This thesis reports a new set of experimental data and presents an in-depth analysis of the flow physics of a jet stream produced by a large quarter-round corner-mounted displacement diffuser. The air velocity, temperature and turbulence intensity inside the displacement ventilation (DV) jet have been thoroughly analyzed and compared with the reported findings of previous studies and model predictions. Furthermore, thermal comfort has been analyzed using the measured data following the ASHRAE standard. This thesis also aims at establishing an accurate numerical approach for simulating the heat and fluid flow in a room ventilated by a DV system. The supply boundary condition has been thoroughly investigated, which includes tests of the conventional box and momentum modeling methods, and proposal of a more accurate modeling approach. In addition, the predictive accuracy of the standard k-ϵ, RNG k-ϵ, SST k-ω and RSM turbulence models has been examined against the experimental data.

In the first part of this thesis, we demonstrate theory and computations for finite-energy line defect solutions in an improvement of Ericksen-Leslie liquid crystal theory. Planar director fields are considered in two and three space dimensions, and we demonstrate straight as well as loop disclination solutions. The possibility of static balance of forces in the presence of a disclination and in the absence of ow and body forces is discussed. The work exploits an implicit conceptual connection between the Weingarten-Volterra characterization of possible jumps in certain potential fields and the Stokes-Helmholtz resolution of vector fields. The theoretical basis of our work is compared and contrasted with the theory of Volterra disclinations in elasticity. Physical reasoning precluding a gauge-invariant structure for the model is also presented. In part II of the thesis, the time-harmonic Schrodinger equation with periodic potential is considered. We derive the asymptotic form of the scattering wave function in the periodic space and investigate the possibility of its application as a DtN non-reflecting boundary condition. Moreover, we study the perfectly matched layer method for this problem and show that it is a reliable method, which converges rapidly to the exact solution, as the thickness of the absorbing layer increases. Moreover, we use the tight-binding method to numerically solve the Schrodinger equation for Graphene sheets, symmetry-adapted Carbon nanotubes and DNA molecules to demonstrate their electronic behavior in the presence of local defects. The results for Y-junction Carbon nanotubes depict very interesting properties and confirms the predictions for their application as new transistors.

This thesis deals with modelling of flow in rotating engines. The introduction of the thesis discusses the principles of CFD modelling, such as mathematical flow model, numerical solution methods and model of turbulence. Next, the thesis is engaged in possibilities of a calculation model creation and its setting for a used model of steam turbine regulatory stage. The last part contains evaluation of calculation models and their comparison with different input parameters, regarding the fact that the aim is to get the most suitable setting for reaching the peak efficiency.

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We develop a methodology for systematic inversion of quantitative stratigraphic models. Quantitative stratigraphic modeling predicts stratigraphy using numerical simulations of geologic processes. Stratigraphic inversion methodically searches the parameter space in order to detect models which best represent the observed stratigraphy. Model parameters include sea-level change, tectonic subsidence, sediment input rate, and transport coefficients. We successfully performed a fully automated process based stratigraphic inversion of a geologically complex synthetic model. Several one and two parameter inversions were used to investigate the coupling of process parameters. Source location and transport coefficient below base level indicated significant coupling, while the rest of the parameters showed only minimal coupling. The influence of different observable data on the inversion was also tested. The inversion results using misfit based on sparse, but time dependent sample points proved to be better than the misfit based on the final stratigraphy only, even when sampled densely. We tested several inversion schemes on the topography dataset obtained from the eXperimental EarthScape facility simulation. The clustering of model parameters in most of the inversion experiments showed the likelihood of obtaining a reasonable number of compatible models. We also observed the need for several different diffusion-coefficient parameterizations to emulate different erosional and depositional processes. The excellent result of the piecewise inversion, which used different parameterizations for different time intervals, demonstrate the need for development or incorporation of time-variant parameterizations of the diffusion coefficients. We also present new methods for applying boundary condition on simulation of diffusion processes using the finite-difference method. It is based on the straightforward idea that solutions at the boundaries are smooth. The new scheme achieves high accuracy when the initial conditions are non vanishing at the boundaries, a case which is poorly handled by previous methods. Along with the ease in implementation, the new method does not require any additional computation or memory. / Ph. D.

This thesis describes measurements of the gas-solid flow boundary condition at moderate Knudsen number, i.e., where the dimensions of the flow are similar to the mean free path, and thus partial slip is expected. This regime has become more important with increased focus on nano-scale devices, but there is currently no consensus on how the slip length should vary for different solids and gases, or whether it can be controlled. In this thesis, I describe unambiguous measurements showing that partial slip occurs, that the slip length depends both on gas and solid, and that the slip length can be altered in situ. The slip length is determined from analysis of the vibration of a small sphere adjacent to a solid. I also describe applications of these findings both to the separation of gases, and to inhalants. The effect of water films, gas species, organic films, and electric fields on gas flow was studied. Water films had a large, but complex effect. On bare hydrophobilic glass, the tangential momentum accommodation coefficient (TMAC) for nitrogen on hydroxyl-terminated silica changed from 0.25 to 0.88 when the humidity changed from 0 to 98 %. On hydrophobized glass, TMAC changed from 0.20 to 0.56 in the same range. The effect of the gas on TMAC was measured for five different gases (helium, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hexafluoride sulfur) on octadecyltrichlorosilane-coated glass surfaces. A lower TMAC occurred for greater molar mass, and this trend was explained using a simple model representing both the gas and the monolayer by spheres. The existence of this gas-dependent difference in TMAC suggests that gases can be separated based on their collisions with surfaces. Methods for controlling the flow boundary condition were also developed by adsorbing monolayers on the solid, and altering the monolayers in situ. Both temperature and electric fields altered the boundary condition, and these changes were attributed to changes in the surface roughness. The effect of roughness was modeled with grooved surfaces. Possible applications of this effect of roughness include changing the flow of aerosol droplets for deeper delivery of therapeutic drugs into the lung. / Ph. D.

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The heat transfer behavior of phase change material fluid under laminar flow conditions in circular tubes and internally longitudinal finned tubes are presented in this study. Two types of boundary conditions, including uniform axial heat flux with constant peripheral temperature and uniform axial and peripheral temperature, were considered in the case of circular tubes. An effective specific heat technique was used to model the phase change process assuming a hydrodynamically fully-developed flow at the entrance of the tube. Results were also obtained for the phase change process under hydro dynamically and thermally fully developed conditions. In case of a smooth circular tube with phase change material (PCM) fluid, results of Nusselt number were obtained by varying the bulk Stefan number. The Nusselt number results were found to be strongly dependent on the Stefan number. In the case of a finned tube two types of boundary conditions were studied. The first boundary condition had a uniform axial heat flux along the axis of the tube with a variable temperature on the peripheral surface of the tube. The second boundary condition had a constant temperature on the outer surface of the tube. The effective specific heat technique was again implemented to analyze the phase change process under both the boundary conditions. The Nusselt number was determined for a tube with two fins with different fin height ratios and fin thermal conductivity values. It was determined that the Nusselt number was strongly dependent on the Stefan number, fin thermal conductivity value, and height of the fins. It was also observed that for a constant heat axial flux boundary condition with peripherally varying temperature, the phase change slurry with the internally finned tube performed better than the one without fins. A similar trend was observed during the phase change process with internal fins under the constant wall temperature boundary condition.

The heat transfer behavior of phase change material fluid under laminar flow conditions in circular tubes and internally longitudinal finned tubes are presented in this study. Two types of boundary conditions, including uniform axial heat flux with constant peripheral temperature and uniform axial and peripheral temperature, were considered in the case of circular tubes. An effective specific heat technique was used to model the phase change process assuming a hydrodynamically fully-developed flow at the entrance of the tube. Results were also obtained for the phase change process under hydro dynamically and thermally fully developed conditions. In case of a smooth circular tube with phase change material (PCM) fluid, results of Nusselt number were obtained by varying the bulk Stefan number. The Nusselt number results were found to be strongly dependent on the Stefan number. In the case of a finned tube two types of boundary conditions were studied. The first boundary condition had a uniform axial heat flux along the axis of the tube with a variable temperature on the peripheral surface of the tube. The second boundary condition had a constant temperature on the outer surface of the tube. The effective specific heat technique was again implemented to analyze the phase change process under both the boundary conditions. The Nusselt number was determined for a tube with two fins with different fin height ratios and fin thermal conductivity values. It was determined that the Nusselt number was strongly dependent on the Stefan number, fin thermal conductivity value, and height of the fins. It was also observed that for a constant heat axial flux boundary condition with peripherally varying temperature, the phase change slurry with the internally finned tube performed better than the one without fins. A similar trend was observed during the phase change process with internal fins under the constant wall temperature boundary condition.