<p dir="ltr">Carbon-Carbon (C/C) composites have been shown to be a preferred material for high temperature applications as they retain their properties and performance at temperatures in excess of 2000°C. This study shows that High Temperature Treatment (HTT) at 2400°C for 4 hrs followed by two subsequent Polymer Infiltration and Pyrolysis (PIP) cycles using SC1008 phenolic resin changes the failure mechanism of 2D C/C which has been subject to directional ablation prior to flexural testing. The study observes that prior directional ablation of the non-HTT C/C condition decreases flexural strength by 50.2%, whereas negligible change for the HTT C/C condition was observed (6.6%). This is attributed to the significant degradation of the tensile surface of the non-HTT C/C during ablation corresponding to an average linear thickness loss of 0.321mm (Std Dev = 0.223mm) and average mass loss of 0.364g (Std Dev = 0.196g) while the HTT recorded 0.033mm (Std Dev = 0.005mm) and 0.032g (Std Dev = 0.008g) respectively. The difference in degradation is attributed to the microstructure which was characterised through X-Ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is shown that HTT transformed the carbon matrix from a glassy/amorphous matrix to a layered matrix with an indicative increased degree of graphitisation (from 0.52 to 0.69). This not only increased the average density from 1.511 g/cm³ (Std Dev = 0.002 g/cm³) to 1.652 g/cm³ (Std Dev = 0.003 g/cm³) but also increased the average thermal conductivity from 9.1 W/mK (Std Dev = 1.06 W/mK) to 13.3 W/mK (Std Dev = 1.32 W/mK). This ultimately contributed to a reduction in available sites for the oxidation reaction to occur, while also allowing for thermal energy to be conducted away from the ablation surface reducing the amount of heat related damage. For conditions without and with prior ablation damage, the non-HTT C/C is found to fail in matrix dominated tension with the fibres and matrix breaking in a single plane originating at the tensile surface and propagating towards the neutral axis whereas the HTT C/C is found to fail in shear at the neutral axis with the fibres-matrix debonding being the primary failure mechanism. The non-HTT C/C is found to have an average flexural strength of 88.8 MPa (Std Dev = 13.7 MPa) and flexural modulus 81.0 GPa (Std Dev = 10.5 GPa), where the HTT C/C has 196.7 MPa (Std Dev = 31.4 MPa) and 115.2 GPa (Std Dev = 3.3 GPa) respectively. Lastly, this study found that a square notch in the non-HTT C/C condition resulted in a 23.9% and 26.4% reduction in flexural strength for conditions without and with prior ablation damage, respectively. No change in the failure mechanism was observed for notched specimens compared to un-notched specimens, and the debit in strength was attributed to broken fibers created by the notch.</p>

Optical interconnects based on CMOS compatible photonic integrated circuits are regarded as a promising technique to tackle the issues traditional electronics faces, such as limited bandwidth, latency, vast energy consumption and so on. In recent years, plasmonic integrated components have gained great attentions due to the properties of nano-scale confinement, which may potentially bridge the size mismatch between photonic and electronic circuits. Based on silicon nanowire platform, this thesis work studies the design, fabrication and characterization of several integrated plasmonic components, aiming to combine the benefits of Si and plasmonics. The basic theories of surface plasmon polaritons are introduced in the beginning, where we explain the physics behind the diffraction-free confinement. Numerical methods frequently used in the thesis including finite-difference time-domain method and finite-element method are then reviewed. We summarize the device fabrication techniques such as film depositions, e-beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching as well as characterization methods, such as direct measurement method, butt coupling, grating coupling etc. Fabrication results of an optically tunable silicon-on-insulator microdisk and III-V cavities in applications as light sources for future nanophotonics interconnects are briefly discussed. Afterwards we present in details the experimental demonstrations and novel design of plasmonic components. Hybrid plasmonic waveguides and directional couplers with various splitting ratios are firstly experimentally demonstrated. The coupling length of two 170 nm wide waveguides with a separation of 140 nm is only 1.55 µm. Secondly, an ultracompact polarization beam splitter with a footprint of 2×5.1 μm2 is proposed. The device features an extinction ratio of 12 dB and an insertion loss below 1.5 dB in the entire C-band. Thirdly, we show that plasmonics offer decreased bending losses and enhanced Purcell factor for submicron bends. Novel hybrid plasmonic disk, ring and donut resonators with radii of ~ 0.5 μm and 1 μm are experimentally demonstrated for the first time. The Q-factor of disks with 0.5 μm radii are                         , corresponding to Purcell factors of . Thermal tuning is also presented. Fourthly, we propose a design of electro-optic polymer modulator based on plasmonic microring. The figure of merit characterizing modulation efficiency is 6 times better comparing with corresponding silicon slot polymer modulator. The device exhibits an insertion loss below 1 dB and a power consumption of 5 fJ/bit at 100 GHz. At last, we propose a tightly-confined waveguide and show that the radius of disk resonators based on the proposed waveguide can be shrunk below 60 nm, which may be used to pursue a strong light-matter interaction. The presented here novel components confirm that hybrid plasmonic structures can play an important role in future inter- and intra-core computer communication systems. / <p>QC 20140404</p>

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: RoboCup promotes research in robotics and multi-robot systems (MRS). The RoboCup Small Size League (SSL), in particular, offers an entry level opportunity to take part in this field of study. This thesis presents a starting phase for research in robotics and MRS at Stellenbosch University. It includes the full documentation of the mechanical, electronic and software design of an omni-directional soccer robot for RoboCup SSL. The robot is also meant to operate as a hardware and software development platform for research in MRS. The platform was therefore designed with high-level programming language compatibility, a wide range of connectivity, and modularity in mind. The robot uses a single board computer (SBC) running a Linux operating system to accomplish these objectives. Moreover, a driver class library was written in C++ as a software application interface (API) for future development on the robot platform. The robot was also developed with a particular focus on a distributed control architecture. "Player" was implemented as the middleware, which can be used for communication between multiple robots in a distributed environment. Additionally, three tests were performed to demonstrate the functionality of the prototype: a PI speed control test, a direction accuracy test and a static communication test using the middleware. Recommendations for possible future work are also given. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: RoboCup bevorder navorsing in robotika en multi-robot-stelsels (MRS). Die RoboCup Klein Liga (KL) bied in die besonder die geleentheid om op intreevlak navorsing te doen in hierdie veld. Hierdie tesis verteenwoordig die eerste fase van navorsing in robotika en MRS by Stellenbosch Universiteit. Dit sluit die volledige dokumentasie van die meganiese, elektroniese en sagteware-ontwerp van ’n omnidireksionele sokker-robot vir die KL in. Die robot is ook veronderstel om te dien as ’n hardeware- en sagteware-ontwikkelingsplatform vir navorsing in MRS. Die platform is dus ontwerp met ’n verskeidenheid van uitbreingsmoontlikhede en modulariteit in gedagte asook die moontlikheid om gebruik te maak van ’n hoë-vlak programmeertaal. Om hierdie doelwitte te bereik, maak die robot gebruik van ’n enkel-bord-rekenaar met ’n Linux bedryfstelsel. Verder was ’n sagteware drywer in C++ geskryf om te dien as ’n sagteware-koppelvlak vir toekomstige ontwikkeling op die robot platform. Die robot is ook ontwikkel met die besondere fokus op ’n gedesentraliseerde beheerstels. Player was geïmplementeer as die middelware, wat gebruik kan word vir kommunikasie tussen verskeie robotte in ’n gedesentralliseerde beheerstelsel. Daar is drie toetse uitgevoer om die funksionaliteit van die prototipe te demonstreer, ’n PI spoed beheer toets, ’n rigting akkuraatheidstoets en ’n statiese kommunikasie toets deur van die middelware gebruik te maak. Aanbevelings vir moontlike toekomstige werk word ook verskaf.

In this paper numerical flow calculations with respect to the annular gaps with added radial grooves normaly used on the spools of directional control valves were carried out. The impact of various annular gap geometries and radial grooves during variable pressure conditions, and while using different hydraulic fluids, on the flows through annular gaps were investigated for different flow regimes. Samples with different geometries and numbers of radial groves on the spool of the directional control valve were also made for the purpose of carrying out flow measurements. The two different hydraulic fluids that were used in the numerical simulations and for the flow measurements were a hydraulic mineral oil and tap water. The results of the numerical calculations for the different models of the radial grooves with axially symmetric geometries show their impact on the internal leakage with respect to three different regimes of flow. The results of the numerical calculations based on the use of a hydraulic oil show a trend that was established by the experimental investigation.

Le but de ce travail est de filtrer les objets fins et curvilinéaires dans les images numériques. Leur détection est en soit difficile du fait de leur finesse spatiale. De plus, le bruit, les artefacts de l'acquisition et les occlusions induites par d'autres objets introduisent des déconnexions. De ce fait, la reconnection des objets fins est également nécessaire. Dans ce but, une méthode hybride à base de dérivés secondes et de filtrage linéaire morphologique est proposée dans le cadre de la théorie espace-échelle. La théorie des filtres morphologiques spatialement variants et des algorithmes sont présentés. Du point de vue applicatif, notre travail est motivé par le diagnostic, la planification du traitement et le suivi des maladies vasculaires. La première application étudie les malformations artero-veineuses (MAV) dans le cerveau. L'analyse de telles données est rendue difficile par la petite taille, la complexité des vaisseaux couplés à diverses sources de bruit et à leur topologie, sans compter les artefacts d'acquisition et l'hétérogénéité du signal sanguin. Ainsi, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'amélioration et la segmentation des images angiographiques cérébrales dans le but d'aider à l'étude des MAVs cérébrales. La seconde application concerne le traitement des images en rayons X à faible dose utilisées en radiologie interventionelle dans le cas de l'insertion de guides dans les vaisseaux sanguins des patients. De telles procédures sont utilisées dans les traitements des anévrismes, des obstructions de tumeurs et d'autres procédures similaires. Dû au faible ratio signal à bruit, la détection des guides est indispensable pour leurs visualisations et leurs reconstructions. Dans ce travail, nous comparons la performance des algorithmes de filtrage d'objets linéiques. Le but étant de sélectionner les méthodes de détection les plus prometteuses dans le cadre de cette application médicale. La seconde application concerne le traitement des images X-ray à faible dose utilisées en radiologie interventionelle dans le cas d'insertion de guides dans les vaisseaux de patients. De telles procédures sont utilisées dans les traitements des anévrysmes, obstructions des tumeurs et d'autres procédures. Dû au faible ratio du signal-bruit, la détection des guides est indispensable pour leurs visualisations et leurs reconstructions. Dans ce travail, nous comparons la performance des algorithmes de filtrage d'objets linéaires. Le but est de sélectionner les méthodes de détection les plus prometteuses dans le cadre de cette application médicale / The motivation of this work is filtering of elongated curvilinear objects in digital images. Their narrowness presents difficulties for their detection. In addition, they are prone to disconnections due to noise, image acquisition artefacts and occlusions by other objects. This work is focused on thin objects detection and linkage. For these purposes, a hybrid second-order derivative-based and morphological linear filtering method is proposed within the framework of scale-space theory. The theory of spatially-variant morphological filters is discussed and efficient algorithms are presented. From the application point of view, our work is motivated by the diagnosis, treatment planning and follow-up of vascular diseases. The first application is aimed at the assessment of arteriovenous malformations (AVM) of cerebral vasculature. The small size and the complexity of the vascular structures, coupled to noise, image acquisition artefacts, and blood signal heterogeneity make the analysis of such data a challenging task. This work is focused on cerebral angiographic image enhancement, segmentation and vascular network analysis with the final purpose to further assist the study of cerebral AVM. The second medical application concerns the processing of low dose X-ray images used in interventional radiology therapies observing insertion of guide-wires in the vascular system of patients. Such procedures are used in aneurysm treatment, tumour embolization and other clinical procedures. Due to low signal-to-noise ratio of such data, guide-wire detection is needed for their visualization and reconstruction. Here, we compare the performance of several line detection algorithms. The purpose of this work is to select a few of the most promising line detection methods for this medical application

Les systèmes de télécommunications requièrent de plus en plus l’utilisation des composants passifs hyperfréquences. La commercialisation de ces composants nécessite la miniaturisation de leurs tailles, l’augmentation de leurs performances et la réduction de leurs coûts. Parmi ces composants passifs, nous citons le coupleur directionnel qui est un quadripôle destiné à répartir la puissance sur deux ports de sortie, le quatrième port reste isolé. Les travaux relatés dans ce manuscrit ont pour objectifs la conception et la réalisation d’un coupleur à accès coplanaires obtenu à partir d’un résonateur auquel nous avons appliqué des lignes de couplage. Un modèle équivalent approché a été mis en évidence par un logiciel de simulation circuit. Une étude paramétrique a été réalisée à l’aide d’un logiciel électromagnétique 3D pour fixer une règle de conception qui permet un dimensionnement convenable du composant pour un intervalle de fréquences prédéfinies. Un fonctionnement bi-bandes a été exploité pour chaque raccordement de la fréquence. Une deuxième structure de couplage a été déduite en reliant directement les lignes couplées sur le résonateur. Une étude paramétrique ainsi qu’une règle de conception ont mis en évidence un fonctionnement de coupleur mono-bande de cette structure à des fréquences prédéfinies. Une troisième structure qui fonctionne en coupleur a été exploitée en remplaçant le filtre résonateur par deux circuits en méandres. Ce nouveau coupleur à méandres présente des bandes passantes assez larges ainsi qu’un fonctionnement possible en bi-bandes. Ces coupleurs mis en œuvre peuvent assurer un couplage de l’ordre de 3 ; 6 ; 8 et 10 dB et d’un déphasage entre les deux ports de sortie de 180° pour les deux premières structures et de 90° pour le coupleur à méandres. Plusieurs séries de prototypes sont ensuite fabriquées à partir des structures optimisées en simulation. Les caractérisations hyperfréquences de ces composants montrent la performance des dispositifs réalisés / Telecommunications systems require more use of passive microwave components. The commercialization of these components requires the miniaturization of their size, increasing their performance and the reduction of their costs. Among these passive components we cited the directional coupler which is designated to spread the power between two outputs, the fourth port being isolated. The ambition of this work is to study and fabricate a coupler with coplanar access obtained from a resonator where we applied coupling lines. An equivalent approximate model was obtained using circuit simulation software. A parametric study was made using 3D electromagnetic software to fix a design rule that allows a suitable design for the component in a predefined frequency range. Dual-band operation has been exploited for each frequency. A second coupling structure was deduced by directly connecting the coupled lines to the resonator. A parametric study and a design rule have shown the operation of this structure as a single band coupler at predefined frequencies. A third structure which operates like a coupler has been exploited by replacing the resonator filter by two meandering circuits. This new meandering coupler presents a wide bandwidth and a possible operating in dual-band. These implemented couplers provided a coupling factor of 3, 6, 8 and 10 dB and a phase shift between the two output ports of 180° for the two first structures and a 90° phase shifter for the meandering coupler. Several sets of prototypes are then made. The microwave characterizations show the performance of the fabricated device

Afin de clarifier et caractériser les mécanismes fondamentaux de formation des réseaux étendus cellulaires et dendritiques en régime diffusif, des expériences de solidification dirigée permettant l’observation in situ en temps réel de l’interface solide-liquide d’un alliage transparent ont été réalisées dans l’instrument « DECLIC-DSI» à bord de la Station Spatiale Internationale. Des procédures spécifiques d'analyse d'images ont été développées pour caractériser les réseaux et extraire des données de référence à comparer aux modèles théoriques ou numériques. Les mécanismes d’évolution et de sélection de l'espacement primaire sont décrits et reliés à la courbure macroscopique de l'interface qui apparait comme un paramètre important de la dynamique de réseau. L’obtention de réseaux homogènes étendus nous a permis d'observer des instabilités secondaires du régime cellulaire pour la première fois dans des systèmes tridimensionnels: Oscillation et multiplet structure. Nos analyses mettent en évidence l'absence de cohérence globale de l’oscillation, exceptée dans des zones localement ordonnées dans lesquelles les oscillations de cellules voisines peuvent être synchronisées. Dans une autre gamme de paramètres de contrôle, la formation de multiplets -autre type d'instabilité secondaire- a été observée. La structure et la dynamique de ces multiplets est décrite. Enfin, des essais comparatifs ont été réalisés au sol, pour les mêmes paramètres de croissance, afin de clarifier l'influence de la convection. Les différences entre les expériences au sol et en microgravité, en particulier concernant l'espacement primaire, sont reliées à l'amplitude de la convection. / To clarify and characterize the fundamental physical mechanisms active in the formation of three-dimensional (3D) arrays of cells and dendrites, in situ monitoring of series of experiments on a transparent alloy was carried out under low gravity in the DECLIC-DSI on-board the International Space Station. Image analysis procedures have been developed to characterize the patterns and get benchmark data to compare with theoretical or numerical modelling. The mechanisms of primary spacing evolution and selection are described and related to the macroscopic interface curvature that appeared to be a critical parameter. The extended homogeneous patterns obtained in microgravity enabled us to observe secondary instabilities of the cellular pattern for the very first time in 3D patterns: cell oscillation and multiplet structure. Our analyses highlight the absence of global coherence of cell oscillations, except in locally ordered areas where synchronization of neighbor cells may happen. In another range of control parameters, another type of secondary instability has been identified that corresponds to multiplet formation; the structure and dynamics of those multiplets are also described. Finally, comparative experiments have been performed on ground with similar growth parameters to point out the influence of convection. The differences between ground and microgravity results, especially regarding the primary spacing, are related to fluid flow magnitude.

The exploration of oil and natural gas in offshore fields has motivated advanced researches about the environmental forces in the oceans. The waves, in particular, have been measured using different techniques, as meteorological buoys, with recent works proposing motion-based estimations procedures using the vessel, or a floating facility, in analogy with the buoys, as a wave sensor. Even though this approach has a number of benefits, the vessels, as dynamic systems, have a cut-off frequency that degrades the estimation of high-frequency waves, which are important for non-linear drift effects predictions. In order to solve this problem, it is proposed the incorporation of wave-probes - gauges used to measure the wave elevation in a point - installed on the hull of the vessel, based on literature suggestions and simple analytical arguments, using the Bayesian statistics as the standing point of a more complete estimation algorithm. In order to incorporate the measurements of the wave-probes, an extended linear model is proposed, showing that only corrections for the vertical motions of the vessel are necessary. The ideal installation positions of the wave-probes are defined using as base the utility Bayesian optimal design of experiments, which is shown to guarantee an upper bound for other optimal criteria, with the \'Elbow Criterion\" defining the optimal number of sensors to be employed. Based on the previous solutions, other proposals are made: a heuristic to solve the optimal sensor placement problem and an optimal prior exploring the probabilistic nature of the algorithm. Finally, all the proposals are tested numerically and experimentally, with a vessel model in a towing tank, concluding that the addition of the wave-probes is able to improve not only the estimation of high-frequency waves, but also the estimation over a large range of frequencies. For unimodal seas with intermediate draft, the addition of just one wave-probe reaches approximately a 37%-55% improvement in the energy parameter estimations - HS and TP; the addition of two or more probes reaches approximately a 62%-65% improvement in the same parameters estimations; the addition of four probes achieved the best cost benefit for mean direction estimation; and the addition of six probes is shown to be the recommendation for the best high-order directional estimation in the entire range of the spectrum. / A prospecção de óleo e gás natural em campos offshore tem motivado pesquisas avançadas sobre as forças ambientais em oceanos. As ondas, em particular, têm sido medidas através de diferentes técnicas, como boias meteorológicas, com trabalhos recentes propondo técnicas baseadas em movimento para que os navios, em analogia com as boias, possam ser usados como sensores de onda. Apesar desse método ter uma série de vantagens, os navios, como sistemas dinâmicos, têm uma frequência de corte que dificulta a estimação de ondas de altas frequências, que são importantes para a previsão de efeitos de deriva não-lineares. Para resolver esse problema, sugere-se a adição de wave-probes instalados no costado da embarcação, usando como justificativas sugestões da literatura e simples argumentos analíticos, com estatística Bayesiana como fundamentação para um algoritmo de estimação mais completo. Para que as medidas dos wave-probes possam ser incorporadas, um modelo linear estendido é proposto, mostrando que apenas correções para os movimentos verticais do navio são necessárias. A posição ideal de instalação dos wave-probes é definida usando como base o projeto ótimo de experimentos Bayesianos por utilidade, mostrando que o mesmo garante o limite superior de outros critérios de optimalidade, com o \"critério cotovelo\" definindo o número ótimo de sensores a serem usados. Com base nas soluções anteriores, outras propostas são feitas: uma heurística para resolver o problema de posicionamento ótimo dos sensores e uma priori ótima, explorando a natureza probabilística do algoritmo. Ao final, todas as propostas são testadas numericamente e experimentalmente, utilizando um modelo em escala em um tanque de provas, concluindo que a adição de wave-probes é capaz de melhorar não só a estimação de ondas em alta-frequência, mas também a estimação em uma ampla gama de frequências. Para mares unimodais, com calado intermediário, a adição de apenas um sensor alcançou uma melhoria de aproximadamente 37-55% na estimação dos parâmetros relacionados à energia - HS e TP; a adição de dois ou mais sensores alcançou melhorias de 62-65% na estimação de tais parâmetros; a adição de quatro sensores alcançou o melhor custo benefício para estimação da direção média; e a adição de seis sensores se mostrou ideal para estimação de ordem elevada do espectro direcional de energia.

Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit sont relatifs à la conception et au développement d’antennes basées sur les structures artificielles – métamatériaux. La première antenne conçue et réalisée est une antenne bi-fonction en bande L (~1GHz) (GPS et DME) à diversité de bande/de polarisation, destinée aux applications aéronautiques. Ces travaux rentrent dans le cadre du projet MSIE (pôle de compétitivité ASTHEC) pour lequel notre LEME a été très actif. Les partenaires industriels de ce projet sont EADS/IW, Dassault aviation, INEO-Défense, SATIMO. Les résultats montrent la faisabilité d’une antenne unique pouvant avoir simultanément deux fonctions avec une diversité de polarisation et de bande spectrale. L’utilisation des métamatériaux a permis en particulier le maintien de la polarisation circulaire de l’antenne GPS -L1 à L5. La fonction DME a été consolidée avec le maintien de son gain. La seconde antenne est une antenne cavité Fabry-Pérot mettant en œuvre une structure partiellement réfléchissante double couche. Nous avons démontré le phénomène physique d’inversion de la phase du coefficient de réflexion de la PRS. Nous avons obtenu un gradient positif de phase sur une bande de 5 GHz autour de 80GHz. Grace à ce profil nouveau de la phase obtenu par la structure métamatériau PRS, on dispose d’une avance linéaire de la phase qui compense le retard du à la cavité Fabry-Pérot. Ainsi on maintient les conditions de résonance de la cavité sur une large bande, 5GHz. Nous démontrons, que la mise en œuvre de cette structure aux caractéristiques inédites permet de réaliser une antenne cavité ultra-directive sur une très large bande spectrale de 5GHz. Les performances atteintes sont une directivité de 35 à 40dBi sur 5 GHz, une adaptation parfaite (gain ~ directivité) avec très peu de sources primaires. L’antenne est compacte avec une hauteur totale inférieure au 10mm (connecteur compris) et une surface de 100mmx100mm. / The work presented in this manuscript is related to the design and development of antennas based on artificial structures - metamaterials. The first designed and built antenna is a GPS and DME dual-function in the L (~ 1GHz). It is an antenna designed with polarization and spectral diversities for aeronautical applications. The work is within the MSIE project of ASTHEC cluster for which our laboratory (LEME) was very active. The industrial partners of the project are EADS/IW, Dassault Aviation, INEO-Defense SATIMO. The results show the feasibility of a single antenna having simultaneously two functions with a diversity of polarization and spectral band. The use of metamaterials enabled in particular the preservation of circular polarization of the GPS antenna on the bands ranging from L1 to L2. The DME function was consolidated with the same gain.The second antenna is an antenna Fabry-Perot cavity employing a partially reflective structure (PRS) Double-layer. We have demonstrated by numerical simulation and experimental characterization, the physical phenomenon of inversion phase of the reflection coefficient PRS. We obtain a positive gradient of the phase over a broad band of 5 GHz around 80GHz. Thanks to this new profile obtained by the PRS metamaterial structure, it has a linear advance of the phase which compensates for the delay of the Fabry-Perot cavity. Thus the cavity resonance conditions are maintained over a wide band, 5GHz. We demonstrate that the implementation of this structure with unique features allows a highly directive antenna cavity over a very wide spectral band 5GHz. The performance are a directivity of 35-40 dBi over 5 GHz, a perfect adaptation (gain ~ directivity) with very few primary sources.

Väl inställda reläskydd för ställverk är en nödvändighet för en personoch driftsäker anläggning. Rapportens mål är att undersöka om oriktade skydd med enbart signalering är tillräckligt för att skydda anläggningen som undersöks, och om riktade skydd har fördelen att förbättra felutpekning, minska risken för felaktig funktion eller minska funktionstiden. Anläggningen som undersökts är ett 6,3 kV industrinät med resistansjordning. I rapporten kontrolleras isolationsvärden och strömtoleranser för utrustningen, som sedan jämförs med beräknade spänningar och strömmar vid enfasiga jordfel. Rapporten beskriver också kort riktade skydd och dess funktioner i förhållande till frågeställningen om den eventuella fördelen med riktade skydd. Resultatet blev att överspänningar på grund av jordfel inte är något problem, men felströmmen genom nollpunktsmotståndet är för stor för enbart signalering. Vid stumma jordfel klarar nollpunktsmotståndet av att hantera felströmmen i 30 sekunder, varefter värmeutvecklingen resulterar i att nollpunktmotståndet kopplas bort och anläggningen blir isolerad från nollpunkten. Riktade skydd behövs enligt studien inte i en anläggning som denna. Detta är baserat på att kabelsträckorna är för korta för att orsaka kapacitiva strömmar tillräckligt stora för att felaktig funktion ska uppstå i oriktade skydd, och att nätstrukturen inte genererar strömmar i oväntade riktningar. Rapportens resultat visar att oriktade skydd är tillräckligt men att funktionen bör ställas om till bortkoppling av felande krets. / Well-adjusted relay protection for electrical substations is a necessity for personal safety and reliable operation. The aim of the report is to investigate whether non-directional protection with signaling alone is sufficient to protect the facility being investigated, and if directional protection has the advantage of improving fault detection, reducing the risk of unnecessary operation or reducing the function time. The facility under investigation is a 6.3 kV industrial network with resistance grounding. The report checks the insulation values and current tolerances for the equipment, which are then compared with calculated voltages and currents at single-phase earth faults. The report also briefly describes directional protection and its functions in relation to the issue of the potential benefit of directional protection. The result was that overvoltages due to earth faults are not a problem, but the fault current through the neutral point resistance is too large for signaling alone. In the case of earth faults with very low fault impedance, the neutral point resistance can handle the fault current for 30 seconds. After which the heat development results in the neutral point resistance being disconnected and the facility being isolated from the neutral point. According to the study, targeted protection is not needed in a facility like this. This is based on the fact that the cable paths are too short to cause capacitive currents large enough to cause unnecessary operation in non-directional protection, and that the network structure does not generate currents in unexpected directions. The result of the report shows that non-directional protection is sufficient, but that the operation function should be changed to tripping of faulty circuits