Dans cette thèse, nous utilisons des outils de simulation moléculaire pour caractériser les propriétés thermodynamiques de fluides confinés dans des matrices solides nanométriques. Alors qu'à l’échelle macroscopique, les énergies libres de fluides au contact de solides sont décrites par des pressions et des tensions de surface qui sont respectivement des énergies libres volumiques et surfaciques, à l’échelle moléculaire plusieurs paramètres additionnels doivent être considérés. Parmi eux, l'énergie libre de la ligne triple séparant trois phases, la tension de ligne. Les valeurs de la tension de ligne ainsi que les méthodologies permettant de la mesurer sont débattues.Les outils de simulation moléculaire permettent d'étudier théoriquement la thermodynamique des surfaces et des lignes. Plusieurs méthodologies statistiques peuvent être mises en œuvre pour extraire les tensions de surface et de ligne à partir d’une trajectoire moléculaire simulée. Nous nous intéressons en particulier à la méthodologie mécanique, qui consiste à mesurer les contraintes relatives à l’étalement quasi-statique d’un fluide sur un solide.Dans une première partie, nous étudions les expressions microscopiques des contraintes de mouillage à une interface solide-fluide plane. Dans le cas d’un solide latéralement homogène, l'application du théorème du viriel à un film liquide infini sans considération de la région séparant les surfaces mouillées et sèches permet de mesurer les forces relatives à l'extension du film sur un solide sec. Lorsque des hétérogénéités sont présentes à la surface du solide, cette méthodologie néglige des forces concentrées dans la région de la ligne triple. La comparaison de différentes méthodologies de mesure des tensions de surface indique que les termes ainsi négligés sont potentiellement importants dans le cas d'une forte rugosité.Dans une deuxième partie, nous nous concentrons sur des solides sans hétérogénéité tangentielle. Nous développons une méthodologie de mesure de l’énergie libre d’une interface fluide-fluide confinée et de sa tension de ligne qui s’appuie sur la considération des différentes contraintes fluides. Nous simulons des fluides de Van der Waals et de l’eau en équilibre liquide-vapeur, confinés dans des solides de différentes natures. Nous montrons que le concept de tension de ligne est robuste jusqu’à des confinements de quelques diamètres moléculaires. Les valeurs de tension de ligne mesurées sont cohérentes avec différentes approches théoriques, résolvant certains résultats paradoxaux de la littérature.Dans une troisième partie, nous appliquons la méthodologie mécanique à l’étude d’un mélange liquide-gaz confiné. Nous simulons des solvants et des solutés de Van der Waals ainsi que de l’eau avec du dioxyde de carbone. Différentes adsorptions sont observées, relatives aux surfaces mais également à la ligne triple. L’énergie libre de l’interface confinée s’en trouve fortement impactée. L'effet de l’adsorption sur la tension de ligne peut être modélisé par un équivalent linéique de l’équation d’adsorption de Gibbs surfacique. / In this thesis, we use molecular simulation tools to characterize the thermodynamic properties of fluids confined in nanometric solids. While at the macroscopic scale, the free energy of fluids in contact with a solid is described by pressures and surface tensions, respectively free energies per unit volume and per unit area, at the molecular scale, additional parameters are needed. One of them is the free energy per unit length of the triple line, the line tension. Its values and the methodologies used to measure it are controversial.The thermodynamics of interfaces and lines can be theoretically studied with molecular simulation tools. To extract the surface and line tensions from a simulated molecular trajectory, various statistical methodologies are available. In particular, we here use the mechanical methodology, which consists in measuring the stresses related to the quasistatic spreading of a fluid on a solid.In the first part, we study the microscopic expression of wetting stresses at a planar solid-fuid interface. When a laterally homogeneous solid is considered, the virial theorem applied to an infinite fluid film without consideration of the limit between wet and dry surfaces provides the forces related to the film extension on a dry solid. In the case of a laterally heterogeneous solid, this methodology neglects forces that are concentrated at the triple line. By comparing the surface tensions measured with different methodologies, we show that the neglected terms may induce important errors in the case of rough surfaces.In the second part, we focus on laterally homogeneous solids. We develop a methodology to measure the free energy and the line tension of a confined fluid-fluid interface using fluid mechanical stresses. We simulate Van der Waals fluids and water in liquid-vapor equilibrium confined in different solids. The concept of line tension appears robust down to confinements of a few molecular diameters, and its value consistent with various theoretical approaches, thus solving paradoxical results from the literature.In the last part, we apply the mechanical methodology to study the equilibrium of two fluid species in confinement, one liquid and the other gaseous. We simulate Van der Waals solvents and solutes, and water with carbon dioxide. Various adsorptions at the surfaces and the triple line are observed, strongly impacting the free energy of the confined liquid-gas interface. Finally the adsorption-induced variation of the line tension can be modelled by a unidimensional equivalent of the Gibbs isotherm.

O método Umedecimento, Compactação e Secagem (UCOS) (1, 2, 3) produz, a partir de gesso e água, um material de elevada resistência mecânica: até 90 MPa na compressão. Este trabalho apresenta o estudo do comportamento mecânico deste material e como a água, a temperatura, as impurezas e a microestrutura influenciam no seu comportamento. Durante o estudo da adesão intercristalina, foi encontrada presença de água confinada e que é responsável por grande parte da resistência mecânica. Para auxiliar o estudo, foi desenvolvido outro método: Empacotamento Direto do Dihidrato (EDD). Nesta metodologia, é produzido um material com a mesma resistência, porém com algumas diferenças no comportamento mecânico diferente. Através da elevada resistência mecânica alcançada pelos métodos UCOS e EDD, as aplicações do gesso podem ser ampliadas desde que o gesso conformado por tais métodos possuam confiabilidade e segurança. Para avaliar as propriedades mecânicas, a confiabilidade e a segurança de tal material, realizou-se o estudo dos mecanismos tenacificadores e da mecânica da fratura. Os mecanismos tenacificadores estudados neste trabalho são: controle da microestrutura (aumento da superfície de ruptura), introdução de fibras poliméricas (distribuição da tensão na ponta da trinca, ramificação da ponta da trinca e contenção da abertura da trinca) e introdução de adesivo polimérico (melhora a adesão entre cristais e distribui melhor a tensão na ponta da trinca). Os resultados mostram que os compósitos de gesso reforçados com fibras poliméricas e/ou adesivo polimérico possuem elevada resistência e comportamentos mecânicos distintos para cada tipo de compósito e método de conformação. Concluímos que, com o conhecimento adquirido, é possível intervir no processamento e na microestrutura, além de poder incorporar elementos a esse material para atender às condições de uma determinada aplicação / The humidification, compaction and drying (Umedecimento, Compactação e Secagem UCOS) (1, 2, 3) method produces a high strength material from plaster and water: up to 90 MPa in compression. This work presents the study of mechanical properties of this material and how water, temperature, impurity and microstructure influence in its behavior. During the study of the intercrystalline adhesion force, we found the presence of confined water and that it accounts for great part of the strength. In order to aid the study, another method was developed: Direct Packaging of the Dihydrate (Empacotamento Direto do Dihidrato EDD). In this methodology, it produces a material with the same resistance, but with some difference in the mechanical behavior. Through the high strength reached by the UCOS and EDD methods, the plaster applications can be extended, since the set material by these methods are reliable and safe. In order to evaluate the mechanical properties, the reliability and the safety of these pieces, we performed the study of the fracture mechanics and the fracture toughening mechanisms. In this work, the studied toughening are: microstructure control (enlargement of the fracture surface), polymeric fiber reinforcement (tension distribution on the fracture tip, fracture tip deflection, and fiber bridging), and polymer adhesive reinforcement (they enhance the adhesion between crystals and better distribute the tension on the fracture tip). The results show that the plaster composites of polymeric fibers and/or polymer adhesive have high resistance, and different mechanical behaviors for each type of composite and setting method. Based on the acquired knowledge, we conclude that it is possible to interfere on the processing and on the microstructure, as well as reinforcements in this material to satisfy the needs of a specific application

Comment les cellules eucaryotes remodèlent constamment leur espace intracellulaire est l'un des phénomènes auto-organisés les plus étonnants dans la nature. Pour ce faire, ces cellules exploitent la diffusion brownienne des macromolécules et cargos sur de petites échelles d’espace combinée avec des phénomènes de transport actif le long des filaments du cytosquelette entraînées par des protéines motrices.Malgré l'effort important de la communauté physico-mathématique sur ces problématiques biologiques, il est encore très difficile de rationaliser le mouvement des organites (et en général de la matière) à l'intérieur de la cellule.Dans cette thèse, nous abordons ce problème en généralisant l'analyse théorique d'un modèle physico-mathématique paradigmatique du transport hors-équilibre de protéines motrices (appelé TASEP) afin d'étudier l'impact d'un volume fini et d’une concentration finie de moteurs sur leur distribution dans le cytosol et le long du cytosquelette. En particulier, cela nécessite d'inventer une nouvelle méthodologie afin de résoudre ce problème où le mouvement de diffusion des moteurs dans le cytoplasme est couplé avec le transport collectif et dirigé de ces mêmes moteurs le long d'un ou plusieurs filaments du cytosquelette. De nouveaux phénomènes et régimes intéressants apparaissent par rapport aux études récentes apparus dans la littérature. En outre, la méthodologie développée ici, permet une analyse rapide et efficace des comportements de ces systèmes complexes pour lesquels la simulation numérique peut être longue en temps.La thèse est organisée comme suit. Le premier chapitre est consacré à l’introduction au sujet et à la définition des notions biologiques et physiques nécessaires pour le travail de recherche présenté ensuite.Le deuxième chapitre aborde une solution approchée pour le cas de transport réalisé sur un seul filament cytosquelettique plongé dans le cytosol, où le volume fini et la concentration finie de moteurs modifient qualitativement et quantitativement les diagrammes de phase décrivant la densité moyenne et le flux de moteurs le long du filament. Nous discutons ensuite les conditions physiques pour lesquels cette solution approchée n’est plus valable. Pour surmonter cette difficulté, dans le chapitre trois, nous décrivons une nouvelle méthode, inspirée par la « méthode des images » pour calculer les solutions de l'équation de Poisson en électrostatique, qui permet pour la première fois (à notre connaissance) de calculer analytiquement la distribution de moteurs qui diffusent en volume, c.à.d. le cytosol, sans aucune hypothèse d’approximation. En particulier, le procédé peut être facilement généralisé à tout type de distribution ou réseau de filaments et à plusieurs mécanismes de transport collectif le long des filaments. Cela permet d’explorer ainsi des régimes et des phénomènes nouveaux qui peuvent difficilement être étudiées par des simulations stochastiques en raison de la complexité des processus et de l'extension spatiale du système. Le chapitre quatre se concentre sur cette méthodologie innovante de calcul. Le chapitre cinq discute d’une variété de problèmes ouverts ainsi que d’ouvertures liées au thème étudié. Nous terminons cette thèse avec des conclusions générales se concentrant sur les implications physiques, biophysiques et biologiques de l’étude effectué.Les nombreux résultats obtenus ont un impact sur notre compréhension générale des processus de transport complexe, collectif et non-linéaire dans des phénomènes et situations où les moteurs peuvent se déplacer parmi des espaces avec des différentes dimensions physiques, avec des implications intéressantes pour la biologie, la mécanique statistique des systèmes hors-équilibre thermodynamique, de la théorie physico-mathématique du trafic et de la logistique. / How cells constantly remodel their intracellular space is one of the most astonishing self-organized phenomena in Nature. In order to do that, eukaryotic cells exploit the Brownian diffusion of macromolecules or organelles on small scales combined with active transport phenomena along cytoskeletal filament driven by motor proteins. Despite the important effort in the physico-mathematical community working on these biological issues, it is still very difficult to rationalize the motion of organelles (and in general of matter) inside the cell. In this thesis, we approach this problem by generalizing the theoretical analysis of a paradigmatic physico-mathematical model of non-equilibrium transport of motor proteins (called TASEP) to study the impact that a finite volume and a finite concentration of transporters have on their distribution in the cytosol and along the cytoskeleton. In particular, this requires inventing a new methodology in order to solve the problem where diffusive motion or transporters in the cytoplasm is coupled with directed collective transport along one or many cytoskeletal filaments. New interesting phenomena and regimes appear with respect to recent studies in literature. Moreover, the methodology developed so far, allow a fast and efficient investigation of complex systems behaviors for which numerical simulation can result very time consuming.The thesis is organized as follows. The first chapter is dedicated to an introduction on the topic and to the definition of biological and physical notions necessary for the research work presented. The second chapter tackles an approximate solution for the case of directed transport on a single cytoskeletal filament embedded in the cytosol, where the finite volume and the finite concentration of particles modify qualitatively and quantitatively the phase diagrams describing the average density and flux of transporters along the filament. We then discuss the physical conditions for which this approximated solution is no more valid. In order to overcome this difficulty, in chapter three we describe a novel method, inspired by the “images-method” to compute solutions of the Poisson equation in electrostatics, which allows for the first time (at our knowledge) to compute analytically the distribution of transporters in volume, i.e. the cytosol, without any approximated assumption. Importantly, the method can be easily generalized to any kind distribution or network of filaments and to other mechanisms of collective transport along the filaments. This makes possible to explore stationary regimes and new phenomena that can be hardly studied by stochastic simulations due to the complexity of the processes and the spatial extension of the system. Chapter four focuses on the innovative methodology of computation. Chapter five discusses miscellanea of problems and openings related to the topic studied. We end this thesis with general conclusions focusing on physical, biophysical and biological implications.The various results obtained have an impact on our general understanding on complex, collective and non-linear transport processes in situations and phenomena where transporters can move in spaces with different physical dimensions with interesting implications for biology, non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and the physico-mathematical theory of traffic and logistics.

Cette thèse est consacrée à la mécanique et à la mécanique statistique de biofilaments/biopolymères et de leur modèle le plus répandu le Worm-Like Chain (WLC) qu’il s’avère nécessaire d’étendre. Nous étudions WLC à 2-d en présence d’obstacles plus proches que la longueur de persistance. Nous caractérisons le mouvement aux temps courts par des simulations numériques complétées par des calculs analytiques. Des concepts similaires servent à décrire des ADN greffés balayés par le front d’une vésicule en cours d’étalement, l’adhésion de la vésicule est promue par des paires biotine/streptavidine qui contraignent les molécules d'ADN sur des chemins étroits où ils peuvent être imagés. Les microtubules (MT) ici stabilisés au taxol, présentent par contre certains comportements qui échappent au WLC et doivent être ramenés à leur structure interne : i)les déflexions latérales d’un MT attaché par un bout correspondent à une longueur de persistance apparente qui augmente avec la longueur ii) les MT adoptent des formes super-hélicoïdales. Ces deux points sont établis au moyen d’analyses de forme des MT. Des transitions de forme corrélées le long du MT mises en évidence sont compatibles avec un modèle basé sur la bistabilité du dimère de tubuline. Finalement un modèle de chaîne super-hélicoïdale comprenant une courbure et une torsion spontanées élargi le WLC. Confiné à 2-d, HWLC peut adopter un état fondamental circulaire ou sinueux caractérisé par le nombre de points d’inflexion où se concentre la torsion (twist-kink). Dans le cas circulaire, il existe des états métastables proches, à petit nombre de twist-kinks, hyperflexibles. / This PhD is devoted to the mechanics and statistical mechanics of biofilaments and their most widespread model, the Worm-Like Chain (WLC) model, which, as it turns out, needs to be extended. We study the WLC in 2-d in the presence of obstacles closer than their persistence length. We characterize the short time motion by numerical simulations complemented by analytical calculations. Similar concepts serve to describe grafted DNAs swept by the front of a spreading vesicle whose adhesion is promoted by biotin/streptavidin bonds, which constrain the DNAs on narrow paths where they can be imaged. Microtubules (MT), here stabilized by taxol, show features which cannot be rationalized by the WLC and shall be related to their internal structure : i)lateral deflections of a clamped MT correspond to an effective persistence length growing with the MT size ii) MT adopt super-helical shapes. These two points are proven by refined image analysis. We analyze shape transitions correlated along the MT which are compatible with a model based on dimer bi-stability. Finally, a super helical chain model (HWLC) allowing for spontaneous curvature and twist is developed which extends the WLC. When confined to 2-d, the HWLC can adopt a ground state which is circular or wavy with inflection points where twist accumulates, so-called twist-kinks. In the circular case there exist close metastable states, with a small number of twist-kinks, which are hyperflexible.

Une porosité hiérarchisée au sein de mousses solides permet la combinaison des avantages offerts par différentes échelles de structuration : les macropores offrent un grand volume poreux et une diffusion facilitée des réactifs, tandis que mésopores et micropores permettent confinement et grande surface spécifique. La chimie intégrative, en associant la matière molle et la chimie douce, dispose d’une variété de voies de synthèse pour obtenir de tels matériaux. Nous avons ainsi utilisé des émulsions et des tensioactifs comme empreintes pour la chimie sol-gel afin d’obtenir des mousses de silice présentant une porosité hiérarchisée. Elles ont ensuite été employées comme empreintes dures pour synthétiser des mousses de carbone, utilisées comme électrodes de batteries lithium-soufre présentant de grandes capacités. Nous avons ensuite étudié l’effet sur leurs performances de nanoparticules métalliques. Ces mousses ont également été testées pour le stockage de l’hydrogène, et nous avons montré un cyclage avec LiBH4 en présence de nanoparticules métalliques. Enfin, les mousses de silices ont été étudiées en tant que support pour la croissance bactérienne. En effet, lorsque des bactéries croissent dans un milieu confiné, leur cinétique de croissance et leur concentration finale peuvent être totalement différentes de ce qui est observé dans des cultures classiques, ce qui a un grand intérêt dans des domaines comme la biocatalyse. / Hierarchical porosity in solid foams allows the combination of the advantages offered by the different scales of structuration : macropores allow high porous volume and easy diffusion of reagents, while mesopores and micropores allow confinement and high specific surface areas. Integrative chemistry, associating soft matter and soft chemistry, offers a variety of synthetic pathways to generate such materials. We used emulsions and surfactants to template sol-gel chemistry in order to obtain silica foams bearing hierarchical porosity. These silica foams were employed as hard templates to synthesize carbon foams, used as electrodes in lithium-sulfur batteries bearing high capacities. We then explored the impact on performances of loading them with metallic nanoparticles. We also studied the potential of those carbon foams for hydrogen storage, and we obtained cycling capabilities with LiBH4 after loading them with metallic nanoparticles. Finally, the silica foams were used as a support for bacterial growth. Indeed, when bacteria grow in a confined medium, the kinetics of growth and their final concentration can be totally different than what is observed in classical cultures, which is of high interest for applications such as biocatalysis.

Stress-strain relations for unconfined and confined concrete are proposed to overcome some shortcomings of existing commonly used models. Specifically, existing models are neither easy to invert nor integrate to obtain equivalent rectangular stress-block parameters for hand analysis and design purposes. The stress?strain relations proposed are validated for a whole range of concrete strengths and confining stresses. Then, closed form expressions are derived for the equivalent rectangular stress-block parameters. The efficacy of the results is demonstrated for hand analysis applied for deriving the moment-curvature performance of a confined concrete column. Results are compared with those obtained from a computational fiber-element using the proposed stress-strain model and another widely used model; good agreement between the two is observed. The model is then utilized in the development of a new structural system that utilizes the positive attributes of timber and concrete to form a parallel. Timber has the advantage of being a light weight construction material, easy to handle, is environmentally friendly. However, large creep deflections and significant issues with sound transmission (the footfall problem) generally limit timber use to small spans and low rise buildings. Concrete topping on timber sub-floors mitigate some of these issues, but even with well engineered wood systems, the spans are relatively short. In this study, a new structural system called structural boxed-concrete, which utilizes the positive attributes of both timber and reinforced concrete to form a parallel system (different from timber-concrete composite system) is explored. A stress-block approach is developed to calculate strength and deformation. An analytical stress-block based moment-curvature analysis is performed on the timber-boxed concrete structural elements. Results show that the structural timber-boxed concrete members may have better strength and ductility capacities when compared to an equivalent ordinary reinforced concrete member.

The thesis describes the study of structure and dynamics of polymers in confined geometry. We study the finite size effect on the dynamics of non glassy and glassy polymers. Systematic measurement have been performed to address the issue of the possibility of entanglement and hence reptation dynamics of the polymer segments in confinement. The confinement effect on the glassy dynamics has been studied for Langmuir monolayers as well as for polymer nanoparticle hybrid systems. Slow and heterogeneous dynamics are the underlined observed behavior for dynamics in hybrid systems. The available theories explains the slowing down of the dynamics as the system is cooled from the liquid state in terms of increasing cooperative motion of the molecules. The size of the cooperative region is predicted to grow with reducing temperature. Experiments, theories and simulation in confined dimensions have been motivated to detect this length scale of the cooperatively rearranging region. The surface and interface effects on glass transition were studied using measurements based on modulated differential scanning calorimetry and small angle X ray scattering techniques. The dynamical heterogeneity in glassy polymers were studied using advanced X ray photon correlation spectroscopy techniques. Our studies presented in this thesis are also an small step to contribute to the existing experimental results on studying the surface, interface and finite size effects on the morphology and dynamics of confined systems. These effects were studied for, firstly ultra thin Langmuir monolayers and secondly polymer nanoparticle hybrid systems. In Chapter 1, we provide the theoretical background along with brief review of the literature for understanding the results presented in this thesis. The details of the experimental set up and their operating principle along with the details of the experimental conditions are provided in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 we presents our experimental results on surface morphology and surface dynamics in ultra thin Langmuir monolayer of polymers. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 discusses the result based on polymer nanoparticle hybrid systems. We provide the summary of our result and the future prospective of the work in Chapter 6. In appendix we have shown the complete derivation of the equation used in Chapter 3 for understanding the surface morphology of Langmuir monoalyers on water surface. Chapter 1 provides in detail the introduction to several aspects related with the dynamics of both glassy and non glassy polymers in confinement. It starts with brief introduction to structure and dynamics of polymers in bulk. In the next section we discuss the macroscopic viscoelastic behavior of materials followed by a very brief discussion on the common techniques used for such measurement. Further it discusses the theory and several available models present in literature to understand the dynamics of glass transition. This section is followed by discussion on surface and interface effects on structure and dynamics of such systems in confinement. Towards the end of this chapter we discuss the universal behavior of slow dynamic observed in soft glassy materials. Chapter 2 contains the details of the experimental techniques which has been used for the study. Brief introduction to basic principles of the measurements followed by details of the material and methods have been provided. The surface morphology and dynamics of Langmuir monolayer of polymers confined at air water interface, under compressive mechanical strain has been discussed in Chapter 3. The results presented for surface morphology are based on the studies using the combination of in situ grazing angle incidence small angle X ray scattering and ex situ atomic force microscopy measurements on monolayers transfered on silicon substrate. The issue of the presence of reptation motion in confinement has been addressed by performing systematic measurements as a function of surface concentration and molecular weight at fixed temperature. The glassy dynamical behavior has been studied on different glassy polymer layer as a function of surface concentration and temperature. In Chapter 4 we show the glass transition behavior of polymer nanoparticle (PMMA gold) hybrid system based on thermal measurements. This chapter discusses the role of the existence of a length scale in deciding the dynamics of the glass transition temperature of polymers. The confinement effect was tuned by the variation of the inter particle spacing between the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. It also discusses the model to understand the observed behavior of the glass transition temperature in terms of the tunability of the polymer particle interface and the effect of the interface morphology on the dynamics of glass transition temperature. Chapter 5 is about the study of dynamics of polymer nanocomposites near glass transition as a function of temperature, wave vector and volume fraction of gold nanoparticles using X ray photon correlation spectroscopy. Based on our experimental results , we provide a phase diagram for dynamics in 2D space of temperature, wave vector and volume fraction for our PMMA gold nanoparticle hybrid samples. Chapter 6 contains the summary and the future perspective of the work presented.

New methodologies and concepts for developing compact and energy efficient automotive exhaust systems have been studied. This originates in the growing concern for global warming, to which road transportation is a major contributor. The focus has been on commercial vehicles—most often powered by diesel engines—for which the emission legislation has been dramatically increased over the last decade. The emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxides have been successfully reduced by the introduction of filters and catalytic converters, but the fuel consumption, which basically determines the emissions of carbon dioxides, has not been improved accordingly. The potential reduction of fuel consumption by optimising the exhaust after-treatment system (assuming fixed after-treatment components) of a typical heavy-duty commercial vehicle is ~4%, which would have a significant impact on both the environment and the overall economy of the vehicle. First, methodologies to efficiently model complex flow duct networks such as exhaust systems are investigated. The well-established linear multiport approach is extended to include flow-acoustic interaction effects. This introduces an effective way of quantifying amplification and attenuation of incident sound, and, perhaps more importantly, the possibility of predicting nonlinear phenomena such as self-sustained oscillations—whistling—using linear models. The methodology is demonstrated on T-junctions, which is a configuration well known to be prone to self-sustained oscillations for grazing flow past the side branch orifice. It is shown, and validated experimentally, that the existence and frequency of self-sustained oscillations can be predicted using linear theory. Further, the aeroacoustics of T-junctions are studied. A test rig for the full determination of the scattering matrix defining the linear three-port representing the T-junction is developed, allowing for any combination of grazing-bias flow. It is shown that the constructive flow-acoustic coupling not only varies with the flow configuration but also with the incidence of the acoustic disturbance. Configurations where flow from the side branch joins the grazing flow are still prone to whistling, while flow bleeding off from the main branch effectively cancels any constructive flow-acoustic coupling. Two silencer concepts are evaluated: first the classic Herschel-Quincke tube and second a novel modified flow reversal silencer. The Herschel-Quincke tube is capable of providing effective attenuation with very low pressure loss penalty. The attenuation conditions are derived and their sensitivity to mean flow explained. Two implementations have been modelled using the multiport methodology and then validated experimentally. The first configuration, where the nodal points are composed of T-junctions, proves to be an example where internal reflections in the system can provide sufficient feedback for self-sustained oscillation. Again, this is predicted accurately by the linear theory. The second implementation, with nodal points made from Y-junctions, was designed to allow for equal flow distribution between the two parallel ducts, thus allowing for the demonstration of the passive properties of the system. Experimental results presented for these two configurations correlate well with the derived theory. The second silencer concept studied consists of a flow reversal chamber that is converted to a resonator by acoustically short-circuiting the inlet and outlet ducts. The eigenfrequency of the resonator is easily shifted by varying the geometry of the short circuit, thus making the proposed concept ideal for implementation as a semi-active device. Again the concept is modelled using the multiport approach and validated experimentally. It is shown to provide significant attenuation over a wide frequency range with a very compact design, while adding little or no pressure loss to the system. / QC 20110208

Stress-strain relations for unconfined and confined concrete are proposed to overcome some shortcomings of existing commonly used models. Specifically, existing models are neither easy to invert nor integrate to obtain equivalent rectangular stress-block parameters for hand analysis and design purposes. The stress?strain relations proposed are validated for a whole range of concrete strengths and confining stresses. Then, closed form expressions are derived for the equivalent rectangular stress-block parameters. The efficacy of the results is demonstrated for hand analysis applied for deriving the moment-curvature performance of a confined concrete column. Results are compared with those obtained from a computational fiber-element using the proposed stress-strain model and another widely used model; good agreement between the two is observed. The model is then utilized in the development of a new structural system that utilizes the positive attributes of timber and concrete to form a parallel. Timber has the advantage of being a light weight construction material, easy to handle, is environmentally friendly. However, large creep deflections and significant issues with sound transmission (the footfall problem) generally limit timber use to small spans and low rise buildings. Concrete topping on timber sub-floors mitigate some of these issues, but even with well engineered wood systems, the spans are relatively short. In this study, a new structural system called structural boxed-concrete, which utilizes the positive attributes of both timber and reinforced concrete to form a parallel system (different from timber-concrete composite system) is explored. A stress-block approach is developed to calculate strength and deformation. An analytical stress-block based moment-curvature analysis is performed on the timber-boxed concrete structural elements. Results show that the structural timber-boxed concrete members may have better strength and ductility capacities when compared to an equivalent ordinary reinforced concrete member.

It has been known for decades that fatigue crack propagation in elastic-plastic media is very sensitive to load history since the nonlinear behavior of the material can have a great influence on propagation rates. However, the raw computation of millions of fatigue cycles with nonlinear material behavior on tridimensional structures would lead to prohibitive calculation times. In this respect, we propose a global model reduction strategy, mixing both the a posteriori and a priori approaches in order to drastically decrease the computational cost of these types of problems. First, the small scale yielding hypothesis is assumed, and an a posteriori model reduction of the plastic behavior of the cracked structure is performed. This reduced model provides incrementally the plastic state in the vicinity of the crack front, from which the instantaneous crack growth rate is inferred. Then an additional a priori model reduction technique is used to accelerate even more the time to solution of the whole problem. This a priori approach consists in building incrementally and without any previous calculations a reduced basis specific to the considered test-case, by extracting information from the evolving displacement field of the structure. Then the displacement solutions of the updated crack geometries are sought as linear combinations of those few basis vectors. The numerical method chosen for this work is the finite element method. Hence, during the propagation the spatial discretization of the model has to be updated to be consistent with the evolving crack front. For this purpose, a specific mesh morphing technique is used, that enables to discretize the evolving model geometry with meshes of the same topology. This morphing method appears to be a key component of the model reduction strategy. Finally, the whole strategy introduced above is embedded inside an adaptive approach, in order to ensure the quality of the results with respect to a given accuracy. The accuracy and the efficiency of this global strategy have been shown through several examples; either in bidimensional and tridimensional cases for model crack propagation, including the industrial example of a helicopter structure.