Railway signaling is of paramount importance to ensure traffic management andsafety on the rail network. The main lines are divided into sections called ‘blocks’,which are governed by a fixed signal installation. To prevent trains from colliding,each block allows one train at once. In France (and most European countries),train detection is performed by an electrical device called track circuit that consistsof a transmitter and a receiver installed at the track-side, and connected via therails. In the absence of a train, an electrical signal flows from the transmitter tothe receiver through the rails. As a train enters a track circuit, its axles shuntthe rails, provoking a short circuit (also called ‘shunt’): the signal transmitted tothe receiver drops. The detection of that signal drop results in the detection of atrain. This method rarely fails throughout the network, but there can be criticalcases where it may be inefficient. In this Master’s Thesis, new detection criteriaproposed in previous studies have been tested on signals measured in poor shuntingconditions. Three approaches have been tested: one in the time domain and two inthe frequency domain. The time approach compares the short-term and long-termstatistics of the received signals. The observation of a change in the spectra of thereceived signals around the 3rd order harmonic (3OH) has led to the implementationof two frequency criteria: the estimation of the band power around the 3OH andthe detection of the 3OH peaks. The obtained results show that better detection isachieved when the new criteria and the existing one are combined. / Tågsignalsystem är väsentliga för att garantera trafikstyrning och säkerhet i tågnätet.Spåren är indelade i sektioner, s.k. block, som övervakas med fasta signalinstallationer.För att hindra tåg från att krocka, tillåts bara ett tåg i taget per block. IFrankrike (och de flesta andra europeiska länder), detekteras tågen med en elektriskspårkrets som består av en sändare och en mottagare som är installerad bredvidspåret och ansluten till rälsen. När inget tåg finns på spåret, flyter en elektrisk signalfrån sändaren till mottagaren via spåret. När ett tåg anländer, kortsluts kretsenav hjulaxeln och signalen försvinner från mottagaren. Minskningen i signalstyrkaanvänds för att detektera tåget. Denna metod sällan misslyckas i tågnätet, men iovanliga fall kan det uppstå farliga situationer. I detta examensarbete utvärderasnya detektionsmetoder, som har föreslagits i tidigare studier, på signaler som haruppmätts under förhållanden med dålig kontakt mellan hjul och spår. Tre olika metoderhar testats, en i tidsdomänen och två i frekvensdomänen. Tidsdomänsmetodenjämför kortvarig och långvarig statistik för den mottagna signalen. I spektrum förden mottagna signalen, har man observerat en förändring runt den tredje övertonen,samt detektering av frekvenstoppar vid tredje övertonen. De erhållna resultatenvisar på förbättrad detektering när de nya och existerande kriterierna kombineras.

Recently, a lot of research work has been dedicated toward enhancing performance, reliability and integrity of distributed energy resources that are integrated into distribution networks. The problem of islanding detection and islanding prevention (i.e. anti-islanding) has stimulated a lot of research due to its role in severely compromising the safety of working personnel and resulting in equipment damages. Various Islanding Detection Methods (IDMs) have been developed within the last ten years in anticipation of the tremendous increase in the penetration of Distributed Generation (DG) in distribution system. This work proposes new IDMs that rely on transient and distributed behaviors to improve integrity and performance of DGs while maintaining multi-DG islanding detection capability. In this thesis, the following questions have been addressed: How to utilize the transient behavior arising from an islanding condition to improve detectability and robust performance of IDMs in a distributive manner? How to reduce the negative stability impact of the well-known Sandia Frequency Shift (SFS) IDM while maintaining its islanding detection capability? How to incorporate the perturbations provided by each of DGs in such a way that the negative interference of different IDMs is minimized without the need of any type of communication among the different DGs? It is shown that the proposed techniques are local, scalable and robust against different loading conditions and topology changes. Also, the proposed techniques can successfully distinguish an islanding condition from other disturbances that may occur in power system networks. This work improves the efficiency, reliability and safety of integrated DGs, which presents a necessary advance toward making electric power grids a smart grid.

Since the last few years, the unprecedented growth of communication systems involving the propagation of electromagnetic waves is particularly due to developments in mobile phone technology. The reverberation chamber is a reliable bench-test, enabling the study of the effects of electromagnetic waves on a specific electronic appliance. However, the operating of a reverberation chamber being rather complicated, development of numerical models are of utmost importance to determine the crucial parameters to be considered.This thesis consists in the modelling and the simulation of the operating principles of a reverberation chamber by means of the Finite-Difference Time-Domain method. After a brief study based on field and power measurements performed in a reverberation chamber, the second chapter deals with the different problems encountered during the modelling. The consideration of losses being a very important factor in the operating of the chamber, two methods of implementation of these losses are set out in this chapter. Chapter~3 consists in the analysis of the influence of the stirrer on the first eigenmodes of the chamber; the latter modes can undergo a frequency shift of several MHz. Chapter~4 shows a comparison of results issued from high frequency simulations and theoretical statistical results. The problem of an object placed in the chamber, resulting in a field disturbance is also tackled. Finally, in the fifth chapter, a comparison of statistical results for stirrers having different shapes is set out.

Im Zuge der Miniaturisierung werden mechanische Nichtlinearitäten immer wichtiger für die Auslegung und Optimierung von mikromechanischen Drehratensensoren. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit neuen Simulationsmethoden zur Beschreibung dieser mechanischen Nichtlinearitäten. Die Methoden werden mit Benchmark-Simulationen und Messergebnissen validiert. Die Genauigkeit der neuen Simulationsmethoden erlaubt den Einsatz in der Designoptimierung von kommerziellen MEMS Drehratensensoren. / In this thesis, new simulation methods for the mechanical nonlinearities in microelectromechanical gyroscopes are developed and validated with benchmark simulations and experimental results. The benchmark simulations use transient finite element analysis that consider geometric nonlinear effects. Experimental results are from Laser Doppler Vibrometry and electrical measurements on wafer level. Two different simulation methods, the energy- and stiffness-based approach, are compared with respect to numerical performance and accuracy. In order to evaluate these methods, four different mechanical structures are taken into account: a doubly-clamped beam, a gyroscope test structure and two state-of-the-art gyroscopes with 1 and 2 axes. For the accuracy measurement, the simulated frequency shifts of modes are compared to the true frequency shifts that are developed from either benchmark simulation, Laser Doppler Vibrometry or electrical measurement. The presented methods allow to predict the frequency shift of modes accurately and with a minimum of computational cost. Furthermore, the methodologies allow to generate modal reduced order models which are compatible with common model order reduction in the field. This makes it possible to incorporate mechanical nonlinearity in already established reduced order models of gyroscopes. The simulation and modeling strategies are applicable for generic actuated structures that can be also in different fields of study such as the aerospace and earthquake engineering.