In the form of teacher didactical design research, this work addresses a didactical issue encountered during physics teaching in a Swedish upper secondary school. A need for renewed practical laboratory work related to Newtonian mechanics is met by proposing and designing an activity based on high- speed photography using the nowadays omnipresent smartphone, thus bringing new technology into the classroom. The activity – video analysis of the collision physics of football kicks – is designed and evaluated by following a didactical design cycle. The work elaborates on how the proposed laboratory activity relates to the potential and complications of experimental activities in science education, as described in the vast literature on the topic. It is argued that the use of smartphones constitutes an interesting use of new technology for addressing known problems of practical work. Of particular interest is that smartphones offer a way to bridge the gap between the everyday life of students and the world of physics experiments (smartphones are powerful pocket laboratories). The use of smartphones also avoids using unfamiliar laboratory equipment that is known to hinder focus on intended content, while at the same time exploring a powerful tool for data acquisition and analysis. Overall, the use of smartphones (and computers) in this manner can be seen as the result of applying Occam’s razor to didactics: only familiar and readily available instrumentation is used, and skills learned (movie handling and image analysis) are all educationally worthwhile. Although the activity was judged successful, a systematic investigation of learning outcome was out of scope. This means that no strong conclusions can be drawn based on this limited work. Nonetheless, the smartphone activity was well received by the students and should constitute a useful addition to the set of instructional approaches, especially since variation is known to benefit learning. The main failure of the design was an overestimation of student prior knowledge on motion physics (and its application to image data). As a consequence, the activity took required more time and effort than originally anticipated. No severe pitfalls of smartphone usage were identified, but it should be noted that the proposed activity – with its lack of well-defined results due to variations in kick strength – requires that the teacher is capable of efficiently analysing multiple student films (avoiding the feedback process to become overwhelmingly time consuming). If not all student films are evaluated, the feedback to the students may become of low quality, and misconceptions may pass under the radar. On the other hand, given that programming from 2018 will become compulsory, an interesting development of the activity would be to include handling of images and videos using a high-level programming language like Python.

Dans le contexte actuel de diminution des pollutions d’origine agricole, laréduction des apports d’intrants devient un enjeu primordial. En France, laviticulture est l’activité qui possède le taux le plus important de traitementsphytosanitaires par unité de surface. Elle représente, à elle seule, 20% de laconsommation annuelle de pesticides. Par conséquent, il est nécessaire d’étudierle devenir des pesticides appliqués afin de réduire les quantités perduesdans l’environnement. Dans le cadre de la réduction d’apport de produitsphytosanitaires dans les vignes, de nombreux travaux ont été effectués sur lamodélisation du comportement d’un spray de gouttelettes et sa répartitionau niveau de la parcelle et de l’air environnant. Cependant, il est égalementimportant de s’intéresser au comportement de la gouttelette directement auniveau de la feuille. Les progrès dans le domaine de l’imagerie et la diminutiondu coût des systèmes ont rendus ces systèmes beaucoup plus attractifs.Le travail de cette thèse consiste en la mise en place d’un système d’imagerierapide qui permet l’observation du comportement à l’impact de gouttelettesrépondant aux conditions de pulvérisation. Les caractéristiques ainsi que lecomportement associé de chaque gouttelette sont extraits grâce à une méthodede suivi d’objets. Une analyse statistique basée sur un nombre représentatifde résultats permet ensuite d’évaluer de manière robuste le devenir d’unegoutte en fonction de ses caractéristiques. Parallèlement, un paramètre décrivantl’état de surface de la feuille est également étudié grâce à l’imagerie : larugosité qui joue un rôle prédominant dans la compréhension des mécanismesd’adhésion / In the domain of vineyard precision spraying research, one of the most importantobjectives is to minimize the volume of phytosanitary products ejected bya sprayer in order to be more environmentally respectful with more effectivevine leaf treatments. Unfortunaltely, even if lot of works have been carriedout at a parcel scale, mainly on losses caused by drift, less works have beencarried out at the leaf scale in order to understand which parameters influencethe spray quality. Since few years, recent improvements in image processing,sensitivity of imaging systems and cost reduction have increased the interestof high-speed imaging techniques. Analyzing the behavior of droplets afterimpact with the leaf thanks to high speed imaging technology is a relevantsolution. By this way, we propose a droplets behavior analyzing process invineyard spraying context based on high-speed acquision system combinedwith image processing techniques. This process allows us to extract dropletsparameters. Therefore, a statistical study is processed in order to determinethe effects of droplets parameters on leaf impact or to predict behavior of asingle droplet. Since this behavior is strongly related to leaf surface, we alsopropose to validate a natural leaf roughness characterization method basedon texture analysis

This thesis concerns experimental investigations of laser cutting and piercing, with theoretical and practical discussions of the results. The thesis is made up of an introduction to laser cutting and six scientific Papers. These Papers are linked in such a way that each of them studies a different aspect of laser cutting: process efficiency in Paper I, morphology and melt flow on the laser cut front in Papers II, III and IV and laser piercing in Papers V and VI. Paper I investigates the effect of material type, material thickness, laser wavelength, and laser power on the efficiency of the cutting process for industrial state-of-the-art CO2 and fibre laser cutting machines. Here the cutting efficiency is defined in its most fundamental terms: as the area of cut edge created per Joule of laser energy. In Paper II a new experimental technique is presented which has been developed to enable high speed imaging of laser cut fronts produced using standard, commercial parameters. The results presented here suggest that the cut front produced when cutting 10 mm thick medium section stainless steel with a fibre laser and a nitrogen assist gas is covered in humps which themselves are covered in a thin layer of liquid. Paper III presents numerical simulations of the melt flow on a fibre laser ablation-driven processing front during remote fusion cutting, RFC. The simulations were validated with high speed imaging observations of the processing front. The simulation results provide explanations of the main liquid transport mechanisms on the processing front, based on information on the temperature, velocity and pressure fields involved. The results are of fundamental relevance for any process governed by a laser ablation induced front. In Paper IV cutting fronts created by CO2 and fibre lasers in stainless steel at thicknesses between 2 mm and 10 mm have been ‘frozen’ and their geometry has been measured. The resulting three-dimensional shapes have been curve fitted as ninth order polynomials. Various features of the cutting front geometry are discussed, including the lack of correlation of the cut front inclination with either the relevant Brewster angle or the inclination of the striations on the cut edge. In this paper, mathematical descriptions of the cutting fronts are obtained, which can be used as input parameters by any researcher in the field of laser cutting simulations. Paper V investigates the subject of laser piercing. Before any cut is started the laser needs to pierce the material. In this paper the laser piercing process is investigated using a wide range of laser pulse parameters, for stainless steel using a fibre laser. The results reveal the influence of pulse parameters on pierce time and pierced hole diameter. A high speed imaging camera was used to time the penetration event and to study the laser-material interactions involved in drilling the pierced holes. In Paper VI a ‘dynamic’ or ‘moving beam’, laser piercing technique is introduced for processing 15 mm thick stainless steel. One important aspect of laser piercing is the reliability of the process because industrial laser cutting machines are programmed for the minimum reliable pierce time. In this work a comparison was made between a stationary laser and a laser which moves along a circular trajectory with varying processing speeds. High speed imaging was employed during the piercing process to understand melt behavior inside the pierce hole. Throughout this work experimental techniques, including advanced high speed imaging, have been used in conjunction with simulations and theoretical analysis, to provide new knowledge for understanding and improving laser beam cutting and its associated piercing process.

Le formage électromagnétique est une technologie qui a gagné en intérêt dans les dernières décennies - grâce notamment à la formabilité accrue qu'il offre pour les matériaux à haute résistance et faible masse spécifique tels que les alliages d'aluminium et de magnésium. Un des défis majeurs au niveau du procédé réside dans la conception et l'étude au niveau de la pièce à fabriquer et sur l'interaction entre les différents aspects physiques: les ondes électromagnétiques comme source d'énergie, la thermo-mécanique contrôlant les évolutions de déformations et de contraintes, ainsi que l'étude de l’endommagement sous des sollicitations à grande vitesse. Ce travail est consacré à la mise au point d’un modèle et d’un outil numérique prédictifs capable de traiter l’interaction entre électromagnétisme et thermo-mécanique dans un cadre éléments finis en 3D. Nous introduisons les modèles de calcul pour l'électromagnétisme : l'approche permettant d’inclure la géométrie des pièces, le couplage électrique avec le générateur, entre autres. Nous poursuivons avec les techniques de calcul nécessaires pour coupler le calcul électromagnétique avec les calculs thermo-mécaniques – en mettant l’accent sur le problème du suivi des déplacements de la pièce déformable dans le module électromagnétique. Nous introduisons aussi certains aspects plus physiques du procédé tels que les phénomènes d'élimination du retour élastique ou encore l’adhésion des surfaces (soudage). Dans le dernier chapitre, nous présentons les installations expérimentales disponibles au laboratoire. Une méthodologie pour l'identification des paramètres électriques définissant les machines et nécessaires pour effectuer la simulation est introduite. / Magnetic pulse forming is a technology that has gained interest in the last decades – thanks to the increased formability it offers for high-resistance-low weight ratio materials such as aluminum and magnesium alloys. One major complexity of the process lies in the design and study at the work piece level and the interaction between the several physical aspects involved: the electromagnetic waves as source of energy, the thermo-mechanics controlling the strain and stress evolution, as well as the study of fracture and damage under high-speed loading conditions. This work is dedicated to the development of a predictive model and computational tool able to deal with the interaction between the electromagnetism and the thermo-mechanics in a 3D finite elements frame work. We introduce the computational aspects of the electromagnetism, from the selected approach to include the geometry of the parts down to the coupling with the electric machinery behind the process. This is followed by the computational techniques needed to couple the electromagnetic computation to the thermo-mechanical one with a special focus on the problem of tracking the displacement of the deformable part within the electromagnetic module. We also introduce some aspects more related to the physics of the process such as the phenomena of elastic spring-back elimination and surface bonding (welding). In the last chapter we present the experimental facilities available at the laboratory. A methodology for identification of the electric parameters defining the machinery and needed to perform the simulation is introduced.

Concrete structures may be subjected to dynamic loading during their service life. Understanding the dynamic properties of concrete structures is becoming critical because of the increased concern about the dynamic loading of both civilian and military structures, and especially, the recent increase in terrorist attacks on structures. Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) is known to exhibit superior performance in its post-peak energy absorption capacity, (i.e., toughness) under flexural and tensile loading. However, the behavior of fiber reinforced concrete under compressive impact has not previously been investigated. In the present research, the response of fiber reinforced concrete was investigated over the full strain rate regime, from static loading to high strain rate loading, and finally to impact loading. The compressive toughness of FRC under static loading was studied using an existing Japanese standard (JSCE SF-5). Then, a test method for FRC under compressive impact loading was developed, involving the use of a high speed video camera system to measure the deformation of FRC cylinders under compressive impact. The strain rate sensitivity of FRC in both flexure and compression was also fully investigated. FRC was found to have higher strengths under impact loading (both flexural and compressive) than under static loading. The compressive toughness under impact loading increased due to the high peak load and the high strain capacity. FRC under flexural impact loading showed a greater strength improvement than under static flexure. FRC displays a much higher Dynamic Improvement Factor (DIF) under flexural impact than under compressive impact. It gave an overall higher performance under impact than under static loading. It also exhibited a higher strain rate sensitivity than plain concrete in both compression and flexure. Damage analysis, in terms of loss of strain energy, was carried out based on damage mechanics principles. Damage was found to increase with increasing strain rate. A new constitutive model was proposed to account for the relationship between DIF (Comp) and strain rate and the data derived from the model were found to be consistent with the experimental results. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Civil Engineering, Department of / Graduate

La tendance en HPC est à l'accroissement du nombre de coeurs par noeud de calcul pour une quantité totale de mémoire par noeud constante. A large échelle, l'un des principaux défis pour les applications parallèles est de garder une faible consommation mémoire. Cette thèse présente une couche de communication multi-threadée sur Infiniband, laquelle fournie de bonnes performances et une faible consommation mémoire. Nous ciblons les applications scientifiques parallélisées grâce à la bibliothèque MPI ou bien combinées avec un modèle de programmation en mémoire partagée. En partant du constat que le nombre de connexions réseau et de buffers de communication est critique pour la mise à l'échelle des bibliothèques MPI, la première contribution propose trois approches afin de contrôler leur utilisation. Nous présentons une topologie virtuelle extensible et entièrement connectée pour réseaux rapides orientés connexion. Dans un contexte agrégeant plusieurs cartes permettant d'ajuster dynamiquement la configuration des buffers réseau utilisant la technologie RDMA. La seconde contribution propose une optimisation qui renforce le potentiel d'asynchronisme des applications MPI, laquelle montre une accélération de deux des communications. La troisième contribution évalue les performances de plusieurs bibliothèques MPI exécutant une application de modélisation sismique en contexte hybride. Les expériences sur des noeuds de calcul jusqu'à 128 coeurs montrent une économie de 17 % sur la mémoire. De plus, notre couche de communication multi-threadée réduit le temps d'exécution dans le cas où plusieurs threads OpenMP participent simultanément aux communications MPI. / A recent trend in high performance computing shows a rising number of cores per compute node, while the total amount of memory per compute node remains constant. To scale parallel applications on such large machines, one of the major challenges is to keep a low memory consumption. This thesis develops a multi-threaded communication layer over Infiniband which provides both good performance of communications and a low memory consumption. We target scientific applications parallelized using the MPI standard in pure mode or combined with a shared memory programming model. Starting with the observation that network endpoints and communication buffers are critical for the scalability of MPI runtimes, the first contribution proposes three approaches to control their usage. We introduce a scalable and fully-connected virtual topology for connection-oriented high-speed networks. In the context of multirail configurations, we then detail a runtime technique which reduces the number of network connections. We finally present a protocol for dynamically resizing network buffers over the RDMA technology. The second contribution proposes a runtime optimization to enforce the overlap potential of MPI communications, showing a 2x improvement factor on communications. The third contribution evaluates the performance of several MPI runtimes running a seismic modeling application in a hybrid context. On large compute nodes up to 128 cores, the introduction of OpenMP in the MPI application saves up to 17 % of memory. Moreover, we show a performance improvement with our multi-threaded communication layer where the OpenMP threads concurrently participate to the MPI communications

Ce travail thèse a pour objet une méthode expérimentale combinant un essai de traction indirect par écaillage et une mesure de champs à partir d’images obtenues par caméra ultra rapide, ceci à des fins d’identification des propriétés de rupture du béton sous chargement de traction dynamique. Cette méthode, proposée dans la littérature peu de temps avant le démarrage de ces travaux, fait ici l’objet d’une étude approfondi ainsi que d’une série de développements et d’amélioration. Les images obtenues sont traités par une technique de grille et la méthode des champs virtuels est appliquée pour identifier le comportement local des matériaux quasi-fragiles soumis à de hautes vitesses de déformation (plusieurs 100 1/s}). Dans un premier temps, afin de valider la technique de traitement maus aussi d’étudier l’incertitude de mesure associée, un simulateur de la chaîne de mesure complète a été mis au point. Il a été ainsi possible d’étudier l’influence de différentes sources potentielles d’erreurs qui peuvent être rencontrées dans le protocole expérimental. Cette étude a permis de retenir des recommandations sur les conditions de réalisations réelles de l’essai afin d’améliorer la fiabilité des mesures obtenues. D’un point de vue expérimental, différents capteurs ultra haute vitesse ont été utilisés afin d’étudier leur performances vis-à-vis des mesures réalisées. Ainsi, les campagnes d’essais ont été réalisées sur un matériau aux caractéristiques bien identifiées permettant l’étude des performances métrologiques de toute la chaine d’identification, pour chaque modèle de capteur. Enfin, le protocole expérimentale a été mis en place pour étudier le comportement de plusieurs types de béton soumis en traction dynamique. L’objectif, ici, est d’identifier leur comportements mécaniques ainsi que leur caractéristiques de rupture et fragmentation sous traction dynamique. En ce qui concerne la résistance à la traction, les valeurs identifiées dans cette étude sont inférieures, pour chaque cas, à celles rapportées dans la littérature et obtenues, pour la plupart, à partir du traitement de la vitesse matérielle mesurée en face arrière de l’échantillon. Pour ce qui est de l’énergie spécifique de rupture, les valeurs obtenues dans ces travaux sont égalements inférieures à celles publiées dans les revues scientifiques. / In this thesis a recently proposed photomechanical spalling experiment has been used in light of identifying concrete failure properties under dynamic tension.The experimental technique uses ultra-high speed imaging, the grid method and the virtual fields method.First, in order to investigate the accuracy and validate the processing technique, a methodology of using simulated experiments has been developed by numerically simulating the entire identification process.In this way, several potential sources of errors have been investigated allowing to place guidelines on how to perform the experiment in a more reliable manner.Second, several latest ultra-high speed acquisition systems have been used in order to investigate their contribution to a possible measurement refinement.In this case, the trial experiments have been conducted on a material of known characteristics which allowed investigating the metrological performance of the acquisition system on the entire identification chain.Finally, the experimental methodology has been applied to testing several grades of concrete in light of identifying the material constitutive response as well as their fracturing characteristics under dynamic tension.The identified tensile strengths in this work were found to be consistently lower than those obtained from the standard processing of the rear-face velocity profile.Moreover, the values of the identified specific fracture energy were also found to be markedly lower than the ones often reported in the literature.

The purpose of this dissertation is to shed light on the physical demands of women’s soccer at the NCAA division I college level. Though research does exists describing the physical demands of women’s soccer, the vast majority seeks to explain the physical demands association with the professional and international level. This dissertation sought to: 1) examine the physical demands of NCAA division I women’s soccer and 2) observe changes in physical demands of two NCAA division I women’s soccer players over a four-year career using a case study approach. Study 1 examined the physical demands of twenty-three athlete from a single NCAA division I team using Global Positioning System devices during four competitive seasons. Total distance, high-speed running distance and sprinting distances were analyzed for comparison against previously established physical demands associated with higher standards of play as well as for positional differences. Differences were found regarding total distance covered between standards of play. However, more pronounced differences were identified between high-speed running activities and standard of play, with higher standards requiring greater demands for high-intensity activities. Additionally, attacking players were demonstrated to cover greater total distance and high-intensity distance compared to the other position groups. Study 2 was a case study, observing seasonal variation in match physical demands of two high-level collegiate players during their 4-four college careers. Each player was tracked using GPS devices to record total distance, high-speed running distance and sprint distance. Seasonal variation in physical demands were found for each player, however, no consistent trends were found for both players. Interestingly, lower physical demands were identified during each player’s final season of play in comparison to all previous seasons, possibly demonstrating an increased tactical awareness resulting in improved playing efficiency. Nevertheless, future examination including additional data such as fitness testing results, tactical formations, and technical skill assessment are warranted. With little research available detailing the physical demands of women’s soccer at the division I collegiate level, our findings will provide further insight into the physical demands required for division I female players. By understanding the specific physical demands associated with competitive matches, as well as various positions, coaches and sports scientists can be equipped with objective data unique to women’s college soccer at the NCAA division I level. Our findings will empower practitioners with valuable information necessary to guide more informed decision making with regard to training structure and prescription, to enhance performance and minimize injury risks.

<div>The ambient pressure fluctuations within a wind tunnel test environment can severely affect the boundary layer transition witnessed on test articles The Boeing/AFOSR Mach 6 Quiet Tunnel was designed to minimize these fluctuations, also referred to as noise, and is the world's premier facility for studying hypersonic boundary layer transition in a quiet flow environment. All experiments performed for this work were conducted at this facility.</div><div><br></div><div> </div><div> The freestream flow field of this tunnel has been characterized multiple times since its creation, however an extensive three-dimensional spatial sweep has never been conducted. A pitot rake model was designed to allow for an extensive spatial survey of tunnel noise. This model created measurement capabilities that were previously unknown to the BAM6QT facility, including the ability to take concurrent freestream pitot probe measurements. The performance of this new measurement method was evaluated, and suggestions for future verification tests are made. The pitot rake appears to suffer from probe-probe interactions in certain configurations, and has demonstrated variation in measurements that depends on the individual sensor used.</div><div><br></div><div> </div><div> This new measurement apparatus was used to investigate the effect that cavities in the tunnel wall created by the installation of new optical windows had on the freestream noise level. A control dataset corresponding to a perfectly conformal tunnel wall was not collected during this work. The experiments conducted provide evidence that the tunnel wall cavities do increase the noise downstream of their location by approximately 100%, however a control dataset is needed to verify this finding.</div><div><br></div><div> </div><div> In addition to tunnel characterization, a novel flat plate model was evaluated for use in the BAM6QT. This model was intended for use as a platform for observing second mode instability growth. These experiments show that the initial flat plate geometry proved incompatible with the BAM6QT as the tunnel could not achieve nominal flow conditions with the model installed. The flat plate model was streamlined to rectify the startup issue, but no evidence of the second mode instability was found. A 2.5° half angle cone is being designed to replace the flat plate model as a platform for the continuation of this project.</div>

Polypterus is an extant fish that is used as a model to understand the fin-to-limb evolutionary transition. Polypterus exhibits muscle phenotypes relevant to this transition. In particular, plastic changes in bone and muscle in Polypterus have been shown in response to spending time in a terrestrial environment. Muscle fiber changes are usually associated with changes in the performance demand placed on those muscles. We hypothesize that muscle fibers are recruited differently between aquatic and terrestrial environments to explain the change in fiber type. How pectoral fin muscle activity changes between swimming and walking is mostly unknown. Hence, this study utilizes electromyography (EMG) and high-speed videography to understand how the muscle activity pattern and function of all four pectoral fin muscle groups change during swimming and walking in aquatically raised fish. In this experiment, aquatically raised fish were placed in water and on land to observe changes in fin muscle function between behaviours. This study aims to understand how the instantaneous changes in the behaviour of the fish, particularly in the pectoral fin, could explain the muscle plasticity found in previous research. This study showed that fish adduct their pectoral fins much faster with increased muscle effort during walking compared to swimming. The adductor muscle also had the biggest change in function, activating for the majority of the fin-stroke cycle and therefore undergoing eccentric contraction. The increase in muscle effort seen in this study is consistent with the muscle fiber transition seen in fish that spend long periods on land, and the dramatic change of EMG magnitudes found in the adductor muscle may explain muscle damage previously found following acute walking.