Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on January 30, 2008) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Dept. of Chemistry and School of Computing and Engineering. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005. / "A dissertation in chemistry and computer networking." Advisor: James R. Durig. Typescript. Vita. Description based on contents viewed Nov. 21, 2007; title from "catalog record" of the print edition. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 415-424). Online version of the print edition.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 1992. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The majority of the metallic elements adopt simple, high-symmetry structures at ambient pressure. These consist of a highly-ordered arrangement of atoms, which can be described by a crystal lattice that is periodic in three dimensions. It may be expected that close-packed structures, such as face-centred cubic (fcc) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp), would be favoured at high pressures due to the increase in density. However, many of these elements transform to lowsymmetry, complex structures on compression. In particular, a number have been observed to adopt incommensurately-modulated structures at high pressure. In these structures, atoms are displaced from their average positions by a modulation wave, the wavelength of which is an irrational multiple of the lattice periodicity. Diamond-anvil cells (DACs) can be used to compress materials to over a million times atmospheric pressure. In these devices, a small sample is compressed between the tips of two diamond anvils. The atomic arrangement of materials at extreme pressures can then be probed using the intense x-ray beams provided by synchrotron sources. In this work, the high-pressure crystal structures of the lanthanide elements europium (Eu) and samarium (Sm) have been investigated using angle-dispersive x-ray powder dffraction techniques. The high-pressure structural behaviour of Eu has been found to be remarkably different from that of the other lanthanide elements. Two new high-pressure phases of Eu are reported, both of which have an incommensurately-modulated crystal structure.

La contribution des calottes polaires à l'augmentation du niveau marin est un sujet de préoccupation majeure. Dans le cadre du réchauffement climatique, la dynamique de leurs glaciers émissaires évolue et ceux-ci accélèrent leur décharge de glace vers l'océan. En tant qu'exutoires des calottes polaires et régulateurs de leur perte de masse, la prise en compte de leur fonctionnement dans les prévisions d'augmentation du niveau marin est capitale. Cependant, les processus qui régissent leur dynamique sont mal contraints et il convient alors de réduire les incertitudes qui y sont liées. Les rétroactions entre la dynamique du front et la dynamique du glacier en sont un exemple représentatif. Dans ce cadre, cette thèse se concentre sur la modélisation de la dynamique du front de vêlage, et vise à proposer une nouvelle approche physique des mécanismes aboutissant au vêlage d'iceberg. Le travail réalisé ici couple la mécanique de l'endommagement et la mécanique de la rupture. Il intègre ainsi la dégradation progressive des propriétés rhéologiques de la glace aboutissant à la formation d'un champ de crevasses et modélise ensuite la propagation des fractures caractéristiques de l'évènement de vêlage. Ce modèle nouvellement créé est contraint sur une géométrie 2D en ligne d'écoulement du glacier Helheim, au Groenland, dont on parvient à reproduire un comportement cohérent de la partie terminale. Les tests de sensibilité menés sur chacun des paramètres introduits dans le modèle contraignent l'importance de chacun d'eux. On évalue ensuite l'impact sur la dynamique du front de deux forçages naturels couramment observés dans les fjords groenlandais : la fonte de la partie immergée du front et l'impact mécanique d'un mélange de glace (mélange de glace de mer et d'icebergs). Les résultats suggèrent que si la fonte affecte légèrement la dynamique du front, le mélange de glace provoque une réponse saisonnière d'une amplitude similaire aux variations observées dans la réalité. En frottant contre les parois du fjord, il empêche le vêlage et favorise l'avancée du glacier. On montre également que la fonte ne modifie pas le bilan de masse du glacier, mais que l'effet du mélange de glace est plus marqué. Enfin, nos résultats suggèrent que lorsque le glacier présente une extension flottante, un forçage élevé peut modifier l'équilibre du glacier et affecter plus considérablement son bilan de masse pluriannuel. / Polar ice-sheets discharge and subsequent sea level rise is a major concern. Warming climate affects the behaviour of tidewater outlets glaciers and increases their ice discharge. As they drain the ice flow toward the ocean, it is pivotal to incorporate their dynamics when modelling the ice-sheet response to global warming. However, tidewater glacier dynamics is still complicated to understand, as they are believed to involve many feedbacks. The one between calving margin dynamics and glacier general dynamics is fundamental. This PhD thesis focuses on modelling the calving front of outlet glaciers, in order to enhance the representation of physical processes occurring at their margin. To do so, we build up a new framework for calving based on damage mechanics and fracture mechanics. This allows us to represent the slow degradation of the ice rheological properties from a virgin state to the appearance of a crevasse field, as well as the rapid fracture propagation associated with calving events. Our model is then constrained within a 2D flow-line representation of Helheim Glacier, Greenland. We find some parameters sets for which the glacier behaviour is coherent with its past evolution. Sensitivity tests are carried out and they reveal the significance of each model parameter. This new calving law is then employed to study the impact of submarine frontal melting and ice mélange (heterogeneous mixture of sea-ice and icebergs) on glacier dynamics. These two forcings are usually suspected to be responsible for the seasonal variations of the calving margin. Our results show that both forcings impact the front dynamics. The melting, however, only slightly changes the front position, when the ice mélange can force the glacier front to displace up to a few kilometers. Additionally, if the melting at the front is not sufficient to affect the inter-annual mass balance, this is not obvious when forced by ice mélange. At last, our model highlights a feature which is specific to floating glaciers: for the strongest forcings, the glacier equilibrium may be modified, as well as its pluri-annual mass balance.STAR

Les structures autobloquantes sont des assemblages de blocs disposés périodiquement. La géométrie des blocs etles frottements entre blocs ainsi que la compression appliquée aux bords de l'assemblage jouent un rôle centraldans la cohésion de l'ensemble de l'assemblage. Des expériences d'indentation ont été menées pour étudier la réponse mécanique de matériaux autobloquants constitués de cubes en alumine et de blocs ostéomorphes enpolymère. Ces résultats ont été reproduits en utilisant deux méthodes numériques : la méthode des éléments finiset la méthode des éléments discrets utilisant un code dédié. Différentes variables de conception ont pu être étudiées par simulations numériques et les expériences nous ont permis de connaître la réponse d'un assemblage endommagé. De nouveaux assemblages à structure hierarchique ont été proposés et testés ouvrant de nouvellesperspectives. / Interlocked materials are periodic paving of elementary blocks. The cohesion is insured by the boundary conditions applied on the edge of the assembly as well as the topology of the blocks and the friction between the blocks.Experiments were performed to study the mechanical response of interlocked assemblies built with cubes in alumina and osteomophic blocs in polymer. Those results have been reproduced using two numerical methods: the finite element method and the discret element method with the help of a dedicated code. Differents design parameters have been studied with numerical methods and experiments allowed us to know the response of a dammage assembly. New assemblies having a hierachical structure were proposed and tested opening new perspectives.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-08T14:59:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Arquivototal.pdf: 3772690 bytes, checksum: e032df086ce22dd8ceaa668979d9ed25 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-10-30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work deals with the analysis of soil-structure interaction modeling of pipeline problems in static behavior using the coupling between Finite Element Method (FEM) and Boundary Element Method (BEM).The representation of the pipe is made by MEF using two finite elements in the cylindrical panel: The first, formulated from the classical theory of cylindrical shells by assumptions of Donnel and initially proposed by Djoudi & Bahai, using the Assumed Strain Based Model. The second formulated from the theory of equivalent discrete layers (Layerwise Theory), proposed by J. N. Reddy. The soil is represented by elastic continum infinite or semi-infinite and modeled using boundary elements with special curved surface, associated with cylindrical panel, used to represent the soil-structure interaction within the soil, especially at the contact surface with the pipe. Besides the mathematical representation of the model, this work propose a library DLL (Dynamic Link Library) written using the object-oriented programming (OOP) for processing soil structure interaction problems and a user-friendly environment built using the ObjectARX library for customizing AutoCAD. / Neste trabalho aborda-se a análise da interação solo-estrutura para modelagem de problemas de dutos em regime estático através do acoplamento entre o método dos Elementos Finitos (MEF) e o método dos elementos de contorno (MEC). A representação do duto homogêneo ou laminado é feita pelo MEF utilizando-se dois elementos finitos na forma de um painel cilíndrico: O primeiro foi desenvolvido a partir do modelo isotrópico homogêneo proposto inicialmente por Djoudi e Bahai, que utiliza a filosofia do modelo de deformações assumidas (Assumed Strain Based Model). O segundo foi proposto por Reddy e é baseado na teoria de camadas equivalentes discretas (Layerwise Theory). O solo é admitido ser um contínuo elástico infinito ou semi-infinito e modelado pelo MEC onde elementos de contorno especiais são propostos com superfície curva ou bordos curvos para representar a interação solo-estrutura principalmente nas superfícies de contato com o duto. Além da representação matemática do modelo da interação solo-estrutura, é proposta uma biblioteca DLL (Dynamic Link Library) escrita utilizando-se a filosofia de programação orientada a objetos (POO) para o processamento de problemas de interação solo estrutura e um ambiente amigável ao usuário construído a partir da biblioteca ObjectARX para customização do AutoCAD.