Dispersed particle flows are encountered in many biological, geophysical but also in industrial situations, e.g. during processing of materials. In these flows, the particles usually are non-spherical and their angular dynamics play a crucial role for the final material properties. Generally, the angular dynamics of a particle is dependent on the local flow in the frame-of-reference of this particle. In this frame, the surrounding flow can be linearized and the linear velocity gradient will determine how the particle rotates. In this thesis, the main objective is to improve the fundamental knowledge of the angular dynamics of non-spherical particles related to two specific biobased material processes. Firstly, the flow of suspended cellulose fibers in a papermaking process is used as a motivation. In this process, strong shear rates close to walls and the size of the fibers motivates the study of inertial effects on a single particle in a simple shear flow. Through direct numerical simulations combined with a global stability analysis, this flow problem is approached and all stable rotational states are found for spheroidal particles with aspect ratios ranging from moderately slender fibers to thin disc-shaped particles. The second material process of interest is the production of strong cellulose filaments produced through hydrodynamic alignment and assembly of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF). The flow in the preparation process and the small size of the particles motivates the study of alignment and rotary diffusion of CNF in a strain flow. However, since the particles are smaller than the wavelength of visible light, the dynamics of CNF is not easily captured with standard optical techniques. With a new flow-stop experiment, rotary diffusion of CNF is measured using Polarized optical microscopy. This process is found to be quite complicated, where short-range interactions between fibrils seem to play an important role. New time-resolved X-ray characterization techniques were used to target the underlying mechanisms, but are found to be limited by the strong degradation of CNF due to the radiation. Although the results in this thesis have limited direct applicability, they provide important fundamental stepping stones towards the possibility to control fiber orientation in flows and can potentially lead to new tailor-made materials assembled from a nano-scale. / <p>QC 20160929</p>

Toute surface naturelle est par essence non lisse, elle est constituée de rugosités plus ou moins régulières et / ou de structures mobiles d’échelles variées. D’un point de vue mécanique des fluides, ces surfaces naturelles proposent des meilleures performances aérodynamiques en terme de réduction de traînée, d’augmentation de la portance ou de contrôle du décollement lorsqu’elles couvrent des corps en mouvement. Cela a été notament prouvé pour des écoulements de couches limites ou de sillage, autour de corps épais. La simulation numérique d’écoulements aux échelles microscopiques autour des surfaces « naturelles » demeure de nos jours encore hors de portée. En conséquence, la thèse a pour objet d’étudier la modélisation du glissement apparent de l’écoulement sur ce genre de surface, modélisée comme un milieu poreux, appliquant la théorie de la moyenne-volumique de Whitaker. Ce modèle mathématique permet globalement de représenter en moyenne les détails de la micro-structure de ses surfaces, tout en conservant une description satisfaisante des phénomènes physiques induits par l’écoulement. Le premier chapitre de ce manuscrit dresse un panorama des efforts antérieurs portant sur la modélisation de ces surfaces en précisant les résultats les plus importants issus de la littérature. Le deuxième chapitre présente la dérivation mathématique des équations de Navier- Stokes en moyenne volumique (VANS en anglais) dans un milieu poreux. Dans le troisième chapitre est étudiée la stabilité de l’écoulement à l’interface entre un fluide libre et un milieu poreux, constitué d'une série de cylindres rigides. La présence de cette couche poreuse est traitée par un terme de traînée dans les équations du fluide. On montre que l'ajout de ce terme réduit les taux d’amplification de l’instabilité de Kelvin-Helmholtz sur toute la gamme des nombre d’onde et ainsi augmente la longueur d’onde du mode le plus amplifié. Dans ce même contexte a été calculée la différence entre un modèle isotrope et une approche tensorielle pour le terme de traînée, afin de déterminer l’approche la plus consistante pour une étude de stabilité de ce type d’écoulement. Cela a mené à la conclusion que le modèle le plus pertinent est celui utilisant le tenseur de perméabilité apparent. Dans le chapitre suivant le tenseur de perméabilité apparent est identifié sur la base d’une centaine de simulations numériques directes, pour un milieu poreux tridimensionnel constitué de cylindres rigides, où le problème de fermeture est abordé par la méthode VANS. Dans ces configurations ce tenseur varie en fonction de quatre paramètres : le nombre de Reynolds, la porosité et l’orientation du gradient moyen de pression définie par deux angles d’Euler. Cette paramétrisation permet de capturer les effets tridimensionnels locaux. Cette base de données ainsi constituée a permis de créer, une approche de type kriging, un métamodèle comportemental pour estimer toutes les composantes du tenseur de perméabilité apparente. Dans le cinquième chapitre sont menées des simulations des équations VANS à l’échelle macroscopique après implémentation du méta-modèle qui autorise des temps de calcul raisonnables. La validation de l’approche à l’échelle macroscopique est effectuée sur un écoulement dans une cavité fermé couverte d’une couche poreuse et une comparaison avec les résultats d’un DNS très précise, homogénéisés a posteriori montre un très bon accord et démontre la pertinence de la démarche. L’étape suivante a consisté en l’étude du contrôle du décollement pour un écoulement autour d’une bosse poreuse par cette même approche VANS macroscopique. Enfin des conclusions générales et des directions de recherche possibles sont présentées dans le dernier chapitre. / Any natural surface is in essence non-smooth, consisting of more or less regular roughness and/or mobile structures of different scales. From a fluid mechanics point of view, these natural surfaces offer better aerodynamic performances when they cover moving bodies, in terms of drag reduction, lift enhancement or control of boundary layer separation; this has been shown for boundary layer or wake flows around thick bodies. The numerical simulation of microscopic flows around "natural" surfaces is still out of reach today. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to study the modeling of the apparent flow slip occurring on this kind of surfaces, modeled as a porous medium, applying Whitaker's volume averaging theory. This mathematical model makes it possible to capture details of the microstructure while preserving a satisfactory description of the physical phenomena which occur. The first chapter of this manuscript provides an overview of previous efforts to model these surfaces, detailing the most important results from the literature. The second chapter presents the mathematical derivation of the volume-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (VANS) in a porous medium. In the third chapter the flow stability at the interface between a free fluid and a porous medium, formed by a series of rigid cylinders, is studied. The presence of this porous layer is treated by including a drag term in the fluid equations. It is shown that the presence of this term reduces the rates of amplification of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability over the whole range of wavenumbers, thus leading to an increase of the wavelength of the most amplified mode. In this same context, the difference between the isotropic model and a tensorial approach for the drag term has been evaluated, to determine the most consistent approach to study these flow instabilities. This has led to the conclusion that the model that uses the apparent permeability tensor is the most relevant one. In the following chapter, based on this last result, the apparent permeability tensor, based on over one hundred direct numerical simulations carried out over microscopic unit cells, has been identified for a three-dimensional porous medium consisting of rigid cylinders. In these configurations the tensor varies according to four parameters: the Reynolds number, the porosity and the direction of the average pressure gradient, defined by two Euler angles. This parameterization makes it possible to capture local three-dimensional effects. This database has been set up to create, based on a kriging-type approach, a behavioral metamodel for estimating all the components of the apparent permeability tensor. In the fifth chapter, simulations of the VANS equations are carried out on a macroscopic scale after the implementation of the metamodel, to get reasonable computing times. The validation of the macroscopic approach is performed on a closed cavity flow covered with a porous layer and a comparison with the results of a very accurate DNS, homogenized a posteriori, has shown a very good agreement and has demonstrated the relevance of the approach. The next step has been the study of the passive control of the separation of the flow past a hump which is placed on a porous wall, by the same macroscopic VANS approach. Finally, general conclusions and possible directions of research in the field are presented in the last chapter.

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1979. / Bibliography: leaf 31. / by Garry Wayne Perkins. / Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1979.

We study the evolution of binary black hole initial data schemes as alternatives to the standard puncture construction. These alternatives are based on post-Newtonian expansions that contain realistic gravitational waves. The first scheme is based on a second order post-Newtonian expansion in Arnowitt, Deser, and Misner transverse-traceless (ADMTT) gauge that has been re-summed to approach standard puncture data at the black holes. The other schemes are based on asymptotic matching of the 4-metrics of two tidally perturbed Schwarzschild solutions to post-Newtonian expansions at different orders. The alternatives are encouraging and lead to quasi-circular orbits and show gravitational radiation from the onset, as well as a reduction of spurious radiation. Deficiencies compared to punctures include more eccentricity during inspiral and larger constraint violations, since the alternative data sets only approximate solutions of Einstein's equations. / by George C. Reifenberger. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Consideram-se neste trabalho seções bidimensionais oscilando em balanço. Adotam-se modelos representativos do movimento segundo este único grau de liberdade. Estimam-se os parâmetros de inércia e de amortecimento hidrodinâmicos por meio de experimentos de decaimento. Simulações numéricas incorporando os parâmetros estimados experimentalmente, bem como previsões empíricas de resultados da literatura, são confrontadas à registros experimentais para verificação da adequação das previsões, e para avaliação da adequação dos modelos à representação da dinâmica da oscilação. Com a metodologia de análise escolhida, avalia-se a influência de determinados parâmetros sobre as propriedades hidrodinâmicas; consideram-se variações: de proporções da seção, de posição vertical do centro de massa, de inércia própria em balanço, de forma do bojo, e quanto a presença de bolina e suas proporções. Também é considerada a influência do ângulo inicial de banda nas propriedades hidrodinâmicas, bem como a participação da energia irradiada pela onda na energia acumulada pelo sistema anterior ao início do movimento. Os elementos anteriores levam à proposição de orientações para avaliação da influência das propriedades geométricas e inerciais no comportamento do casco em balanço. / The scope of this work is the verification of hydrodynamic properties of two dimensional rolling sections. Analytical models of a single degree-of-freedom movement are adopted. The added inertia and damping are estimated by free decay tests. Numerical simulations with the obtained experimental parameters as well as empirical literature results are compared to the data tests in order to verify the adequacy of the procedures. With the chosen method of analysis, the influence of the hydrodynamic parameters are verified. The following parameters are considered: the beam draft ratio, vertical position of center of gravity, moment inertia, bilge shape and the addition or not of bilge keels. The initial angle of roll is also considered as well as the transport of the energy accumulated before the decay by the wave generated by the movement of the model. These elements lead to the proposition of orientations for the verification of the influence of geometric and inertial properties in the behave of rolling two-dimensional sections.

Freeform curve design has existed in various forms for at least two millennia, and is important throughout computer-aided design and manufacture. With the increasing importance of animation and robotics, coupled with the increasing power of computers, there is now interest in freeform motion design, which, in part, extends techniques from curve design, as well as introducing some entirely distinct challenges. There are several approaches to freeform motion construction, and the first step in designing freeform motions is to choose a representation. Unlike for curves, there is no "standard" way of representing freeform motions, and the different tools available each have different properties. A motion can be viewed as a continuously-varying pose, where a pose is a position and an orientation. This immediately presents a problem; the dimensions of rotations and translations are different, and it is not clear how the two can be compared, such as to define distance along a motion. One solution is to treat the rotational and translational components of a motion separately, but this is inelegant and clumsy. The philosophy of this thesis is that a motion is not defined purely by rotations and translations, but that the body following a motion is a part of that motion. Specifically, the part of the body that is accounted for is its inertia tensor. The significance of the inertia tensor is that it allows the rotational and translational parts of a motion to be, in some sense, compared in a dimensionally- consistent way. Using the inertia tensor, this thesis finds the form of kinetic energy in <;1'4, and also discusses extensions of the concepts of arc length and curvature to the space of motions, allowing techniques from curve fairing to be applied to motion fairing. Two measures of motion fairness are constructed, and motion fairing is the process of minimizing the measure of a motion by adjusting degrees of freedom present in the motion's construction. This thesis uses the geometric algebra <;1'4 in the generation offreeform motions, and the fairing of such motions. <;1'4 is chosen for its particular elegance in representing rigid-body transforms, coupled with an equivalence relation between elements representing transforms more general than for ordinary homogeneous coordinates. The properties of the algebra germane to freeform motion design and improvement are given, and two distinct frameworks for freeform motion construction and modification are studied in detail.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T17:27:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiano Garotti da Silva.pdf: 1138814 bytes, checksum: a7b37a7a1fd709c6ab12f3a3fb1cb461 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation focuses on the theme of spontaneity from the phenomenological principle of unreflective consciousness in its purity and original impersonality in the works of the young Sartre. It begins trying to understand a negative contrast between spontaneity and inertia in his propaedeutic works to Being and nothingness, through the nihilated framing opposition between the two regions of Being. In its ontology, Sartrean phenomenology establishes pure spontaneity or conscious as the foundation of freedom, central concept of Existentialism. Pure or conscious spontaneity prevails over will as an important feature of the For-Itself in a deliberative organization of freedom. The principle of freedom, therefore, is emerging from a contradiction between will and spontaneity, in a predominance of the unreflective over the reflective / Esta Tese enfoca a temática da espontaneidade a partir do princípio fenomenológico da consciência irreflexiva na sua pureza e impessoalidade original nas obras do jovem Sartre. Parte-se inicialmente da compreensão de uma contraposição negativa entre espontaneidade e inércia nas obras propedêuticas a O ser e o nada para a ressignificação, através da oposição nadificante entre as duas regiões do Ser. Na sua ontologia, a fenomenologia sartriana estabelecerá a espontaneidade pura ou consciente como fundamento da liberdade, conceito fulcral do existencialismo. A espontaneidade pura ou consciente prevalece sobre a vontade como característica importante do Para-si na organização deliberativa da liberdade. O fundamento da liberdade, portanto, é emergente de uma antinomia entre vontade e espontaneidade, em um predomínio do irreflexivo sobre o reflexivo

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 53-54. / by Bruce Edward Bates. / B.S.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 125-136. / by Matthew Thomas Mason. / Ph.D.

Biodiversity, ecosystems, industry and human health are threatened by invasive plant species. The costs of mitigating damages run into billions of pounds per annum. Fundamental to the control of invasive plant species is an ability to predict which species will become invasive. Yet identification of predictive differences between invasive and non-invasive species has proven difficult to pinpoint. In this thesis I identify several weaknesses within published literature, and using field experiments and meta-analyses we address these to find consistent predictors of invasiveness amongst plants. Specifically, I recognize that predictors of invasiveness can be identified by studying plant species in the native range because species may undergo phenotypic and demographic changes following naturalization (Chapters 2 – 5). I also recognize the importance of comparing globally invasive and non-invasive species, and the importance of accounting for phylogenetic relationships so as not to inflate or conceal differences (Chapters 2 – 4). Finally, I investigate whether particular analyses are more appropriate for investigating life history and demographic differences (Chapter 5). This thesis comprises an introductory chapter (Chapter 1), four data chapters (Chapters 2 - 5) and a general discussion (Chapter 6). Chapters 2 and 3 compare life history traits of plant species known to be invasive elsewhere, with their exported but non-invasive sympatric relatives in the native range. Chapter 4 utilizes Population Projection Matrices held within the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database, to compare demographic projections of stable and transient dynamics of invasive and non-invasive plants; and Chapter 5 compares ten metrics, derived from Population Projection Matrices, of seven invasive species between the native and invaded range to determine if there are demographic or life history differences that facilitate invasion, and to identify those analyses that are most likely to reveal such differences. I find reproductive capacity to be a predictor of invasiveness, and that analyses of transient dynamics are more likely than analyses of projected stable dynamics to reveal demographic or life history differences between invasive and non-invasive species or populations of plants. I discuss these findings in the context of invasive risk assessment protocols and highlight future research opportunities.