abstract: The current research is based on the principles of three-dimensional discrete element method (3D – DEM) through simulations, by using heat transfer models in EDEM, to investigate the effects of fill level, rotation rate and particle size on the steady-state conduction heat transfer in rotary drums. The high heat and mass transfer rates obtained through rotary drums make them very useful for powder mixing and heating processes in metallurgical, cement, mining, pharmaceutical, detergent and other particulate processing applications. However, these complex processes are difficult to model and operate since the particles can have a wide range of properties, and there is currently no way to predict the optimal operating conditions for a given material. Steady-state heat transfer by conduction forms the basis for understanding other steady-state and unsteady-state heat transfer in a rotary drum – conduction, convection and radiation. Statistical analysis is carried out to determine the effects of these process parameters and find optimal operating conditions, which will thereby improve the heat transfer efficiency in rotary drums. A stainless-steel drum with a diameter of 6 inches and a length of 3 inches was modeled in EDEM with silica beads of sizes 2 mm, 3 mm and 4 mm at fill levels of 10%, 17.5% and 25%, and at rotation rates of 2 rpm, 5 rpm and 10 rpm. It was found that the heating uniformity increased with decreasing particle size, decreasing fill level and increasing rotation rate. This research is the first step towards studying the other heat transfer modes and various other process parameters. Better understanding of the various heat transfer modes, when used in combination for heating the particles, will be beneficial in improving the operating efficiency, reducing material costs and leading to significant energy conservation on a global scale. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Chemical Engineering 2020

This dissertation develops and implements an effective numerical scheme, the inclusion-based boundary element method (iBEM), to investigate the mechanical and multi-physical properties of the composites containing arbitrarily shaped particles. Besides the linear elasticity and transient heat conduction problems shown in the dissertation, it can be extended to other problems, such as potential flows and Stokes flows. Through the combination of conventional boundary element method (BEM) and the Eshelby's equivalent inclusion method (EIM), the local field is obtained through superposition of the domain integral of eigen-fields and boundary integral equations. Firstly, the boundary value problems of a composite containing various fully bonding phases of subdomains is introduced. Due to the continuity of displacement (potential) and traction (flux) at the interfaces between different material phases, the interfacial continuity equations are established, which can be solved with the multi-region BEM conventionally. Thanks to Eshelby's celebrated contribution, the material difference in inhomogeneity problems is simulated by an eigenstrain on the inclusion domain but with the same material properties as the matrix. Therefore, the boundary value problems with inhomogeneities can be transformed as domain integral of Green's function with the eigenstrain over the inclusion, where can be determined by the equivalent stress conditions in EIM. Hence, the algorithm of iBEM is formulated and established on the basis of boundary conditions and equivalent stress equations instead of various continuity constraint equations, which saves efforts in computational resources and pre/post-process. The domain integral of Green's function is the key to the algorithm of iBEM, as it bridges the inhomogeneities and the boundary. The closed-form expression of domain integrals for ellipsoidal / elliptical inclusions with polynomial eigenstrain, polygonal and polyhedral inclusions with constant eigenstrain have already existed in the literature. However, it is not applicable to arbitrary particles with varying eigenstrain. This dissertation derives the closed-form domain integrals for polygon and polyhedral inclusions with polynomial eigenstrain source terms, which creates feasibility to solve the local field and effective material properties for composites with arbitrary particles. Although the EIM with polynomial-form eigenstrain has been applied to simulate the material mismatch for ellipsoidal / elliptical inhomogeneities by using the Taylor's of eigenstrain field at the particle center, when it is extended to angular particles, the inaccuracy is significantly reduced due to the rapid and complicated eigenstrain variation in the neighborhood of vertices with the strong singular effects. Therefore, the domain discretization of an angular particle is proposed to tackle the complicated distribution of elastic fields, which keeps the features of exactness (no approximation of interior field) and 𝐂⁰ continuity of eigenstrain. Hereby, the iBEM is proposed to serve as an effective and powerful tool, which takes the advantages of both BEM and EIM. The interaction of inhomogeneities is considered in the process of constructing EIM equations, and boundary effects are taken into account as the contribution to displacement of the eigen-field over inhomogeneities, hence, a complete linear equation system can be established. For the inclusion problems with a prescribed eigenstrain, no domain discretization is required because the exact elastic solution is obtained given the specific dimension of the geometry. Regarding to inhomogeneity problems, 1) the ellipsoidal / elliptical shape is versatile, which could be switched to various of shapes by adjusting the aspect ratio and orientations; 2) though the angular subdomain requires discretization, this method is rapidly convergent and no mesh is needed for the matrix. Therefore, this method enables the simulation of thousands 3𝐷 and 2𝐷 arbitrary shaped particles in a desk-top computer and the effective moduli can be obtained through virtual experiments (i.e, uni-axial loading) or periodic boundary conditions. This method can be easily extended to multi-physical problems, such as transient hear transfer, steady state heat, through changing the fundamental solutions accordingly. Three major packages have been added to the iBEM software, as transient heat transfer, closed-form 2D/3D domain integrals, and domain discretization method. Some case studies demonstrate the capability and applications of this method and software. This main contributions of the PhD studies are as follows: 1) The closed-form domain integrals for polygonal and polyhedral inhomogeneities have been derived based on the gravitational potential theory and transformed coordinates. The solutions are verified with the classic solution of circular and spherical potentials with polynomial source terms (i.e, linear and quadratic) by using many triangular and tetrahedral elements. It enables to solve the inhomogeneity problems with arbitrary particles. 2) Due to the discontinuity on the surfaces and edges of the subdomains and strong singular effects on the vertices, the variation of eigenstrain field is complicated in the neighborhood of edges and vertices. The domain discretization approach is proposed to provide a rapid convergent and effective solution in the infinite space. Different from the Taylor's expansion, the eigenstrain is assigned exactly at the nodes with shape functions instead of at the centroid of the elements, therefore, a 𝐂⁰ continuity is enforced. Here 3-node, 6-node triangular elements and 4-node, 10-node tetrahedral elements are implemented in the code of iBEM, which agree well with FEM but with much fewer of elements. Other types of element are also implementable in the same fashion. 3) The discretization method is applied to investigate the stress singularities of a vertex on an isosceles triangle embedded in an unbounded matrix. Two types of stress singularities are investigated: when the load is applied to the triangular inclusion with the same stiffness as the matrix, the singularity is caused by the irregular load distribution, namely load singularity, and can be exactly evaluated by integral of the potentials on the source with Eshelby's tensor. The second singularity, namely material singularity, is caused by the stiffness mismatch between the triangular inhomogeneity and the matrix under a uniform far field stress, in which the material mismatch is simulated by an eigenstrain. The relationship between the load singularity and material singularity is investigated, and the linkages of these singularities with line distributed force, cracking, and point force are discussed. 4) A parametric study of accuracy on stress field for uniform, linear and quadratic eigenstrain fields was performed and case studies have been presented to demonstrate the capability of iBEM for virtual experiments of ellipsoidal / elliptical inhomogeneities. Subsequently, combining the domain discretization method, iBEM is also applied to study the local elastic fields of the angular inhomogeneities. The effective material behavior is obtained with either large number of particles or periodic boundary condition (PBC) and some interesting discoveries of microstructure-dependent material behavior are reported with the aid of virtual experiments. 5) The iBEM is extended to multiphysical problems. The temperature and hear flux fields of composite materials containing phase change materials (PCM) for energy efficient buildings is demonstrated. Different from the static EIM, the thermal property mismatch between PCM particle and matrix phase is simulated with a uniformly distributed eigen-temperature gradient field and a fictitious heat source on the particle. With the equivalent heat flux conditions and the specific heat-temperature relationship, the eigen-temperature gradient and fictitious heat source can be solved and temperature field of the bounded domain can be calculated. Verified with FEM and laboratory measurements of the transient heat transfer within a building block containing a PCM capsule. Parametric studies have also been conducted to study the influences of the PCM location and volume fraction on the temperature fields of composites with multiple particles. The virtual experiments demonstrate the energy saving and phase delay by using the PCM-concrete wall panel. In summary, the proposed iBEM algorithm bridges the gap between conventional EIM and BEM for virtual experiments of composites samples. The combination of shape functions and domain integrals of polygonal / polyhedral subdomain enables its application to arbitrary shaped particles. It serves as a powerful tool to conduct virtual experiments for composite materials with various geometry and investigate the effective moduli under uni-axial load of samples with large number of particles or under the periodic boundary condition. In the future, the iBEM will be implemented for time independent and dependent nonlinear behavior of composites, such as elastoplastic, viscoelastic, and dynamic elastic problems. In addition to the current parallel computing scheme, GPU can be employed to speed up particle - particle interactions.

Numerical simulations of thermal processes are based on known geometry, material properties, initial and boundaries conditions. The massive use of these simulations in the metallurgical industry (for example for simulation of heat treatment of steel) is limited by the knowledge of precise boundary conditions, which are not easy to determine in compare to other input parameters. Empirical formulas are not sufficiently accurate for most non-trivial processes. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain the boundary conditions by experimental way. Boundary conditions can not be measured directly. The boundary conditions are determined by solving inverse heat conduction problem based on the measured temperature records. This doctoral thesis focuses on two types of the inverse heat conduction problems, which are poorly solved by existing methods. The first type are tasks that contains sharp increase/decrease in the values of the boundary conditions. Two new approaches are proposed and compared in this thesis for this type of tasks. The second type are tasks with non-stationary and non-homogeneous cooling. Three new methods were developed for this case. They are applied for the case of water cooling of vertical aluminum sample. The base characteristics of the current task is inhomogeneous cooling. One part of the surface is cooled intensively by flowing water in contrast to the other part of surface which is cooled only with low intensity since it is protected from direct contact with water by the vapor layer (Leidenfrost effect). The positions of these two part of surface are not stationary (they change during the experiment). The newly developed methods are compared to each other.

It was shown almost 50 years ago that hypothermic incubation of chicken embryos results in a reduction in the size of embryos and an increase in the heart weight, presumably by hypertrophy (increase in cell volume). The chicken embryos were incubated in normothermia (37.5 ř C) and hypothermia (33.5 ř C) from the eleventh embryonic day. On the 17th day, the embryos were weighed and then their hearts were weighed. In agreement with the previous results, hypothermic embryos were 29% smaller and their hearts 18% heavier. The heart-to-body weight ratio was 67% higher in the hypothermic group. The measured cell size was very similar in the target areas and it was also between the two groups. The left ventricle width was twofold that the right one and the difference was not significantly higher in the hypothermia model. Purkinje fibers, the terminal part of the conduction system, were smaller than the working cardiomyocytes. Purkinje fibers were slightly enlarged after hypothermic incubation. The proliferation rate was measured by immunohistochemical labeling of anti-phospho histone H3. The experimental group showed much higher proliferation rate; it reached statistical significance in the right ventricle. Thus, hypothermic incubation resulted in increased growth of embryonic heart based on hyperplasia...

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis describes a novel method to reversibly and safely block nerve conduction using a low frequency alternating current (LFAC) waveform at 1 Hz applied through a bipolar extrafascicular electrode. This work follows up on observations made on excised mammalian peripheral nerves and earthworm nerve cords. An in-situ electrophysiology setup was used to assess the LFAC waveform on propagating action potentials (APs) within the cervical vagus nerve in anaesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 12). Two sets of bipolar cuff or hook electrodes were applied unilaterally to the cervical vagus nerve, which was crushed rostral to the electrodes to exclude reflex effects on the animal. Pulse stimulation was applied to the rostral electrode, while the LFAC conditioning waveform was applied to the caudal electrode. The efferent volley, if unblocked, elicits acute bradycardia and hypotension. The degree of block of the vagal stimulation induced bradycardia was used as a biomarker. Block was assessed by the ability to reduce the bradycardic drive by monitoring the heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) during LFAC alone, LFAC with vagal stimulation, and vagal stimulation alone. LFAC applied via a hook electrode (n = 7) achieved 86.6 +/- 11% block at current levels 95 +/- 38 uAp (current to peak). When applied via a cuff electrode (n = 5) 85.3 +/- 4.60% block was achieved using current levels of 110+/-65 uAp. Furthermore, LFAC was explored on larger vagal afferent fibers in larger human sized nerve bundles projecting to effects mediated by a reflex. The effectiveness of LFAC was assessed in an in-situ electrophysiological setup on the left cervical vagus in anaesthetized domestic swine (n = 5). Two bipolar cuff electrodes were applied unilaterally to the cervical vagus nerve, which was crushed caudal to the electrodes to eliminate cardiac effects. A tripolar extrafascicular cuff electrode was placed most rostral on the nerve for recording of propagating APs induced by electrical stimulation and blocked via the LFAC waveform. Standard pulse stimulation was applied to the left cervical vagus to induce the Hering-Breuer reflex. If unblocked, the activation of the Hering-Breuer reflex would cause breathing to slow down and potentially cease. Block was quantified by the ability to reduce the effect of the Hering-Breuer reflex by monitoring the breathing rate during LFAC alone, LFAC and vagal stimulation, and vagal stimulation alone. LFAC achieved 87.2 +/- 8.8% (n = 5) block at current levels of 0.8 +/- 0.3 mAp. Compound nerve action potentials (CNAP) were monitored directly. They show changes in nerve activity during LFAC, which manifests itself as the slowing and amplitude reduction of components of the CNAPs. Since the waveform is balanced, all forward reactions are reversed, leading to a blocking method that is similar in nature to DC block without the potential issues of toxic byproduct production. These results suggest that LFAC can achieve a high degree of nerve block in both small and large nerve bundles, resulting in the change in behavior of a biomarker, in-vivo in the mammalian nervous system at low amplitudes of electrical stimulation that are within the water window of the electrode.

Introduktion: Det perifera nervsystemet består av det autonoma nervsystemet och de perifera nervtrådarna som förmedlar afferenta och efferenta impulser mellan det centrala nervsystemet och perifera delen av kroppen. Från plexus brachialis förgrenar nervus ulnaris sig och fortsätter längst armen till handens ulnara del. Den vanligaste perifera nervskadan i övre extremiteter är ulnarisnervskada. Syftet: Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det förekommer någon signifikant skillnad i motorisk ledningshastighet (MCV) mellan underarm och över armbåge på nervus ulnaris bilateralt. Även att jämföra MCV och proximal latenstid mellan höger och vänster underarm och över armbåge. Metod: För att besvara syftet utfördes en tvärsnittsstudie på 31 friska deltagare i åldrarna 20– 40 år. Nervus ulnaris undersöktes med elektroneurografi bilateralt. Resultat: Resultatet visade att det förekommer en signifikant skillnad i MCV mellan underarm och över armbågen bilateralt på nervus ulnaris. Det påvisades en signifikant skillnad i MCV mellan höger och vänster sida över armbågen, men inte på underarm. Ingen signifikant skillnad förekommer i proximala latenstiden mellan höger och vänster underarm och över armbågen. Slutsats: De signifikanta skillnaderna som erhölls i MCV mellan underarm och över armbåge samt mellan höger och vänster sida över armbågen kan bero på stimuleringstekniken. Såsom armspositionen vid stimuleringen och att överarmar är generellt svårare att undersöka. Detta medför större risk för felkällor som kan påverka resultatet. / Introduction: The peripheral nervous system consists of the autonomic nervous system and the peripheral nerve fibers that mediate afferent and efferent impulses between the central nervous system and the peripheral part of the body. From the brachial plexus, the ulnar nerve branches and continues along the arm to the ulnar part of the hand. The most common and largest peripheral nerve injury in the upper extremities is ulnar nerve injury. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate whether there is any significant difference in motor conduction velocity (MCV) between the forearm and above the elbow on the ulnar nerve bilaterally. Also, to compare MCV and proximal latency between right and left forearm and above elbow. Method: To answer the purpose, a cross-sectional study was performed on 30 healthy participants aged 20–40 years. The ulnar nerve was examined with electroneurography bilaterally. Results: The result showed that there is a significant difference in MCV between the forearm and above the elbow bilaterally on the ulnar nerve. A significant difference in MCV was demonstrated between the right and left sides over the elbow, but not on the forearm. There was no significant difference in the proximal latency between the right and left forearm and above the elbow. Conclusion: The significant differences obtained in MCV between forearm and above elbow and between right and left side above elbow may be due to the simulation technique. Such as the arm position during the stimulation and that upper arms are generally more difficult to examine. This entails a greater risk of error sources that can affect the result.

The heat input to the tool has been investigated for friction stir welding (FSW) of aluminum alloy AL 7075-T7351 over a wide range of process operating parameters using a combined experimental/numerical approach. In a statistical Design of Experiments fashion, 54 experimental welds (bead-on-plate) were performed at 27 different parameter combinations. Measured outputs during each of the welds included forces in all three coordinate directions and internal temperature of the rotating tool at three locations near the tool/workpiece interface. The heat input to the tool was also identified for each weld using infrared imaging temperature measurement techniques and the portion of the total mechanical power entering the tool was calculated. These values were subsequently analyzed to identify the effect of process operating parameters. Two-dimensional, axisymmetric numerical heat conduction models of the tool were then produced and the approximate spatial distribution of the heat input to the tool along the tool/workpiece interface was identified. Experimental values for the heat input to the tool ranged from 155 W to 200 W, comprising 2.8% to 5.1% of the total mechanical power. Regression equations developed for the two values show that each is a function of the process operating parameters. Heat conduction models of the tool show that the approximate spatial distribution of the heat input to the tool along the tool/workpiece interface is one where the heat input is distributed non-uniformly along the interface, with 1% entering the tool at the pin, 20% entering at the base of the pin, and the remainder entering the flat portion of the shoulder. This distribution was valid for the majority of process operating parameter combinations tested. The maximum predicted temperature for the simulations occurred in the pin. This result was verified by the experimental tool temperature measurements. Insights gained into the FSW process from the combined experimental/numerical investigation were then discussed.

The objective of this work is to apply the method of variation of parameters to various direct and inverse nonlinear, multimode heat transfer problems. An overview of the general method of variation of parameters is presented and applied to a simple example problem. The method is then used to obtain solutions to three specific extended surface heat transfer problems: 1. a radiating annular fin, 2. convective and radiative exchange between the surface of a continuously moving strip and its surroundings, and 3. convection from a fin with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and variable cross-sectional area. The results for each of these examples are compared to those obtained using other analytical and numerical methods. The method of variation of parameters is also applied to the more complex problem of combined conduction-radiation in a one-dimensional, planar, absorbing, emitting, non-gray medium with non-gray opaque boundaries. Unlike previous solutions to this problem, the solution presented here is exact. The model is verified by comparing the temperature profiles calculated from this work to those found using numerical methods for both gray and non-gray cases. The combined conduction-radiation model is then applied to determine the temperature profile in a ceramic thermal barrier coating designed to protect super alloy turbine blades from large and extended heat loads. Inverse methods are implemented in the development of a non-contact method of measuring the properties and temperatures within the thermal barrier coating. Numerical experiments are performed to assess the effectiveness of this measurement technique. The combined conduction-radiation model is also applied to determine the temperature profile along the fiber of an optical fiber thermometer. An optical fiber thermometer consists of an optical fiber whose sensing tip is coated with an opaque material which emits radiative energy along the fiber to a detector. Inverse methods are used to infer the tip temperature from spectral measurements made by the detector. Numerical experiments are conducted to assess the effectiveness of these methods. Experimental processes are presented in which a coating is applied to the end of an optical fiber and connected to an FTIR spectrometer. The system is calibrated and the inverse analysis is used to infer the tip temperature in various heat sources.

I Scanias elektriska och hybriddrivna fordon används elmotorer av typen P80 och P160. Båda motorer använder samma kontaktbrygga för elektrisk kontaktering mellan elmaskinen i motor-huset och växelriktaren. En tidigare utredning har kommit fram till att noggrannare analyser bör göras kring kontaktbryggans tillförlitlighet. I fokus står skruvförbanden som säkerställer kontakten mellan ingående kablar och elmotor. I det här arbetet görs teoretiska och empiriska undersökningar av de statiska förhållandena i dessa skruvförband och hur de påverkas av temperaturändringar. Undersökningen möjliggör tydliga slutsatser, och visar att temperaturvariation orsakar sättning och temporära förändringar av klämkraften. Förbanden är mycket känsliga för sättning och tem-peraturändringar. Det kan därför inte uteslutas att klämkrafterna i drift enligt kravspecifikation hamnar utanför gränserna av 1 till 10 kN. I ett sådant fall skulle kontaktbryggans strömöverförande funktion inte längre vara garanterad.Baserat på undersökningen tas fram sex alternativa koncept för kontaktbryggan. Två av dem är små förbättringar av den nuvarande lösningen, och fyra innebär nykonstruktioner med strömske-nor eller fjäderkontakter. Efter jämförelse av alternativen med den nuvarande lösningen rekom-menderas en nykonstruktion av kontaktbryggan med ingjutna strömskenor. Därutöver föreslås standardisering av materialegenskaper för koppar och mässing i skruvsammanhang. För en kort-siktig lösning bör mer väldefinierade åtdragningsmetoder komma till användning vid montering av skruvar på elkontakter. Detta kommer att minska klämkraftens spridning efter montering. / In Scania's electric and hybrid vehicles, P80 and P160 electric motors are used. Both motors use the same contact bridge for electrical connection between the electric machine in the engine housing and the inverter. A previous investigation has concluded that more accurate analyses should be made regarding the dependability of the contact bridge. The focus is on the screw connections that ensure the connection between the input cables and the electric motor. In this work, theoretical and empirical investigations of the static conditions in these screw connections are made and how they are affected by temperature changes. The examination allows clear conclusions, showing that temperature variation causes embedment and temporary changes in clamping force. The screw connections are very sensitive to embedment and temperature changes. Therefore, it cannot be precluded that the clamping forces end up outside the limits of 1 to 10 kN, when in operation according to the requirements specification. In such a case, the contact bridge's conducting function would no longer be guaranteed.Based on the examination, six alternative concepts for the contact bridge are presented. Two of them are small improvements to the current solution, and four involve new constructions with busbars or spring contacts. After comparing the alternatives with the current solution, a new construction of the connector bridge with overmolded busbars is recommended. In addition, the standardization of material properties for copper and brass in screw contexts is proposed. For a short-term solution, more well-defined tightening methods should be used when installing screws on electrical contacts. This is going to reduce the spread of clamping force after assembly.