This study considers the fractional melting process for the separation of paraffin waxes of different melting points, with the ultimates object of applying if possible. Its results contributed to the literature to experiemnts relating to the fractional melting of oil-free wax and two useful pieces of apparatus have been designed.

In this thesis, the Finite Element (FE) Analysis of aircraft tyres is presented. The modelling and simulations of detailed construction of tyre enable tyre manufacturers to evaluate new designs and development before a prototype is fabricated, and aim to reduce the research costs and efforts to optimise the current tyre design of tyres. The material properties is key in the FE modelling and analysis, a number of sample from the rubber compounds and reinforcement were used to characterise the elastic, hyperelastic and viscoelastic behaviour of material. In this research, two aircraft tyres were employed for correlation study to a number of design checks and standard tests such as profile growth, sidewall deformation, footprint, contact pressure, and load-deformation data. The burst simulation was carried out to investigate when and where the failure in tyre occurs and compares it with what happens in real-world burst test as an important procedure in tyre safety certification by aviation authorities. As a result, the virtual testing would shorten the design procedure by checking the design parameters in advance of tyre prototyping. Moreover, the FE parameters such as mesh size and tyre geometry are investigated for optimisation of the runtime and accuracy and improvements in the FE results. A number of simulations were run to determine generated forces and moments across the contact patch using a steady-state approach in presence of air as the tyre inflator to obtain a higher accuracy in prediction of the vertical stiffness and footprint area. In addition, the tyre was freely rolled on the runway using an explicit approach to investigate the energy dissipation and heat build-up per tyre rotation due to the tyre viscoelasticity. Finally, TAIS (Tyre Analysis Interface System) development is explained in response to the design requirements from Dunlop Aircraft Tyres.

The particulate matter is probably one of the most critical issues of the diesel engine emissions. After years of research, people begin to understand it further, with respect to its impact on the environment and human health, its formation mechanism inside and outside the diesel engine, and most importantly, the methods to control its formation. This study has focused on the particulate matter emission control in diesel engines. It started with the application of two closely coupled Diesel Particle Filters (DPFs), consisting of an assistant DPF and a main standard honeycomb DPF, to replace the standard Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) + DPF system, commonly applied on diesel engines these days. This new after-treatment system showed a great potential to be adopted in the future, not only for the tighter emission regulations but also for the great cost reduction of the total after-treatment system by the reduction of the main DPF’s size and weight and more options of other cheaper materials. The back pressure problem revealed in the experiment was then studied through a one dimensional model simulation and its influence to the engine performance was discussed. Fuel injection parameters which are related with the engine performance and emissions were also investigated in the study. After careful calibrations, a single injection induced Partially Charge Compression Ignition (PCCI) combustion was achieved, in which mode, NOx and smoke emissions were reduced by more than 80% compared with using the normal multiple injections. Following that, the non-volatile particulate emissions under the pilot injection’s impacts were studied and the key parameters of the pilot control such as fuel quantity and injection timing were examined. The particulate number concentrations and size distributions were investigated under different engine operation conditions and the results illustrated how a pilot injection alongside a main injection could influence particulates and what these effects were closely related to. The research continued with the investigation of bio-fuels on the particle emission reduction, when 10% alternative diesel fuel blends (Rapeseed Methyl Ester (RME) and Gas-to-Liquid (GTL)) were used. They indicated that without any modification to the engine, adding selected alternative fuels, even at a low percentage, could result in a noticeable reduction of the particle numbers, both in the total and the non-volatile parts; however, the number of nucleation mode particles could increase in certain cases. It was also revealed that the engine suffered very high numbers of the nucleation mode particulates during warming up.

In the 2015 report of ‘The aerospace industry: statistics and policy’, UK Government presents the aerospace industry as “phenomenal success story” with “tremendous opportunities for growth” (Rhodes, et al., 2015). The success of this sector depends on high efficiency and productivity levels while maintaining quality and satisfying market demands which request aircraft to stay safely in service for longer with reduced maintenance budgets. One of the strategic objectives of the aerospace companies is continuous improvement of the technologies and engineering capabilities. X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) is a growing Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) method with various applications in several sectors of industry. CT collects numerous radiographs that are then reconstructed to create a 3D model of the examined object. The results demonstrate the outer and inner structure of the part including any defects, altered densities and hidden constructions in the case of Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) parts. Product development in the aerospace industry is a challenging task with significant risks that are handled by complex processes for quality control. The product development steps in this industry follow the products from concept to manufacturing and from service to disposal. This project examines the capabilities and limitations of CT in order to identify potential applications in this sector by considering all of the stages of development. Several case studies demonstrate its application in the research and development phase of composite design and machining selection as well as in the production phase with metrological and non-destructive evaluation applications. Finally, the application of CT in failure investigations and forensic examinations, close to the end of the life and disposal of the product was also considered. The results of these investigations demonstrate the possibilities of this technology as well as its limitations and led the sponsoring company to purchase a digital radiography system with CT capabilities. The presented investigations answer the research question of ‘How can CT be applicable in aerospace industry?’ by identifying the product development phases where CT is applicable. The developed innovative methods provide CT inspections and measurements while reducing human error. They identify the capabilities and limitations of this technology and develop improved scanning methods and standard operating procedures. This report summarises the results of these investigations that clearly demonstrate the potential applications of this technology as well as their limitations while it also introduces and demonstrates innovative methods to overcome these limitations. The innovation of this project is in the novel methods that allow this technology to be used in this industrial sector and provide the required results that are unobtainable with other NDT methods.

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This thesis addresses the question of designing robust and flexible controllers to enable autonomous operation of a multirotor UAV with an attached slung load for general cargo transport. This is achieved by following an experimental approach; real flight data from a slung load multirotor coupled system is used as experience, allowing for a computer software to estimate the pose of the slung in order to propose a swing-free controller that will dampen the oscillations of the slung load when the multirotor is following a desired flight trajectory. The thesis presents the reader with a methodology describing the development path from vehicle design and modelling over slung load state estimators to controller synthesis. Attaching a load via a cable to the underside of the aircraft alters the mass distribution of the combined "airborne entity" in a highly dynamic fashion. The load will be subject to inertial, gravitational and unsteady aerodynamic forces which are transmitted to the aircraft via the cable, providing another source of external force to the multirotor platform and thus altering the flight dynamic response characteristics of the vehicle. Similarly the load relies on the forces transmitted by the multirotor to alter its state, which is much more difficult to control. The principle research hypothesis of this thesis is that the dynamics of the coupled system can be identified by applying Machine Learning techniques. One of the major contributions of this thesis is the estimator that uses real flight data to train an unstructured black-box algorithm that can output the position vector of the load using the vehicle pose and pilot pseudo-controls as input. Experimental results show very accurate position estimation of the load using the machine learning estimator when comparing it with a motion tracking system (~2% offset). Another contribution lies in the avionics solution created for data collection, algorithm execution and control of multirotor UAVs, experimental results show successful autonomous flight with a range of algorithms and applications. Finally, to enable flight capabilities of a multirotor with slung load, a control system is developed that dampens the oscillations of the load; the controller uses a feedback approach to simultaneously prevent exciting swing and to actively dampen swing in the slung load. The methods and algorithms developed in this thesis are validated by flight testing.

Embedded software is shaping and influencing our world and it is unimaginable to realise day to day life without it. Since the introduction of the first Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in the 1970s, the automotive industry has seen a substantial increase of embedded software in vehicles. The use of embedded software in the automotive industry has led to a significant increase in the number and complexity of different vehicle systems, features and functions. This level of complexity drives premium vehicles with no fewer than 70 ECUs interconnected by more than five on-board network systems such as Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST), FlexRay and Ethernet. In a typical automotive development process, the main challenge for the engineers is to uncover as many failure modes and/or software defects as possible during the early stages of the vehicle programme. During the early phases of the development, failure modes and/or software defects are difficult to uncover but easy and inexpensive to fix. During the latter phases of the development, failure modes and/or software defects are easy to uncover since the final product has been built. At this stage, failure modes and/or software defects are hard and expensive to fix as changes required in the embedded software. The aim of this research was to develop and deploy innovative solutions in order to shift failure modes and/or software defects detection early in automotive product development. The initial research work was conducted through an analysis of failure modes and/or software defects found during a typical Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicle programme development. This preliminary work also then focused on supplier base capability for automotive embedded software development. The research findings from the internal and external analysis, together with the literature review on best practice have driven the development of four solutions. A process called Model-based Product Engineering (MBPE) was created and deployed within JLR. The MBPE process brings together model-based development and other development processes in a standardised form. A new generic Design Verification Interface (DVI) for test exchange and traceability across all MBPE process levels was developed. The generic DVI eliminates or reduces redundant efforts of re-writing test cases and test scripts for automated testing. A semi-formal Standardised Design Verification Method (SDVM) was developed for defining test cases for all vehicle systems in a common template. The SDVM presents test cases as machine readable data and allows auto-generation of test scripts suitable for automated testing. An end-to-end solution called Platform Independent Test System was developed in order to integrate the MBPE, DVI and SDVM solutions. The proposed PITS supports all levels of system abstraction from the test case definition phase to the execution of automated scripts in both offline and real-time test environments. Evaluation results have demonstrated a significant shift in the detection of failure modes and/or software defects towards the early phases of the product development. An early detection of more than 50% of failure modes and/or software defects was achieved. This is a substantial change from the previous state where embedded software validation was conducted only after supplier software release. Furthermore, results have shown a 40% reduction in engineering effort for test scripts creation and a five to tenfold reduction in engineering time for automated testing.

Distonia é o terceiro distúrbio do movimento mais comum. Caracteriza-se por contrações musculares sustentadas ou intermitentes que podem gerar posturas anormais. Nos últimos anos, muitos estudos tentaram relacionar a presença de sintomas não motores como parte da manifestação clínica dessa patologia; no entanto, os resultados ainda são controversos. Objetivo: Avaliar a prevalência de sintomas não motores em pacientes com distonia focal ou segmentar idiopática e seu impacto na qualidade de vida. Métodos: Foram avaliados 80 pacientes e 80 controles sem patologias neurológicas pareados para sexo, idade e anos de estudo. Os pacientes foram questionados quanto ao tempo e gravidade de doença. Dados demográficos, comorbidades e medicações em uso foram coletados de ambos os grupos. Os sintomas não motores foram avaliados por meio de escalas validadas para a população brasileira. Foram avaliados sintomas de depressão, ansiedade, fobia social, apatia, sonolência diurna, qualidade do sono, cognição e dor, assim como qualidade de vida. Resultados: 80 pacientes foram avaliados: 28 com diagnóstico de blefaroespasmo ou distonia de Meige, 28 com distonia cervical ou orocervical e 24 com distonia de membro, em sua maioria, distonia tarefa-específica da escrita (cãibra do escrivão). Os pacientes apresentaram mais sintomas de depressão, ansiedade e apatia do que os controles, assim como uma pior qualidade do sono e mais queixas de dor. Ao avaliarmos pelo tipo de distonia, os pacientes com blefaroespasmo foram os mais sintomáticos com relação a esses sintomas. Qualidade de vida foi pior nos pacientes que nos controles. Conclusões: Pacientes com distonia, principalmente com blefaroespasmo, apresentaram maior prevalência de sintomas de depressão, de ansiedade, de apatia, pior qualidade do sono e dor. Esses sintomas causaram impacto negativo na qualidade de vida desses pacientes / Dystonia is the third most common movement disorder. It´s characterized by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions causing abnormal postures. In recent years many studies have sought to relate the presence of non-motor symptoms as part of clinical manifestation of this disease, however, results are still controversial. Objective: To assess prevalence of non-motor symptoms in patients with idiopathic focal or segmental dystonia and its impact in life quality. Methods: We evaluated 80 patients and 80 healthy controls matched for sex, age and years of schooling. Questions about the time at onset and severity of illness were asked to patients. Clinical and demographic data were noted in both groups. Non-motor symptoms were assessed using validated scales for Brazilian population. We assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety, social phobia, apathy, daytime sleepiness, sleep quality, cognition and pain, as well as quality of life. Results: We evaluated 80 patients: 28 with blepharospasm or Meige syndrome, 28 with cervical or orocervical dystonia and 24 with limb dystonia, mostly with specific writing task dystonia (writer´s cramp). Patients had more symptoms of depression, anxiety and apathy than controls, as well as worse quality of sleep and more pain complaints. Analysing by type of dystonia, patients with blepharospasm were the most symptomatic group in relation to these symptoms. Quality of life was worse in dystonic patients. Conclusions: Patients with dystonia, mainly those with blepharospasm, had a higher prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, apathy, worse quality of sleep and pain. These symptoms had a negative impact on these patients\' quality of life

O objetivo do estudo foi analisar a influencia de uma intervenção motora com Clima Motivacional para a Maestria e aulas de educação física na competência motora, nos níveis de atividade física, no estado nutricional, e na percepção de competência motora de crianças. Para melhor atender os objetivos, a dissertação foi divida em dois artigos: o primeiro analisando o impacto da intervenção e de aulas de educação física escolar na competência motora, nos níveis de atividade física, no índice de massa corporal e na percepção de competência motora de crianças. O segundo artigo analisou o impacto das intervenções nessas mesmas variáveis, no entanto agrupando as crianças do grupo intervenção motora e educação física escolar de acordo com fatores de risco (apresentar dificuldades motora e estar acima do peso). Participaram do primeiro estudo 45 crianças com idade entre 5 e 7 anos divididas em dois grupos: 11 meninos e 10 meninas no grupo intervenção motora 12 meninos e 12 meninas no grupo educação física escolar. Do segundo estudo participaram 43 crianças com idade entre 5 e 7 anos divididas em dois grupos: 11 meninos e 9 meninas no grupo intervenção motora e 12 meninos e 11 meninas no grupo educação física escolar. Para analisar categorizar o desempenho motor foi utilizado o Movement Asssessment Battery for Children – Second Edition (MABC-2) e o Test of Gross Motor Development – Second Edition (TGMD-2); foi utilizado para analisar a competência motora das crianças; a análise do estado nutricional se deu através do cálculo do índice de massa corporal categorizado conforme as curvas do Center Desease Control. Os níveis de atividade física foram mensurados em no mínimo três aulas antes de iniciar as aulas também nas três aulas finais. Para analisar a percepção de competência foi utilizado a escala motora da Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. A metodologia do programa interventivo foi o Clima Motivacional a Maestria implementado através das estratégias estrutura TARGET. Para análise dos dados foram utilizadas estatística descritiva, General Linear Model com medidas repetidas no fator tempo para analisar a influência do programa interventivo nas variáveis. ANOVA One Way e Teste T Pareado foram utilizados como testes de continuidade para analisar as modificações do momento pré para o pós-intervenção e para comparar os grupos. Os resultados mostram que: Artigo 1: somente a intervenção motora influenciou positivamente a motricidade ampla, especificamente as habilidades de locomoção e de controle de objetos, e os níveis de atividade física das crianças. Artigo 2: a) somente as crianças do grupo intervenção motora, independentemente dos subgrupos a que pertenciam (acima do peso com dificuldades motoras, saudáveis com dificuldades motoras ou saudáveis com desenvolvimento típico), apresentaram melhorias na motricidade ampla (habilidades de locomoção e de controle de objetos); b) os níveis de atividade física e a participação no grupo intervenção motora explicaram 9% e 57%, respectivamente, da variação na motricidade ampla das crianças. Concluímos que o programa interventivo foi efetivo para incluir crianças com diferentes características e melhorar o desempenho motor e níveis de atividade física de crianças com e sem dificuldades motoras e de crianças com peso saudável e acima do peso. Os resultados inferem a necessidade de atividades físicas estruturadas e com mediação de professores de educação física para melhorar o desempenho motor e elevar os níveis de atividade física de crianças. / The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of a motor intervention with Mastery Motivational Climate and physical education classes in motor skills, physical activity levels, nutritional status, and perceived motor competence. To better meet the objectives, the dissertation was divided into two articles: one analyzing the impact of intervention and school physical education classes in motor skills, physical activity levels, body mass index and perceived motor competence. The second article examined the impact of interventions in these same variables, but gathering the children's motor intervention and physical education according to risk factors (motor present difficulties and being overweight). Participated in the first study 45 children aged 5 to 7 years divided into two groups: 11 boys and 10 girls in the motor intervention group and 12 boys and 12 girls in school physical education group. The second study participated 43 children aged 5 to 7 years divided into two groups: 11 boys and 9 girls in motor intervention group and 12 boys and 11 girls in school physical education group. To analyze categorize the motor performance we used the Movement Asssessment Battery for Children - Second Edition (MABC-2) and the Test of Gross Motor Development - Second Edition (TGMD-2) was used to analyze the motor skills of children; the analysis of the nutritional status was given by calculating the body mass index categorized as the curves of the Center Disease Control. Physical activity levels were measured in at least three classes before starting classes also in the final three lessons. To analyze the perceived motor competence was used the driving range Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. The methodology of interventional program was the Motivational Climate Mastery implemented through strategies TARGET structure. For data analysis we used descriptive statistics, General Linear Model with repeated measures on the time factor to analyze the influence of intervening variables in the program. One Way ANOVA and paired t test were used as continuity tests to analyze the changes of time pre to post-intervention and to compare groups. The results show that: Article 1: only the motor intervention positively influenced the large motor skills, specifically locomotion skills and control objects, and the physical activity levels of children. Article 2: a) only the children of the motor intervention group, regardless of the sub-groups to which they belonged (overweight with physical, healthy difficulties with mobility or health problems typically developing), showed improvements in the large motor skills (mobility and control skills Objects); b) the levels of physical activity and participation in motor intervention group explained 9% and 57%, respectively, of the wide variation in motor skills of children. We conclude that the intervention program was effective to include children with different characteristics and improve engine performance and physical activity levels of children with and without motor difficulties and children with healthy weight and overweight. The results infer the need for structured physical activities and mediation of physical education teachers to improve engine performance and increase the physical activity levels of children.

Revestimentos eletrodepositados de cromo duro são amplamente usados em áreas onde se necessite de alta resistência ao desgaste aliado com relativa adequada resistência à corrosão. Apenas alguns micrometros de camada são suficientes para garantir uma redução no coeficiente de fricção e garantir proteção contra corrosão nos mais diversos substratos, possibilitando o uso de materiais base menos nobres em situações severas de aplicação. Um dos principais ramos da indústria que utiliza o cromo duro é a automotiva, e dentre as tantas aplicações podemos citar componentes de motores. Entretanto, durante a última década cresceram os esforços para a substituição do cromo duro devido a sua alta toxicidade. Neste meio tempo, revestimentos de níquel químico ligados ao fósforo (Ni-P) tem ocupado um espaço considerável em aplicações onde a resistência à corrosão e desgaste são primordiais. Baseado nisso, este trabalho visa obter revestimentos em válvulas de escape de motores diesel fabricadas em aço inoxidável de Ni-P com alto teor de fósforo (9-10% de P) aplicando tratamentos térmicos adequados para melhorar suas propriedades. A caracterização foi feita através de ensaios de desgaste, corrosão e avaliação microestrutural comparando com revestimentos de cromo duro atualmente utilizados neste componente mecânico. Resultados obtidos após ensaio tribológico do tipo “ball on plate” utilizando-se uma contra face de Al2O3 e analisando-se o coeficiente de fricção, a microestrutura, o tamanho e a composição química da trilha de desgaste mostram que o tratamento térmico em revestimentos de Ni-P aumenta consideravelmente a sua resistência ao desgaste. Tal resultado possivelmente está ligado a alteração estrutural de uma solução sólida supersaturada amorfa de fósforo em níquel encontrada em depósitos de Ni-P como depositados para a formação de crsitalitos de níquel e precipitados de de fosfeto de nóquel (Ni3P) que ocorrem em temperaturas de 320ºC a 360ºC. Além do mais, os resultados foram amplamente superiores quando comparados ao cromo duro. No que diz respeito a resistência à corrosão, ensaios eletroquímicos de polarização potenciodinâmica e impedância eletroquímica realizados em solução de condensado sintético que reproduz o ambiente do motor mostram novamente que o tratamento térmico age de forma benéfica nos revestimentos de Ni-P, e que até mesmo revestimentos de níquel fósforo não tratados apresentam melhor proteção contra à corrosão se comparados com o depósito de cromo duro. A razão para a melhora em termos de resistência a corrosão provavelmente esteja relacionada ao mesmo fenômeno citado acima. Por fim, revestimentos de Ni-P quando devidamente tratados termicamente se apresentam como promissores na substituição de revestimentos de cromo duro para recobrimento de hastes de válvulas de escape de motores diesel. / Electrodeposited hard chromium coatings are widely used in several areas where wear resistance must be a fundamental property. Only a few microns’ thick layer deposited on a varied range of substrates is capable to reduce considerably their friction coefficient as well as their mass loss during application of a load under dynamic movement. This special ability has always made hard chromium a vital allied of industry, especially in automotive manufacturers. However, over the last decade the efforts to replace hard chromium coatings has increased especially due to environmental concerns related to chemical products involved in the deposition process. Nowadays, several environmental friendly alternatives have been studied in order to substitute hard chromium without loss of the most important properties for a specific case. Following this line of reasoning, one of the most studied coating process in the past 10 years is the electroless nickel plating (Ni-P). In this present study was evaluated the influence of heat treatment on electroless high phosphorus nickel coating (9-10% P wt.) applied on diesel engine exhaust valves. In addition, both untreated and treated Ni-P deposits were then compared to current used electroplated hard chromium coatings in terms of wear, corrosion and microstructural behaviour. The wear behaviour of the Ni-P samples was investigated through a non-lubricated “ball on plate” test carried out against an Al2O3 counter-face. After an analysis of the friction coefficient, microstructure of the worn surface, width and chemical composition of the wear track, was possible to conclude that the heat treatment affect positively the wear resistance of Ni-P coatings, probably due to a structural change from amorphous supersatured solid solution of phosphorus in nickel to a crystalline structure of nickel crystallites and nickel phosphides (Ni3P) occurred between 320ºC and 360ºC. Moreover, Ni-P heat treated coatings showed better results when compared to electroplated hard chromium deposits. In terms of corrosion resistance, heat treated Ni-P coatings showed considerably better results when analyzed in synthetic condensate solution, probably due to the same microstructural phenomena cited above. Finally, Ni-P as-deposited and heat treated coatings showed better corrosion results when compared to electroplated hard chromium deposits in synthetic condensate media, hence acting as a natural alternative for recovering diesel engine exhaust valves instead chromium coatings.