As firearms continuously become more sophisticated, there have been commensurate efforts to optimize the ballistic performance of armours, with ceramic materials currently at the forefront of such studies. These efforts have focused on improving processing and microstructural design with reinforcements using dispersion particles, carbon nanotubes (CNT) and boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT). In most studies, ballistic testing has been used to identify parameters affecting the performance. The research documented here focuses on: (1) the investigation of two commercial ceramics, namely silicon carbide (SiC) and zirconia toughened alumina (ZTA). The primary material properties evaluated for the characterization included: hardness, fracture toughness, flexural strength and Young’s modulus. Other properties investigated included the microstructure, porosity/density, and mode of failure or fracture. (2) Ballistic depth of penetration (DOP) testing for six candidate ceramic armour systems including three monolithic ceramics (Al2O3, SiC and B4C) and three nanotube toughened ceramic composites (Al2O3-BNNT, Al2O3-single walled CNT and SiC-BNNT). SiC showed a hardness of 2413 HV, which is far beyond the requirements for armour ceramic. In contrast, ZTA barely met the hardness requirement of 1500 HV, but showed improved toughness of 4.90 MPa m1/2 beyond values reported for monolithic alumina. SiC and ZTA showed that microstructural design improves fracture toughness but processing introduces defects that can substantially reduce other armour related properties such as the strength. The results of the Charpy and drop tower impact tests are in agreement with indentation fracture toughness results suggesting a great degree of reliability of this cost efficient method. The addition of nanotubes produced an increase in toughness and a decrease in hardness in the ceramics, which resulted in an overall drop in performance during ballistic depth of penetration (DOP) tests. A microstructure-quasi-static mechanical properties-ballistic performance relationship was established which led to the development of a novel ballistic performance index and a new DOP model. The proposed ballistic performance index yielded a ranking, which agrees better with experimental observations than the currently published indices. The developed semi-empirical model suggests that the ballistic performance of ceramics is improved with increased fracture toughness, reduced flaw size and higher density.

Esta tesis tiene un enfoque cuantitativo, la cual propone evaluar la influencia de la permeabilidad en diseños de concreto con el uso de aditivos Sika WT – 100 y Sika WT – 200 en obras hidráulicas de Lima Metropolitana, debido a que estas estructuras almacenan y/o conducen grandes volúmenes de agua a una velocidad determinada, y éstas al tener contacto con el agua reducen su vida útil. Los objetivos de esta tesis son determinar la profundidad de penetración de agua bajo presión bajo la Norma Europea EN 12390 – 8 y la resistencia a la compresión bajo la Norma Técnica Peruana NTP 339.034; para finalmente, determinar la permeabilidad para diseños de concreto bajo la Norma Técnica Colombiana NTC 4483. Para lograr los objetivos mencionados, se diseñó y elaboró 144 probetas cilíndricas de concreto de 10 cm de diámetro y 20 cm de altura y 48 probetas cilíndricas de concreto de 15 cm de diámetro y de altura, de las cuales fueron 64 probetas de concreto patrón (sin uso de ningún aditivo), 64 probetas de concreto con aplicación de 2% de aditivo Sika WT – 100; y 64 probetas de concreto con aplicación de 1% de aditivo Sika WT – 200. Los resultados de los diseños de concreto patrón, WT – 100 y WT – 200 con una relación agua/cemento de 0.40, con respecto a la profundidad de penetración de agua bajo presión, fueron 40, 30 y 15 mm, respectivamente. Los resultados de los diseños de concreto patrón, WT – 100 y WT – 200, con respecto a la resistencia a la compresión a los 28 días con una relación agua/cemento de 0.40, fueron 637, 621 y 632 kg/cm2, respectivamente. Según la Norma Técnica Colombiana NTC 4483 y con los resultados obtenidos, se concluye que el diseño de concreto patrón y el diseño de concreto WT – 100 alcanzan una media permeabilidad y que el diseño de concreto WT – 200 alcanza una baja permeabilidad, con una relación agua/cemento de 0.40. This thesis has a quantitative focus, that propose to evaluate the influence of permeability concrete designs with the use of admixtures Sika WT – 100 and Sika WT – 200 in Metropolitan Lima waterworks, because these structures store and lead large volumes of water at a certain speed, and when these has contact with water reduces their useful life. The objectives of this thesis are to determine the depth of penetration of water under pressure under the European Norm EN 12390-8 and compressive strength under the Peruvian Technical Norm NTP 339.034; finally, determine the permeability of concrete designs under the Colombian Technical Norm NTC 4483. To achieve these objectives, we designed and developed 144 cylindrical concrete specimens 10 cm in diameter and 20 cm high and 48 cylindrical concrete specimens 15 cm in diameter and height, which were 64 concrete specimens pattern (without use of any admixture) concrete specimens 64 with application of 2% admixture Sika WT - 100; and 64 concrete specimens with application of 1% admixture Sika WT - 200. The results of pattern, WT – 100 and WT - 200 concrete designs with a water – cement ratio of 0.40, with respect to the depth of penetration of water under pressure, were 40, 30 and 15 mm, respectively. The results of pattern, WT – 100 and WT - 200 concrete designs with a water – cement ratio of 0.40, with respect to compressive strength at 28 days, were 637, 621 and 632 kg/cm2, respectively. According to the Colombian Technical Norm NTC 4483 and the obtained results, one can conclude that the pattern concrete design and WT - 100 concrete design reach a medium permeability and concrete design WT - 200 reaches a high permeability, with a water – cement ratio of 0.40.

This master thesis deals with the suppression of the skin and proximity effects in high-speed machines. The first part summarizes the general knowledge of high-speed machines. The second part is devoted to the principle and possible suppression of consequences caused by skin and proximity effects. The third part shows the simulation results of models of a synchronous machine with permanent magnets. The results of these simulations reveal the consequences of skin and proximity effects. In addition, design measures are proposed to limit these and other undesirable phenomena to achieve the highest possible efficiency.