Due to the fact that construction, maintenance and operation of buildings consume almost 50% of the energy today, architects play a major role in the reduction of energy consumption. The building’s envelope (façades and roof) can have a significant and measurable impact. With regard to overheating and the potential lost of internal heat, transparent parts of the building envelope have a large effect on the building’s energy consumption. Modern, transparent façade systems can fulfill contemporary demands, such as energy conservation, energy production or the degree of visual contact, of sustainable buildings in order to reduce internal heating, cooling, and electrical loads. An analysis of existing shading devices and façade design leads to a comparative analysis of conventional shading devices like horizontal and vertical blinds as well as eggcrate and honeycomb shading structures in a hot-humid climate like Austin, Texas. This study helped evaluating strengths and weaknesses of each device resulting in an optimization process of conventional shading devices. Ultimately, an optimized shading structure has been developed. This project aimed to develop an advanced transparent façade system for a south-oriented commercial façade in Austin, Texas, which fulfills high standards with regard to low energy use, by limiting cooling loads and demands for artificial lighting while avoiding glare and heat losses during the cold season. The optimization has been achieved in providing full shading for a specified period of time throughout the year while providing maximized solar exposure. The shading structure consists out of an array of fixed shading components varying in size and proportion to fulfill criteria like specific views, transparency and aesthetics. The shading structure has been compared to conventional shading devices and analyzed with regard to the reduction of annual solar radiation. The improvement in design and energy consumption contributes to the variety of shading structures for building skins. It is anticipated that the solutions will help to widen the options for aesthetically pleasing, high-performance façades for commercial buildings. / text

In this thesis we present results from quantum Monte Carlo for the fully-frustrated honeycomb lattice. The XXZ model is of interest in the classical limit, as there is a mapping between the classical fully-frustrated honeycomb Ising model groundstates and the classical hard-core dimer model groundstate. The aim of this work is to explore the effect of quantum fluctuations on the fully-frustrated honeycomb model to see what sort of interesting physics arises. One might expect unusual physics due to the quantum hard-core dimer model, where interesting physics are known to exist. This is because there is a duality mapping between the classical dimer model and the classical fully-frustrated honeycomb Ising model. Indeed, by studying the fully-frustrated honeycomb XXZ model we find that in some cases the system orders into crystal-like structures, a case of order-by-disorder. The most interesting case, when the frustrating bonds are chosen randomly, reveals to us a novel state without any discernible order while at the same time avoiding the freezing one would expect of a glass. This state is a featureless system lacking low temperature magnetic susceptibility---a candidate ``quantum spin liquid''. Future work that might more easily measure quantum spin liquid criteria is suggested.

Honeycomb core sandwich panels are widely used in the aeronautic industry due to their excellent flexural stiffness to weight ratio. Generally, classical homogenized model is used to model honeycomb core sandwiches in order to have an efficient but not expensive numerical modeling. However, previous works have shown that, while the homogenized models could correctly represent the membrane waves' behavior of sandwiches in a large frequency range, they could not give satisfying simulation results for the flexural waves' behavior in the high frequency range (HF). In fact, the honeycomb core layer plays an important role in the propagation of the flexural waves, so that when the involved wavelengths become close to the characteristic lengths of honeycomb cells, the cellular microstructure starts interacting strongly with the waves and its effect should no longer be neglected, which is unfortunately not the case of the homogenized models. In the present work, we are interested in improving the theoretical and numerical analysis of HF elastic waves' propagation in honeycomb core sandwich panels by a numerical approach based on the Bloch wave theorem, which allows taking into account the periodic characteristics of the honeycomb core. In fact, by decomposing non-periodic wave solutions into their periodic Bloch wave basis modes, numerical models are defined on a basic cell and solved in a efficient way, and provide a better description and so a better understanding of the interaction between HF wave propagation phenomena and the periodic structures. Our numerical approach is developed and validated in the cases of one-dimensional periodic beam structures, of two-dimensional periodic hexagonal and rectangular beam structures and of honeycomb core sandwich plates. By solving the eigenvalue problem of the Bloch wave modes in one primitive cell of the periodic structure for all the wave vectors located in the corresponding first Brillouin zone in the phase space, the dispersion relation between the wave vector and the eigenvalue is calculated. The analysis of the dispersion relation provides important results such as: the frequency bandgaps and the anisotropic and dispersive characteristics of periodic structures, the comparison between the first Bloch wave modes to those of the classical equivalent homogenized models and the existence of the retro-propagating Bloch wave modes with a negative group velocity.

Active control has often been considered for low frequency control of noise radiated by trim panels inside aircraft or helicopter cabins. Trim panels are usually made of honeycomb core sandwich because of their high strength to mass ratio. Active control techniques applied to honeycomb panel have not always given results as good as expected and this thesis aims to understand these limitations based on validated mechanical models of the active panels. For the modeling of honeycomb panels, the main difficulty is to estimate equivalent properties for the core. A numerical homogenization procedure is introduced to estimate effective parameters of a shell/volume/shell model based on the correlation with periodic modes of a detailed 3D model. The use of periodic modes allows a detailed analysis of the influence of constituent properties, especially glue and skin. Tests show that the considered Nomex based honeycomb has significantly viscoelastic behavior. In the model, the viscoelastic behavior of the core is taken into account by a frequency dependence of material parameters. Piezoelectric actuators and sensors are included in the validated honeycomb model. Strategies for integration in a numerical design process are discussed. Finally, the static response to an applied voltage is shown to correspond to a blister shape with local bending of the skin rather than global bending of the panel. This behavior results in poor actuator performance, which is also found in a realistic panel configuration studied at ONERA.

Aluminum hexagonal honeycombs loaded in their tubular direction have extremely good mechanical properties, including high stiffness to weight and energy absorption capacities. The corresponding load-displacement curve exhibits a long plateau accompanied by small fluctuations. These fluctuations are due to the propagation of a folding front through the studied sample, which is due to the creation of folds. This plateau load makes honeycombs the perfect candidates for use as energy-dissipative devices such as bumpers. Previous studies have largely focused on the study of the plateau load with less attention given to the length of the folds. However, it will be seen that this parameter is crucial for both the complete understanding of the mechanics of the folding and the derivation of the plateau load. We present first an introduction to the thematic of honeycomb. Then, the first model focuses precisely on the fold length. Two hypotheses are considered, a correlation between elastic buckling and folding first and a local propagation of the existing fold secondly. The second hypothesis is found to be correct, and the results are good for thin foils. For thick foils, a geometric limitation occurs, which makes the results less precise. Then, we are able to use the previous kinematics for the folding and derive a new set of formulas for the plateau load. The results are compared with experimental results and past formulas, and are found to be good, especially for thin foils, where our results for the fold length are more precise.

This paper applies to the design and simulation of a shipping container made of sandwich panels. The amount of stresses acting on the body of the container is calculated and is optimized to reduce stresses for the better design output of the structure. The design aims to produce an application to reduce the tare weight of the container in order to increase the payload. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is performed to evaluate the strength of structures of both old and new models helps us to compare which model is better and more efficient. Complete design and analysis is performed using Autodesk Inventor. / no

Le dimensionnement des inserts pour les structures sandwich se fait usuellement par les méthodes proposées par le « Insert design handbook » de l'ESA, ou le « Military handbook 23A ». Ces méthodes analytiques basées sur la formulation développée par Ericksen en 1953 mènent à des erreurs de la charge admissible à l’arrachement d’environ ±20 % pour certains cas. Dans cette thèse, les principaux modes de rupture d’inserts sont étudiés ; l’endommagement du nid d’abeille Nomex® en cisaillement et la rupture du potting. Une analyse fine du postflambement en cisaillement du nid d’abeille Nomex® est effectuée qui permet de proposer un modèle d'endommagement à 2 paramètres.Puis, les résultats obtenus sont utilisés pour développer un modèle virtuel d’insert qui est validé par comparaison à des essais d'arrachement puis utilisé pour tracer des cartographies des modes de rupture. En utilisant cette méthode, la charge admissible à l’arrachement peut être estimée plus précisément. Cette méthode peut être une alternative face aux modèles analytiques pour le dimensionnement des inserts. Les graphiques obtenus peuvent être fournis aux ingénieurs pour le dimensionnement des inserts comme un outil qui peut réduire le temps de conception-validation. / The insert sizing for sandwich structures is usually made using the methods proposed in the “Insert design handbook” of the ESA and the “Military handbook 23A”. These analytical methods based in the in the research carried by Ericksen in 1953 could lead to errors of the pull-out allowable load prediction in the range of ±20 % for some cases.In this thesis, the principal failure modes of inserts are investigated; the core shear damage of the Nomex honeycomb core, and the potting failure. A detailed analysis of the shear postbuckling of the Nomex honeycomb core is made, allowing to propose a two variables damage model. Then, the obtained results are used to develop an insert virtual model that is validated through comparison with pull-out tests, and then used to draw failure mode maps of inserts. Using this method, the admissible pull-out load of inserts can be estimated more precisely. This method could be an alternative to using the analytical methods for the insert sizing. The resulting charts could be given to engineers as a tool for the insert sizing which could reduce the insert’s design-validation time.

Ett spels karta är begränsande i det att när man valt en viss storlek kan man inte gå utanför den ramen utan att göra relativt resurskrävande operationer. Denna undersökning genomfördes för att se om en trädstruktur kan användas som lösning att hantera en honeycomb-struktur på ett lämpligt sätt för att ständigt kunna utöka ett spels karta. Resultatet visar att det är möjligt att använda trädstrukturen relativt bra till växande kartor men att det inte är att rekommendera till spel, eftersom strukturen i sig är en omväg. I samband med denna karta skapades en slumpmässig path-generator som skulle kunna användas till att generellt skapa slumpmässiga kartor i spel. För att se vad försvårigheter man stöter på när man utvecklar en slumpad map-generator, vilket visade sig vara svårt i och med att man hittade många specialfall.

L’industrie aérospatiale doit faire face à de nouvelles exigences environnementales, tout particulièrement concernant la réduction des coûts de lancement. L’utilisation de matériaux sandwichs composites plus légers permet de répondre à ces besoins. Cependant, l’allégement des matériaux sandwichs favorise une transmission importante du bruit, d’où la nécessité de prendre en compte des critères vibroacoustiques dès la phase de préconception. Dans cette optique, le travail présenté dans ce mémoire a pour objectif de proposer une démarche d’optimisation vibroacoustique des panneaux sandwichs composites légers, sous contraintes de masse et rigidité. Une étude spécifique est consacrée à l’optimisation des variables géométriques de solides cellulaires à périodicité de type nid d’abeille. L’objectif principal est de minimiser la densité modale en s’appuyant sur des modèles homogénéisés fiables. Afin de calculer les propriétés mécaniques macroscopiques des panneaux sandwichs, une méthode numérique d’homogénéisation tridimensionnelle est développée. Cette méthode permet de calculer les propriétés mécaniques équivalentes en utilisant les déformations et contraintes moyennes sur le volume représentatif. Les résultats obtenus sont conformes à ceux calculés par des méthodes classiques basées sur des modèles analytiques. Dans le but d’identifier une fonction objectif riche en informations sur le comportement vibroacoustique de panneau sandwich, on choisit d’étudier la densité modale du panneau. Par la suite, la fréquence de transition, qui sépare la zone de comportement de flexion pure du panneau sandwich du comportement en cisaillement pur de l’âme, est utilisée pour définir la fonction objectif. Après une étude d’analyse de sensibilité sur les paramètres mécaniques et géométriques de la structure sandwich, une démarche globale d’optimisation mono-objectif est mise en oeuvre pour maximiser la fréquence de transition de la structure sandwich composite constituée d’une âme en nid d’abeille hexagonale. Enfin, cette démarche est étendue pour estimer les propriétés géométriques optimales de nouvelles âmes. / The aerospace industry has to adapt to new environmental requirements, especially concerning the reduction of the launch costs. The use of lighter composite sandwich materials can meet part of these requirements. However, their high stiffness-toweight ratio implies that they tend to increase noise transmission, which may be damageable to the payload. Vibroacoustic criterai should hence be taken into account from the early design stages. In this context, the work presented in this thesis aims to provide a vibroacoustic optimization approach of lightweight composite sandwich panels, under mass and stiffness constraints. A specific study is devoted to the optimization of geometric variables of periodic cellular solids such as honeycombs. The main objective is to minimize the modal density based on reliable homogenized models. In order to calculate the macroscopic mechanical properties of the sandwich panel, a numerical method of three-dimensional homogenization is developed. This method allows to calculate the equivalent mechanical properties by applying the average strains and stresses on a unit cell. The results obtained are consistent with those calculated by conventional methods based on analytical approaches. The modal density is chosen as an objective function for optimization, as it is closely related to the vibroacoustic behavior of the structure. The transition frequency, which separates the region of pure panel bending from the pure core shear zone, is further studied and considered as an alternative objective function. After a sensitivity analysis of the mechanical and geometric parameters of the sandwich structure, a mono-objective optimization approach is implemented to maximize the transition frequency of a composite sandwich structure with a hexagonal core. This approach is then extended to estimate the optimal geometric properties of new core shapes.

L'objectif de cette thèse est de développer des modèles d'homogénéisation analytiques de panneaux sandwichs en nid d'abeilles. A la différence des méthodes classiques, l'effet des peaux est pris en compte, conduisant à des propriétés mécaniques très différentes. Dans les cas des tractions, flexions, cisaillement dans le plan, cisaillements transversaux et torsion, différentes séries de fonctions analytiques sont proposées pour prendre en compte la redistribution des contraintes entre les parois du nid d'abeilles. Nous avons étudié l'influence de la hauteur du nid d'abeilles sur les propriétés élastiques. Les courbes des modules obtenues avec le modèle proposé sont bien bornées par les valeurs obtenues avec la théorie des poutres. Les contraintes d'interface sont également étudiées afin de comparer avec les modèles existant pour le problème de traction. De nombreux calculs numériques ont été réalisés avec nos H-modèles pour les problèmes de tractions, de flexions, de traction-flexion couplés, de cisaillement dans le plan, de cisaillement transversal et de torsion. De très bon accords ont été obtenus entre les résultats issus des H-modèles et ceux issus des calculs en éléments finis de coques en maillant complètement les panneaux sandwichs. Nos H-modèles ont été appliquées aux calculs de grandes plaques sandwichs industrielles en nid d'abeilles. La comparaison desrésultats entre les H-modèles et les calculs en éléments finis de coques du logiciel Abaqus sont en très bon accord. / The aim of this thesis is to develop an analytical homogenization model for the honeycomb core sandwich panels. Unlike conventional methods, the skin effects are taken into account, leading to a very different mechanical properties. In the cases of extensions, bendings, in-plane shear, transverse shears andtorsion, different analytical function series are proposed to consider the stress redistribution between the honeycomb walls. We have studied the influence of the height of the core on its homogenized properties. The moduli curves obtained by the present H-models are well bounded by the moduli values obtained by the beam theory. The interface stresses are also studied to compare with existing models for stretching problem. Many numerical computations with our H-models have been done for the problems of stretching, bending, in-plan and transverse shearing, as well as torsion. Very good agreement has been achieved between the results of the H-models and the results obtained by finite element simulations by completely meshing thesandwich panel with shell elements. Our H-models have been applied to the computations of industrial large sandwich panels with honeycomb core. The comparison of the results between the H-models and the simulations with Abaqus shell elements are in very good agreement.