<p dir="ltr">The kinetic-based lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is a specialized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique that resolves intricate flow phenomena at the mesoscale level. The LBM is particularly suited for large-scale parallel computing on Graphic Processing Units (GPU) and simulating multi-phase flows. By incorporating a volume fraction parameter, LBM becomes a volumetric lattice Boltzmann method (VLBM), leading to advantages such as easy handling of complex geometries with/without movement. These capabilities render VLBM an effective tool for modeling various complex flows. In this study, we investigated the computational modeling of complex flows using VLBM, focusing particularly on pulsatile flows, the transition to turbulent flows, and pore-scale porous media flows. Furthermore, a new discrete dynamical system (DDS) is derived and validated for potential integration into large eddy simulations (LES) aimed at enhancing modeling for turbulent and pulsatile flows. Pulsatile flows are prevalent in nature, engineering, and the human body. Understanding these flows is crucial in research areas such as biomedical engineering and cardiovascular studies. However, the characteristics of oscillatory, variability in Reynolds number (Re), and shear stress bring difficulties in the numerical modeling of pulsatile flows. To analyze and understand the shear stress variability in pulsatile flows, we first developed a unique computational method using VLBM to quantify four-dimensional (4-D) wall stresses in image-based pulsatile flows. The method is validated against analytical solutions and experimental data, showing good agreement. Additionally, an application study is presented for the non-invasive quantification of 4-D hemodynamics in human carotid and vertebral arteries. Secondly, the transition to turbulent flows is studied as it plays an important role in the understanding of pulsatile flows since the flow can shift from laminar to transient and then to turbulent within a single flow cycle. We conducted direct numerical simulations (DNS) using VLBM in a three-dimensional (3-D) pipe and investigated the flow at Re ranging from 226 to 14066 in the Lagrangian description. Results demonstrate good agreement with analytical solutions for laminar flows and with open data for turbulent flows. Key observations include the disappearance of parabolic velocity profiles when Re>2300, the fluctuation of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) between laminar and turbulent states within the range 2300</p>

<p dir="ltr">Counterflow diffusion flames have been studied in depth as a one-dimensional flame, and are often used to study chemical kinetics, soot formation, and extinction and ignition characteristics of flames because of the low computing costs associated with one dimensional computations. Further, strained flames have been used in models of turbulent flames with the assumption that the underlying chemistry can be represented by a limited number of variables. Detailed three dimensional simulations of H₂/CH₄/air counterflow diffusion flames are performed using CONVERGE CFD [41] and compared to one dimensional simulation and experimental Dual-Pump Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (DPCARS) measurements of temperature and normalized mole fractions of H₂ and O₂[37]. The multi-dimensional effects of differential and advective diffusion are explored. The effects of boundary conditions far from the centerline axis of the burner one flow field and flame shape are investigated.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Acoustic guitar soundboard material selection is based on selective evaluations that have been developed over centuries. These traditional practices are not conducive to the guitar industry we experience today because the supply of traditionally acceptable soundboard wood has decreased greatly. The purpose of this research was to develop an objective wood selection metric to determine the sound quality of an acoustic guitar’s soundboard. The metric would replace the subjective evaluations traditionally used to select materials for acoustic guitar soundboards.</p><p dir="ltr">The acoustic properties of sound radiation coefficient, material’s speed of sound, resonance and damping and the material properties of longitudinal and radial elastic modulus, density, and specific modulus were used in an attempt to construct a material selection metric. These variables were selected because the literature review revealed that these were the most critical variables in determining sound quality. The gaps in the literature were testing and analyzing samples that represented the true dimensions of an acoustic guitar soundboard blank and forming the metric. The literature revealed that the previous experimental studies did not have the appropriate test sample dimensions that correspond to the test samples evaluated by the subjective methods.</p><p dir="ltr">The methodology was carried out by using the objective testing counterparts to the subjective assessments found in the literature review. Instrumented hammer tap testing collected data to determine damping and resonance frequencies. A three-point static bending test collected data for longitudinal and radial elastic modulus. Mass and dimension measurements were recorded to calculate density. Calculations were done to compute the acoustic properties and specific modulus of the test samples. These variables were put into a table and underwent statistical analysis in the form of predictor correlation and logistical regression. The experimental variables were modeled against the subjective evaluation of an expert on the usability of the test samples.</p><p dir="ltr">Statistical analysis proved that the dataset did not show any significant separation between “good” or “bad” test samples or a significant correlation between the usability of the test sample and the variables in the dataset. The methodology did not produce an objective material selection metric to determine the sound quality of an acoustic guitar’s soundboard. Future research should include a wider range of measured frequencies and the collection of time domain data.</p>

[ES] The automotive industry represents one of the most important sectors in the world. Given its socio-economic influence, research is aimed at reducing fuel consumption and emissions. Turbochargers provide several benefits including increased power for a given engine size, improved fuel economy and reduced emissions. The turbocharger is an important piece for the new generation of engines that must comply with the Euro 6 or in the U.S. Tier 3 vehicle emissions and fuel standard program. As more effort is made to increase efficiencies and reduce emissions, the complexity of the system increases. The high rotational speeds, pulsating flow conditions and high temperature differences between working fluids (exhaust gases, compressed air, lubricating oil, coolant fluids) make the turbo-charging a challenging task. Numerical simulation opens a range of possibilities to study the performance, efficiency and design of components in the turbocharger, but requires continued accuracy refinements. In this thesis, a great effort has been made to improve the overall understanding of the different physical phenomena that occur inside the turbocharger. Both, experimental and modelling efforts have been made to understand the thermal behaviour of the turbocharger under engine start/stop conditions. After state-of-the-art review of thermal studies and heat transfer simulation codes, this work presents an extensive experimental testing campaign that includes a thermal characterization of the turbocharger in stationary and transient conditions. Subsequently, several turbochargers were measured to assess the consequences that degraded oils can generate in the bearing system during endurance tests of oil-coking. To minimize the possibilities of coke formation, some theoretical studies were done. First, a 1D turbocharger model was used in GT-PowerTM for a detailed study of the temperature rise in the central housing during an engine hot-stop. The simulated cooling strategies aims to find an optimal in terms of minimizing extra energy consumption per K housing temperature reduction. After, a 2D radial model is proposed as improvement of an existing one-dimensional model developed at CMT - Universitat Politècnica de València. Aiming for a low computational cost, the radial model was developed to be compatible with fast one-dimensional engine simulations. Later, a detailed solution of heat fluxes was made by means of CFD using a 3D design of the turbocharger's central housing. The 3D model improved the results when temperature of the bearings/shaft is required. Additionally, thermal properties within the turbocharger can be obtained and therefore a reduction of the experimental tasks in the thermohydraulic test bench. Both 2D and 3D models were validated using experimental data, demonstrating predictive accuracy improvements on the results of previous models. / [CA] La industria automotriz representa uno de los sectores más importantes del mundo. Dada su influencia socioeconómica, la investigación está destinada a reducir el consumo de combustible y las emisiones. Los turbocompresores ofrecen varios beneficios, entre ellos, mayor potencia para un tamaño de motor determinado, mejor economía de combustible y reducción de emisiones. El turbocompresor es una pieza importante para la nueva generación de motores que deben cumplir con la normativa Euro 6 o en el programa estándar de emisiones y combustible de los EE. UU. Tier 3. A medida que se hacen más esfuerzos para aumentar la eficiencia y reducir las emisiones, la complejidad del sistema aumenta. Las altas velocidades de rotación, las condiciones de flujo pulsante y las altas diferencias de temperatura entre los fluidos de trabajo (gases de escape, aire comprimido, aceite lubricante, fluidos refrigerantes) hacen que la turbocarga sea una tarea desafiante. La simulación numérica abre un rango de posibilidades para estudiar el rendimiento, la eficiencia y el diseño de los componentes en el turbocompresor, pero requiere continuos refinamientos de precisión. En esta tesis, se ha hecho un gran esfuerzo para mejorar la comprensión global de los diferentes fenómenos físicos que ocurren al interior del turbocompresor. Se han hecho esfuerzos experimentales y de modelado para comprender el comportamiento térmico del turbocompresor en condiciones de arranque/parada del motor. Luego de una revisión de los estudios térmicos y de los códigos de simulación de transferencia de calor, éste trabajo presenta una extensa campaña de pruebas experimentales que incluye una caracterización térmica del turbocompresor en condiciones estacionarias y transitorias. Posteriormente, se midieron varios turbocompresores para evaluar las consecuencias que los aceites degradados pueden generar en el sistema de rodamientos durante pruebas de resistencia de coque de aceite. Para minimizar las posibilidades de formación de coque, se realizaron algunos estudios teóricos. En primer lugar, se usó un modelo de turbocompresor 1D en GT-PowerTM para un estudio detallado del aumento de temperatura de la carcasa central del turbocompresor durante un paro en caliente del motor. Las estrategias de enfriamiento simuladas apuntan a encontrar un óptimo en términos de minimizae el consumo de energía extra por reducción de la temperatura de la carcasa en Kelvin. Posteriormente, se propone un modelo radial 2D como mejora de un modelo unidimensional existente desarrollado en la CMT - Universitat Politècnica de València. Con el objetivo de conseguir un bajo costo computacional, el modelo radial 2D se desarrolló para ser compatible con simulaciones unidimensionales rápidas de motor. Después, se realizó una solución detallada de los flujos de calor mediante CFD utilizando un diseño 3D de la carcasa central del turbocompresor. El modelo 3D mejora los resultados cuando se requiere la temperatura de los cojinetes/eje. Además, con ésta campaña de CFD se pueden obtener propiedades térmicas dentro del turbocompresor y, por lo tanto, una reducción de las tareas experimentales en el banco de pruebas termohidráulico. Ambos modelos 2D y 3D fueron validados utilizando datos experimentales, demostrando mejoras de precisión de predicción sobre los resultados de modelos anteriores. / [EN] La indústria automotriu representa un dels sectors més importants del món. Donada la seua influència socioeconòmica, la investigació està destinada a reduir el consum de combustible i les emissions. Els turbocompressors oferixen diversos beneficis, entre ells, major potència per a una grandària de motor determinat, millor economia de combustible i reducció d'emissions. El turbocompressor és una peça important per a la nova generació de motors que han de complir amb la normativa Euro 6 o en el programa estàndard d'emissions i combustible dels EE. UU. Tier 3. A mesura que es fan més esforços per a augmentar l'eficiència i reduir les emissions, la complexitat del sistema augmenta. Les altes velocitats de rotació, les condicions de flux polsen-te i les altes diferències de temperatura entre els fluids de treball (gasos de fuga, aire comprimit, oli lubricant, fluids refrigerants) fan que la turbocarga siga una tasca desafiador. La simulació numèrica obri un rang de possibilitats per a estudiar el rendiment, l'eficiència i el disseny dels components en el turbocompressor, però requerix continus refinaments de precisión. En aquesta tesi, s'ha fet un gran esforç per a millorar la comprensió global dels diferents fenòmens físics que ocorren a l'interior del turbocompressor. S'han fet esforços experimentals i de modelatge per a comprendre el comportament tèrmic del turbocompressor en condicions d'arranque/parada del motor. Després d'una revisió dels estudis tèrmics i dels codis de simulació de transferència de calor, este treball presenta una extensa campanya de proves experimentals que inclou una caracterització tèrmica del turbocompressor en condicions estacionàries i transitòries. Posteriorment, es van mesurar uns quants turbocompressors per a avaluar les conseqüències que els olis degradats poden generar en el sistema de rodaments durant proves de resistència de coc d'aceite. Per a minimitzar les possibilitats de formació de coc, es van realitzar alguns estudis teòrics. En primer lloc, es va usar un model de turbocompressor 1D en GT- Power \textsuperscript{TM} per a un estudi detallat de l'augment de temperatura de la carcassa central del turbocompressor durant una desocupació en calent del motor. Les estratègies de refredament simulades apunten a trobar un òptim en termes de minimizae el consum d'energia extra per reducció de la temperatura de la carcassa en Kelvin. Posteriorment, es proposa un model radial 2D com a millora d'un model unidimensional existent desenrotllat en la CMT - Universitat Politècnica de València. Amb l'objectiu d'aconseguir un baix cost computacional, el model radial 2D es va desenrotllar per a ser compatible amb simulacions unidimensionals ràpides de motor. Después, es va realitzar una solució detallada dels fluxos de calor per mitjà de CFD utilitzant un disseny 3D de la carcassa central del turbocompressor. El model 3D millora els resultats quan es requerix la temperatura dels cojinetes/eje. A més, amb esta campanya de CFD es poden obtindre propietats tèrmiques dins del turbocompressor i, per tant, una reducció de les tasques experimentals en el banc de proves termohidráulico. Ambdós models 2D i 3D van ser validats utilitzant dades experimentals, demostrant millores de precisió de predicció sobre els resultats de models anteriores. / Rodriguez Usaquén, YT. (2019). Experimental study of oil coking problem and contribution to the modelling of heat transfer in turbochargers [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/117314

<p dir="ltr">This thesis explores novel methods of steel reheating, simulating hydrogen as a cleaner fuel in the combustion furnace and magnetic induction heating as a viable alternative, by utilizing advanced numerical simulations, including Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA), to assess their performance and feasibility.</p><p dir="ltr">Hydrogen, known for its potential to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, is examined as a substitute for natural gas. Simulations revealed that hydrogen combustion results in higher flame temperatures and heat fluxes. While the CFD model achieved a high level of accuracy, with a maximum temperature error of 3% and an average deviation of 7% from real-world data, hydrogen fuel caused an increase in heat flux by up to 12% and higher slab surface temperatures. These changes led to steeper thermal gradients and increased stress, with peak stress levels reaching 90% of material limit. This simulation approach provides valuable data on the performance of different furnace fuels, helping to identify optimal fuel blends and configurations that minimize the risk of material failure while enhancing furnace efficiency.</p><p dir="ltr">The impact of scale formation on steel surfaces during reheating was also investigated. A mathematical model based on linear-parabolic equations was integrated into CFD simulations to predict scale growth. This model was validated against experimental data, showing an average error of 6%. The presence of scale led to a reduction in core temperature by up to 31 K and a 7.6% decrease in heat flux, which negatively affected heating efficiency. Scale formation also caused a significant drop in thermal conductivity, impacting heat transfer and slab uniformity. Pre-heating zone contributed minimally to overall scale formation despite its extended duration whereas a majority of scale growth was observed in the heating zone. Applications of this model include improving reheat furnace model efficiency and optimizing furnace operation to minimize scale.</p><p dir="ltr">Magnetic induction heating was also explored as an alternative to combustion-based reheating, assessing its potential benefits and challenges. The simulation results, validated with an average error of approximately 7% compared to literature data. showed uniform temperature distribution, and reduced stress levels with optimal power settings around 80 kW. A 3D transient simulation modeled an adaptive power cycle to minimize thermal stress highlighting the effectiveness of adaptive soaking strategies over continuous soaking in managing thermal stress, improving heating efficiency and material integrity.</p>

<p dir="ltr">A three-dimensional numerical model was developed using the commercial CFD code CONVERGE to study the gas-dynamic interactions between the two chambers in a gasoline engine. The geometry and parameters of the engine used were based on a modified turbocharged GM four-cylinder 2.0 L GDI gasoline engine. Pre-chambers with nozzle diameters of 0.75 mm and 1.5 mm were used to investigate the effect of pre-chamber geometry on pre-chamber charging, combustion, and jet formation. The local developments of gas temperature and velocity were captured by adaptive mesh refinement, while the turbulence was resolved with the k-epsilon model of the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations. The combustion process was modeled with the extended coherent flamelet model (ECFM). Data from engine experiments were compared with the computed main chamber pressures and heat release rates, and the results show good consistency with the model calculations. The scavenging and air–fuel equivalence ratio (λ) distribution of the pre-chambers improved with the larger nozzle, while the smaller nozzle generated jets with higher velocity, greater turbulence kinetic energy, and longer penetration length. Moreover, after the primary jet formation, secondary pre-chamber charging, combustion, and secondary jet formation were observed.</p><p dir="ltr">Two active PC injection strategies were designed to investigate the effect of injected hydrogen mass and PC mixture air-to-fuel equivalence ratio λ on PC combustion, jet formation, and main-chamber combustion. Stoichiometric or rich hydrogen/oxygen mixtures are actively injected into the pre-chamber to enhance the combustion processes in the pre-chamber and the main chamber. A three-dimensional numerical engine model is developed using the commercial CFD code CONVERGE. The engine geometry and parameters adopt a modified GM 4-cylinder 2.0L GDI gasoline engine. The local developments of gas temperature and velocity are resolved with the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). The turbulence of the flow is computed with the k-epsilon model of the Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations. The turbulent combustion process is modeled with the extended coherent flamelet model (ECFM). Numerical results such as main chamber pressures and heat release rates are compared with experimental measurements, showing good consistency. Detailed analysis is performed to study the effect of the active pre-chamber injection with hydrogen on jet properties and turbulence chemistry interactions. An EGR limit of 36% was observed by injecting a stoichiometric hydrogen-oxygen mixture into the pre-chamber due to its high laminar flame speed and adiabatic flame temperature.</p>

The paradigm change in automotive power electronics towards wide bandgap semiconductor devices poses new challenges and requirements for the die-related packaging technologies as well as the assessment of reliability and lifetime. Here, the use of sintered silver for the die-related packaging in particular has proven promising. However, the empirical lifetime models for power modules developed over many years are not suitable any more. A holistic Physics-of-Failure approach can provide remedy as it allows for a significant reduction of testing time via finite element simulations. This approach requires a detailed understanding of the relevant failure mechanisms as well as an electrical, thermal and mechanical characterisation of the involved materials. A failure analysis of the complete power module revealed that the top-side sinter layer connecting the copper foil to the semiconductor die is prone to degradation. Therefore, the core of this work is the mechanical characterisation of porous sintered silver and, in particular, the primary and secondary creep behaviour. A newly developed creep model which - for the first time - takes load reversal for primary creep into account is implemented with a subroutine. This allows for lifetime simulations within a Physics-of-Failure framework resulting in a first lifetime model on module level for a complex automotive power module employing sintered silver.

<p dir="ltr">The goal of this thesis is to develop a method of evaluating long-term IAQ performance of an industrial facility and use machine-learning to model the relationship between critical air pollutants and the facility’s HVAC systems and processes. The facility under study for this thesis is an electroplating manufacturer. The air pollutants at this facility that were studied were particulate matter, total-volatile organic compounds, and carbon-dioxide. Upon sensor installation, seven “zones” were identified to isolate areas of the plant for measurement and analysis. A statistical review of the long-term data highlighted how this facility performed in terms of compliance. Their gaseous pollutants were well within regulation. Particulate matter, however, was found to be a pressing issue. PM10 was outside of compliance more than 15% of the time in five out of seven of the zones of study. Some zones were out of compliance up to 80% of the total collection period. The six pollutants that met these criteria were deemed critical and moved on to machine learning modeling. Our model of best fit for each pollutant used a gaussian process regression model, which fits best for non-linear rightly skewed datasets. The performance of each of our models was deemed significant. Every model had at least a regression coefficient of 0.935 and above for both validation and testing. The maximum average error was 12.64 ug.m^3, which is less than 10% of the average PM10 concentration. Through our modeling, we were able to study how HVAC and production played a role in particulate matter presence for each zone. Exhaust systems of the west side of the plant were found to be insufficient at removing particulates from their facility. Overall, the methods developed in this thesis project were able to meet the goal of analyzing IAQ compliance, modeling critical pollutants using machine learning, and identifying a relationship between these pollutants and an industrial facility’s HVAC and production systems.</p>

<p dir="ltr">There is a growing trend towards the development of parsimonious surrogate models for studying physical phenomena. While they typically offer less accuracy, these models bypass the computational costs of numerical methods, usually by multiple orders of magnitude, allowing statistical applications such as sensitivity analysis, stochastic treatments, parametric problems, and uncertainty quantification. Researchers have explored generalized surrogate frameworks leveraging Gaussian processes, various basis function expansions, support vector machines, and neural networks. Dynamical fields, represented through time-dependent partial differential equation, pose a particular hardship for existing frameworks due to their high dimensional representation, and possibly multi-scale solutions.</p><p dir="ltr">In this work, we present a novel architecture for solving time-dependent partial differential equations using co-ordinate neural networks and time-marching updates through hyper-networks. We show that it provides a temporally meshed and spatially mesh-free solution which are causally coherent as justified through a theoretical treatment of Lie groups. We showcase results on some benchmark problems in computational physics while discussing their performance against similar physics-informed approaches like physics-informed DeepOnets and Physics informed neural networks.</p>

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is one of the most important polymers in use today for packaging due to its outstanding properties. The usage of PET has grown at the highest rate compared with other plastic packaging over the last 20 years, and it is anticipated that the increase in global demand will be around 6% in the 2010 ¿ 2015 period. The rheological behaviour, thermal properties, tensile modulus, permeability properties and degradation phenomena of PET/clay nanocomposites have been investigated in this project. An overall, important finding is that incorporation of nanoclays in PET gives rise to improvements in several key process and product parameters together ¿ processability/ reduced process energy, thermal properties, barrier properties and stiffness. The PET pellets have been compounded with carefully selected nanoclays (Somasif MAE, Somasif MTE and Cloisite 25A) via twin screw extrusion to produce PET/clay nanocomposites at various weight fractions of nanoclay (1, 3, 5, 20 wt.%). The nanoclays vary in the aspect ratio of the platelets, surfactant and/or gallery spacing so different effect are to be expected. The materials were carefully prepared prior to processing in terms of sufficient drying and re-crystallisation of the amorphous pellets as well as the use of dual motor feeders for feeding the materials to the extruder. The rheological properties of PET melts have been found to be enhanced by decreasing the viscosity of the PET i.e. increasing the ¿flowability¿ of the PET melt during the injection or/and extrusion processes. The apparent shear viscosity of PETNCs is show to be significantly lower than un-filled PET at high shear rates. The viscosity exhibits shear thinning behaviour which can be explained by two mechanisms which can occur simultaneously. The first mechanism proposed is that some polymer has entangled and few oriented molecular chain at rest and when applying high shear rates, the level of entanglements is reduced and the molecular chains tend to orient with the flow direction. The other mechanism is that the nanoparticles align with the flow direction at high shear rates. At low shear rate, the magnitudes of the shear viscosity are dependent on the nanoclay concentrations and processing shear rate. Increasing nanoclay concentration leads to increases in shear viscosity. The viscosity was observed to deviate from Newtonian behaviour and exhibited shear thinning at a 3 wt.% concentration. It is possible that the formation of aggregates of clay is responsible for an increase in shear viscosity. Reducing the shear viscosity has positive benefits for downstream manufacturers by reducing power consumption. It was observed that all ii three nanoclays used in this project act as nucleation agents for crystallisation by increasing the crystallisation temperature from the melt and decreasing the crystallisation temperature from the solid and increasing the crystallisation rate, while retaining the melt temperature and glass transition temperatures without significant change. This enhancement in the thermal properties leads to a decrease in the required cycle time for manufacturing processes thus potentially reducing operational costs and increasing production output. It was observed that the nanoclay significantly enhanced the barrier properties of the PET film by up to 50% this potentially allows new PET packaging applications for longer shelf lives or high gas pressures. PET final products require high stiffness whether for carbonated soft drinks or rough handling during distribution. The PET/Somasif nanocomposites exhibit an increase in the tensile modulus of PET nanocomposite films by up to 125% which can be attributed to many reasons including the good dispersion of these clays within the PET matrix as shown by TEM images as well as the good compatibility between the PET chains and the Somasif clays. The tensile test results for the PET/clay nanocomposites micro-moulded samples shows that the injection speed is crucial factor affecting the mechanical properties of polymer injection moulded products.