-configuration system was investigated computationally. Results show there was a significant difference between both thermal environments with the retrofit space consistently displaying lower air temperatures over the cooling season and throughout all Air Change Rate measurement periods. Lower levels of vertical thermal stratification and diurnal temperature variation were also observed. On average, across a wide range of boundary conditions, lower ventilation rates were observed for the slotted louvre system with a narrower spread of values when compared with the existing building. The dominant driving force was either buoyancy or wind depending on the opening configuration adopted in the slotted louvre system. The slot louvre was found to be wind dominant for lower opening heights when compared with a plain opening of the same dimensions. Existing single sided correlations were found to perform better when predicting airflow rates through a plain opening when compared with the slot louvre system and a new dimensionless exchange rate parameter is proposed for predicting wind driven airflow through the slot louvre. Simulations indicate that 80% of annual occupied hours required an enhanced ventilative cooling airflow rate to achieve internal thermal comfort. Using a combination of configurations the system was able to provide the required cooling airflow rate for 93% of the occupied hours.

Os estudos de caracterização acústica das vogais nasais são vastoa. Porém, há poucos estudos sobre a ditongação nasal. Este é um fenômeno que emerge da costelacao articulatória dos gestos. Isso pode ser notado a partir dos parâmetros acústicoaerodinâmicos. O objetivo desta é analisar o resultado da configuração gestual entre o movimento da língua e o gesto de abertura e fechamento do véu palatino, durante a produção dos ditongos nasais do Português Brasileiro. Mostraremos os efeitos da coarticulação no output sonoro e como ela se configura, a partir da gravação de dados acústicos e aerodinâmicos. O material foi gravado com o aparelho EVA Portátil 2. Esse permitiu que o output acústico e os dados aerodinâmicos fossem gravados concomitantes. O corpus do experimento é composto por vinte ditongos divididos em orais e nasais (dez posteriores e dez anteriores) todos dicionarizados: [p@w, s@w, m@w, k@w, t@w,p@)w), s@)w), m@)w), k@)w), t@)w), dej, sej, frej, hej, lej, te)j ), se)j ,) be)j ), a.mej), a.le)j\\) . As palavras foram inseridas na frase-veículo: Digo _____ cada dia. Essa foi repetida três vezes por seis informantes (três homens e três mulheres) falantes do dialeto Paulistano ( ). Para o controle de população foi utilizada outra frase-veículo: Digo ____ todo dia, essa foi repetida por 1.3 dos sujeitos, um de cada grupo ( ). Na inspeção visual utilizou-se o software Signal Explorer e Phonédit. Os parâmetros aerodinâmicos analisados foram: a configuração do fluxo de ar oral e nasal; a taxa máxima de nasalização e a duração do fluxo de ar nasal. Os parâmetros acústicos foram: a movimentação dos formantes; a extração de F0, F1, F2 e F3 de todos os segmentos e a duração do ditongo nasal: a vogal, o glide e o apêndice nasal. A Média, o Desvio Padrão e o teste ANOVA foram feitos no Excel. Os gráficos de dispersão dos formantes foram feito no Formant Explorer. Assim, notou-se uma variação nos valores da taxa de nasalização, p > 0,5, entre a variante sexo. Nas mulheres as frequências dos formantes são mais elevadas e a dispersão dos valores do glide nasal é mais evidenciada do que nos homens. As alterações remetem as diferenças fisiológicas entre os grupos. A taxa máxima de ar nasal variou significativamente, p > 0,5, se comparado os ditongos nasais: anteriores > posteriores. Acusticamente, a transição dos formantes é dependente do contexto silábico. O mesmo não acontece com o traçado do fluxo de ar nasal, que mantém o padrão de contorno, independente da articulação silábica. Concluí-se que há um padrão aerodinâmico relativo à sincronia do movimento do véu e da língua, gerando três fases acústicas distintas: vogal nasal, glide nasal e apêndice nasal. O contorno da trajetória padrão do fluxo de ar nasal, em 87% dos casos, apresentou três fases distintas: a primeira plana; a segunda, um pico acentuado; e a terceira, uma queda abrupta. Assim, concluímos que os ditongos nasais têm uma dinâmica articulatória, acústica e aerodinâmica diferente dos não-nasalizados e que a adequação do controle das variáveis do sistema fonético-fonológico e do o conjunto de articulações, que geram uma única percepção. / There are several studies that characterize the nasal vowels. However, there are few studies about the nasal diphthongation. This phenomenon emerges from the articulatory gestures constellation. This can be noted by analyzing of the acousticaerodynamics parameters. The aim of this work is study the gesture configuration between the thong movement and the velum aperture during the nasal diphthongs production of the Brazilian Portuguese. We will show the effects of the coarticulation in the output and how it sets up in the acoustic and aerodynamic data. The data was recorded by the device EVA Portable 2. Thus, the airflow and the acoustic output were collected concomitantly. The corpus of this experiment was covered by ten oral and ten nasal diphthongs, between ten back and ten front:[p@w, s@w, m@w, k@w, t@w,p@)w), s@)w), m@)w), k@)w), t@)w), dej, sej, frej, hej, lej, te)j ), se)j ,) be)j ), a.mej), a. le)j)\\. These words are dictionaries. They were inserted in the carry-sentence [dZi.gU__ ka.d5 dZi5] and were repeated three times, by six subjects (three men and three women); all of them are Paulistano Dialects speakers. This resulted in 360 tokens (3 × 6 × 20). The carry-sentence of the populational control was [dZi.gU__ to.dT dZi5]. This was repeated by 1/3 of the subjects. This resulted in 120 tokens (3 × 2 × 20 ). The diphthong was analyzed by Signal Explorer and Phonédit. The aerodynamic parameters studied were: the nasal and oral airflow shape; the peak of nasalization and the duration of nasal airflow. The acoustic parameters analyzed were: the movement and the configuration of the formants; the values of F0, F1, F2 and F3 were extracted of all segments; the nasal diphthongs duration in the vowel, the glide and the nasal appendix. The Average, Pattern Deviation and ANOVA were done by Excel. The dispersion graphics were made by Formant Explorer. As a result we noticed that the formants movements dependent on syllabic context. The womens formants had different values of males. The degree of the dispersion of hers was higher than him. This was showed more evident in the nasal glides. This reflects the physiological differences between the groups. The nasal airflow peak variation was p> 0,5 among the sex variant. The rate of nasal airflow of the back has more volume than front, dp > 0,5. The same does not happen with the nasal airflow shape. The shape pattern is independent of syllabic articulation, but the rate of nasalization depends of the articulation. We concluded that there is an aerodynamic pattern that is resulted of the thong movement and velum aperture. This product three distinct acoustic phases: vowel nasalization, glide nasal and the nasal appendix. By the aerodynamic view, in 87% of cases, the pattern shape of the nasal airflow represents three distinct phases: the first is sharp; the second is a peak; and last part is a drop line. Thus, we concluded that the nasal diphthongs have articulatory, acoustic and aerodynamic patters different from the non-nasalized segment. These reflect the adequacy of the control of variables of phonetic-phonological system and the set of these characteristics creates a single perception.

Wave energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources for future exploitation. This thesis focuses on thermodynamic effects within Oscillating Water Column (OWC) devices equipped withWells turbines, particularly humidity effects. Previous theoretical studies of the operation of OWCs have resulted in expressions for the oscillation of the water surface in the chamber of an OWC based on linear wave theory, and the air expansion{compression cycle inside the air chamber based on ideal gas theory. Although in practice high humidity levels occur in OWC devices open to the sea, the influence of atmospheric conditions such as temperature and moisture on the performance of Wells turbines has not yet been studied in the field of ocean energy. Researchers have reported substantial differences between predicted and measured power output, and performance rates of OWCs presently coming into operation. The effect of moisture in the air chamber of the OWC causes variations on the atmospheric conditions near the turbine, modifying its performance and efficiency. Discrepancies in available power to the turbine are believed to be due to the humid air conditions, which had not been modelled previously. This thesis presents a study of the influence of humid air on the performance of an idealised Wells turbine in the chamber of an OWC using a real gas model. A new formulation is presented, including a modified adiabatic index, and subsequent modified thermodynamic state variables such as enthalpy, entropy and specific heat. The formulation is validated against experimental data, and found to exhibit better agreement than the ideal approach. The analysis indicates that the real gas behaviour can be explained by a non{dimensional number which depends on the local pressure and temperature in the OWC chamber. A first approach to the OWC formulation through the calculation of real air flow in the OWC is given, which predicts a 6% decrease in efficiency with respect to the ideal case when it is tested with a hypothetical pulse of pressure. This is important because accurate prediction of efficiency is essential for the optimal design and management of OWC converters. A numerical model has also been developed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the OWC characteristics in open sea. The performance of an OWC turbine is studied through the implementation of an actuator disk model in Fluent®. A set of different regular wave tests is developed in a 2D numerical wave flume. The model is tested using information obtained from experimental tests on a Wells{type turbine located in a wind tunnel. Linear response is achieved in terms of pressure drop and air flow in all cases, proving effectively the applicability of the actuator disk model to OWC devices. The numerical model is applied first to an OWC chamber containing dry air, and then to an OWC chamber containing humid air. Results from both cases are compared, and it is found that the results are sensitive to the degree of humidity of the air. Power decreases when humidity increases. Finally, results from the analytical real gas and numerical ideal gas models are compared. Very satisfactory agreement is obtained between the analytical and the numerical models when humidity is inserted in the gaseous phase. Both analytical and numerical models with humid air show considerable differences with the numerical model when dry air is considered. However, at the resonance frequency, results are independent of the gas model used. At every other frequency analysed, the real gas model predicts reduced values of power that can fall to 50% of the ideal power value when coupled to the radiation-diffraction model for regular waves. It is recommended that real gas should be considered in future analyses of Wells turbines in order to calculate accurately the efficiency and expected power of OWC devices.

The undercutting of toneholes has been practised for centuries with the aim of improving the tuning and playability of woodwind instruments. The influence of undercutting on tuning can be understood in terms of linear acoustic theory. Its effect on other playing characteristics is thought to lie in its reduction of local non-linear flow phenomena (boundary layer separation and the formation of jets and vortices) at the tonehole. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is used to examine the oscillating airflow around a model woodwind tonehole. Velocity and vorticity information is obtained and compared for a square-edged tonehole and an undercut tonehole at a variety of sound levels. The upstream, internal edge of the tonehole is found to be the location of the most significant local non-linear flow behaviour. Undercutting is found to reduce the strength of local non-linear flow phenomena at a given sound level. Microphone measurements carried out in a reverberation chamber show that undercutting the tonehole also reduces the harmonic distortion introduced to the radiated pressure signal by the non-linear flow. Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) is then applied to PIV data of oscillating flow at the end of a tube. It is used to approximately separate the acoustic field from the induced local non-linear flow phenomena. The POD results are then used to approximate the percentage of kinetic energy present in the non-linear flow. POD analysis is applied to the case of flow around the two toneholes. It shows a smaller transfer of kinetic energy to non-linear flow effects around the undercut tonehole at a given sound level. The dependence of the local non-linear flow kinetic energy on Strouhal number is considered.

Os estudos de caracterização acústica das vogais nasais são vastoa. Porém, há poucos estudos sobre a ditongação nasal. Este é um fenômeno que emerge da costelacao articulatória dos gestos. Isso pode ser notado a partir dos parâmetros acústicoaerodinâmicos. O objetivo desta é analisar o resultado da configuração gestual entre o movimento da língua e o gesto de abertura e fechamento do véu palatino, durante a produção dos ditongos nasais do Português Brasileiro. Mostraremos os efeitos da coarticulação no output sonoro e como ela se configura, a partir da gravação de dados acústicos e aerodinâmicos. O material foi gravado com o aparelho EVA Portátil 2. Esse permitiu que o output acústico e os dados aerodinâmicos fossem gravados concomitantes. O corpus do experimento é composto por vinte ditongos divididos em orais e nasais (dez posteriores e dez anteriores) todos dicionarizados: [p@w, s@w, m@w, k@w, t@w,p@)w), s@)w), m@)w), k@)w), t@)w), dej, sej, frej, hej, lej, te)j ), se)j ,) be)j ), a.mej), a.le)j\\) . As palavras foram inseridas na frase-veículo: Digo _____ cada dia. Essa foi repetida três vezes por seis informantes (três homens e três mulheres) falantes do dialeto Paulistano ( ). Para o controle de população foi utilizada outra frase-veículo: Digo ____ todo dia, essa foi repetida por 1.3 dos sujeitos, um de cada grupo ( ). Na inspeção visual utilizou-se o software Signal Explorer e Phonédit. Os parâmetros aerodinâmicos analisados foram: a configuração do fluxo de ar oral e nasal; a taxa máxima de nasalização e a duração do fluxo de ar nasal. Os parâmetros acústicos foram: a movimentação dos formantes; a extração de F0, F1, F2 e F3 de todos os segmentos e a duração do ditongo nasal: a vogal, o glide e o apêndice nasal. A Média, o Desvio Padrão e o teste ANOVA foram feitos no Excel. Os gráficos de dispersão dos formantes foram feito no Formant Explorer. Assim, notou-se uma variação nos valores da taxa de nasalização, p > 0,5, entre a variante sexo. Nas mulheres as frequências dos formantes são mais elevadas e a dispersão dos valores do glide nasal é mais evidenciada do que nos homens. As alterações remetem as diferenças fisiológicas entre os grupos. A taxa máxima de ar nasal variou significativamente, p > 0,5, se comparado os ditongos nasais: anteriores > posteriores. Acusticamente, a transição dos formantes é dependente do contexto silábico. O mesmo não acontece com o traçado do fluxo de ar nasal, que mantém o padrão de contorno, independente da articulação silábica. Concluí-se que há um padrão aerodinâmico relativo à sincronia do movimento do véu e da língua, gerando três fases acústicas distintas: vogal nasal, glide nasal e apêndice nasal. O contorno da trajetória padrão do fluxo de ar nasal, em 87% dos casos, apresentou três fases distintas: a primeira plana; a segunda, um pico acentuado; e a terceira, uma queda abrupta. Assim, concluímos que os ditongos nasais têm uma dinâmica articulatória, acústica e aerodinâmica diferente dos não-nasalizados e que a adequação do controle das variáveis do sistema fonético-fonológico e do o conjunto de articulações, que geram uma única percepção. / There are several studies that characterize the nasal vowels. However, there are few studies about the nasal diphthongation. This phenomenon emerges from the articulatory gestures constellation. This can be noted by analyzing of the acousticaerodynamics parameters. The aim of this work is study the gesture configuration between the thong movement and the velum aperture during the nasal diphthongs production of the Brazilian Portuguese. We will show the effects of the coarticulation in the output and how it sets up in the acoustic and aerodynamic data. The data was recorded by the device EVA Portable 2. Thus, the airflow and the acoustic output were collected concomitantly. The corpus of this experiment was covered by ten oral and ten nasal diphthongs, between ten back and ten front:[p@w, s@w, m@w, k@w, t@w,p@)w), s@)w), m@)w), k@)w), t@)w), dej, sej, frej, hej, lej, te)j ), se)j ,) be)j ), a.mej), a. le)j)\\. These words are dictionaries. They were inserted in the carry-sentence [dZi.gU__ ka.d5 dZi5] and were repeated three times, by six subjects (three men and three women); all of them are Paulistano Dialects speakers. This resulted in 360 tokens (3 × 6 × 20). The carry-sentence of the populational control was [dZi.gU__ to.dT dZi5]. This was repeated by 1/3 of the subjects. This resulted in 120 tokens (3 × 2 × 20 ). The diphthong was analyzed by Signal Explorer and Phonédit. The aerodynamic parameters studied were: the nasal and oral airflow shape; the peak of nasalization and the duration of nasal airflow. The acoustic parameters analyzed were: the movement and the configuration of the formants; the values of F0, F1, F2 and F3 were extracted of all segments; the nasal diphthongs duration in the vowel, the glide and the nasal appendix. The Average, Pattern Deviation and ANOVA were done by Excel. The dispersion graphics were made by Formant Explorer. As a result we noticed that the formants movements dependent on syllabic context. The womens formants had different values of males. The degree of the dispersion of hers was higher than him. This was showed more evident in the nasal glides. This reflects the physiological differences between the groups. The nasal airflow peak variation was p> 0,5 among the sex variant. The rate of nasal airflow of the back has more volume than front, dp > 0,5. The same does not happen with the nasal airflow shape. The shape pattern is independent of syllabic articulation, but the rate of nasalization depends of the articulation. We concluded that there is an aerodynamic pattern that is resulted of the thong movement and velum aperture. This product three distinct acoustic phases: vowel nasalization, glide nasal and the nasal appendix. By the aerodynamic view, in 87% of cases, the pattern shape of the nasal airflow represents three distinct phases: the first is sharp; the second is a peak; and last part is a drop line. Thus, we concluded that the nasal diphthongs have articulatory, acoustic and aerodynamic patters different from the non-nasalized segment. These reflect the adequacy of the control of variables of phonetic-phonological system and the set of these characteristics creates a single perception.

The increasing use of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) can enable very close vehicle spacings which generally results in a net drag reduction for the resulting convoys. The majority of vehicle development has, to date, been for vehicles in isolation, thus the study of interaction effects is becoming increasingly important. The main objective of this research is to investigate the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for understanding convoy aerodynamics and to further the understanding of airflow interaction between vehicles via CFD. In this study, time-averaged characteristics of a simplified, generic passenger vehicle, called the Ahmed car model, after Ahmed et.al (1984) is investigated computationally using the available commercial CFD code, Fluent version 6.1.22. Three different platoon combinations were analysed for the current study which includes a two, three and six model platoons for various rear end configurations of the Ahmed model geometry. Experiments were conducted in RMIT University Industrial Wind Tunnel for analysing the effects of drafting on drag coefficients using two different scales of Ahmed car models. This is an extension to the previous study performed on two 100% scales of Ahmed models (Vino and Watkins, 2004) and the results for both the current and previous experiments were compared using CFD. The CFD proved to be a useful technique since its results compared reasonably well for both the current and the previous experiments on drafting, using Ahmed models of identical (30°) rear slant configurations. However, near critical rear slant angles (~30°) for isolated vehicles some discrepancies were noted. The reasonable validation of experimental results enabled the study to be extended further computationally using CFD, to analyse the effects of inter-vehicle spacing on a platoon of 3 and 6 models for various rear end configurations (between 0° and 40°), in an attempt to provide useful information on vehicle-wake interaction for the Future Generation Intelligent Transport System (FGITS). Critical gaps were identified via CFD for the case of a two, three and six model platoons and the simulations clearly exposed the reasons for these critical gaps. At extremely close proximity, the models experienced more pressure recovery at their rear vertical base, which reduced the drag coefficient. Surprisingly, at some of the close vehicle spacings, the drag coefficients reached values that were higher than that of a vehicle in isolation. This was found due to the high momentum flow impingement to the fore body of the model and was similar to results found in physical experiments. Thus the current CFD analysis revealed that rear slant angle of the model and the inter-vehicle spacing greatly influences the wake structures and ultimately the vehicles aerodynamic drag coefficients in platoons. Even though the current CFD model (Realizable k-B turbulence model) predicted the basic flow structures such as the C-pillar vortices from the rear slant and 2D horse shoe vortices in the model's vertical rear base, the separation bubble on the rear slant that supplies energy to the strong C-pillar vortices was not replicated accurately, which is evidenced from the flow structure analysis. Hence it is recommended for further work, that the study should be extended using the Reynold's stress models or the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) turbulence models for flow structure observation and analysing vortex interactions between the models.

Sufficient heat dissipation is crucial to the effective operation of friction based braking systems. Such cooling is generally provided by ensuring a sufficient supply of cooling air to the heated components, hence the aerodynamics in the region of the brake components is extremely important. The objective of the research was to develop an understanding of how aerodynamics could be used to improve the cooling of automotive disc brakes. Two separate sets of wind tunnel experiments were developed. Tests were performed on a vented disc (rotor) to measure the internal flow through the vents on a rotating vented disc under various conditions, including an isolated disc in still air, the disc in still air with the wheel on, the disc in moving air with the wheel on, and an on-road simulation using a ¼ car. On vehicle tests were also performed in a wind tunnel using a purpose built brake test rig. These tests measured the thermal performance of different brake discs under various operating parameters; including constant load braking, and cooling from high temperature under various speeds, wheels and disc types. It was found that airflow through vented rotors was significantly reduced during simulated on-road driving, compared to when measured in isolation, but not particularly affected by the vehicles speed. In the situations tested, vented discs offered a 40+% improvement in cooling over an equivalent sized solid rotors. However the research indicates that the greatest benefit of vented rotors over solid will be in vehicles where air entering the wheel cavity is limited, such as low drag vehicles. It was also found that the most significant improvements in brake thermal performance could be achieved by maximising the airflow into the region of the brake components; including increasing the open area of the wheel, and increasing the vehicle velocity. Other improvements can be achieved by using a wheel material with good conductive capability, and increasing the mass of the disc. Evidence of vortex shedding was also discovered in the airflow at the exit of an internal vented rotor, any reduction in this flow disturbance should lead to increased airflow with associated improvements in thermal performance.

Airflow and particle transport through the nasal cavity was studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). A computational model of the human nasal cavity was reconstructed through CT scans. The process involved defining the airway outline through points in space that had to be fitted with a closed surface. The airflow was first simulated and detailed airflow structures such as local vortices, wall shear stresses, pressure drop and flow distribution were obtained. In terms of heat transfer the differences in the width of the airway especially in the frontal regions was found to be critical as the temperature difference was greatest and therefore heating of the air is expedited when the air is surrounded by the hotter walls. Understanding the effects of the airway geometry on the airflow patterns allows better predictions of particle transport through the airway. Inhalation of foreign particles is filtered by the nasal cilia to some degree as a defence mechanism of the airway. Particles such as asbestos fibres, pollen and diesel fumes can be considered as toxic and lead to health problems. These particles were introduced and the effects of particle morphology were considered by customising the particle trajectory equation. This mainly included the effects of the drag correlation and its shape factor. Local particle deposition sites, detailed deposition efficiencies and particle trajectories were obtained. High inertial particles tended to be filtered within the anterior regions of the cavity due to a change in direction of the airway as the air flow changes from vertical at the inlet to horizontal within the main nasal passage. Inhaled particles with pharmacological agents are often deliberately introduced into the nasal airway with a target delivery. The mucous lined airway that is highly vascular provides an avenue for drug delivery into the blood stream. An initial nasal spray experiment was performed to determine the parameters that were important for nasal spray drug delivery. The important parameters were determined to be the spray angle, initial particle velocity and particle swirl. It was found that particles were formed at a break-up length at a cone diameter greater than the spray nozzle diameter. The swirl fraction determined how much of the velocity magnitude went into a tangential component. By combining a swirling component along with a narrow spray into the main streamlines, greater penetration of larger particles into the nasal cavity may be possible. These parameters were then used as the boundary conditions for a parametric study into sprayed particle drug delivery within the CFD domain. The results were aimed to assist in the design of more efficient nasal sprays.