FeCrAl alloys are being investigated as candidate materials for replacing zirconium based alloys as nuclear reactor fuel cladding because of their superior high temperature oxidation resistance in steam environments. Unirradiated FeCrAl as well as Fe²⁺ ion irradiated FeCrAl to a peak dose of 20DPA were mechanically tested and compared against each other. Nanohardness tests were performed on both the unirradiated and irradiated conditions and it was found that the irradiated alloy was about 1GPa harder than its unirradiated counterpart. TEM <i>in situ</i> tensile tests were performed using the Bruker push to pull device alongside a PI95 Picoindenter on single crystals with grain orientations 001, 011 and 111. The unirradiated 001 grains tended to fail without yielding in a brittle manner while the irradiated 001 grain yielded and reached an ultimate tensile strength before failure. The unirradiated 011 grains behaved in a mixed manner, where one failed without yielding and one slipped many times before failing. The irradiated 011 grain yielded and failed quickly thereafter. The unirradiated 111 grain yielded, slipped and twinned before failing and both irradiated 111 grains slipped. Two general trends were observed. One, each unirradiated single grain was stronger than its irradiated counterpart. This trend is indicative of the ion irradiated microstructure facilitating bulklike mechanical behavior in the irradiated samples whereas the unirradiated samples exhibited mechanical size effects due to either the total lack of preexisting defects or the ability for existing defects to escape easily to the surface of the sample resulting in a pristine, defect free sample. Two, regardless of irradiation condition, the 001 grain orientation was brittle, the 011 grain orientation deformed in a mixed brittle/ductile manner and the 111 grain orientation was ductile through all tests. These results are indicative of the geometry of the BCC crystal structure and the slip system involving these orientations.

Für die Luftqualitätsbewertung in Städten sind Informationen zur raumzeitlichen Variabilität luftgetragener Feinstäube auf kleiner Skala von wichtiger Bedeutung. Standardisierte Messverfahren, zur Bestimmung von Partikelkonzentrationen, sind mit hohem Aufwand verbunden, weshalb dichte Messnetze fehlen. Partikelausbreitungsmodelle sind kompliziert in der Anwendung und/oder benötigen hohe Computerrechenleistung. Infolgedessen gibt es bezüglich örtlicher Partikelkonzentrationen große Informationslücken. Diese Arbeit untersucht die mikroskalige Variabilität von Aerosolen in Raum und Zeit mit unterschiedlichen Methoden. Es wurden Erhebungen mit mobilen Sensoren und eine Passantenbefragung durchgeführt. Weiterhin wurden in dieser Arbeit die physikalischen Partikeltransportmodelle ENVI-met und Austal2000 in ihrer Leistung bewertet und in angewandten Studien eingesetzt. Weiterhin wurde ein neuronales Netzwerk zur Vorhersage von Partikelkonzentrationen entwickelt. Die Untersuchungen erfolgten in den Städten Aachen und Münster. Es konnten unerwartete Verteilungsmuster hinsichtlich der Massekonzentration von Partikeln beobachtet werden. In einem innerstädtischen Park wurden diffuse Partikelquellen identifiziert, mit einem deutlichen Hinweis darauf, dass feuchtgelagerte Wegedecken einen maßgeblichen Anteil an lokalen Partikelimmissionen hatten. Weiterhin wurde Straßenverkehr als wichtiger Beitrag zum städtischen Aerosol identifiziert. Passanten, die verschiedenen Partikelkonzentrationen ausgesetzt waren, konnten diese perzeptiv nicht unterscheiden. Simulationsergebnisse von Austal2000 und ENVI-met wiesen Unterschätzungen im Vergleich zu Messwerten auf. Das entwickelte neuronale Netzwerk prognostizierte Partikelkonzentrationen teilweise mit hoher Genauigkeit. Das große Potenzial von neuronalen Netzen für die Vorhersage von Partikelkonzentrationen in räumlicher und zeitlicher Ausdehnung, auch für den Bereich der Luftqualitätsüberwachung, wurde aufgezeigt. / Knowledge about the micro-scale variability of airborne particles is a crucial criterion for air quality assessment within complex terrains such as urban areas. Due to the significant costs and time consumption related to the work required for standardized measurements of particle concentrations, dense monitoring networks are regularly missing. Models that simulate the transmission of particles are often difficult to use and/or computationally expensive. As a result, information regarding on-site particle concentrations at small scales is still limited. This thesis explores the micro-scale variability of aerosol concentrations in space and time using different methods. Experimental fieldwork, including measurements with mobile sensor equipment alongside a survey, and modeling approaches were conducted. Applied simulation studies, a performance assessment of two popular particle dispersion models, namely Austal2000 and ENVI-met, as well as the development of an ANN model are presented. The cities of Aachen and Münster were chosen as case studies for this research. Unexpected patterns of particle mass concentrations could be observed, including the identification of diffuse particle sources inside a park area with strong evidence that unpaved surfaces contributed to local aerosol concentration. In addition, vehicle traffic was proved to be a major contributor of particles, particularly close to traffic lanes. Results of the survey reveal that people were not able to distinguish between different aerosol concentration levels. Austal2000 and ENVI-met turned out to have room for improvement in terms of the reproduction of observed particle concentration levels, with both models having a tendency toward underestimation. The newly developed ANN model was confirmed to be a fairly accurate tool for predicting aerosol concentrations in both space and time, and demonstrates the principal ability of the approach also in the domain of air quality monitoring.

The paper presents a meso-scopic modeling framework for the simulation of three-phase composite consisting of a brittle cementitious matrix and reinforcing AR-glass yarns impregnated with epoxy resin. The construction of the model is closely related to the experimental program covering both the meso-scale test (yarn tensile test and double sided pull-out test) and the macro-scale test in the form of tensile test on the textile reinforced concrete specimen. The predictions obtained using the model are validated using a-posteriori performed experiments.

A wide range of research fields have studied how emotions and behavior are affected by the physical environment. This gestalt theorist approach of experimental research as well seeks to measure emotion (using the valence-arousal scale) and micro-scale community development interactions when weighted physical environment factors are adjusted. Community development (CD) interactions at the micro-scale have received but slight attention from scholars in the CD research field and this study aims partially to investigate developing objective measures from social observations. CD interactions from recordings along with self-reported emotion through surveys in four quasi-experimental groups (where the environments were constructed based on peer-reviewed literature to cause emotional reactions) and one control group made up the data collected for this experiment. While the results of this experiment displayed apparent convincing quantitative differences in both CD interactions and emotion when the physical environment was manipulated, the results of a one-way ANOVA indicated no statistical significance to either dependent variable. The conclusions suggest limiting the physical factors of the environment to produce more precise changes as a result of the manipulated quasi environments.

L’impression 2.5D est une technologie à mi-chemin entre l’impression couleur traditionnelle, à laquelle elle emprunte son procédé et la qualité de reproduction des couleurs, et l’impression 3D qui crée des reliefs et des formes. Par ses qualités visuelles, elle pourrait permettre la reproduction réaliste de multiples surfaces, mais un frein s’oppose à cette perspective : les encres brillent. En modulant la rugosité des surfaces imprimées à l'échelle du micromètre, en fréquence et en amplitude, nous avons réussi à réduire et contrôler le brillant des encres. Des stratégies d'impression différentes ont été proposées et étudiées pour diminuer l’effet scintillant et permettre l’impression d’une couche couleur mate : la création d'un espace à cinq dimensions dans lequel le brillant et la couleur sont modélisés aboutit à l'uniformisation des niveaux de brillant colorés. Les protocoles d'impression développés ont ensuite été appliqués à des cas concrets issus de la conservation – restauration du patrimoine. Plusieurs exemples distincts sont présentés, qui abordent un point particulier sur lequel l’impression 2.5D est pertinente: comblement de lacune, création de répliques réalistes, intérêt de l'aspect visuel mat pour la lisibilité des œuvres. / 2.5D printing is between traditional color printing, for the process and its visual quality, and 3D printing, which makes forms and reliefs by ink superposition. Because of its properties, 2.5D printing could allow the realistic reproduction of objects and surfaces, but inks are too glossy. To reduce and control this glossy aspect of inks, we modulate the roughness of the printed layers, at the micro-scale, both in frequency and amplitude. Influence of parameters was measured, and different strategies were suggested to reduce sparkle and to allow the creation of matte colored layers: by constituting a 5D space where gloss and color are modeled, we can make gloss level of colored surfaces uniform.Several case studies form the Conservation of Cultural Heritage were considered, where 2.5D printing could help the curator, the conservator or the archivist. We studied in particular the issues of the the gap filling on an archaeological object, the realistic reproduction of surfaces, and the creation of matte objects for readability.

PtNiAl bond coats are diffusion aluminide coatings deposited on superalloy based turbine blades for oxidation resistance and improved adhesion between the substrate and the YSZ thermal barrier coating on top. They are deposited by pack aluminisation, which makes their microstructure inherently graded and heterogeneous as well as replete with a variety of precipitates and second phase particles. The microstructure also continuously evolves during thermal cycling, because of interdiffusion with the substrate and the continuous loss of Al to the thermally grown oxide scale on top. During service, the bond coats are exposed to impact, thermal expansion mismatch, thermo-mechanical fatigue and inter-diffusion accompanied by phase transformation, which become leading causes of their failure. The bond coats being B2 crystal structures are known to be brittle at room temperature, due to which they are expected to fail during cooling, although they undergo plastic relaxation by creep above the BDTT. Little attention has been paid to the mechanical response of the bond coats, while a number of studies focus on optimizing their composition for oxidation resistance. The fracture properties of these coatings, in particular, are not very well understood due to the several different length scales of their complex microstructure playing a part. In this context, there is an interest in determination of the fracture toughness of bond coats under different loading and temperature conditions. In the present work, the fracture properties of bond coats is measured with micron-scale resolution using edge notched doubly clamped microbeam structures positioned at individual zones of the graded bond coat, subjected to bending. In order to extract the stress intensity factor for this new configuration and to determine the stress distribution and stability of this geometry under different loading conditions, extended finite element analysis (XFEM) is carried out. After establishing the microbeam geometry as a viable fracture toughness testing configuration, the contribution of different microstructural variables to toughening at room temperature is studied using SEM based in-situ testing. Since the exact composition and structure of the coating depends principally on the elements constituting the matrix-Pt, Ni and Al content, which themselves depend on the deposition parameters, we have examined in detail, coatings aluminised at different temperatures (increasing coating thickness), varying Al content in the pack mixture and starting Pt thicknesses during electro-deposition. These parameters are by no means exhaustive and there is wide scope to investigate the effect of other processing variables as well as their synergistic effects on the mechanical behavior of these coatings. Following this, the high temperature fracture behavior of the stand-alone coatings in tension is also studied to determine their brittle to ductile transition mechanism in the presence of a notch. While this covers the average behavior of the entire coating cross-section, such a study is important to establish the BDTT unambiguously since there are chances of under-estimation of these temperatures in the absence of a notch. Also free¬standing coatings without the underlying substrate offer respite from residual stresses influencing the results of such tests. The present study essentially consists of two distinct parts, one focused on the development of the testing technique to cover multiple length scales of any graded thin film or coating and the other on the determination of fracture properties of the bond coat using these methods. The thesis reads in the following way: Chapter 1 gives an introduction to the diffusion aluminised bond coats, with a focus on the failure mechanisms associated with them while underlying the need for small scale testing in these systems. The conditions driving failure in bond coats can be vast and varied and it is extremely difficult to pin-point a single important cause and also to develop predictive capabilities regarding their failure. This is described as the motivation for the present work, with an objective of finding the variation in fracture toughness values for PtNiAl bond coats of different coating thicknesses and Pt content across the temperature range spanning the BDTT of the sample. Chapter 2 describes in detail all the available literature on thermal barrier coatings in general, and diffusion aluminide bond coats in particular, while specifically highlighting its mechanical response to loads during service. The deposition parameters during pack aluminizing and the graded microstructure which develops as a consequence of the diffusion process are described. The material’s microstructure dictates its properties, but there has been limited work on the mechanical behavior of the coatings themselves due to the difficulty in preparation and testing of free-standing films of the same. Since the base matrix is that of β¬NiAl, and there has been extensive work reported on bulk NiAl in the literature, which is discussed next. This would serve as a benchmark for comparison with the properties of the bond coats themselves, which are expected to respond differently due to their continuously evolving and complex microstructure. A summary of the known mechanical properties of the coatings themselves is given next along with the failure mechanisms that have been proposed. Since the study deals with fracture properties, a short introduction of linear elastic fracture mechanics follows before elaborating on the various small scale fracture testing geometries that have been developed. There are specific differences between testing geometries, stress states as well as in the instrumentation between small scale and bulk fracture toughness tests, which are highlighted. Since these configurations are material and device specific, each group has worked out its own instrument capabilities and mechanics required to extract the mechanical properties of interest from these testing techniques. Due to these differences in addition to the differences in the size scales of the samples tested, the reported properties show a wide variation. Lack of standards add to the difficulty in interpretation of the data; moreover add to the controversy on whether a size effect exists for fracture, as it does for strength. All the non-standard small scale testing configurations require modeling and simulation to extract the desired properties from them, and the present study applies the XFEM to determine the stress distribution and calculate the stress intensity factors corresponding to the fracture loads recorded from experiments. An introduction to the XFEM method is given in the last part. Chapter 3 gives all the experimental and simulation procedures that were carried out in the present work. Since the bond coat properties need to be compared with their bulk counterparts, both the samples are characterized. The exact material compositions chosen for the study were plain NiAl, 2PtAl and 5PtAl among the pack aluminized coatings and bulk arc-melted PtNiAl samples with varying concentrations of Ni and Pt which matched the bond coat matrix compositions. The choice of the three coatings was made depending on the previously known information regarding their microstructure. The deposition conditions, temperature and times of annealing are listed, followed by a brief summary of the general characterization techniques used to study the microstructure of the bond coats before and after fracture testing. Since the micro-beams under bending were fabricated using a focused ion beam, and the micro-tensile specimen were machined by electro-discharge machining, both the micro-machining procedures are described. At such small length scales, conventional testing methods cannot be used and several modifications were incorporated to the testing geometries which are described in the next section which covers two principal fracture testing methods-microbeam bending and mini-tensile testing, along with the advantages and limitations of each. Modeling is an indispensable tool for determining stress distributions in such new geometric configurations involving material property variations, and details of the exact XFEM procedure that was implemented in ABAQUS is given in the last part of this chapter. Chapter 4 summarises the microstructure and indentation properties of the bond coat and bulk NiAl samples characterised using X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and nanoindentation. XRD was used for phase identification, texture and determination of lattice parameters of the specimen, which confirmed β-NiAl (with no texture) as the matrix with the lattice parameter varying as a function of composition. The SEM-EPMA combination was used for probing the compositional and microstructural gradients, grain size and precipitate distribution across the coating cross-sections. The bond coat was found to have 4 distinct zones with the Ni:Al ratio gradually rising across its thickness. In addition to this, the four zones had very different grain sizes, precipitate type and distributions. Hardness and modulus values were reported from nanoindentation measurements across the coating thickness over a temperature range from 25 to 400˚C and were seen to follow the composition gradients in different ways based on the effect of the off-stoichiometric defects on these properties. The hardness was found to be a minimum for the zone with stoichiometric composition, as was the case in the bulk sample, while the modulus dropped continuously with increasing Ni content in the matrix. These are important to develop a one-to-one correlation with the fracture properties and to understand the micro-mechanisms of the same. Chapter 5 gets on with the specifics of the testing geometry. Since most of the variables of the testing technique were studied using simulation procedures, a large part of this chapter deals with the results from the modeling technique using XFEM. The XFEM is introduced in detail and its applicability in modeling of cracks and discontinuities and advantages over conventional FEM are explained. The material properties are taken from the nanoindentation data and the modeling assumes linear elastic fracture mechanics. As a validation measurement, a conventional three point beam is modeled in bending and the results compared with analytical solutions of the same. The three point beam bending geometry is also used as a benchmark to study the stability of the new geometry, now with fixed boundaries in place of a free ends. This is followed by the results from the modeling for different variables like mesh density, notch root radius, loading offsets, beam dimensions and crack length (a)/specimen width (W) ratios where both the stress distribution as well as KI are captured in 3-D for stationary cracks while crack trajectories are obtained for propagating cracks. The notch root radius is seen to not affect KI below ~300 nm and such notch radii are easily machinable in the FIB at lower currents. The crack trajectory from the experiments is seen to follow the direction of maximum tangential stress, which is also modeled very well in the XFEM. The contribution of KII to the measured stress intensity factor with increasing offsets is also calculated from the model. Stable cracking is seen for the clamped beam geometry, with KI dropping off beyond a critical a/W ratio. This was true even for a model assuming homogeneous, elastic properties with a flat R-curve under load control. This makes the clamped beam structure require higher loads for continued propagation of cracks. This critical ratio is dimension dependent, making a shorter thicker beam stable in comparison to a longer, slender one. This is unusual, especially in comparison to the three point bend geometry which shows stable cracking only in displacement control, specifically for large a/W ratios alone. Also superimposition of the load-displacement curves from simulations with those of experiments gives a good-fit. The experimental results are shown next to back¬up the claims made on geometric stability of such clamped structures. Digital Image Correlation is introduced as a means for direct measurement of crack opening displacements (COD) and fracture toughness without the aid of KI formulations. This also served as a cross¬check on the assumptions of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) made in the simulation and a good correlation is seen between the CODs measured experimentally and that obtained from the FEM analysis. Fracture toughness measurements of brittle materials with known KIC values, like fused silica glass and single crystal Si film from this proposed geometry are reported as additional validation of this geometry. Further the capabilities of in-situ testing using this geometry to measure R-curve and fatigue properties along with the initiation KIC values are shown via results from monotonic and cyclic loading under different conditions. Chapter 6 returns to address bond coat fracture at room temperature, which is the main objective of the present study. Fracture toughness is evaluated both ex-situ and in-situ, using clamped microbeam bending experiments across individual zones of the 5PtAl bond coat and for different initial Pt contents in the zone 2. KIC is seen to rise sharply with increasing Ni content of the matrix in the former case, from 5 to 15 MPam1/2 which is attributed to the change in defect chemistry with changing stoichiometry. Al rich NiAl is found to be more brittle due to vacancy hardening while Ni rich NiAl is known to increase the metallic character of the NiAl bond. Both Ni rich and Pt rich (Pt,Ni)Al give higher toughnesses among the coatings studied while the crack trajectories and toughening mechanisms distinctly depend on the precipitate morphology in individual zones. Alloying additions are seen to add to the complexity of the fracture behavior of bond coats by strengthening the matrix or by improving its ductility. Micro-kinking, grain boundary and precipitate bridging are seen in the crack wake as contributing factors to partial closure of the crack on unload. The influence of each of the microstructural variable on the fracture mode is dissected in detail before coming to an overall conclusion. The microbeams show controlled, stable cracking, which enable following of the crack trajectories across micron-length scales and make R-curve measurements possible. Both 2PtAl and 5PtAl compositions show a rising R-curve within the length scale of an individual microbeam tested. Size and geometric effects on real vs apparent R-curve behavior are discussed at the end of the chapter. Chapter 7 addresses a different area of high temperature fracture of bond coats, which becomes relevant in terms of determination of brittle to ductile transition temperature (BDTT) in notched specimen and in evaluating topography after failure across this temperature range. This set of tests is designed to measure fracture toughness and study the fracture mode along the temperature scale to exactly identify the BDTT for a given bond coat composition and strain rate, below which the coating undergoes brittle catastrophic fracture and beyond which it creeps and relaxes plastically at very low stresses. Notched free¬standing bond coat specimens are pulled in uni-axial tension to fracture and the stress at failure is used to calculate the average fracture toughness of the bond coat. The stress-strain curve shows linear elastic behavior upto the BDTT of the bond coat as expected, beyond which it becomes increasingly plastic. The KIC is seen to rise marginally upto 750˚C beyond which it showed a significant increase, from which the BDTT was calculated to be ~775˚C for notched samples. The KIC is not reported beyond the BDTT due to irrelevance of LEFM after macroscopic plasticity sets in. Fracture mode is seen to change from transgranular cleavage below the BDTT to void coalescence and ductile rupture beyond it. The experimental challenges, differences in the through thickness KIC’s obtained from tensile tests vis a vi bend tests (due to changing stress states and size scales), as well as mechanisms of ductile to brittle transition in the context of previously available literature are discussed. Chapter 8 gives the closure and important conclusions from the present work. It summarises the key results from the testing technique and highlights the proposed mechanisms which bring about a rising fracture toughness with both increasing Ni:Al ratio across the bond coat cross-section and across individual micro-beams themselves. Some new techniques and geometries which can be adopted for fracture property determination, on which work was initiated but not complete, are also proposed. The last part of the chapter deals with the future implications of the results found and some open threads and challenges on bond coat optimisiation for different properties, which are yet to be dealt with.

L’engouement mondial pour les appareils nomades et la course à la sobriété énergétique font de la diminution de la taille des systèmes microélectroniques (MEMS) un enjeu majeur pour les prochaines années. Les micro batteries au lithium sont aujourd'hui le moyen le plus efficace pour stocker et alimenter des dispositifs avec une très forte densité énergétique. Les incorporer dans des cartes de crédit comportant un écran et des touches intégrés est l’un des défis que relèvent les multinationales comme ST Micro Electronics. Ces micro batteries contiennent cependant du lithium métallique qui peut s'avérer très dangereux quand il est en contact avec de l’eau ou de l’air humide. Ainsi, afin de protéger les composants à une exposition à l’humidité, une encapsulation de l’ensemble de la batterie est nécessaire. L'encapsulation polymère a l’avantage, comparativement à d’autres matériaux, de présenter un faible coût de mise en forme et un faible poids. Cependant, de tels systèmes d'encapsulation sont aujourd'hui insuffisants pour garantir une durée de vie de plusieurs années des composants car en présence d’humidité ou d’une variation de température importante la tenue mécanique des assemblages peut être fragilisée. L'objectif de la thèse est donc de réaliser et d'étudier le comportement mécanique et structural d’assemblage de couches minces de polymères et de métaux en température et en humidité. Deux types de polymères ont été choisis pour ce projet :1. Le chlorure de polyvinylidène (PVDC), un polymère commercial très utilisé pour ses bonnes propriétés barrières à l'eau 2. Un oligomère acrylate reticulable par voie thermique et UV synthétisé au sein de l'IMMM. / The increasing number of mobile devices and the race to energy sobriety make the decrease of the size of microelectronic systems (MEMS) a major challenge. Today, Lithium micro batteries are currently the best solution for high-power-and-energy applications. Incorporate them into credit cards containing a screen or associate them to electronic sensors for the supervision is the challenge which raises international companies such as ST Microelectronics. However, these micro batteries contain some lithium metal which can be dangerous if the metallic lithium is in contact with water or humid air. In addition, the substance can spontaneously ignite in the contact of the humidity. So, in order to avoid the problems of safety, we absolutely have to protect the lithium contained in our micro batteries using an encapsulation layer. Polymeric encapsulation has the advantage, compared with other materials (ceramic, metal), to present a moderate cost of shaping and a low weight. However, such systems of encapsulation are today insufficient to guarantee a satisfactory life cycle of components. Indeed, in the presence of humidity or of a too important temperature variation, the mechanical assemblies can be weakened and engender an irreparable break. The objective of the thesis is therefore to realize and study the mechanical and structural behavior of assembly of thin layers of polymers and metals in temperature and humidity.Two types of polymers were selected for this project:1. Polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), a commercial polymer widely used for its good barrier properties to water.2. A thermally and UV-crosslinkable acrylate oligomer synthesized in the IMMM.

The paper presents a meso-scopic modeling framework for the simulation of three-phase composite consisting of a brittle cementitious matrix and reinforcing AR-glass yarns impregnated with epoxy resin. The construction of the model is closely related to the experimental program covering both the meso-scale test (yarn tensile test and double sided pull-out test) and the macro-scale test in the form of tensile test on the textile reinforced concrete specimen. The predictions obtained using the model are validated using a-posteriori performed experiments.

<p>    </p> <p>Additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) is one of the manufacturing processes which is currently being explored for its applicability under space boundary conditions, also known as in-space manufacturing. The space boundary conditions specifically affect material properties which in turn affect the printability of materials in space. Printing of soft materials in space is a novel application and the intent of this research was to print the softest of materials: edible materials, as a case study. 3D food printing is a novel food delivery method of using food products to either reproduce as a more aesthetically pleasing product or to print more nutrient-diverse foods. Launch of payload carrier and the boundary conditions of low Earth orbit including a vacuum environment, microgravity, temperature fluctuations, etc. These conditions make printing difficult, and my thesis is to overcome the boundary conditions (except microgravity) using a 3D soft material printer operating within a CubeSat. A CubeSat is a small satellite usually launched as an auxiliary payload used for basic Earth observation and radio communication. The printer must be able to survive launch and operation conditions, print within a simulated space environment, and adhere to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specific definition of additive manufacturing. The 3D soft material printer was designed, fabricated, and tested using space and CubeSat boundary conditions for determining optimal design. Testing conditions including: (1) printing under Earth conditions showing it follows ASTM standards, (2) surviving NASA standards for vibration testing for microsatellites under launch conditions, (3) completing a print under a vacuum setting. The results of the testing would prove a small microsatellite could print in the vacuum of space and survive launch parameters. Further work would provide insight into the design of food printers being readily available in smaller sizes and its operability in microgravity condition. </p>

This thesis explores the viability of various energy harvesting technologies for powering micro-scale IoT devices in outdoor environments, specifically for products developed by Thule Sweden AB. Through a comprehensive literature review and experimental testing, we evaluated the performance of solar panels and piezoelectric systems to identify sustainable power solutions that could replace or reduce dependence on traditional battery power. Our methodology involved controlled laboratory tests and real-world applications on car roof boxes and bike trailers to assess the technologies under practical conditions. The experiments aimed to achieve a minimum daily energy output of 20 Joules. This target was chosen with reference to the energy consumption data of a specific IoT device used by Thule. The results demonstrated that while both solar and piezoelectric technologies have their possibilities and limitations, they hold promise for integration into IoT applications, offering a step towards more sustainable product designs. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of energy harvesting’s potential to reduce environmental impact and enhance the self-sufficiency of energy production in outdoor IoT applications. / Denna avhandling undersöker genomförbarheten av olika teknologier för energiutvinning för att driva mikroskaliga IoT-enheter i utomhusmiljöer, specifikt för produkter utvecklade av Thule Sweden AB. Genom en omfattande litteraturöversikt och experimentella tester utvärderade vi prestandan hos solpaneler och piezoelektriska system i syfte att identifiera hållbara energilösningar som kunde ersätta eller minska beroendet av traditionella batterier. Vår metodik inkluderade både kontrollerade laboratorietester och praktiska tillämpningar på takboxar och cykelkärror för att bedöma teknologierna under praktiska förhållanden. Experimenten syftade till att uppnå en minsta daglig energiproduktion på 20 joule. Detta mål baseras på energiförbrukningsdata från en specifik IoT-enhet som används av Thule. Resultaten visade att även om både sol- och piezoelektriska teknologier har sina fördelar och begränsningar, har de potential för integration i IoT-applikationer, vilket erbjuder ett steg mot mer hållbara produktdesigner. Dessa fynd bidrar till en bredare förståelse för energiutvinningens potential att minska miljöpåverkan och förbättra självförsörjningen av energiproduktion för IoT-applikationer utomhus.