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Thèse de doctorat : Génie Civil : Villeurbanne, INSA : 2001. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. p. 357-363.

Thèse de doctorat : Mécanique des Fluides : Strasbourg 1 : 2006. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Notes bibliogr.

Thèse de doctorat : Sciences et Environnements. Géochimie et Ecotoxicologie : Bordeaux 1 : 2008. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2001. / "May 2001." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-150). Also available on the Internet.

Particle-laden flows occur in a variety of natural and industrial situations. As particulate suspensions flow through a medium, particles are often retained at constrictions such as pore throats, outlets or orifices. This occurs not only with oversized particles, but also with particles smaller than the constriction. For instance, jams are caused by the formation of particle bridges/arches when several particles attempt to flow through a constriction simultaneously. In many instances the success of an operation depends on our ability to either ensure or stop the flow of particles in the flow stream. Managing the flow of sand into wellbores during hydrocarbon production from poorly consolidated sandstone reservoirs, also referred to as sand control, is one such application in the oil and gas industry. This dissertation presents a multi-pronged effort at modeling the flow of granular suspensions of different concentrations, and through pore openings of different shapes, with two main objectives: (1) predicting the mass and size-distribution of the particles that are produced before jamming, and (2) investigating the underlying factors that influence the onset and stability of particle arches. Since, the dominant interactions and retention mechanisms are concentration dependent, we divided particulate suspensions into three groups based on the volumetric particle concentration ([phi]). High-concentration suspension flows ([phi]>~50%) are dominated by particle-particle interactions. We modeled polydisperse sand packs flowing through screens with rectangular and woven-square openings using 3D discrete element method (DEM). Simulations were validated against experimental data for a wide range of screen opening and sand size distributions. From the experiments and DEM simulations, a new scaling relation is identified, in which the number of different sized particles produced before retention follows a power-law correlation with the particle-to-outlet size ratio. This correlation is explained with a simple probabilistic model of bridging in polydisperse systems and a particle-size dependent jamming probability calculated from experimental data. A new method is presented to estimate the mass and size distribution of the produced solids through screens. The method uses the entire particle size distribution (PSD) of the formation sand, is validated with experimental data and numerical simulations, and provides more quantitative and accurate predictions of screen performance compared to past methods. It is also found that the stability of particle arches is compromised when adjacent outlets are less than three particle diameters away from each other. Low-concentration suspension flows ([phi]<~1%) are dominated by particle-fluid interactions. They were modeled using analytical and stochastic methods to predict sand production through screens with slot and woven-square openings. Analytical expressions were derived for screens with a constant outlet size or with a known outlet size distribution. Monte Carlo simulations showed excellent agreement with the analytical solutions. Based on experiments, we have demonstrated that the models presented here are predictive, provided that an accurate representation of the formation sand PSD and the screen pore size distribution are available. In the intermediate-concentration regime (~1%<[phi]<~50%), the particle trajectories and the flow field are both influenced by each other. The onset of particle bridging due to hydrodynamic forces was studied for monodisperse systems, in a rectangular channel with a single constriction, using coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and DEM simulations. It is shown that the probability of jamming increases with [phi], and there is a critical particle concentration ([phi, superscript asterisk]) for spontaneous bridging. The outlet-to-particle size ratio is the most critical parameter affecting [phi, superscript asterisk]. The effect of inlet-to-particle size ratio, fluid velocity, particle stiffness, particle-to-fluid density ratio, and the effect of convergence in flow geometry were also studied quantitatively. Finally, the application of micro-tomography images in constructing accurate 3D representations and calculating the pore size distribution of complex filter media is demonstrated. A simulation tool is presented that allows one to evaluate the performance of different screens without running expensive and sometimes inconclusive experiments, and enhances our understanding of screen performance. This helps to improve sand screen selection to meet performance criteria under a wide variety of conditions. / text

Maintaining a safe and orderly learning environment in schools is fundamental to the greater goals of education, but determining optimal disciplinary responses to student misbehavior is often complicated. While there is an abundance of research that speaks to the negative impact of exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspension, expulsion or any other disciplinary response that removes a student from the traditional classroom setting) on student behavioral and academic outcomes, there is an absence of work that examines if, when, and to what extent a student is actually better off receiving non-exclusionary dispositions. Using multivariate regression analysis on a unique dataset from an urban Texas school district, this study directly compares the impact of exclusionary vs. non-exclusionary discipline on student outcomes (controlling for student characteristics, school characteristics, and offense type). Additionally, the study examines the extent to which offense type influences the relationship between disposition and student outcomes. The study’s findings suggest that a student is generally worse off in terms of academic progress and risk of future offenses when she/he receives an exclusionary disposition for any disciplinary infraction. The impact of exclusion, however, was shown to vary by student offense. / text

This thesis explores the ways in which suspension of disbelief works in digital games. Primarily concerned with how players relate imaginatively to the often major dissonance between gameplay and narrative in digital games, this thesis questions how the literate players of games reconcile these complex texts imaginatively. Proposing that Samuel Taylor Coleridge's concept of suspension of disbelief is a complicated process often cited rhetorically rather than given its theoretical due, this thesis aims to rehabilitate the term and turn it into a useful, sharpened tool for games studies. Digital games themselves are also seen to be an intense new realm of possibilities for the suspension of disbelief, and textual analysis of games which approach the fourth wall or the suspension of disbelief on their own terms helps to make this clear. Beginning by defining the differences of games compared to other media, the thesis goes on to define suspension of disbelief in both its historical and modern contexts and see how it fits with games, isolating three key problems with uniting the concept with the medium. The three chapters which follow looked in more depth at the problems of the skilled reader, fundamental activity and dissonance through investigations into games’ textual construction, the mindsets they engender in players and their reformulation of the fourth wall. The final section looks at the conclusions working together to achieve the dual aims of proposing a new model for game reading which centres around a willed disavowal of presence on the part of the gamer combined with the gamer's taking up of a role offered by the game-text, and rehabilitating both the term and the concept of suspension of disbelief.

Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η μελέτη και κατασκευή ενός μετατροπέα ισχύος για την οδήγηση αναρτήσεως αποτελούμενης από μαγνητορεολογικό υγρό. Στην αρχή, γίνεται μία ιστορική αναδρομή στις εξελίξεις στο χώρο των αναρτήσεων. Κατόπιν, αναφέρονται τα χαρακτηριστικά των μαγνητορεολογικών υγρών και των αντίστοιχων αναρτήσεων, με παραδείγματα εφαρμογής τους στην αυτοκινητοβιομηχανία. Στη συνέχεια, παρουσιάζονται τα βασικά χαρακτηριστικά των τροφοδοτικών ισχύος, καθώς και τα συγκριτικά πλεονεκτήματα και μειονεκτήματά τους. Έπειτα παρουσιάζονται οι βασικότερες διατάξεις μετατροπέων ισχύος και τα χαρακτηριστικά τους, τα οποία θα χρησιμεύσουν στην επιλογή της κατάλληλης διάταξης για την παρούσα εφαρμογή. Ακολουθεί η παρουσίαση της θεωρητικής μελέτης της διάταξης forward, η οποία και επιλέχθηκε, ως καταλληλότερη και οι προσομοιώσεις στο πρόγραμμα Matlab, με τις αντίστοιχες εικόνες και πειραματικές τιμές. Τέλος, περιγράφεται η διαδικασία σχεδιασμού και κατασκευής της πλακέτας ισχύος. / The purpose of this diploma thesis is the design and construction of a power converter to drive a magnetorheological suspension. At the beginning, historical developments in the field of suspension are presented. Then, the characteristics of magnetorheological fluids and related suspension systems are described, with examples of their application in the automotive indusrty. Afterwards, it follows an analysis of the key features of the power supplies, along with their comparative advantages and disadvantages. Subsequently, the main power converters and their characteristics are discussed, which will be used in selecting the appropriate device for this application. In the followin paragraphs, the theoretical study of the device forward, which was selected as appropriate, is analyzed and simulated with Matlab application. The corresponding images and experimental values are presented also. Finally, the design and construction of the power converter board circuit is prsented.

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