Mobile jack-up rigs are widely used in offshore oil and gas exploration and increasingly in temporary production and maintenance work. There is a steadily increasing demand for their use in deeper water and harsher environments. A typical modem jack-up has three independent legs, each equipped with a footing known as ‘spudcan’. This thesis is concerned with the performance of spudcan foundation subjected to vertical loading correspondent to preloading during its installation into uniform clay. The chief aim of this study is to investigate the bearing behaviour with the corresponding soil failure mechanisms during spudcan penetration. Centrifuge model test and Finite Element (FE) analysis are carried out extensively. In centrifuge modelling, a half-spudcan model and a full spudcan model are used. In the half- spudcan model test, a novel system for revealing soil failure mechanisms and measuring soil deformation has been adopted, in which the half-spudcan model is placed against a transparent window and a subsequent Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) analysis is performed. The full-spudcan model test is conducted to measure the load-penetration response. In numerical simulation, both small strain and large deformation analyses are carried out with smooth and rough soil-spudcan interfaces considered. At the initial stage of penetration, it is observed that a cavity is formed above the spudcan as it is penetrating into a uniform clay. Meanwhile, soil flows towards the surface and thus soil heave forms close to the spudcan shoulders. With further penetration, the soil underneath the spudcan starts to flow back into the cavity on the exposed top of the spudcan. This backflow causes the spudcan to be embedded while the initially formed cavity remains open. / Eventually, the spudcan becomes fully embedded and the soil flow mechanism reaches a fully localised failure mechanism with deep embedment. The lateral extent of visible distortion due to soil flow is confined well within 1.5-1.6 D (D: spudcan diameter). From both centrifuge and numerical investigations, it is found that in uniform clay, it is inevitable to form a cavity above the spudcan foundation. Thus, the stable cavity depth and soil back flow mechanisms are studied. It is clear that the back flow is caused by a Flow Failure, where it is due to the downward penetration of the spudcan. This is contrary to the Wall Failure that is the mechanism recommended by the current offshore design guidelines to estimate the stable cavity depth. In wall failure, the soil back flow is due to the cavity wall too high to stand. The stable cavity depth is estimated up to 4 times higher by the wall failure mechanism than the one by the flow failure. This explains that the wall failure is never observed in model test. Therefore, a new design chart with design formula is developed for design engineers in the stable cavity depth calculation. The spudcan bearing response is strongly correspondent with the variation of soil failure mechanisms during penetration. At the initial stage of the penetration, the spudcan bearing capacity increases with penetration, which is due to the increase of overburden pressure from cavity formation. At the second stage of the penetration, soil back flow embeds the spudcan, and the spudcan bearing capacity is increasing as the soil flow mechanism transits from its shallow failure mechanism to its deep failure mechanism. / At the final stage of the penetration, the spudcan bearing capacity reaches its ultimate value, where the deep/localised failure mechanism remains. A rough spudcan shows 14 % higher bearing capacity than a smooth spudcan. And a flat-plate shows 8 % higher capacity than a spudcan with a same surface roughness. The ultimate bearing capacity factor N, = 10.5 in uniform soil is recommended as a conservative value when the deep failure mechanism is reached. A correspondent N, = 10.1 in NC clay is suggested for a deeply embedded spudcan.

Mathematical models were developed to understand cavity growth mechanisms, heat and mass transfer in combination with chemical reaction, and the factors which affect gas production from an underground coal gasifier. A model for coal gasification in a one-dimensional spatial domain was developed and validated through comparison with experimental measurements of the pyrolysis of large coal particles and cylindrical coal blocks. The effects of changes in operating conditions and coal properties on cavity growth were quantified. It was found that the operating conditions which have the greatest impact on cavity growth are: temperature, water influx, pressure and gas composition, while the coal properties which have the greatest impact are: the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the coal, the coal composition and the thickness of the ash layer. Comparison of the model results with estimates from field scale trials, indicate that the model predicts growth rates with magnitudes comparable to those observed. Model results with respect to the effect of ash content, water influx and pressure are in agreement with trends observed in field trials. A computational fluid dynamics model for simulating the combined transport phenomena and chemical reaction in an underground coal gasification cavity has been developed. Simulations of a two-dimensional axi-symmetric cavity partially filled with an inert ash bed have shown that when the oxidant is injected from the bottom of the cavity, the fluid flow in the void space is dominated by a single buoyancy force due to temperature gradients established by the combustion of volatiles produced from the gasification of carbon at the cavity walls. Simulations in which the oxidant was injected from the top of the cavity reveal a weak fluid circulation due to the absence of strong buoyancy forces, leading to poor gasification performance. A channel model of gas production from underground coal gasification was developed, which incorporates a zero-dimensional cavity growth model and mass transfer due to natural convection. A model sensitivity study is presented and model simulations elucidate the effects of operating conditions and coal properties on gas production.

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.

Thesis (M. D. S.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Pas de résumé

<p>In this thesis we report on calculations for open quantum mechanical and certain microwave systems. The models refer to a quantum point contact and an electron cavity. We model this open system with an imaginary potential as source and drain, and use the finite difference method to make our calculations. We report on general features of the model we have found, and compare our calculations with measurements made on microwave cavities.</p>

In this paper, the precorrected-FFT method is used to solve the electromagnetic scattering from two-dimensional cavities of arbitrary shape. The integral equation is discretized by the method of moments and the resultant matrix equation is solved iteratively by the generalized conjugate residual method. Instead of directly computing the matrix-vector multiplication, which requires N² operations, this approach reduces the computation complexity to O(N log N) as well as avoids the storage of large matrices. At the same time, a technique known as the complexifying k is applied to accelerate the convergence of the iterative method in solving this resonance problem. Some examples are considered and excellent agreements of radar cross sections between these computed using the present method and those from the direct solution are observed, demonstrating the feasibility and efficiency of the present method. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

This research represents the first effort to apply vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) to the monitoring of interferometric fiber optic sensors. Modulation of the drive current causes thermal tuning of the laser light frequency. Reflection of this frequency-modulated light from a fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer (FFPI) sensor produces fringe patterns which can be used to measure the optical path difference of the sensor. Spectral characteristics were measured for 850nm VCSELs to determine the combination of dc bias current, modulation current amplitude and modulation frequency for which single mode VCSEL operation and regular fringe patterns are achieved. The response characteristics of FFPI sensors were determined experimentally for square, triangular, saw-tooth waveforms at frequencies from 10kHz to 100kHz. The dependence of VCSEL frequency on the dc bias current was determined from spectral measurements to be ~165GHz/mA. An independent measurement of this quantity based on counting fringes from the FFPI sensor as the laser modulated was in good agreement with this value. The effect of optical feedback into the laser was also studied. By observing the fringe shift as the FFPI sensor was heated, a fractional change in optical length with temperature of 6.95 X 10-6/°C was determined in good agreement with previous measurements on a 1300nm single mode fiber. The performance of 850nm VCSEL/FFPI systems was compared with their counterparts using 1300nm distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. The results of these experiments show that the 850nm VCSEL/FFPI combination gives regular fringe patterns at much lower bias current and modulating current amplitudes than their 1300nm DFB/FFPI counterparts.

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) areattractive as potential inexpensive high-performance emittersfor fibre-optical communication systems. Their surface-normalemission together with the small dimensions are beneficial forlow-cost fabrication since it allows on-wafer testing,simplified packaging and effective fibre-coupling. Forhigh-speed data transmission up to hundreds of metres, 850-nmVCSELs are today the technology of choice. For higher bandwidthand longer distance networks, emission at long-wavelength(1.3-1.55 µm) is required. Long-wavelength VCSELs are,however, not available since no materials system offershigh-index-contrast distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) as wellas high-gain active regions at such wavelengths.High-performance DBRs may be built up from AlGaAs/GaAsmultilayers, but long wavelength quantum wells (QWs) are onlywell established in the InP system. Therefore, the bestperforming devices have relied on wafer-fusion betweenInP-based QWs and AlGaAs-DBRs. More recently, however, the mainefforts have been shifted towards all-epitaxial GaAs-baseddevices, employing 1.3-µm GaInNAs QWs. In this thesis, different processing technologies forlong-wavelength VCSELs are described. This includes a thoroughinvestigation of wafer-fusion between InP and GaAs regardingelectro-optical as well as metallurgical properties, and thedevelopment of a stable low-pressure process for the selectiveoxidation of AlAs. Optimised AlGaAs/GaAs DBRs were designed andfabricated. An important and striking observation from thatstudy is that n-type doping potentially is much moredetrimental to device performance than previously anticipated.These investigations were exploited in the realisation of twonew VCSEL designs. Near-room-temperature continuous-waveoperation of a single-fused 1.55-µm VCSEL was obtained.This demonstrated the potential of InGaAsP/InP DBRs inhigh-performance VCSELs, but also revealed a high sensitivityto self-heating. Further efforts were therefore directedtowards all-epitaxial GaAs-based structures. This resulted in ahigh-performance 1215-nm VCSEL with a highly strained InGaAssingle QW. This can be viewed as a basis for longer-wavelengthVCSELs, i.e., with an emission wavelength approaching 1300 nm,either by an extensive device detuning or with GaInNAs QWs. <b>Keywords</b>: VCSEL, vertical cavity laser, semiconductorlaser, long-wavelength, DBR, oxidation, wafer fusion, InGaAs,semiconductor processing

Vertical cavity lasers (VCLs) are of great interest aslow-cost, high-performance light sources for fiber-opticcommunication systems. They have a number of advantages overconventional edge-emitting lasers, including low powerconsumption, efficient fiber coupling and wafer scalemanufacturing/testing. For high-speed data transmission overdistances up to a few hundred meters, VCLs (or arrays of VCLs)operating at 850 nm wavelength is today the technology ofchoice. While multimode fibers are successfully used in theseapplications, higher transmission bandwidth and longerdistances require single-mode fibres and longer wavelengths(1.3-1.55 µm). However, long-wavelength VCLs are as yetnot commercially available since no traditional materialssystem offers the required combination of bothhigh-index-contrast distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) andhigh-gain active regions. Earlier work on long-wavelength VCLshas therefore focused on hybrid techniques, such as waferfusion between InP-based QWs and AlGaAs DBRs, but more recentlythe main interest in this field has shifted towardsall-epitaxial GaAs-based devices employing novel 1.3-µmactive materials. Among these, strained GaInNAs/GaAs QWs aregenerally considered one of the most promising approaches andhave received a great deal of interest. The aim of this thesis is to investigate monolithicGaAs-based long-wavelength (&gt;1.2 µm) VCLs with InGaAsor GaInNAs QW active regions. Laser structures - or partsthereof - have been grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy(MOVPE) and characterized by various techniques, such ashigh-resolution x-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence(PL), atomic force microscopy, and secondary ion massspectroscopy (SIMS). High accuracy reflectance measurementsrevealed that n-type doping is much more detrimental to theperformance of AlGaAs DBRs than previously anticipated. Asystematic investigation was also made of the deleteriouseffects of buried Al-containing layers, such as AlGaAs DBRs, onthe optical and structural properties of subsequently grownGaInNAs QWs. Both these problems, with their potential bearingon VCL fabrication, are reduced by lowering the DBR growthtemperature. Record-long emission wavelength InGaAs VCLs were fabricatedusing an extensive gain-cavity detuning. The cavity resonancecondition just below 1270 nm wavelength occurs at the farlong-wavelength side of the gain curve. Still, the gain is highenough to yield threshold currents in the low mA-regime and amaximum output power exceeding 1 mW, depending on devicediameter. Direct modulation experiments were performed on1260-nm devices at 10 Gb/s in a back-to-back configuration withopen, symmetric eye diagrams, indicating their potential foruse in high-speed transmission applications. These devices arein compliance with the wavelength requirements of emerging10-Gb/s Ethernet and SONET OC-192 standards and may turn out tobe a viable alternative to GaInNAs VCLs. <b>Keywords:</b>GaInNAs, InGaAs, quantum wells, MOVPE, MOCVD,vertical cavity laser, VCSEL, long-wavelength, epitaxy, XRD,DBR