Harmonic impedance characterizes the voltage response of a power system when it is subjected to the influence of high-frequency currents. The impedance is a key parameter of a power network and must be known to diagnose power system problems caused by high-frequency disturbances and to design disturbance-mitigation measures. Unfortunately, determining an operating power systems harmonic impedances is very difficult; they must be measured when the system is energized. In fact, how to measure a power systems high-frequency impedances has been a challenging and frequent research topic in the power engineering field. This thesis presents a measurement methodology that can determine the harmonic impedances and sources at both sides of utility-customer interface. This methodology is applicable to single-phase three-wire systems under energized conditions. A potential application of the method is to determine the harmonic contributions of the supply system and its customers at the interface points. / Power Engineering and Power Electronics

As bridges continue to age and budgets reduce, transportation officials often need quantitative data to distinguish between bridges that can be kept safely in service and those that need to be replaced or retrofitted. One of the critical types of structural deterioration for steel bridges is fatigue-induced fracture, and evaluating the daily fatigue damage through field measurements is one means of providing quantitative data to transportation officials. When analyzing data obtained through field measurements, methods are needed to properly evaluate fatigue damage. Five techniques for evaluating strain data were formalized in this dissertation. Simplified rainflow counting, which converts a stress history into a histogram of stress cycles, is an algorithm standardized by ASTM and the first step of a fatigue analysis. Two methods, effective stress range and index stress range, for determining the total amount of fatigue damage during a monitoring period are presented. The effective stress range is the traditional approach for determining the amount of damage, whereas the index stress range is a new method that was developed to facilitate comparisons of fatigue damage between sensors and/or bridges. Two additional techniques, contribution to damage and cumulative damage, for visualizing the data were conceived to allow an engineer to characterize the spectrum of stress ranges. Using those two techniques, an engineer can evaluate whether lower stress cycles (concern due to electromechanical noise from data acquisition system) and higher stress ranges (concern due to possible spike from data acquisition system) contribute significantly to the accumulation of damage in the bridge. Data from field measurements can be used to improve the estimate of the remaining fatigue life. Deterministic and probabilistic approaches for calculating the remaining fatigue life were considered, and three methods are presented in this dissertation. For deterministic approaches, the output of the equations is the year when the fatigue life has been exceeded for a specific probability of failure, whereas for probabilistic approaches, the probability of failure for a given year is calculated. Four different steel bridges were instrumented and analyzed according to the techniques outlined in this dissertation. / text

Atmospheric aerosols impact the quality of our life in many direct and indirect ways. Inhalation of aerosols can have harmful effects on human health. Aerosols also have climatic impacts by absorbing or scattering solar radiation, or more indirectly through their interactions with clouds. Despite a better understanding of several relevant aerosol properties and processes in the past years, they remain the largest uncertainty in the estimate of global radiative forcing. The uncertainties arise because although aerosols are ubiquitous in the Earth's atmosphere they are highly variable in space, time and their physicochemical properties. This makes in-situ measurements of aerosols vital in our effort towards reducing uncertainties in the estimate of global radiative forcing due to aerosols. This study is an effort to characterize atmospheric aerosols at a regional scale, in southern Arizona and eastern Pacific Ocean, based on ground and airborne observations of aerosols. Metals and metalloids in particles with aerodynamic diameter (Dp) smaller than 2.5μm are found to be ubiquitous in southern Arizona. The major sources of the elements considered in the study are identified to be crustal dust, smelting/mining activities and fuel combustion. The spatial and temporal variability in the mass concentrations of these elements depend both on the source strength and meteorological conditions. Aircraft measurements of aerosol and cloud properties collected during various field campaigns over the eastern Pacific Ocean are used to study the sources of nitrate in stratocumulus cloud water and the relevant processes. The major sources of nitrate in cloud water in the region are emissions from ships and wildfires. Different pathways for nitrate to enter cloud water and the role of meteorology in these processes are examined. Observations of microphysical properties of ambient aerosols in ship plumes are examined. The study shows that there is an enhancement in the number concentration of giant cloud condensation nuclei (Dp>2 μm) in ship plumes relative to the unperturbed background regions over the ocean.

No description available.

This dissertation proposes a new framework to characterize the nonlinear behavior of anisotropic materials in an on-line manner. The proposed framework applies recursive estimation and a multi-linear model to characterize the nonlinear behavior of anisotropic materials on-line using full-field strains, which are capable of capturing the multi-axial information of anisotropic materials. A stochastic method is developed to characterize the linear behavior of anisotropic materials under the influence of full-field strain measurement noise. This method first derives stochastic equations based on the formulas of energy-based characterization that utilizes the principle of ener-gy conservation, and then recursively estimates elastic constants at every acquisition of measure-ment using a Kalman filter (KF). Since the measurement model is expressed nonlinearly, the KF utilizes a Kalman gain, which is newly derived in this dissertation through variance minimization, to achieve optimal characterization. The aforementioned method, namely stochastic linear characteri-zation in this dissertation, becomes a basis of the multi-linear characterization method. This method utilizes a multi-linear model, which is defined by partitions, to characterize the nonlinear constitu-tive relations. The multi-linear characterization scales up the number of estimates and identifies the coefficients of each linear partition using the previously derived KF. The recursive updates in measurements not only removes uncertainty through sensor measurements, but also enables the on-line capability of the nonlinear characterization of anisotropic materials. A series of numerical and experimental studies were performed to demonstrate the performance of the proposed framework in characterizing the nonlinear behavior of anisotropic materials. The validity and applicability of the proposed framework were confirmed by the comparison with the known values of the characterized constitutive relations. It was found that the proposed framework identified elastic constants that were in good agreement with known values irrespective of the spec-imen geometry. The results of the multi-linear characterization method were well correlated with known nonlinear stress-strain relations and concluded that the proposed framework is capable of characterizing adequate nonlinear behavior on-line. / Ph. D.

En raison de leur porosité élevée, les roches carbonatées forment d'importants réservoirs d'eau et d'hydrocarbures, et conviennent également à d'autres applications telles que le stockage de CO2 ou des déchets nucléaires. Cependant, le compactage localisé dans les roches carbonatées affecte le champ des contraintes et les propriétés hydromécaniques de ces roches, entraînant des déformations inélastiques et des dommages avec des impacts économiques, environnementaux et sociaux potentiels. Des études antérieures sur le terrain et des études expérimentales en laboratoire que dans les roches carbonatées poreuses, contrairement aux grès, une variété de micromécanismes tels que l'effondrement des pores, le broyage des grains, la petre de cimentation, la plasticité des cristaux et la dissolution sous contrainte peuvent entraîner une densification inélastique. En raison de la coexistence de ces multiples processus inélastiques et de leur interactions, le micromécanisme prédominant à l'origine du processus de localisation et de rupture reste mal compris.Cette thèse de doctorat présente une étude expérimentale sur les mécanismes de déformation régissant le comportement mécanique et le mode de rupture des roches carbonatées à haute porosité. A cet effet, le Tuffeau de Maastricht, un calcaire sédimentaire bioclastique présentant jusqu'à 52% de porosité, a été testé à l'état sec. Cette étude s'est concentrée sur la façon dont le chemin des contraintes, la pression de confinement et l'orientation de la stratification influent sur l'apparition et la propagation des bandes de compaction. Trois campagnes expérimentales principales sont menées sur des éprouvettes cylindriques pour étudier la transition fragile-ductile :compression isotrope,compression uniaxiale et compression triaxiale. Une analyse systématique du comportement anisotrope du Tuffeau de Maastricht est effectuée sur des échantillons qui ont été forés perpendiculairement, obliquement 45° et parallèlement au plan de la stratification. La micro-tomographie à rayons X à haute résolution est utilisée pour obtenir des images 3D de l'ensemble de l'échantillon en cours de chargement. Les images acquises sont traitées et des mesures de plein champ ont été utilisées pour élucider les mécanismes d'initiation et de propagation des zones de compactage localisées. Les variations de porosité pendant le chargement sont mesurées macroscopiquement et localement. L'utilisation systématique des rayons X combinée à l'utilisation de l'analyse d'image avancée et de la corrélation d'images numérique fournit une information 3D quantitative du champ de déformation et de son évolution pendant un test.Deux modes de rupture sont identifiés, selon les mesures de porosité et la CIVD: les bandes de cisaillement contractantes développées à basse pression de confinement et les bandes de compaction formées perpendiculairement à la contrainte principale majeure de compression à un confinement plus élevé. Ces bandes se développent à contrante déviatoire presque constante et se propagent dans tout l'échantillon, phase marquée par des chutes épisodiques de la contrainte deviatoire. Les essais de compression triaxiale conduit à des niveux de déformation axiale plus élevée présentent trois phases distinctes: une phase initiale quasi-linéaire, suivie par un plateau de contrainte déviatoire, enfin un durcissement post-plateau. L'observation essentielle de ces expériences est l'existence d'un mécanisme de dégradation del la cimentation entre grains qui transforme l'échantilon cohésif et frottant en un miliu granulaire purement frottant. D'autres expériences réalisées sur du sable obtenu par dégradation artificielle de la roche originelle mettent l'accent sur cette phase de déstructuration qui se produit lors du plateau de la contrainte déviatoire. Les résultats expérimentaux mettent également en évidence la forte influence due à l'anisotropie sur le comportement mécanique du matériau étudié. / Given their high porosity, carbonates form important water and hydrocarbons reservoirs, and they are also suitable for other applications such as CO2 storage and nuclear waste disposal. However, localized compaction in carbonates affects the stress field and the hydromechanical properties of these rocks leading to inelastic deformation and failure with potential economic, environmental and social impacts. Previous field and experimental studies have shown that in porous carbonates, unlike sandstones, a variety of micromechanisms such as pore collapse, grain crushing, debonding, crystal plasticity and pressure solution can potentially lead to inelastic compaction. Due to the coexistence of such multiple inelastic processes and the interplay among them, the dominant micromechanism responsible for failure remains poorly understood.This doctoral thesis presents an experimental investigation into the deformation mechanisms governing the mechanical behavior and failure mode of high porosity carbonate rocks. To this end, Tuffeau de Maastricht, a bioclastic sedimentary limestone exhibiting up to 52% porosity, has been tested under dry conditions. This study focuses on how stress path, confining pressure and bedding orientation affect the onset and propagation of localized compaction. Three main experimental campaigns are conducted on cylindrical specimens of 11.5 mm diameter and 22 mm height to study the brittle-ductile transition: (i) isotropic compression, (ii) uniaxial compression, and (iii) triaxial compression tests at confining pressures ranging from 1 to 5 MPa. A systematic analysis of the anisotropic behavior of Tuffeau de Maastricht is conducted on samples cored perpendicular, oblique 45° and parallel to the bedding plane. High resolution x-ray computed tomography (CT) is used to obtain 3D images of the entire specimen under loading. The acquired images are processed and full-field measurements have been used to elucidate the mechanics of initiation and propagation of localized compaction. Porosity variations during loading are measured macroscopically as well as locally. The porosity measurements are performed over a REV, which is defined with the use of statistical tools. The systematic use of x-ray micro tomography combined with the use of advanced image analysis and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) provides a quantitative 3D information the strain field inside a sample and its evolution during a test.Two failure modes are identified, based on porosity measurements and DIC: compactive shear bands at low confining pressure, and compaction bands (perpendicular to the maximum compressive stress) at higher confinement. These bands develop at essentially constant deviator stress and propagate through the whole sample punctuated by episodic stress drops. Triaxial compression tests at much higher axial strain present three distinct phases: (1) an initial quasi-linear increase of deviator stress, followed by (2) a plateau and (3) a post-plateau hardening. The essential observation from these experiments if the occurrence of a debonding phase which converts the specimen from rock-like to sand-like. A second localization, typical of dense sand, eventually occurs for very axial strain. Additional experiments that are performed on artificially debonded specimens emphasize this destructuration phase during the plateau of deviator stress. The experimental results also highlight the strong anisotropy of the mechanical behavior of the studied material.

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a technique which uses images taken before and after deformation to determine displacement and strain data over the surface of the sample. In order to obtain this data for both in-plane as well as out-of-plane direction, multiple views of the sample are required. Typically, this is accomplished using multiple cameras, but it is possible to use diffraction gratings to bend the light coming from the specimen in order to allow a single camera to capture multiple views. This technique is referred to as Diffraction Assisted Image Correlation (DAIC) and has been previously demonstrated at room temperature. This work expands this method for use at high temperatures by incorporating the use of ultraviolet (UV) lights for illumination and filtering out the light in the visible spectrum. This increases the temperature at which useful images can be captured by reducing the glow that specimens produce at elevated temperatures. When not filtered out, this glow saturates the camera sensor making DIC impossible. This new technique is referred to as Ultraviolet Diffraction Assisted Image Correlation (UV-DAIC).

Leaf photosynthetic measurements using a portable 14Co2 field system were carried out and correlative leaf relative growth rates, RGR, were determined at different leaf positions of three alpine plant species throughout the growing season. Initially there was a period of high leaf RGR associated with a period of increasing photosynthetic activity. Following this stage was a long period of no net change in length of the living leaf. During this period, photosynthetic activity generally increased to a maximum level and then decreased steadily. The final ontogenetic stage was a period of negative leaf RGR denoting leaf senescence which was associated with a marked decline in leaf Co2 uptake. Ontogenetic timing of these alpine species is geared with the surge and decline of individual leaf photosynthetic activity so that one to several leaves operating at near maximal photosynthetic capacity are always maintained during the growing season for each plant. These findings are discussed in relation to their adaptive significance for these species.

CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) is a German small satellite mission to study the earth's gravity field, magnetic field and upper atmosphere. Thanks to the good condition of the satellite so far, the planned 5 years mission is extended to year 2009. The satellite provides continuously a large quantity of measurement data for the purpose of Earth study. The measurements of the magnetic field are undertaken by two Fluxgate Magnetometers (vector magnetometer) and one Overhauser Magnetometer (scalar magnetometer) flown on CHAMP. In order to ensure the quality of the data during the whole mission, the calibration of the magnetometers has to be performed routinely in orbit. The scalar magnetometer serves as the magnetic reference and its readings are compared with the readings of the vector magnetometer. The readings of the vector magnetometer are corrected by the parameters that are derived from this comparison, which is called the scalar calibration. In the routine processing, these calibration parameters are updated every 15 days by means of scalar calibration. There are also magnetic effects coming from the satellite which disturb the measurements. Most of them have been characterized during tests before launch. Among them are the remanent magnetization of the spacecraft and fields generated by currents. They are all considered to be constant over the mission life. The 8 years of operation experience allow us to investigate the long-term behaviors of the magnetometers and the satellite systems. According to the investigation, it was found that for example the scale factors of the FGM show obvious long-term changes which can be described by logarithmic functions. The other parameters (offsets and angles between the three components) can be considered constant. If these continuous parameters are applied for the FGM data processing, the disagreement between the OVM and the FGM readings is limited to pm1nT over the whole mission. This demonstrates, the magnetometers on CHAMP exhibit a very good stability. However, the daily correction of the parameter Z component offset of the FGM improves the agreement between the magnetometers markedly. The Z component offset plays a very important role for the data quality. It exhibits a linear relationship with the standard deviation of the disagreement between the OVM and the FGM readings. After Z offset correction, the errors are limited to pm0.5nT (equivalent to a standard deviation of 0.2nT). We improved the corrections of the spacecraft field which are not taken into account in the routine processing. Such disturbance field, e.g. from the power supply system of the satellite, show some systematic errors in the FGM data and are misinterpreted in 9-parameter calibration, which brings false local time related variation of the calibration parameters. These corrections are made by applying a mathematical model to the measured currents. This non-linear model is derived from an inversion technique. If the disturbance field of the satellite body are fully corrected, the standard deviation of scalar error triangle B remains about 0.1nT. Additionally, in order to keep the OVM readings a reliable standard, the imperfect coefficients of the torquer current correction for the OVM are redetermined by solving a minimization problem. The temporal variation of the spacecraft remanent field is investigated. It was found that the average magnetic moment of the magneto-torquers reflects well the moment of the satellite. This allows for a continuous correction of the spacecraft field. The reasons for the possible unknown systemic error are discussed in this thesis. Particularly, both temperature uncertainties and time errors have influence on the FGM data. Based on the results of this thesis the data processing of future magnetic missions can be designed in an improved way. In particular, the upcoming ESA mission Swarm can take advantage of our findings and provide all the auxiliary measurements needed for a proper recovery of the ambient magnetic field. / CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) ist eine deutsche Kleinsatellitenmission für die Forschung und Anwendung in Bereich der Geowissenschaften und Atmosphärenphysik. Das Projekt wird vom GFZ geleitet. Mit seinen hochgenauen, multifunktionalen, sich ergänzenden Nutzlastelementen (Magnetometer, Akzelerometer, Sternsensor, GPS-Empfänger, Laser-Retroreflektor, Ionendriftmeter) liefert CHAMP erstmalig gleichzeitig hochgenaue Schwere- und Magnetfeldmessungen (seit Mitte 2000). Dank des bisherigen guten Zustandes des Satelliten ist die auf 5 Jahre ausgelegte Mission bis 2009 verlängert geworden. An Board befinden sich ein skalares Overhauser-Magnetometer(OVM) für Kalibrierungszwecke sowie zwei Fluxgate-Magnetometer(FGM) zur Messung des magnetischen Feldvektors. Die Messungen vom FGM werden immer verglichen mit denen vom OVM und korregiert im Fall von Widersprüche, das ist die sog. Skalar-Kalibrierung. Um eine zuverlässige Datenqualität während der 8 jährigen Mission zu garantieren, ist die Nachkalibrierung implementiert. Im Rahmen der standard mäßigen Datenverarbeitung werden die Instrumentenparameter des FGM alle 15 Tage neu bestimmt. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, eine Verbesserung der Vektormagnetfelddaten zu erzielen durch eine neue Methode der Kalibrierung, die die Eigenschaften der Sensoren und Störung vom Raumfahrzeug mit berücksichtigt. Die Erfahrung aus den zurückliegenden Jahren hat gezeigt, dass sich die Skalenfaktoren des FGM stark mit der Zeit ändern. Dieser Verlauf lässt sich gut durch eine Logarithmuskurve anpassen. Andere Parameter wie die Winkel und die Offsets scheinen stabil zu sein. Eine Ausnahme macht der Offset der Z-Komponent. Dieser bedarf einer regelmäßigen Korrektur. Während die Standardverarbeitung eine undifferenzierte Bestimmung aller 9 FGM Parameter durch nicht-lineare Inversion der skalar Daten vornimmt, beziehen wir jetzt die langzeitlichen Eigenschaften der Parameter in die Bestimmung mit ein. Eine weitere Verbesserung der CHAMP-Magnetfelddaten konnte erreicht werden durch geeignete Berücksichtigung von Störung vom Raumfahrzeug. Die verbleibenden Unsicherheiten konnten durch diese Maßnahmen auf eine Standardabweichung von 0.1nT reduziert werden.

Atmospheric ammonia contributes to a number of environmental problems, but many questions regarding the behaviour of ammonia in the atmosphere remain. Field studies were performed to investigate the gas-particle partitioning of ammonia, the surface-atmosphere exchange, and to compare measurements with an online chemical transport model and offline thermodynamic models. A state-of-the-art instrument, Quantum Cascade Tunable Infrared Laser Differential Absorption Spectrometer (QC-TILDAS), with a novel sampling technique was used to measure ammonia. The detection limit of the instrument was found to be 690 ppt at 1 Hz and 42 ppt when averaged to 5 minutes. The uncertainty in the measurement is 10 % based on calibration from a permeation tube source. Laboratory and field tests show the ammonia time response to be slower at lower mixing ratios, and when the ambient relative humidity is high. Observations from the first field campaign discussed, the Border Air Quality and Meteorology Study (BAQS-Met), were compared to a chemical transport model AURAMS (A Unified Regional Air quality Modeling System). The model was often biased low in ammonia and ammonium and predicted an incorrect diurnal profile. Observations suggest a coupling between gas-particle and surface-atmosphere equilibria whereby a large atmospheric condensation sink induces emission of ammonia from the surface. A simple approach at representing the ammonia bi-direction flux more closely matched the observations, indicating that a fully coupled bi-directional flux parameterization in chemical transport models is necessary to accurately predict atmospheric ammonia. A suite of instrumentation during the CalNex 2010 field campaign allowed for in-depth analysis of gas-particle partitioning and estimation of aerosol pH. Observations were compared to predictions from the thermodynamic equilibrium models ISORROPIA and E-AIM. Deviations form equilibrium were found during periods of high levels of aerosol nitrate and positive net charge. The gas-particle partitioning was found to be very sensitive to aerosol pH.