Seepage-related erosion is one of the predominant mechanisms responsible for incidents and failures of dams and levees. Current geotechnical engineering practice consists of comparing expected exit gradients with the critical gradient of the soil at the seepage exit point. The critical gradient is generally considered as the ratio of soil buoyant unit weight and the unit weight of water, suggesting that the critical gradient only depends on the void ratio and specific gravity of the solids. However, in the field and in research, it has been observed that piping can initiate at average gradients much lower than unity due to concentrations in flow and non-vertical exit faces. Therefore, there is a need for deeper understanding of the granular scale mechanisms of the piping erosion process. This thesis presents the results of a laboratory study to assess the effects that soil properties and exit face configurations have on the potential for initiation of piping and the piping mechanisms. By using a laboratory device designed and constructed specifically for this study, the critical gradients needed to initiate piping in a variety of sandy soils were measured to assess the effects that parameters such as gradation, grain size, and grain shape have on the critical gradients. The tests are also used to observe the grain scale mechanisms of piping erosion initiation. The ultimate goal of the study is to develop an empirical, but mechanism-based, grain-scale model that can take into account the effects of converging flows, non-horizontal exit faces, and soil properties while assessing the potential for piping erosion to occur.

Dans ce manuscrit, nous présentons une méthode d’optimisation de forme qui se base sur des paramètres géométriques comme des longueurs, des angles, etc. Nous nous appuyons sur des techniques d’optimisation basées sur un gradient. La sensibilité de la fonction objectif par rapport à la position des noeuds du maillage nous est fournie par un solveur adjoint que l’on considère comme une boîte noire. Afin d’optimiser par rapport aux paramètres CAO, nous nous concentrons sur l’évaluation de la sensibilité de la position des noeuds par rapport à ces paramètres. Ainsi, nous proposons deux approches par différences finies. La première méthode s’appuie sur une projection harmonique afin de comparer dans un même espace le maillage initial et celui obtenu suite à la variation d’un paramètre CAO. Les développements présentés dans ce manuscrit permettent d’étendre l’application aux formes ayant plusieurs frontières comme les collecteurs d’échappement. Nous avons développé une méthode d’interpolation adaptée à cette comparaison. L’ensemble du processus a été automatisé et nous en montrons l’entière efficacité sur des applications industrielles en aérodynamique interne. La deuxième méthode se base directement sur les géométries CAO pour évaluer cette sensibilité. Nous utilisons la définition intrinsèque des patches dans l’espace paramétrique (u;v) pour effectuer cette comparaison. Grâce à l’utilisation des coordonnées exactes en tout point de la surface fournies par la CAO, nous évitons d’avoir recours à une interpolation afin d’avoir la meilleure précision de calcul possible. Cependant, contrairement à la première méthode, elle requiert d’identifier les correspondances entre les patches d’une forme à l’autre. Une application sur un cas académique a été faite en aérodynamique externe. La pertinence de la première méthode a été démontrée sur des cas représentatifs et multiobjectifs, ce qui permettrait de faciliter son déploiement et son utilisation dans un cadre industriel. Quant à la deuxième méthode, nous avons montré son fort potentiel. Cependant, des développements supplémentaires seraient nécessaires pour une application plus poussée. Du fait qu’elles sont indépendantes des solveurs mécaniques et du nombre de paramètres, ces méthodes réduisent considérablement les temps de développement des produits, notamment en permettant l’optimisation multiphysique en grande dimension. / In this manuscript, we present a shape optimization method based on CAD parameters such as lengths, angles, etc. We rely on gradient-based optimization techniques. The sensitivity of the objective function, with respect to the mesh nodes position, is provided by an adjoint solver considered here as a black box. To optimize with respect to CAD parameters, we focus on computing the sensitivity of the nodes positions with respect to these parameters. Thus, we propose two approaches based on finite differences. The first method uses a harmonic projection to compare in the same space the initial mesh and the one obtained after a change of the set of CAD parameters. The developments presented in this manuscript open up new doors like the application to shapes with multiple borders such as exhaust manifolds. We also developed an interpolation method suitable for this comparison. The entire process is automated, and we demonstrate the entire effectiveness on internal aerodynamics industrial applications. The second method is directly based on the CAD geometries to assess this sensitivity. To perform this comparison, we use the intrinsic definition of the patches in the parametric space (u;v). Through the use of the exact coordinates at any point on the surface provided by the CAD, we avoid using an interpolation to get the best calculation accuracy possible. However, unlike the first method, it requires to identify the correspondence between patches from one shape to another. An application on an external aerodynamics academic case was made. The relevance of the first method is demonstrated on a representative multi-objective case, which facilitate its deployment use in an industrial environment. Regarding the second method, we showed its great potential. However, further developments are needed to handle more advanced cases. Because they are independent of the mechanical solver and the number of parameters, these methods significantly reduce product development time, particularly by allowing large and multiphysics optimization.

La fatigue de contact fait référence au processus d’endommagement situé à l’extrémité du contact entre deux corps soumis à des chargements de fatigue. La prédiction de ce phénomène est d’une importance majeure dans la détermination de la durée de vie de certains systèmes tels que les disques de turbines. Au voisinage du front de contact, le champ de contraintes est maximal en surface et présente un fort gradient sous le contact. De plus, la différence d’échelle entre les essais effectués en laboratoire et les systèmes industriels a motivé l’étude de l’effet de taille sur les modèles de fatigue des systèmes soumis à des chargements de fatigue du contact.Afin de quantifier l’effet de gradient de contraintes et l’effet de taille, des essais ont été effectués sur une machine de fatigue munis de deux vérins verticaux à l’université de Brasilia. Les essais ont été menés de sorte que les gradients de contraintes, puis les volumes contraints, soient différents. Une étude post-mortem des surfaces de rupture a été effectuée à l’aide d’un microscope confocal. Durant cette thèse, il a été montré que, pour un alliage de Ti-6Al-4v, une approche non locale basée sur un champ de vitesse équivalent extrait à l’intérieur d’une zone prédéterminée autour de l’extrémité du contact amène des résultats encourageants pour la détermination de la durée de vie. L’influence de la force de fatigue sur la description des mécanismes d’initiation de fissures et leur propagation a également été déterminée et il est apparu que cette dernière ne pouvait pas être négligée lors de la définition de la frontière d’initiation des fissures. En effet, si, en fatigue du contact, environ 75% du mécanisme d’initiation des fissures est contrôlé par les contraintes de contact, i.e. les contraintes de cisaillement et de pression, la prise en compte de la contrainte normale permet d’obtenir des prédictions plus précises.L’étude de l’effet de taille a été divisée en deux phases. Premièrement, l’influence de la taille du volume sous contrainte a été analysée. Pour cela, l’épaisseur des éprouvettes a été réduite tandis que le gradient de contraintes sous le contact ainsi que l’aire de la surface endommagée étaient maintenus constants. Dans un second temps, l’impact de la zone endommagée sur la résistance à la fatigue a été isolé en maintenant les paramètres expérimentaux, i.e. σB,max/p0 et Q/fP, constants tandis que l’aire endommagée par le frottements était réduite. Les résultats expérimentaux ont été analysés à l’aide d’un critère de fatigue multiaxial, le Courbe de Wöhler Modifiée, conjointement avec l’application de la théorie de la distance critique. Il a été montré qu’aucun de ces deux paramètres n’influence significativement la durée de vie en fatigue, et ainsi le terme « effet de taille » généralement référencé dans la littérature comme un effet d’endommagement devrait seulement être adressé comme un effet de gradient. / Fretting fatigue refers to the damage process localized at the frontier of the contact between two contacting bodies subjected to fatigue loadings. The prediction of this phenomenon is of major importance in determining, for instance, the lifetime of fan’s disk. In the vicinity of the contact front, the stress field inherited from the contact loads is maximal at the surface and displays a strong gradient under the contact. The difference of scale between the laboratory’s experiments and the industrials’ system motivated the study of the impact of the size effect for the determination of the lifetimes.To quantify the effect of the stress gradient and of the size effect, tests were carried out on a two vertical-actuators fretting-fatigue rig at the University of Brasilia, with experimental conditions ensuring different stress gradient and later different volume solicited under the contact. Damage mechanisms were studied using post-mortem analysis with a confocal microscope on some contact elements tested.It was shown on this thesis, for a Ti-6Al-4V alloy, that a nonlocal approach, based on equivalent velocity field on a determined area around the contact, leads to good expectation for the determination of fretting fatigue lives. The influence of the bulk stress for the description of the fretting fatigue crack initiation and propagation was also determined and it appears that it could not be neglected for the determination of the crack initiation boundary. As a matter of fact, if around 75% of the crack initiation mechanism in fretting fatigue is controlled by the contact stresses, i.e. shear and contact stresses, the consideration of the normal stress allows to obtain more realistic prediction. The study of the size effect was divided into two phases. First the influence of the volume stressed was investigated by reducing the width of the contact but maintaining the stress gradient under the contact and the damaged area within the slip zone constant. Then, the influence of the damaged area within the slip zone was isolated by maintaining the experimental parameters, i.e. σB,max/p0 and Q/fP, constant while the damaged area under the slip zone was reduced. The experimental results were analysed by applying a fatigue criterion, the Modified Wöhler Curve Method, in conjunction with the Theory of the Critical Distance. It was found that none of these two parameters influences significantly the fretting fatigue lifetimes, and so the term ‘size effect’ usually referenced in the literature as a damaging effect should refer only to the gradient effect.

The easiest and most effective way to influence the separation process in gas chromatography (GC) is achieved by controlling the temperature of the chromatographic column. In conventional GC, the temperature along the length of the column is constant at any given time, T(t). In my research, I investigated the effects of temperature gradients on GC separations as a function of time and position, T(t,x), along the column. This separation mode is called thermal gradient GC (TGGC). The research reported in this dissertation highlights the fundamental principles of axial temperature gradients and the separation potential of the TGGC technique. These goals were achieved through the development of mathematical models and instrumentation that allowed study of the effects of axial temperature gradients. The use of mathematical models and computer simulation facilitated evaluation of different gradient profiles and separation strategies prior to development of the instrumentation, providing theoretical proof of concept. Three instruments capable of generating axial temperature gradients, based on convective cooling and resistive heating, were developed and evaluated. Unique axial temperature gradients, such as nonlinear and moving sawtooth temperature gradients with custom profiles were generated and evaluated. The results showed that moving sawtooth temperature gradients allowed continuous analysis and were well-suited for comprehensive GCxGC separations. The use of custom temperature profiles allowed unique control over the separation power of the system, improving separations, as well as selectively increasing the peak capacity and signal-to-noise. A direct comparison of TGGC with conventional GC methods showed that TGGC produces equivalent separations to temperature programmed GC. This technology holds great promise for performing smart separations in which the column volume is most efficiently utilized and optimum separations can be quickly achieved. Moreover, precise control of the elution of compounds can be used to greatly reduce method development time in GC. This feature can be automated using feedback to develop efficient separations with minimum user intervention. This technology is of special interest in micro-GC systems, which allows relatively easy incorporation of resistive heating elements in the micro-column design.

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Karst landscapes can serve as carbon sinks when carbon dioxide (CO2) reacts with water to form carbonic acid, which then weathers carbonate rocks. However, CO2 can also move through the subsurface via gas diffusion, a process that is not well-understood in karst systems. This study focused on quantifying CO2 diffusion within a karst sinkhole. The objectives of this study were to: 1) identify the depth of the zero-flux plane (i.e., depths of local maximum CO2 concentrations), analyze the distributions of concentration gradients, and investigate the validity of a uniform concentration gradient throughout the profile; and 2) assess the influences of vertical position and seasonality on CO2 fluxes within this sinkhole. The study site contained three locations within the sinkhole, including shoulder, backslope, and toeslope locations. Each location had three soil CO2 and three soil water content/temperature sensors placed at 20, 40, and 60 cm depths. Zero-flux planes were seldom detectable during the warm season (April-September) but were frequently found near the surface (20 or 40 cm) during the cool season (October-March). The common assumption of a uniform concentration gradient was often invalid based on relative concentrations between sensor pairs. As for the second objective, CO2 fluxes generally followed a trend of upward fluxes in warmer months that was partially offset by downward fluxes during the cooler months. These study results provide new insight into CO2 dynamics in a karst system, and suggest that subsurface processes such as chemical weathering and cave ventilation affect the direction and magnitude of CO2 fluxes. / Master of Science / Carbon dioxide (CO2) within soils is a larger pool of CO2 than atmospheric CO2. Therefore, the movement of CO2 within soils is important to understand, as soil CO2 may eventually diffuse through the soil and into the atmosphere. Soil CO2 movement is dependent on many factors such as soil water content, porosity, and temperature. Soil CO2 movement may vary between landscapes as well, due to chemical weathering processes being sinks of soil and atmospheric CO2. One type of important landscape is karst, which can be identified by easily soluble rocks, usually in the forms of limestone and dolomite rocks. In order to investigate the influences of karst landscapes on the movement of soil CO2, in this study I identified the depths of CO2 maximum concentrations and CO2 movement over time and by sinkhole slope position. The results from this study were that the depth of maximum CO2 concentration was deeper, > 40 cm, during the warmer months and often shallower, ≤ 40 cm, during the cooler months. The CO2 fluxes generally followed a trend of upward fluxes in warmer months that was partially offset by downward fluxes during the cooler months. The results from this study suggest that due to vertical differences in soil properties, temperature, chemical weathering of the karst rock, and cave ventilation the depth of the maximum CO2 concentration and the CO2 movement vary by season and sinkhole slope location. This study provides new insight to CO2 movement relative to karst landscapes while highlighting the importance of soil and geologic properties as influences that can alter the direction and magnitude of CO2 fluxes.

Yes / A new simplified approach is proposed to evaluate the vertical refractivity profile within the lowest 1 km of atmosphere from the analysis of surface refractivity, Ns, in areas where upper air data are not available. Upper-air measurements from the nearest available radiosonde location with similar surface profile to these sites are utilized. The profiles of Ns and refractivity extrapolated to sea level, No, obtained from surface meteorological data using both fixed stations and radiosonde are investigated and compared. Vertical refractivity gradient, ΔN, is evaluated at three atmospheric layer heights within the first kilometer above the ground in addition to propagation parameters relevant to each atmospheric layer. At six sites, different approaches are compared for the analysis of three important parameters; namely effective earth radius factor, k, anomalous propagation probability parameter, β0, and point refractivity gradient at 65 m not exceeded for 1% of time, dN1. The k-factor parameter is investigated using a new weighted average approach of ΔN at 65 m, 100 m and 1 km layers above the ground. The results are compared with the latest ITU maps and tables for the same area.

This thesis is focused on direct numerical simulation (DNS) of compressible and incompressible fully developed and developing turbulent flows between isothermal walls using a discontinuous Galerkin method (DGM). Three cases (Ma = 0.2, 0.7 and 1.5) of DNS of turbulent channel flows between isothermal walls with Re ~ 2800, based on bulk velocity and half channel width, have been carried out. It is found that a power law seems to scale mean streamwise velocity with Ma slightly better than the more usual log-law. Inner and outer scaling of second-order and higher-order statistics have been analyzed. The linkage between the pressure gradient and vorticity flux on the wall has been theoretically derived and confirmed and they are highly correlated very close to the wall. The correlation coefficients are influenced by Ma, and viscosity when Ma is high. The near-wall spanwise streak spacing increases with Ma. Isosurfaces of the second invariant of the velocity gradient tensor are more sparsely distributed and elongated as Ma increases. DNS of turbulent isothermal-wall bounded flow subjected to favourable and adverse pressure gradient (FPG, APG) at Ma ~ 0.2 and Reref ~ 428000, based on the inlet bulk velocity and the streamwise length of the bottom wall, is also investigated. The FPG/APG is obtained by imposing a concave/convex curvature on the top wall of a plane channel. The flows on the bottom and top walls are tripped turbulent and laminar boundary layers, respectively. It is observed that the first and second order statistics are strongly influenced by the pressure gradients. The cross-correlation coefficients of the pressure gradients and vorticity flux remain constant across the FPG/APG regions of the flat wall. High correlations between the streamwise/wallnormal pressure gradient and the spanwise vorticity are found near the separation region close to the curved top wall. The angle of inclined hairpin structure to streamwise direction of the bottom wall is smaller (flatter) in the FPG region than the APG region. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2009-12-21 13:59:53.084