This thesis presents a detailed investigation of the performance limiting factors of long wavelength infrared (LWIR) and very long wavelength infrared (VLWIR) p on n HgCdTe detectors through numerical simulations at 77 K incorporating all considerable generation-recombination mechanisms including trap assisted tunneling (TAT), Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH), Auger and radiative processes. Numerical simulations under dark and illuminated conditions were performed with different absorber layer thicknesses, material compositions (cut-off wavelengths), trap density, and trap energy level. The results identify the relative strength of the dark current generation mechanisms by numerically extracting the contribution of each G-R mechanism on the detector characteristics with various cut off wavelengths and practically achievable material parameters. While the provided information can be used as a guide for optimizing the device processing conditions and detector structure, it also enlights the importance of various intrinsic mechanisms on the detector sensitivity. The results show that the dominant sensitivity degrading trap level depends on the detector cut-off wavelength being about 0.7Eg for LWIR HgCdTe sensors (cut-off wavelength=10 &micro / m) instead of 0.5Eg which is generally believed to be the most efficient R-G level. TAT related 1/f noise dominates the sensor noise even under small reverse bias voltages at a trap density as low as 1E14 cm-3 for sensors with cut-off wavelength &gt / 11 &micro / m. Considering the fact that trap densities below this level are rarely reported for HgCdTe material, exceptionally trap-free material is required to achieve desirable imaging performance with these sensors. Simulation results show that Auger mechanism has twofold effect on the sensitivity of the sensor by increasing the dark current and decreasing the photo current of the detector. As to our knowledge, this work is one of the most comprehensive simulation based investigations of the HgCdTe detector performance providing important results that can be used as a guide for optimization of the detector performance in order to meet the demanding requirements of the third generation thermal imagers.

The relative dispersion of one fluid particle with respect to another is fundamentally related to the transport and mixing of contaminant species in turbulent flows. The most basic consequence of Kolmogorov's 1941 similarity hypotheses for relative dispersion, the Richardson-Obukhov law that mean-square pair separation distance grows with the cube of time at intermediate times in the inertial subrange, is notoriously difficult to observe in the environment, laboratory, and direct numerical simulations (DNS). Inertial subrange scaling in size parameters like the mean-square pair separation requires careful adjustment for the initial conditions of the dispersion process as well as a very wide range of scales (high Reynolds number) in the flow being studied. However, the statistical evolution of the shapes of clusters of more than two particles has already exhibited statistical invariance at intermediate times in existing DNS. This invariance is identified with inertial-subrange scaling and is more readily observed than inertial-subrange scaling for seemingly simpler quantities such as the mean-square pair separation Results from dispersion of clusters of four particles (called tetrads) in large-scale DNS at grid resolutions up to 4096 points in each of three directions and Taylor-scale Reynolds numbers from 140 to 1000 are used to explore the question of statistical universality in measures of the size and shape of tetrahedra in homogeneous isotropic turbulence in distinct scaling regimes at very small times (ballistic), intermediate times (inertial) and very late times (diffusive). Derivatives of fractional powers of the mean-square pair separation with respect to time normalized by the characteristic time scale at the initial tetrad size constitute a powerful technique in isolating cubic time scaling in the mean-square pair separation. This technique is applied to the eigenvalues of a moment-of-inertia-like tensor formed from the separation vectors between particles in the tetrad. Estimates of the proportionality constant "g" in the Richardson-Obukhov law from DNS at a Taylor-scale Reynolds number of 1000 converge towards the value g=0.56 reported in previous studies. The exit time taken by a particle pair to first reach successively larger thresholds of fixed separation distance is also briefly discussed and found to have unexplained dependence on initial separation distance for negative moments, but good inertial range scaling for positive moments. The use of diffusion models of relative dispersion in the inertial subrange to connect mean exit time to "g" is also tested and briefly discussed in these simulations. Mean values and probability density functions of shape parameters including the triangle aspect ratio "w," tetrahedron volume-to-gyration radius ratio, and normalized moment-of-inertia eigenvalues are all found to approach invariant forms in the inertial subrange for a wider range of initial separations than size parameters such as mean-square gyration radius. These results constitute the clearest evidence to date that turbulence has a tendency to distort and elongate multiparticle configurations more severely in the inertial subrange than it does in the diffusive regime at asymptotically late time. Triangle statistics are found to be independent of initial shape for all time beyond the ballistic regime. The development and testing of different schemes for parallelizing the cubic spline interpolation procedure for particle velocities needed to track particles in DNS is also covered. A "pipeline" method of moving batches of particles from processor to processor is adopted due to its low memory overhead, but there are challenges in achieving good performance scaling.

The flow past the needle of a Pelton turbine injector is an axisymmetric wake embedded in a round jet. The wake does not fully relax to yield a uniform velocity jet due to the short distance between injector and the Pelton wheel buckets and this non-uniformity affects the turbine efficiency. To minimize the non-uniformity, it is essential to predict the near wake accurately. While far-field wakes are well described by analytical expressions and also well predicted by CFD codes, the quality of the prediction of axisymmetric near wakes is not known. It is of practical interest to establish the applicability bounds of the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models, which are commonly used in industry, for axisymmetric near wakes, for this specific problem, as well as, in general. Understanding of the near wake is crucial considering various aerospace applications. For example the details of the aerodynamics of the near wake are crucial for stabilization of a flame. The size of recirculation zone affects the rate of production of hot burnt products, and the mixing between the products and reactants is governed by the turbulence in the free shear layers. Wakes from two-dimensional bodies such as a wedge, circular and square cylinder have been extensively studied at different Reynolds number (Re); however, this is not the case with three-dimensional axisymmetric bodies such as spheres, ellipsoids, disks etc. Most common axisymmetric body investigated is a sphere. The flow past sphere is typically characterized in three regions: sub critical, critical and supercritical. In sub critical region, Re<3x105 the boundary layer separation is laminar. Critical region, Re≈3x105, is where the boundary layer transitions to turbulent and then separates resulting in sudden drag reduction. The critical Re may vary depending on flow conditions such as turbulent intensities, sphere surface variations etc. In the supercritical region, Re > 3x105, the boundary layer is turbulent before separation and the drag starts increasing beyond critical drag. Though the geometry and the flow conditions are simple the flow features involved are complex especially laminar to turbulent boundary layer transition and high speed transient vortex shedding. Experimentally it has been observed that the vortex shedding location changes randomly and perhaps rotates. All these features pose a significant challenge for experimental measurements and as well as numerical modeling. Thus most experimental measurements have been done below Re=103. Also the data is measured over the sphere surface, for eg: skin friction, pressure, but almost no data is available in the near wake. Similarly numerical investigations are primarily in subcritical region. DNS has been used for low Re, up to 800. RANS has been used in the subcritical region at Re=104. For higher Re, LES and DES have been used however they are computationally intensive. No numerical work has been reported for an ellipsoid at zero angle of attack. Chevray (1968) has done measurements in the near wake of ellipsoid at Re=2.75x105. Most experimental and numerical investigations of an ellipsoid are at an angle of attack. Given the extensive usage of RANS in the industry due to its economy, the focus of this work is to investigate the applicability of these models for flow prediction in the near wake in the supercritical region. Simulations are performed using commercial code CFX. The code is validated against well-established results for laminar and turbulent boundary layer flow over flat plate. Sufficient agreement has been obtained for laminar flow past sphere, against measured quantities such as separation location, separation bubble length and drag coefficient. The changes in wake structure, as a function of Re, are validated against experimental observations. The wake is steady and axisymmetric up to Re=200, from Re=200 to 270 it remains steady, loses axisymmetry but retains planar symmetry. Beyond Re=290 the wake becomes unsteady due to unstable recirculation bubble which leads to vortex shedding, while still retaining planar symmetry. The formation of typical horseshoe vortices is observed. Before the simulations in the supercritical region the low-Re k- model is validated in the subcritical region at Re=104 against measurements of skin friction, pressure coefficient and average drag coefficient. Very distinct wake fluctuations are observed and low-mode Strouhal number (St) agrees with the past measurements. Vortex sheet fluctuations are observed but the high-mode St calculation is based on crude measurement of the fluctuations. At Re=7.8x104 the trends in the drag, skin friction coefficient and pressure coefficient are in logical direction when compared with data at Re=104. However the near wake velocity data does not match with measurements qualitatively as well as quantitatively. The velocities in the present work are qualitatively justified based on the flow directions in the recirculation bubble. Various RANS models such as k-, k- and Reynolds stress model are used to predict flow past a sphere and an ellipsoid in the supercritical region. The results for sphere are compared against the measurements from Achenbach at Re=1.14x106 and that for ellipsoid are compared against the measurements from Chevray at Re=2.75x106. Four different turbulence models namely: high-Re k-, high-Re k-, low-Re k- and low-Re RSM. All the models over predict skin friction, which is due to simplistic treatment of boundary layer. The boundary layer is treated as fully turbulent as against the experiments where it transitions from laminar to turbulent. The k- model, being high-Re model, did not capture near wall flow and hence predicts an almost steady wake. It over predicts the drag, skin friction and results in delayed separation. However it did show the vortex sheet roll-up and release mechanism prominently which agreed with the experiments by Taneda. In all other models this mechanism is seen but intermittently and the wake is unsteady. Due to highly random wake orientation the low-mode St number is not calculated. RSM model shows certain consistency and St based on that is 0.24. All models show vortex sheet fluctuations with almost equal magnitude and frequency. The high-mode St is about 20 based on this. There is a need to have better understanding both experimentally and numerically about validity of this number. High frequency fluctuations are displayed in the time history of streamwise drag force for all the four models. The St based on this frequency is 4.32. Origin of these fluctuations needs investigation. The RSM model predicts the most accurate skin friction coefficient, pressure coefficient and the drag. For an ellipsoid, two cases are computed, one without blockage (referred to as base case) and another with 25% blockage (referred to as blockage case) to represent the typical blockage due to Pelton injector needle. Same models that were used for sphere are evaluated. Similar to the results for the sphere the maximum drag is predicted by k- model and the least by RSM model. Similarly the skin friction is high and the separation is delayed hence k-w model always predicts a smallest recirculation bubble. The differences in the form drag predictions are a direct result of the differences in upstream stagnation pressures, as there is no significant difference in the pressure curves obtained from different models including the rear stagnation pressure. The form drag is highest in k- model and lowest in RSM and so are the upstream stagnation pressures. The velocities in the near wake are predicted well by all the models. Pressure is predicted accurately before separation at x/D=-0.25. However it is significantly over-predicted after separation. To validate the pressure prediction independent simulation is done for an ellipsoid at an angle of attack of 100. The pressures on the windward and leeward side are in agreement with the measurements by Chesnakes et al. Similar to pressure prediction the turbulent intensity was predicted correctly before separation. After separation the trends agree but the intensities are higher than the measurements by about 10%. The results are not sensitivity to the inlet intensity levels except in the far field. The dissipation of the intensities is under predicted in simulations. The results from blockage case show similar trends as the base case. In the near wake the generation of turbulent kinetic energy is higher and the decay is slower in k- and RSM model compared to k-. This in turn results in higher eddy viscosity and higher velocities in the near wake for these models. Considering overall prediction accuracies RSM model predicts the drag, St and the separation location most accurately. It is important to predict the separation accurately for valid downstream results. For the cases with mild separation such as ellipsoid there is no significant difference in the velocities, however the pressure and drag prediction from RSM are closer to the experiments. The RSM model is more suitable both for sphere and ellipsoid at high Re. Validation of mean velocities and intensities in the near wake are needed to further support the choice of model. (for symbols pl see the original document)

<p>This thesis deals with numerical simulation of turbulentflows in geometrically simple cases. Both plane and cylindricalgeometries are used. The simplicity of the geometry allows theuse of spectral methods which yield a very high accuracy usingrelatively few grid points. A spectral method for planegeometries is implemented on a parallel computer. Thetransitional Reynolds number for plane Couette flow is verifiedto be about 360, in accordance with earlier findings. TurbulentCouette flow at twice the transitional Reynolds number isstudied and the findings of large scale structures in earlierstudies of Couette flow are substantiated. These largestructures are shown to be of limited extent and give anintegral length scale of six half channel heights, or abouteight times larger than in pressure-driven channel flow.Despite this, they contain only about 10 \% of the turbulentenergy. This is demonstrated by applying a very smallstabilising rotation, which almost eliminates the largestructures. A comparison of the Reynolds stress budget is madewith a boundary layer flow, and it is shown that the near-wallvalues in Couette flow are comparable with high-Reynolds numberboundary layer flow. A new spectrally accurate algorithm isdeveloped and implemented for cylindrical geometries andverified by studying the evolution of eigenmodes for both pipeflow and annular pipe flow. This algorithm is a generalisationof the algorithm used in the plane channel geometry. It usesFourier transforms in two homogeneous directions and Chebyshevpolynomials in the third, wall-normal, direction. TheNavier--Stokes equations are solved with a velocity-vorticityformulation, thereby avoiding the difficulty of solving for thepressure. The time advancement scheme used is a mixedimplicit/explicit second order scheme. The coupling between twovelocity components, arising from the cylindrical coordinates,is treated by introducing two new components and solving forthem, instead of the original velocity components. TheChebyshev integration method and the Chebyshev tau method isboth implemented and compared for the pipe flow case.</p>

No description available.

<p>Finite-volume methods have been used for modeling of fluidflows involved in forced convection electrochemical coating androtating spray painting systems. Electrodeposition on a singlecircular cylinder under forced convection for Reynolds numbers10 and 200 was simulated. Comparisons with earlier numericaland theoretical results are presented and it is shown that theunsteady wake that appears for Reynolds numbers greater than 50affects the mass transfer from the surface of the cylinder onlyin an average sense. This result is compared with a heattransfer case, where unsteadiness is much more manifest. Theeffect of application of circulation movement around thecylinder surface was considered, showing that the use ofoptimal values for circulation can create a recirculation zonearound the cylinder and result in a remarkable improvement ofthe deposit uniformity. The magnetoelectrolysis researchdiscipline is presented with focus on magnetic fields uses onmass transfer processes. A classification of the governingdimensionless parameters that control the phenomena isproposed. Application of magnetoelectrolysis on electroplatingprocesses is done for the first time. It is found that the useof an alternating magnetically induced force around thecylinder can result in interesting improvement of quality andproductivity. Application of numerical methods is also studiedin another field of the surface finishing industry, thepainting atomizers. A critical situation of "reverse flow" isanalyzed. Different parameters of this phenomenon are studiedand suggestions for atomizers design are given and tested.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>mass transfer, electrochemical coating, iontransport, forced convection, diffusion, magnetoelectrolysis,electrolyte, limiting current, numerical simulation,finite-volume methods, paint atomization, Coanda effect.</p>

Flame-based synthesis is an attractive industrial process for the large scale generation of nanoparticles. In this aerosol process, a gasifi ed precursor is injected into a high-temperature turbulent flame, where oxidation followed by particle nucleation and other solid phase dynamics create nanoparticles. Precursor oxidation, which ultimately leads to nucleation, is strongly influenced by the turbulent flame dynamics. Here, direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a canonical homogeneous flow is used to understand the interaction between a methane/air flame and titanium tetrachloride oxidation to titania. Detailed chemical kinetics is used to describe the combustion and precursor oxidation processes. Results show that the initial precursor decomposition is heavily influenced by the gas phase temperature field. However, temperature insensitivity of subsequent reactions in the precursor oxidation pathway slow down conversion to the titania. Consequently, titania formation occurs at much longer time scales compared to that of hydrocarbon oxidation. Further, only a fraction of the precursor is converted to titania, and a signi cant amount of partially-oxidized precursor species are formed. Introducing the precursor in the oxidizer stream as opposed to the fuel stream has only a minimal impact on the oxidation dynamics. In order to understand modeling issues, the DNS results are compared with the laminar flamelet model. It is shown that the flamelet assumption qualitatively reproduces the oxidation structure. Further, reduced oxygen concentration in the near-flame location critically a ffects titania formation. The DNS results also show that titania forms on the lean and rich sides of the flame. A reaction path analysis (RPA) is conducted. The results illustrate the di ffering reaction pathways of the detailed chemical mechanism depending on the composition of the mixture. The RPA results corroborate with the DNS results that titania formation is maximized at two mixture fraction values, one on the lean side of the flame, and one on the rich side. / text

No description available.

Στην παρούσα εργασία μελετάται η συμπεριφορά ιζήματος σε αιώρηση που προκαλείται λόγω θραύσης κύματος σε πυθμένα σταθερής κλίσης. Η αριθμητική προσομοίωση επιτυγχάνεται με παράλληλη επίλυση των εξισώσεων κίνησης (Navier-Stokes και Συνέχειας) και της εξίσωσης Μεταγωγής-Διάχυσης για τη μεταφορά ιζήματος σε αιώρηση. Επιλέγονται οι κατάλληλες οριακές συνθήκες ελεύθερης επιφάνειας, εισόδου και εξόδου, ενώ για την οριακή συνθήκη πυθμένα χρησιμοποιούνται εμπειρικοί τύποι που συνδέουν τη διατμητική τάση πυθμένα με τη συγκέντρωση πυθμένα. Οι εξισώσεις μετασχηματίζονται κατάλληλα ώστε το υπολογιστικό πεδίο να γίνει ανεξάρτητο του χρόνου. Για τη χρονική διακριτοποίηση χρησιμοποιείται ένα σχήμα κλασματικής μεθόδου ολοκλήρωσης με σταθερό χρονικό βήμα. Για τη χωρική διακριτοποίηση χρησιμοποιείται ένα υβριδικό σχήμα, το οποίο περιλαμβάνει διακριτοποίηση των εξισώσεων με χρήση πεπερασμένων διαφορών κατά τη διεύθυνση της ροής και εφαρμογή της φασματικής μεθόδου παρεμβολής με πολυώνυμα Chebyshev για την κατακόρυφη διεύθυνση. Μελετώνται περιπτώσεις κόκκων ιζήματος με διάμετρο κανονικοποιημένη ως προς το χαρακτηριστικό βάθος ροής, =10-4, =2∙10-4 και =5∙10-4. Κατά την θραύση παρατηρείται σημαντική ανύψωση του ιζήματος πυθμένα στη στήλη του ύδατος και για τις τρεις περιπτώσεις. Η καθαρή παροχή ιζήματος σε αιώρηση παρουσιάζει τη τάση να κινείται προς τα ανάντη της ροής με τη μέγιστη τιμή να εμφανίζεται μετά τη θραύση. Τέλος, διαπιστώνεται ότι η καθαρή παροχή αιωρούμενου ιζήματος είναι σημαντικά μεγαλύτερη από αυτή του ιζήματος κλίνης. / The simulations are based on the coupled numerical solution of the flow equations (continuity and Navier-Stokes) with the transport equation for suspended sediment load subject to the fully nonlinear free-surface boundary conditions and appropriate bottom, inflow and outflow boundary conditions. The equations are properly transformed so that the computational domain becomes time-independent. A hybrid scheme is used for the spatial discretization with finite differences in the streamwise direction and a pseudospectral approximation with Chebyshev polynomials in the vertical direction. A fractional time-step scheme is used for the temporal discretization. We seek results for the behavior of the suspended sediment load induced by broken waves for different particle sizes of bed material. The aim is to identify critical particle sizes for strong uplift and transport of sediment.

In this Ph.D. thesis, we have carried out 2D numerical simulations to study the influence of dielectric surfaces on the propagation dynamics of plasma discharges at atmospheric pressure. First we have improved the computational efficiency of the discharge code used in this work in implementing parallelization techniques and more efficient numerical schemes. Second we have studied the dynamics of an air discharge at atmospheric pressure in a point-to-plane geometry with a dielectric layer on the cathode plane. Then, we have studied the influence of a dielectric layer obstacle in the inter-electrode gap. We have shown that depending on the characteristics of the dielectric layer and the amplitude and polarity of the applied voltage, a second discharge may reignite or not below the dielectric in the second air gap. The comparison of simulation results with experiments has shown that in a point-to-plane geometry with a sharp point and a high over-voltage, a single conical discharge structure is observed. A good agreement on the discharge diameter and propagation velocity has been obtained. With a dielectric obstacle in the gap, the simulated reignition dynamics is faster than in the experiments. To improve the agreement, we have studied the influence of several physico-chemical processes. Finally, we have studied the dynamics of discharges in dielectric tubes at atmospheric pressure. For a He -N2 mixture, we have put forward the importance of three body reactions. Last, the influence of the tube radius on the structure of discharges in He - N2 and air is discussed.