This work is devoted to study the influence of the composition on mechanical properties of high performance concret based on portland cement. 29 samples of high performance concrete (HPC) warying in composition were prepared. The constituents used for HPC preparation were: cement Aalborg White, silica fume, finelly ground blast furnace slag, finelly ground silica, calcinated bauxite and polycarboxylate based superplasticizer. The mechanical parameters (flexural and compressive strength) of the samples were observed after 7 and 28 days of moist curing. Compressive strength values after 28 days were in the range of 92 to 194 MPa and the flexural strength values were in the range of 7 to 23 MPa (without using of fiber reinforcement). The graphs showing mechanical parameters depending on the mixture composition were constructed and consequently evaluated.

Dieser Vortrag beschreibt ein methodisches Vorgehen zur Auslegung von Bauteilen, die von mehreren Eingangsgrößen und mehren Zielgrößen bestimmt sind. Als Praxisbeispiel wird eine dünnwandige Mittnehmerwelle untersucht. Im Automotivbereich besteht auf Grund der Forderungen nach Leichtbau und höherem Leistungsgewicht verstärkt der Wunsch nach einer hohen Auslastung über das ganze Bauteil hinweg. Eine Gewichtsreduktion kann durch Materialeinsparungen an unkritischen Stellen, wie zum Beispiel im Wellenkern einer Zahnwelle, erreicht werden. Die Verwendung von dünnwandigen Rohren als Ausgangsmaterial, aus denen lastangepasste Zahnprofile umformend hergestellt werden, versprechen eine deutliche Steigerung der Drehmomentübertragbarkeit bezogen auf den Materialeinsatz. Dazu wird eine neue Verzahnungsgeometrie entwickelt. Das Profil wird über eine Vielzahl an Parametern definiert, welche die Form und damit die Drehmomentübertragbarkeit beeinflussen. Durch die Verwendung einer bidirektionalen Schnittstelle kann eine Zahn-Geometrie in einem CAD-Programm mit einem FEM-Programm gekoppelt werden. Es zeigt sich, dass sich einige Geometrieparameter bereits durch die Wahl des Ausgangsrohres ergeben oder vorab festgelegt werden können. Mit vorgegebenem Außendurchmesser und Wandstärke des Ausgangsrohres sowie der Zähnezahl verbleiben bei dieser Profilform nur weitere fünf Parameter, welche hinsichtlich der Drehmomentübertragbarkeit zu optimieren sind. Mit Hilfe von numerischen Variantenberechnungen, welche sich nach den Vorgaben eines statistischen Versuchsplanes / Design of Experiments durch Veränderung der Parameter ergeben, kann ein mathematisches Ersatzmodell gebildet werden. Dieses beschreibt die (Wechsel-)Wirkungen der Eingangsgrößen auf die Ausgangsgrößen, wie zum Beispiel der Einfluss des Fußkreisdurchmessers und des Eingriffswinkels auf die dynamische Beanspruchbarkeit. Mit Hilfe von Optimierungsalgorithmen kann ein Optimum der Parameter an Hand des Ersatzmodelles ohne erneute aufwändige FEM-Berechnung gefunden werden.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are organic synthetic compounds used in several industries because of their unique properties and thermal and chemical stability. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctaonic acid (PFOA) are two of the most prominent PFAS that are undegradable and accumulate in nature. To study the impact of PFOS and PFOA on the liver in a controlled environment, organoids can be used. A sensitive and selective LC-MS/MS method for individual and simultaneous analysis of PFOS and PFOA in liver organoid media and equipment used in organoid analyses was developed. For detection of low concentrations, ability to analyse complex organoid samples, and limit background contamination, a solid phase extraction (SPE) column, automatic filter (AFFL) and a trap column was included. The AFFL-SPE-LC-MS/MS was optimised efficiently through Design of Experiment (DoE) regarding the loading phase in the LC and six MS parameters for PFOS and PFOA. Validation was controlled against Eurachem’s guideline showing high sensitivity, detecting LOD at 6 pg/mL. The method demonstrated high repeatability with an RSD below 8 % for most samples. Simultaneous analysis of PFOS and PFOA demonstrated high selectivity. Nevertheless, the method showed low intermediate precision and varying reliability, as well as persistent background contamination limiting detection of lower concentrations. The method was fit for purpose and allowed rapid analysis of PFOS and PFOA in organoid media and equipment used in organoid analyses. Result from studies of PFAS in liver organoids through analysis with this method can aid in understanding the connection between PFAS and metabolic diseases. / Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning Per- och polyfluorerade alkylsubstanser (PFAS) är en grupp av människoskapta, syntetiska ämnen med unika egenskaper. Dessa egenskaper gör att de är olja- och vattenavvisande, och har många applikationsområden. De finns i textiler, livsmedelsförpackningar, brandsläckningsskum och andra industriprodukter. De är väldigt termiskt och kemisk stabila, vilket gör att de inte bryts ner och därmed ackumulerar i miljön. Flera studier har också visat koppling mellan PFAS och många kroniska sjukdomar, som hormonstörningar, cancer, immunsuppression och metabolt associerad fettlever (MAFLD, tidigare nonalkoholisk fettlever (NAFLD)). Kopplingen mellan MAFLD och PFAS har fått mycket uppmärksamhet då levern har visats sig vara ett målorgan för PFAS. Eftersom PFAS är ihärdiga, har ett komplicerat spridningsbeteende och ackumulerar i naturen är det svårt att studera kopplingen mellan MAFLD och PFAS i en kontrollerad miljö. För att studera effekten av PFAS kan man använda organoider, laboratorieodlade 3D modeller gjord från stamceller för att imitera ett äkta organ.    Någon av de mest omtalade PFAS ämnen är perfluoroktansyra (PFOA) och perfluoroktansulfonat (PFOS), vilket är fokus för detta arbete. Leverorganoiderna kan utsättas för PFOS och PFOA, och mediet de ligger i kan extraheras och studeras med konventionella analytiska metoder för att få en bild av hur PFAS påverkar levern. I detta arbete vill analysen ske via vätskekromatografi med masspektrometri som detektion (LC-MS/MS). Med LC-MS/MS separeras den studerade molekylen, analyten från lösningen baserat på dess kemiska egenskaper. Analyten detekteras baserat på dess massa, mer bestämd massa/laddning-fördelningen (m/z). För att anpassa LC-MS metoden till injektion av komplexa organoidprover inkluderades ett automatiskt filter (AFFL) samt ett extra automatiskt separationssteg med en kolonn med fastfasextraktion (SPE). I övrigt ger SPE möjligheten att små mängder PFAS kan uppkoncentreras och fokuseras på kolonnen, vilket ger en sensitiv metod som kan detektera låga koncentrationer. SPE och AFFL implementerades båda för att bättre kunna separera och detektera PFOS och PFOA från andra ämnen, samt filtrera bort föroreningar och stora molekyler som kan skada LC-MS/MS instrumentet i längden. Då PFAS hopar upp sig i vår omgivning, visade det sig att kontamination av PFAS från systemet blev en utmaning under metodutvecklingen. Därför implementerades PFAS fritt utstyr, samt en extra kolonn för att fånga PFAS från systemet och på så sätt minska bakgrundskontaminationen som detekterades.    AFFL-SPE-LC-MS/MS metoden optimerades via en maskininlärningsbaserad optimeringsmetod baserad på parametrar i LC och MS. Metoden baserar sig på att, med tre värden för varje parameter, uppger programmet ett antal experiment som måste utföras för att kunna beräkna ett optimalt värde för varje parameter. Med resultatet från experimenten kan modellen matematiskt, genom en Bayes baserat Gaussian modell, uppskatta optimala värden för metoden. På så sätt kunde metoden optimeras systematiskt och tidseffektivt.    Innan rutinanvändning måste den optimerade metoden valideras. Validering blev gjord genom at följa Eurachem’s riktlinjer. Metoden visade hög repeterbarhet, selektivitet och riktighet. Den har hög sensitivitet, och kan detektera låga mängder, men bakgrundskontaminationen kunde inte elimineras totalt, och gör att man måste korrigera för detta i rutinanalyser. Komplexiteten av AFFL-SPE-LC-MS/MS med flera kolonner och filter gjorde att metoden visade låg robusthet och behövde justeras ofta. AFFL-SPE-LC-MS/MS metoden gör det möjligt att snabbt studera PFOS och PFOA i leverorganoider och utstyr använt i organoidanalyser, och kan bidra i forskningen för att bättre förstå hur PFAS påverkar levern. / Health Effects of Persistent Organic Pollutants

La simulation numérique est devenue une alternative à l’expérimentation réelle pour étudier des phénomènes physiques. Cependant, les phénomènes complexes requièrent en général un nombre important de simulations, chaque simulation étant très coûteuse en temps de calcul. Une approche basée sur la théorie des plans d’expériences est souvent utilisée en vue de réduire ce coût de calcul. Elle consiste à partir d’un nombre réduit de simulations, organisées selon un plan d’expériences numériques, à construire un modèle d’approximation souvent appelé métamodèle, alors beaucoup plus rapide à évaluer que le code lui-même. Traditionnellement, les plans utilisés sont des plans de type Space-Filling Design (SFD). La première partie de la thèse concerne la construction de plans d’expériences SFD à taille fixe adaptés à l’identification d’un modèle de krigeage car le krigeage est un des métamodèles les plus populaires. Nous étudions l’impact de la contrainte Hypercube Latin (qui est le type de plans les plus utilisés en pratique avec le modèle de krigeage) sur des plans maximin-optimaux. Nous montrons que cette contrainte largement utilisée en pratique est bénéfique quand le nombre de points est peu élevé car elle atténue les défauts de la configuration maximin-optimal (majorité des points du plan aux bords du domaine). Un critère d’uniformité appelé discrépance radiale est proposé dans le but d’étudier l’uniformité des points selon leur position par rapport aux bords du domaine. Ensuite, nous introduisons un proxy pour le plan minimax-optimal qui est le plan le plus proche du plan IMSE (plan adapté à la prédiction par krigeage) et qui est coûteux en temps de calcul, ce proxy est basé sur les plans maximin-optimaux. Enfin, nous présentons une procédure bien réglée de l’optimisation par recuit simulé pour trouver les plans maximin-optimaux. Il s’agit ici de réduire au plus la probabilité de tomber dans un optimum local. La deuxième partie de la thèse porte sur un problème légèrement différent. Si un plan est construit de sorte à être SFD pour N points, il n’y a aucune garantie qu’un sous-plan à n points (n 6 N) soit SFD. Or en pratique le plan peut être arrêté avant sa réalisation complète. La deuxième partie est donc dédiée au développement de méthodes de planification séquentielle pour bâtir un ensemble d’expériences de type SFD pour tout n compris entre 1 et N qui soient toutes adaptées à la prédiction par krigeage. Nous proposons une méthode pour générer des plans séquentiellement ou encore emboités (l’un est inclus dans l’autre) basée sur des critères d’information, notamment le critère d’Information Mutuelle qui mesure la réduction de l’incertitude de la prédiction en tout point du domaine entre avant et après l’observation de la réponse aux points du plan. Cette approche assure la qualité des plans obtenus pour toutes les valeurs de n, 1 6 n 6 N. La difficulté est le calcul du critère et notamment la génération de plans en grande dimension. Pour pallier ce problème une solution a été présentée. Cette solution propose une implémentation astucieuse de la méthode basée sur le découpage par blocs des matrices de covariances ce qui la rend numériquement efficace. / In recent years, computer simulation models are increasingly used to study complex phenomena. Such problems usually rely on very large sophisticated simulation codes that are very expensive in computing time. The exploitation of these codes becomes a problem, especially when the objective requires a significant number of evaluations of the code. In practice, the code is replaced by global approximation models, often called metamodels, most commonly a Gaussian Process (kriging) adjusted to a design of experiments, i.e. on observations of the model output obtained on a small number of simulations. Space-Filling-Designs which have the design points evenly spread over the entire feasible input region, are the most used designs. This thesis consists of two parts. The main focus of both parts is on construction of designs of experiments that are adapted to kriging, which is one of the most popular metamodels. Part I considers the construction of space-fillingdesigns of fixed size which are adapted to kriging prediction. This part was started by studying the effect of Latin Hypercube constraint (the most used design in practice with the kriging) on maximin-optimal designs. This study shows that when the design has a small number of points, the addition of the Latin Hypercube constraint will be useful because it mitigates the drawbacks of maximin-optimal configurations (the position of the majority of points at the boundary of the input space). Following this study, an uniformity criterion called Radial discrepancy has been proposed in order to measure the uniformity of the points of the design according to their distance to the boundary of the input space. Then we show that the minimax-optimal design is the closest design to IMSE design (design which is adapted to prediction by kriging) but is also very difficult to evaluate. We then introduce a proxy for the minimax-optimal design based on the maximin-optimal design. Finally, we present an optimised implementation of the simulated annealing algorithm in order to find maximin-optimal designs. Our aim here is to minimize the probability of falling in a local minimum configuration of the simulated annealing. The second part of the thesis concerns a slightly different problem. If XN is space-filling-design of N points, there is no guarantee that any n points of XN (1 6 n 6 N) constitute a space-filling-design. In practice, however, we may have to stop the simulations before the full realization of design. The aim of this part is therefore to propose a new methodology to construct sequential of space-filling-designs (nested designs) of experiments Xn for any n between 1 and N that are all adapted to kriging prediction. We introduce a method to generate nested designs based on information criteria, particularly the Mutual Information criterion. This method ensures a good quality forall the designs generated, 1 6 n 6 N. A key difficulty of this method is that the time needed to generate a MI-sequential design in the highdimension case is very larg. To address this issue a particular implementation, which calculates the determinant of a given matrix by partitioning it into blocks. This implementation allows a significant reduction of the computational cost of MI-sequential designs, has been proposed.

O presente trabalho apresenta um modelo de aplicação de ferramentas de projeto integradas ao longo das fases de desenvolvimento de produto, neste caso, aplicadas na melhoria do produto suporte para fixação de cilindro de gás natural veicular. O foco do trabalho é apresentar a integração de ferramentas nas fases de Projeto Informacional, Projeto Conceitual e Projeto Detalhado do Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos. Entende-se por integração a escolha de ferramentas que permitam conduzir o fluxo de informação ao longo das fases de desenvolvimento de produtos, de tal forma que a informação de saída de uma ferramenta seja a informação de entrada da ferramenta subseqüente. As ferramentas integradas a partir da fase de Projeto Informacional foram a Pesquisas de Mercado Qualitativa e Quantitativa, com a finalidade de identificar as demandas dos clientes. As demandas dos clientes foram os dados de entrada da Matriz da Qualidade (Quality Function Deployment - QFD), resultando nos requisitos do produto e suas respectivas especificações-meta. A partir dos requisitos do produto, diferentes conceitos (configurações) foram gerados, apoiados pela Matriz Morfológica no Projeto Conceitual. Na seqüência utilizou-se a ferramenta de Projeto de Experimentos (Design of Experiments - DOE) para avaliar a estimativa de preço frente às possíveis configurações do produto. Com a Matriz de Pugh, alternativas de conceito de produto foram avaliadas possibilitando a escolha do melhor conceito de produto. No Projeto Detalhado, foi aplicada ferramenta de Análise dos Modos de Falha e seus Efeitos (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis - FMEA), utilizado de forma integrada com o QFD, para identificar as falhas atuais e potenciais e seus efeitos em sistemas e processo. Em função das demandas identificadas, foram definidas e implementadas melhorias no produto. Observou-se a adequabilidade destas ferramentas de projeto para aplicação de forma integrada, garantindo um fluxo contínuo de informações rastreáveis e que tendem a levar à uma reduzida chance de perdas ao longo do processo. / There are few examples in literature about the integration of project tools along the product development phases. The main research objective in thesis is to integrate some tools that facilitate the information flow along the product development phases, more specifically in Informational Project, Conceptual Project and Detailed Project phases. The product improvement “support for Vehicular Natural Gas” was the object of study in thesis. The main idea is that the information output from one tool is the input information of the subsequent tool. Starting from the Informational Project phase it was performed qualitative and quantitative market researches with the purpose of identifying the customers' demands for the studied product. The customers’ demands were the entrance data of the QFD (Quality Function Deployment) tool resulting in the product requirements and their respective specifications-goal. In Concept Project the product requirements were converted in functions and further different concepts were generated through the Morphologic Analysis. In the sequence, it was used the DOE (Design for experiments) tool to evaluate the estimate price to the possible products' configurations. The Pugh Matrix tool was used for concepts evaluation and choice. The FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) tool integrated with QFD was useful for current and potential failures identification and impact analysis in the system and process. With the application of these five tools the users’ demands were identified and improvements to the product were performed. The chosen tools proved to be adequate for integration, assuring that a continuous trackable information flow was attained with presumable reduced information loss, along the Product Development Process phases.

To be able to make informed descicions regarding the research of new drug molecules (ligands), it is crucial to have access to information regarding the chemical interaction between the drug and its biological target (protein). Computer-based methods have a given role in drug research today and, by using methods such as molecular docking, it is possible to investigate the way in which ligands and proteins interact. Despite the acceleration in computer power experienced in the last decades many problems persist in modelling these complicated interactions. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate and improve molecular modelling methods aimed to estimate protein-ligand binding. In order to do so, we have utilised chemometric tools, e.g. design of experiments (DoE) and principal component analysis (PCA), in the field of molecular modelling. More specifically, molecular docking was investigated as a tool for reproduction of ligand poses in protein 3D structures and for virtual screening. Adjustable parameters in two docking software were varied using DoE and parameter settings were identified which lead to improved results. In an additional study, we explored the nature of ligand-binding cavities in proteins since they are important factors in protein-ligand interactions, especially in the prediction of the function of newly found proteins. We developed a strategy, comprising a new set of descriptors and PCA, to map proteins based on their cavity physicochemical properties. Finally, we applied our developed strategies to design a set of glycopeptides which were used to study autoimmune arthritis. A combination of docking and statistical molecular design, synthesis and biological evaluation led to new binders for two different class II MHC proteins and recognition by a panel of T-cell hybridomas. New and interesting SAR conclusions could be drawn and the results will serve as a basis for selection of peptides to include in in vivo studies.

O presente trabalho apresenta um modelo de aplicação de ferramentas de projeto integradas ao longo das fases de desenvolvimento de produto, neste caso, aplicadas na melhoria do produto suporte para fixação de cilindro de gás natural veicular. O foco do trabalho é apresentar a integração de ferramentas nas fases de Projeto Informacional, Projeto Conceitual e Projeto Detalhado do Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos. Entende-se por integração a escolha de ferramentas que permitam conduzir o fluxo de informação ao longo das fases de desenvolvimento de produtos, de tal forma que a informação de saída de uma ferramenta seja a informação de entrada da ferramenta subseqüente. As ferramentas integradas a partir da fase de Projeto Informacional foram a Pesquisas de Mercado Qualitativa e Quantitativa, com a finalidade de identificar as demandas dos clientes. As demandas dos clientes foram os dados de entrada da Matriz da Qualidade (Quality Function Deployment - QFD), resultando nos requisitos do produto e suas respectivas especificações-meta. A partir dos requisitos do produto, diferentes conceitos (configurações) foram gerados, apoiados pela Matriz Morfológica no Projeto Conceitual. Na seqüência utilizou-se a ferramenta de Projeto de Experimentos (Design of Experiments - DOE) para avaliar a estimativa de preço frente às possíveis configurações do produto. Com a Matriz de Pugh, alternativas de conceito de produto foram avaliadas possibilitando a escolha do melhor conceito de produto. No Projeto Detalhado, foi aplicada ferramenta de Análise dos Modos de Falha e seus Efeitos (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis - FMEA), utilizado de forma integrada com o QFD, para identificar as falhas atuais e potenciais e seus efeitos em sistemas e processo. Em função das demandas identificadas, foram definidas e implementadas melhorias no produto. Observou-se a adequabilidade destas ferramentas de projeto para aplicação de forma integrada, garantindo um fluxo contínuo de informações rastreáveis e que tendem a levar à uma reduzida chance de perdas ao longo do processo. / There are few examples in literature about the integration of project tools along the product development phases. The main research objective in thesis is to integrate some tools that facilitate the information flow along the product development phases, more specifically in Informational Project, Conceptual Project and Detailed Project phases. The product improvement “support for Vehicular Natural Gas” was the object of study in thesis. The main idea is that the information output from one tool is the input information of the subsequent tool. Starting from the Informational Project phase it was performed qualitative and quantitative market researches with the purpose of identifying the customers' demands for the studied product. The customers’ demands were the entrance data of the QFD (Quality Function Deployment) tool resulting in the product requirements and their respective specifications-goal. In Concept Project the product requirements were converted in functions and further different concepts were generated through the Morphologic Analysis. In the sequence, it was used the DOE (Design for experiments) tool to evaluate the estimate price to the possible products' configurations. The Pugh Matrix tool was used for concepts evaluation and choice. The FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) tool integrated with QFD was useful for current and potential failures identification and impact analysis in the system and process. With the application of these five tools the users’ demands were identified and improvements to the product were performed. The chosen tools proved to be adequate for integration, assuring that a continuous trackable information flow was attained with presumable reduced information loss, along the Product Development Process phases.

This research investigates formulation, compounding and thin-wall injection moulding of Polypropylene/clay nanocomposites (PPCNs) prepared using conventional melt-state processes. An independent study on single screw extrusion dynamics using Design of Experiments (DoE) was performed first. Then the optimum formulation of PPCNs and compounding conditions were determined using this strategy. The outcomes from the DoE study were then applied to produce PPCN compounds for the subsequent study of thin-wall injection moulding, for which a novel four-cavity injection moulding system was designed using CAD software and a new moulding tool was constructed based upon this design. Subsequently, the effects of moulding conditions, nanoclay concentration and wall thickness on the injection moulded PPCN parts were investigated. Moreover, simulation of the injection moulding process was carried out to compare the predicted performance with that obtained in practice by measurement of real-time data using an in-cavity pressure sensor. For the selected materials, the optimum formulation is 4 wt% organoclay (DK4), 4 wt% compatibiliser (Polybond 3200, PPgMA) and 1.5 wt% co-intercalant (erucamide), as the maximum interlayer spacing of clay can be achieved in the selected experimental range. Furthermore, DoE investigations determined that a screw speed of 159 rpm and a feed rate of 5.4 kg/h are the optimum compounding conditions for the twin screw extruder used to obtain the highest tensile modulus and yield strength from the PPCN compounds. The optimised formulation of PPCNs and compounding conditions were adopted to manufacture PPCN materials for the study of thin-wall injection moulding. In the selected processing window, tensile modulus and yield strength increase significantly with decreasing injection speed, due to shear-induced orientation effects, exemplified by a significantly increased frozen layer thickness observed by optical microscopy (OM) and Moldflow® simulation. Furthermore, the TEM images indicate a strong orientation of clay particles in the flow direction, so the PPCN test pieces cut parallel to the flow direction have 36.4% higher tensile modulus and 13.6 % higher yield strength than those cut perpendicular to the flow direction, demonstrating the effects of shear induced orientation on the tensile properties of thin-wall injection moulded PPCN parts. In comparison to injection speed, mould temperature has very limited effects in the selected range investigated (25-55 °C), in this study. The changes in moulding conditions show no distinctive effects on PP crystallinity and intercalation behaviour of clay. Impact toughness of thin wall injection moulded PPCN parts is not significantly affected by either the changes in moulding conditions or clay concentration (1-5 %). The SEM images show no clear difference between the fracture surfaces of PPCN samples with different clay concentrations. TEM and XRD results suggest that higher intercalation but lower exfoliation is achieved in PPCN parts with higher clay content. The composites in the thin sections (at the end of flow) have 34 % higher tensile modulus and 11 % higher yield strength than in the thicker sections, although the thin sections show reduced d001 values. This is attributed to the significantly enhanced shear-induced particle/molecular orientation and more highly oriented frozen layer, according to TEM, OM and process simulation results. In terms of the reduced d001 values in the thin sections, it is proposed that the extreme shear conditions in the thin sections stretch the PP chains in the clay galleries to a much higher level, compaction of clay stacks occurs as less interspacing is needed to accommodate the stretched chains, but rapid cooling allows no time for the chains to relax and expand the galleries back. Overall, data obtained from both actual moulding and simulation indicate that injection speed is of utmost importance to the thin-wall injection moulding process, development of microstructure, and thus the resulting properties of the moulded PPCN parts, in the selected experimental ranges of this research.

O presente trabalho apresenta um modelo de aplicação de ferramentas de projeto integradas ao longo das fases de desenvolvimento de produto, neste caso, aplicadas na melhoria do produto suporte para fixação de cilindro de gás natural veicular. O foco do trabalho é apresentar a integração de ferramentas nas fases de Projeto Informacional, Projeto Conceitual e Projeto Detalhado do Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos. Entende-se por integração a escolha de ferramentas que permitam conduzir o fluxo de informação ao longo das fases de desenvolvimento de produtos, de tal forma que a informação de saída de uma ferramenta seja a informação de entrada da ferramenta subseqüente. As ferramentas integradas a partir da fase de Projeto Informacional foram a Pesquisas de Mercado Qualitativa e Quantitativa, com a finalidade de identificar as demandas dos clientes. As demandas dos clientes foram os dados de entrada da Matriz da Qualidade (Quality Function Deployment - QFD), resultando nos requisitos do produto e suas respectivas especificações-meta. A partir dos requisitos do produto, diferentes conceitos (configurações) foram gerados, apoiados pela Matriz Morfológica no Projeto Conceitual. Na seqüência utilizou-se a ferramenta de Projeto de Experimentos (Design of Experiments - DOE) para avaliar a estimativa de preço frente às possíveis configurações do produto. Com a Matriz de Pugh, alternativas de conceito de produto foram avaliadas possibilitando a escolha do melhor conceito de produto. No Projeto Detalhado, foi aplicada ferramenta de Análise dos Modos de Falha e seus Efeitos (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis - FMEA), utilizado de forma integrada com o QFD, para identificar as falhas atuais e potenciais e seus efeitos em sistemas e processo. Em função das demandas identificadas, foram definidas e implementadas melhorias no produto. Observou-se a adequabilidade destas ferramentas de projeto para aplicação de forma integrada, garantindo um fluxo contínuo de informações rastreáveis e que tendem a levar à uma reduzida chance de perdas ao longo do processo. / There are few examples in literature about the integration of project tools along the product development phases. The main research objective in thesis is to integrate some tools that facilitate the information flow along the product development phases, more specifically in Informational Project, Conceptual Project and Detailed Project phases. The product improvement “support for Vehicular Natural Gas” was the object of study in thesis. The main idea is that the information output from one tool is the input information of the subsequent tool. Starting from the Informational Project phase it was performed qualitative and quantitative market researches with the purpose of identifying the customers' demands for the studied product. The customers’ demands were the entrance data of the QFD (Quality Function Deployment) tool resulting in the product requirements and their respective specifications-goal. In Concept Project the product requirements were converted in functions and further different concepts were generated through the Morphologic Analysis. In the sequence, it was used the DOE (Design for experiments) tool to evaluate the estimate price to the possible products' configurations. The Pugh Matrix tool was used for concepts evaluation and choice. The FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) tool integrated with QFD was useful for current and potential failures identification and impact analysis in the system and process. With the application of these five tools the users’ demands were identified and improvements to the product were performed. The chosen tools proved to be adequate for integration, assuring that a continuous trackable information flow was attained with presumable reduced information loss, along the Product Development Process phases.

La lumière du soleil est un bon candidat comme source propre et abondante d'énergie renouvelable. Cette source d'énergie écocompatible peut être exploitée pour répondre aux besoins croissants en énergie du monde. Plusieurs générations de cellules photovoltaïques ont été utilisées pour convertir directement la lumière solaire en énergie électrique. La troisième génération de type multijonction des cellules photovoltaïques est caractérisée par un niveau d'efficacité plus élevé que celui de tous les autres types de cellules photovoltaïques. Des dispositifs optiques, tels que des concentrateurs optiques, des séparateurs optiques et des dispositifs optiques réalisant simultanément la séparation du spectre et la concentration du faisceau ont été utilisés dans des systèmes de cellules solaires. Récemment, les Eléments Optiques Diffractifs (EOD) font l'objet d'un intérêt soutenu en vue de leur utilisation dans la conception de systèmes optiques appliqués aux cellules photovoltaïques. Cette thèse est consacrée à la conception d'un EOD qui peut réaliser simultanément la séparation du spectre et la concentration du faisceau pour des cellules photovoltaïques de type multijonction latéral ou similaire. Les EOD qui ont été conçus ont une structure sous-longueur d'onde et fonctionnent en espace lointain pour implanter la double fonction séparation du spectre et concentration du faisceau. Pour cette raison, des outils de simulation ont été développés pour simuler le comportement du champ magnétique à l'intérieur de l'EOD à structure sous-longueur d'onde. De plus, un propagateur hybride rigoureux a aussi été développé, il est basé sur les deux théories de la diffraction, à savoir la théorie scalaire et la théorie rigoureuse. La méthode FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) ou méthode de différences finies dans le domaine temporel a été utilisée pour modéliser la propagation du champ magnétique en champ proche c'est-à-dire à l'intérieur et autour de l'EOD. La méthode ASM (Angular Spectrum Method) ou méthode à spectre angulaire a été utilisée pour modéliser de façon rigoureuse la propagation libre en champ lointain. Deux EOD différents ont été développés permettant d'implanter les fonctions souhaitées (séparation du spectre et concentration du faisceau) ; il s'agit d'une part d'un composant diffractif intitulé G-Fresnel (Grating and Fresnel lens) qui combine un réseau avec une lentille de Fresnel et d'autre part d'une lentille hors-axe. Les composants proposés réalisent la séparation du spectre en deux bandes pour une plage visible-proche infrarouge du spectre solaire. Ces deux bandes peuvent être absorbées et converties en énergie électrique par deux cellules photovoltaïques différentes et disposées latéralement par rapport à l'axe du système. Ces dispositifs permettent d'obtenir un faible facteur de concentration et une efficacité de diffraction théorique d'environ 70 % pour les deux bandes séparées. Grâce à une distance de focalisation faible, ces composants peuvent être intégrés dans des systèmes compacts de cellules solaires. La validation expérimentale du prototype fabriqué montre une bonne correspondance entre les performances expérimentales et le modèle théorique / Sunlight represents a good candidate for an abundant and clean source of renewable energy. This environmentally friendly energy source can be exploited to provide an answer to the increasing requirement of energy from the world. Several generations of photovoltaic cells have been successively used to convert sunlight directly into electrical energy. Third generation multijunction PV cells are characterized by the highest level of efficiency between all types of PV cells. Optical devices have been used in solar cell systems such as optical concentrators, optical splitters, and hybrid optical devices that achieve Spectrum Splitting and Beam Concentration (SSBC) simultaneously. Recently, diffractive optical elements (DOE’s) have attracted more attention for their smart use it in the design of optical devices for PV cells applications.This thesis was allocated to design a DOE that can achieve the SSBC functions for the benefit of the lateral multijunction PV cells or similar. The desired design DOE's have a subwavelength structure and operate in the far field to implement the target functions (i.e. SSBC). Therefore, some modelling tools have been developed which can be used to simulate the electromagnetic field behavior inside a specific DOE structure, in the range of subwavelength features. Furthermore, a rigorous hybrid propagator is developed that is based on both major diffraction theories (i.e. rigorous and scalar diffraction theory). The FDTD method was used to model the propagation of the electromagnetic field in the near field, i.e. inside and around a DOE, and the ASM method was used to model rigorously propagation in the free space far field.The proposed device required to implement the intended functions is based on two different DOE’s components; a G-Fresnel (i.e. Grating and Fresnel lens), and an off-axis lens. The proposed devices achieve the spectrum splitting for a Vis-NIR range of the solar spectrum into two bands. These two bands can be absorbed and converted into electrical energy by two different PV cells, which are laterally arranged. These devices are able to implement a low concentration factor of “concentrator PV cell systems”. These devices also allow achieving theoretically around 70 % of optical diffraction efficiency for the both separated bands. The impact distance is very small for the devices proposed, which allows the possibility to integrate these devices into compact solar cell systems. The experimental validation of the fabricated prototype appears to provide a good matching of the experimental performance with the theoretical model.