[pt] Diversos processos apresentam escoamentos com superfícies livres. Alguns desses processos vão além dos problemas de engenharia, incluindo questões cotidianas como gotas de chuva caindo do céu, água fluindo pelo rio ou através de uma torneira. Na indústria, o processo de extrusão e revestimento são dois exemplos de processos que são fortemente afetados pelo comportamento da interface. O modelo de interface livre mais comumente utilizado foi desenvolvido no século XIX e descreve como isotrópico o comportamento das interfaces e dependente de um único parâmetro, denominado tensão interfacial. Desde então, os avanços na área de reologia interfacial vêm mostrando que os fenômenos interfaciais são mais complexos e precisam de mais informações para serem modelados. Nesta linha de pensamento, este trabalho analisa o efeito da viscosidade interfacial na dinâmica do processo de extrusão e revestimento por slot, no qual o conjunto de equações diferenciais que governam o problema é resolvido pelo método dos elementos finitos. / [en] Several processes present free surfaces flows. Some of those processes go beyond engineering problems, including everyday issues like raindrops falling from the sky, water flowing down the river or through a faucet. In industry, extrusion and coating process are two examples of processes that are strongly affected by the behavior of the interface. The most commonly used free interface model was developed in the 19th century and describes as isotropic the behavior of interfaces and dependent on asingle parameter called interfacial tension. Since then, advances in the areaof interfacial rheology have been showing that the interfacial phenomena are more complex and accurate of more information to be modeled. In this line of thinking, this work analyzes the effect of interface viscosity on the dynamics of extrusion and slot coating process, in which the set of differential equations that governs the problem is solved by Finite Element method.

3D-utskrift har under det senaste decenniet blivit mycket populärt och spridit sig till många branscher och material. I denna rapport kommer flera aspekter av användandet av choklad som utskriftsmaterial testas och utvärderas. Genom att bygga en 3D-skrivare har ett flertal viktiga parametrar för 3D-utskrift i choklad anpassats och testats. I rapporten redovisas tillvägagångssätt för konstruktion av olika matningsmekanismer, tester, utmaningar, lärdomar samt resultat. En skrivare konstruerades och anpassades för utskrift av choklad. Då både tid och budget var begränsad avgränsades testen till jämförelse av matningsmekanism, optimal utskriftstemperatur för olika chokladsorter, om kylning är nödvändigt samt munstyckets dimension. Då den ena mekanismen, kugghjulspumpen, visade sig vara mer pålitlig, valdes den till att utföra majoriteten av alla tester. En avgörande aspekt för att kunna skriva ut i choklad var att chokladen stelnade tillräckligt fort. Det visade sig vara mycket svårt att få choklad att stelna snabbt och i rätt fas utan temperering. Därav användes choklad med en bas av palmolja som inte följer samma stelningsfaser som kakaosmör. Temperatur och kylning var även det viktigt. För att den utskrivna modellen ska bli jämn och fin krävs att varje lager hinner stelna innan nästa lager adderas. Skrivaren måste vänta en tid mellan varje lager så att chokladen hinner stelna, men tiden per lager kunde med hjälp av kylande fläktar och lägre utskriftstemperatur, kortas med fler minuter. Munstycket som testen utfördes med hade en diameter på 1,5 mm. Tester med finare munstycken genomfördes och gav på många sätt en bra effekt. Lagrena blev tunnare och finare men det blev ofta stopp i munstycket och ingen större utskrift kunde tyvärr slutföras med mindre munstycken. / Over the last decade, 3D printing has become a popular method for manufacturing in many different materials and industries. This report will touch on the different aspects of using chocolate as a 3D printing material. By building a chocolate 3D printer, different printing parameters has been tested and evalutated. This report will show different feeding systems for chocolate, print results, challenges and learning experiences. A 3D printer was built and customized for chocolate printing. As both time and budget was limited, the tests are restricted to comparing two different feeding mechanisms, optimal printing temperature, the effect of cooling and a test of different nozzle sizes. As one of the feeding mechanisms, the gear pump, turned out to be more reliable, it was used for the majority of the tests. A crucial aspect of printing chocolate well is that the chocolate must solidify quickly. It turned out to be very hard to get the chocolate to solidify without tempering. Therefore we used a chocolate with a high content of palm oil, as it doesn’t need tempering and solidifies much quicker than chocolate containing cocoa butter. Printing temperature and cooling was also very important. To get a smooth surface on the printed part, the previous layer must solidify fully before the next layer. Even at low printing temperatures the printing head must wait for the layer to solidify, but with the help of cooling airflow from fans, the cooling time per layer was reduced. The nozzle that was used for most tests had a diameter of 1,5 mm. Smaller nozzle sizes were tested and resulted in nice prints, however they had a tendency to clog and therefore no large print could be finished with a small nozzle

<p>This thesis investigates the wall pressure distributions of the single-slot impinging jet and multiple-slot impinging jet as a function of various parameters and compares the results obtained with the computational study of Tamadonfar [2010]. The process of gas wiping is used in many industrial applications such as tempering of the plate glass, the chemical mixing process, and turbine blade cooling. One of the most important industrial applications of gas jet wiping is the production of galvanized steel strip in a continuous hot-dip galvanizing line. In this process, an impinging jet is used to remove the excess zinc alloy from the steel strip and control the final coating weight by applying wall pressure and shear stress on the moving substrate emerging from the bath of molten zinc. Changing the various operating parameters such as jet Reynolds number (<em>Re</em>), the jet to strip distance (<em>z</em>), the jet slot width (<em>d</em>), and jet inclination angles (<em>α</em>) allows manufacturers manipulate the final coating weight on the substrate. Production of high quality sheet steels, which have a very thin coating weight and high uniformity quality, is one of the goals of the automotive industry. In order to obtain thinner and more uniform coating weight, a new model of impinging jet which is comprised of one main jet with two auxiliary jets, one on each side of the main jet, called a multiple-slot impinging jet, is of considerable interest.</p> <p>For the current study, a multiple-slot impinging jet was designed and manufactured and measurements were performed for both the single-slot impinging jets, the current model used in continuous hot-dip galvanizing lines, and the multiple-slot impinging jet subjected to a wide range of gas wiping parameters which include the main jet Reynolds number (<em>Re_m</em>), the auxiliary jet Reynolds number (<em>Re_a</em>), and the plate-to-nozzle ratio (<em>z/d</em>). A comparison between the measured results obtained for the two impinging jet configurations and the numerical results by Tamadonfar [2010] has been provided. The similarities and differences between the experimental and numerical results are presented and discussed.</p> / Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

We develop and evaluate two significant modeling concepts within the context of a large-scale Airspace Planning and Collaborative Decision-Making Model (APCDM) and, thereby, enhance its current functionality in support of both strategic and tactical level flight assessments. The first major concept is a new severe weather-modeling paradigm that can be used to assess existing tactical en route flight plan strategies such as the Flight Management System (FMS) as well as to provide rerouting strategies. The second major concept concerns modeling the mediated bartering of slot exchanges involving airline trade offers for arrival/departure slots at an arrival airport that is affected by the Ground Delay Program (GDP), while simultaneously considering issues related to sector workloads, airspace conflicts, as well as overall equity concerns among the airlines. This research effort is part of an $11.5B, 10-year, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-sponsored program to increase the U.S. National Airspace (NAS) capacity by 30 percent by the year 2010. Our innovative contributions of this research with respect to the severe weather rerouting include (a) the concept of "Probability-Nets" and the development of discretized representations of various weather phenomena that affect aviation operations; (b) the integration of readily accessible severe weather probabilities from existing weather forecast data provided by the National Weather Service (NWS); (c) the generation of flight plans that circumvent severe weather phenomena with specified probability levels, and (d) a probabilistic delay assessment methodology for evaluating planned flight routes that might encounter potentially disruptive weather along its trajectory. Given a fixed set of reporting stations from the CONUS Model Output Statistics (MOS), we begin by constructing weather-specific probability-nets that are dynamic with respect to time and space. Essential to the construction of the probability-nets are the point-by-point forecast probabilities associated with MOS reporting sites throughout the United States. Connections between the MOS reporting sites form the strands within the probability-nets, and are constructed based upon a user-defined adjacency threshold, which is defined as the maximum allowable great circle distance between any such pair of sites. When a flight plan traverses through a probability-net, we extract probability data corresponding to the points where the flight plan and the probability-net strand(s) intersect. The ability to quickly extract this trajectory-related probability data is critical to our weather-based rerouting concepts and the derived expected delay and related cost computations in support of the decision-making process. Next, we consider the superimposition of a flight-trajectory-grid network upon the probability-nets. Using the U.S. Navigational Aids (Navaids) as the network nodes, we develop an approach to generate flight plans that can circumvent severe weather phenomena with specified probability levels based on determining restricted, time-dependent shortest paths between the origin and destination airports. By generating alternative flight plans pertaining to specified threshold strand probabilities, we prescribe a methodology for computing appropriate expected weather delays and related disruption factors for inclusion within the APCDM model. We conclude our severe weather-modeling research by conducting an economic benefit analysis using a k-means clustering mechanism in concert with our delay assessment methodology in order to evaluate delay costs and system disruptions associated with variations in probability-net refinement-based information. As a flight passes through the probability-net(s), we can generate a probability-footprint that acts as a record of the strand intersections and the associated probabilities from origin to destination. A flight plan's probability-footprint will differ for each level of data refinement, from whence we construct route-dependent scenarios and, subsequently, compute expected weather delay costs for each scenario for comparative purposes. Our second major contribution is the development of a novel slot-exchange modeling concept within the APCDM model that incorporates various practical issues pertaining to the Ground Delay Program (GDP), a principal feature in the FAA's adoption of the Collaborative Decision-Making (CDM) paradigm. The key ideas introduced here include innovative model formulations and several new equity concepts that examine the impact of "at-least, at-most" trade offers on the entire mix of resulting flight plans from respective origins to destinations, while focusing on achieving defined measures of "fairness" with respect to the selected slot exchanges. The idea is to permit airlines to barter assigned slots at airports affected by the Ground Delay Program to their mutual advantage, with the FAA acting as a mediator, while being cognizant of the overall effect of the resulting mix of flight plans on air traffic control sector workloads, collision risk and safety, and equity considerations. We start by developing two separate slot-exchange approaches. The first consists of an external approach in which we formulate a model for generating a set of package-deals, where each package-deal represents a potential slot-exchange solution. These package-deals are then embedded within the APCDM model. We further tighten the model representation using maximal clique cover-based cuts that relate to the joint compatibility among the individual package-deals. The second approach significantly improves the overall model efficiency by automatically generating package-deals as required within the APCDM model itself. The model output prescribes a set of equitable flight plans based on admissible trades and exchanges of assigned slots, which are in addition conformant with sector workload capabilities and conflict risk restrictions. The net reduction in passenger-minutes of delay for each airline is the primary metric used to assess and compare model solutions. Appropriate constraints are included in the model to ensure that the generated slot exchanges induce nonnegative values of this realized net reduction for each airline. In keeping with the spirit of the FAA's CDM initiative, we next propose four alternative equity methods that are predicated on different specified performance ratios and related efficiency functions. These four methods respectively address equity with respect to slot-exchange-related measures such as total average delay, net delay savings, proportion of acceptable moves, and suitable value function realizations. For our computational experiments, we constructed several scenarios using real data obtained from the FAA based on the Enhanced Traffic Management System (ETMS) flight information pertaining to the Miami and Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC). Through our experimentation, we provide insights into the effect of the different proposed modeling concepts and study the sensitivity with respect to certain key parameters. In particular, we compare the alternative proposed equity formulations by evaluating their corresponding slot-exchange solutions with respect to the net reduction in passenger-minutes of delay for each airline. Additionally, we evaluate and compare the computational-effort performance, under both time limits and optimality thresholds, for each equity method in order to assess the efficiency of the model. The four slot-exchange-based equity formulations, in conjunction with the internal slot-exchange mechanisms, demonstrate significant net savings in computational effort ranging from 25% to 86% over the original APCDM model equity formulation. The model has been implemented using Microsoft Visual C++ and evaluated using a C++ interface with CPLEX 9.0. The overall results indicate that the proposed modeling concepts offer viable tools that can be used by the FAA in a timely fashion for both tactical purposes, as well as for exploring various strategic issues such as air traffic control policy evaluations; dynamic airspace resectorization strategies as a function of severe weather probabilities; and flight plan generation in response to various disruption scenarios. / Ph. D.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The Linearly Tapered Slot Antenna (LTSA) had been investigated and developed experimentally; its applications have primarily been based on empirical designs. An accurate theoretical model based on Moment Methods (MM) is developed here to study the radiation characteristics of the LTSA. Using the MM solutions to the reaction integral equation, this thesis presents an analysis to model and explain the LTSA behavior. The effects of variable design parameters on radiation patterns are studied. Discussion is augmented by relating predicted radiation patterns to calculated current distributions on the antenna surface. Conclusions are made regarding optimum designs for the LTSA. Relevant observations are made concerning the extensive computational tasks and the computer resources required for the MM model. / http://archive.org/details/modelingbehavior00kell / Major, United States Army

Post-reinforcement pause was examined to determine the reinforcing value of a win, loss, and a loss disguised as a win (LDW) for gamblers at multi-line video slot machines. The study was conducted in naturalistic settings across a variety of participants, age 21 years and older. The length of the post-reinforcement pause was recorded using a stopwatch for one win, one loss, and one LDW for each participant and was measured by recording the time between the outcome delivery and the initiation of the next spin. The different times were evaluated to determine which of the three resulted in the longest post-reinforcement pause for the gamblers following the slot machine outcome. The present study replicates and extends previous research on post-reinforcement pause in slot machine gambling, and provides discussion around the clinical utility of such findings on the prevention of problem gambling. Problem gambling is an epidemic, and there are numerous variables that contribute to its development. Post-reinforcement pause is one for those factors, and the present study can help us gain a better understanding of the events that maintain problem gambling and ways to prevent it. The results of the present study found that wins are the most reinforcing to gamblers compared to LDWs and losses, and that LDWs are significantly more reinforcing to gamblers than losses, as indicated by the patterns of the post-reinforcement pause.

[pt] O processo de revestimento por extrusão é usado na manufatura de diversos produtos. A espessura da camada de líquido depositada é determinada pela vazão de líquido e pela velocidade do substrato, e independe das outras variáveis de operação do processo. Um importante limite de operação deste processo é a espessura mínima que pode ser depositada sobre um substrato a uma determinada velocidade, geralmente chamado de limite de vazão mínima. Para líquidos Newtonianos, o mecanismo que define este limite é o balanço de forças viscosas, de capilaridade e inerciais no escoamento. A pesar da maioria dos líquidos usados em processos de revestimento industriais serem soluções poliméricas ou dispersões que possuem comportamento não Newtoniano, a maioria das análises de limites de operação do processo de revestimento por extrusão são restritas à líquidos Newtonianos. No caso particular de soluções poliméricas as tensões elásticas podem alterar o balanço de forças em diversas regiões do escoamento e consequentemente os limites de operação do processo. Neste trabalho o limite de vazão mínima no caso de líquidos não Newtonianos é analisado teoricamente e experimentalmente. Os modelos constitutivos de Oldroyd-B e Giesekus, que descrevem o comportamento de soluções poliméricas diluídas, em conjunto com as equações de conservação de massa e quantidade de movimento são usados para descrever o escoamento bidimensional que ocorre no processo de revestimento por extrusão. O sistema de equações diferenciais foi resolvido usando o método de elementos finitos. Os resultados mostram como as propriedades viscoelásticas influenciam a distribuição de tensão no escoamento e o balanço de forças nas proximidades da superfície livre à jusante da região de deposição. / [en] Slot coating is a common method in the manufacture of a wide variety of products. The thickness of the coated liquid layer is set by the flow rate fed to the coating die and the speed of the substrate, and is independent of other process variables. An important operating limit of slot coating is the minimum thickness that can be coated at a given substrate speed,generally referred to as the low- flow limit. For Newtonian liquids, the mechanism that defines this limit balances the viscous, capillary and inertial forces in the flow. Although most of the liquids coated industrially are polymeric solutions and dispersions that are not Newtonian, most of the previous analyses of operability limits in slot coating dealt only with Newtonian liquids. In the case of liquids made non- Newtonian by polymer viscoelasticity, stresses can alter the force balance in various parts of the coating bead and consequently the onset of instability. In this work, the low-flow limit in cases of non-Newtonian liquids is examined by both theory and experiment. The Oldroyd-B and Giesekus constitutive equations that approximate viscoelastic behavior of polymer solutions were used, together with momentum and continuity equations, to model two-dimensional flow in the downstream part of a slot coating bead. The equation system was solved with the Finite Element Method. The results show how the viscoelastic properties can affect the stress field in the liquid and the force balance near and at the downstream meniscus, thereby illustrating how non-Newtonian behavior can alter the flow instabilities that determine the coating window of slot coating. The flows themselves were visualized by video microscopy and the low-flow limit was found by observing, at given substrate speed, the feed rate at which the flow becomes unstable. Different solutions of low molecular weight polyethylene glycol and high molecular weight polyethylene oxide in water were used in order to evaluate the effect of mildly viscoelastic behavior on the process.

Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse visent à améliorer la compréhension des phénomènes physiques induits lors d'une opération de brochage. L'objectif final est le développement d'une méthode robuste pour la conception de broches en carbure de tungstène. Pour cela, un état de l'art détaillant les pratiques technologiques ainsi que les analyses scientifiques de ce procédé est réalisé. Une étude élémentaire de la coupe d' Udimet 720 est mise en œuvre avec des conditions expérimentales testées sur un vaste domaine de manière à définir leur influence sur l'évolution des sollicitations d'usinage, de l'usure de l'outil et de la qualité de la matière produite. Une méthodologie de conception adaptée au brochage d'alvéoles pied de sapin par des broches en carbure de tungstène est développée. En s'appuyant sur des modèles empiriques dérivés des campagnes expérimentales et sur un logiciel interne, cet usinage peut être simulé. L'exploitation des résultats permet d'estimer la durée de vie du jeu de broches, de vérifier son dimensionnement et de calculer sa rentabilité. La nouvelle méthode est appliquée sur deux cas industriels : le premier proche des contraintes de production et le second débridé afin d'exprimer le potentiel maximal de cette technologie. Au final, les gains réalisables sur le coût par pièce en développant le brochage avec des outils en carbure de tungstène sont estimés entre 60 et 80 % / The work presented in this thesis aims to improve the understanding of the physical phenomena induced by a broaching operation. The end goal is the development a robust method for designing tungsten carbide broaches. For this purpose, a state of the art detailing the technological practices as well as the scientific analyses of this process is realized. An elementary study of the Udimet 720 cut is carried out with experimental conditions varied over a wide range in order to define their influence on the evolution of the machining stresses, the wear of the tool and the quality of the material produced. A design methodology adapted to the broaching of fir tree slots by tungsten carbide broaches is developed. Based on empirical models derived from experimental campaigns and an internal software, this machining can be simulated. The exploitation of the results makes it possible to estimate the lifetime of the broaches, to verify its dimensioning and to calculate its profitability. The new method is carried out on two industrial cases: the first close to the production constraints and the second unbridled in order to express the maximum potential of this technology. In the end, the achievable gains on the cost per piece by developing the broaching with tungsten carbide tools are estimated between 60 and 80 %.

In the last decade, 802.11 wireless devices data-rates have increased by three orders of magnitude, while communications experiencing low throughput are still largely present. Such throughput loss is a fundamental problem of wireless networking that is difficult to diagnose and amend. My research addresses two key causes of throughput loss: MAC layer protocol overhead and destructive link interference. First, I design WiFi-Nano reducing the channel access overhead by an order of magnitude leveraging an innovative speculative technique to transmit preambles. This new concept is based on simultaneous preamble transmission and detection via a self-interference cancellation design, and paves the way to the realization of the collision detection paradigm in wireless networks. Next, I propose 802.11ec (Encoded Control), the first 802.11-based protocol that eliminates the overhead of control packets. Instead, 802.11ec coordinates node transmissions via a set of predefined pseudo-noise codewords, resulting in the dramatic increase of throughput and communication robustness. Finally, I design MIDAS, a model-driven network management tool that alleviates low throughput wireless links identifying key corrective actions. MIDAS' key contribution is to reveal the fundamental role of node transmission coordination in characterizing destructive interference. I implement WiFi-Nano, 802.11ec, and MIDAS using a combination of WARP FPGA-based radio boards, custom emulation platforms, and network simulators. The results obtained show that WiFi-Nano increases the network throughput by up to 100%, 802.11ec improves network access fairness by up to 90%, and MIDAS identifies corrective actions with a prediction error as low as 20%.

This Thesis presents the design and development of a reconfigurable both in frequency and radiation pattern Annular Slot Antenna (ASA). The antenna is fabricated on Duroid with dielectric constant 6.15. The ASA operates in three different frequencies: 5.2, 5.8 and 6.4 GHz. The matching at those frequencies is achieved using linear stubs. PIN diodes are used as switches to connect/disconnect the stubs to the microstip feed line. The use of PIN diodes along the slot allows the steering of the radiation pattern and therefore the position of a radiation pattern null is directed in three pre-selected directions.