This research successfully created an ultra-small orifice utilizing undercut fabrication process in a droplet-based microfluidics chip. The proposed novel T-junction structure with ultra-small orifice has a lot of advantages, including long-term stability for uniform droplets formation, reproducible ultra-small size droplet and tunable droplet size. The hydraulic diameter of the orifice is under 2 £gm, and the size of micro droplet produced from the orifice can be tuned to less than 10 £gm in diameter. Chitosan droplet can be produced by the proposed chip, which is usually adopted for medical applications. Surface modification technique was applied to modify the surface of microchannel to be hydrophobic for eaily producing hydro-droplets. Experimental results show that the ultra-small orifice microfluidics chip can steadily produce water-in-oil droplets only by controlling the flow ratio between dispersed phase and continuous phase flow rates. The size of the water-in-oil droplets can be tunable from 22 £gm to 6.5 £gm in diameter by adjusting the flow rate ratio of the continuous and disperse phase flows from 1 to 3.5 and the hydraulic diameter of the orifice is 1.1 £gm. And the size of the chitosan-in-oil droplets also can be tunable from 59 £gm to 27 £gm by adjusting the flow rate ratio of the continuous and disperse phase flows from 4 to 8. The proposed microchip has advantages including ease of control, low cost, and high throughput. The proposed technique can be widely applied on emulsion and micro droplet generation.

This study focuses on the mechanism of flow-acoustic coupling in a T-junction, which has a transitional section entailing an expansion of pipe diameter. Six cases with varying length of the transitional section have been tested. It is shown that T-junctions with transitional sections can be a strong source of acoustic excitation and therefore can cause powerful acoustic resonance in the associated piping systems. Elimination of the transitional section reduces the excitation level drastically. The length of the transitional section with enlarged diameter is found to be the fundamental length scale determining the Strouhal number of flow excitation in the T-junction. To investigate the mechanism further, a series of experiments were conducted in a rectangular pipe system, which was considered as the 2D case of the T-junction. The results showed that the vortices formed in the outer and inner sides of the T-junction are both acoustic sources. They appear to form independently without interaction with each other, but are synchronized by the acoustic field. Flow visualization was carried out to gain images of the flow pattern when the resonance occurs. The images from flow visualization provided support to the measurements of the rectangular pipe system. Numerical simulations of the mean flow and acoustic field in the rectangular T-junction were performed. A simplied analysis of acoustic energy generation was also carried out. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Dynamic properties of Josephson junctions are interesting due to the emission of high frequency radiation (up to THz range) from Josephson junctions, closely related to fluxon dynamics. A better understanding of this dynamics can help to improve the Josephson devices used for applications. Josephson junctions can also be of great use as T-shaped multiple Josephson junctions in Josephson electronic circuits. In general, T-junctions consist of two attached Josephson transmission lines: a main Josephson transmission line (MJTL) along the -axis, and an additional Josephson transmission line (AJTL) along the -axis. These junctions can use to create fluxons (solitons) in junctions without applied magnetic field, (called flux cloning phenomenon). This work is devoted to contributing to a clarification of the dynamic behaviour of solitons (fluxons) in 2D extended conventional T-shaped Josephson junctions (extended means an AJTL is larger than MJTL). A conventional T-junction is a MJTL along the x-axis which divides into two Josephson transmission lines along the x- and y-axes. In addition, we also attempt to elucidate further the concept of flux cloning in rotated T-junctions, which are 90 degrees anticlockwise rotation of conventional T-junction. In rotated Tjunction, a MJTL along the x-axis divide into two Josephson transmission lines along the y-axis. We find the first evidence of moving semifluxon and observe for the first time new phenomena of semifluxons and anti-semifluxons in both extended conventional and rotated T-junctions. We numerically study the electrodynamics behaviour of solitons in the standard Tshaped Josephson junction (conventional T-junction) in a magnetic field. Therefore, we describe theoretically how flux cloning circuits exist and give an opportunity for use as flux flow oscillators operating without applied magnetic field. The results that emerge give further support to the flux cloning mechanism.

Noise is a major environmental pollutant, which can inict physical and psychologicalinjury. An important noise contribution stems from aeroacousticsources, which are found in e.g., ventilation ducts, engine exhaust systems andairplane engines.In this thesis, research methods for low Mach number aeroacoustic sourcesin ducts are developed. The basis of the methods is the ability to describe theintrinsic linear properties of the source as an N-port (multiport), where theoutput sound eld is related to the input sound eld and the generated soundeld, all consisting of plane waves. The methods presented are both numericaland experimental. The numerical method treats the passive properties, i.e.,scattering, attenuation and amplication of incident sound, while the experimentalmethod treats the active part (intrinsic sound generation) as well. Themethods are applied in the study of noise generation by a vortex mixer plate,placed in an airow of Mach 0.2, and in the study of acoustic-hydrodynamicinteraction in a T-junction of rectangular ducts.It is found that the accuracy of the experimental methods is signicantly increasedwhen the equations are over-determined, which is achieved by addingadditional microphones to the test rig. In the frequency range studied, themixer plate is found to generate less sound when made exible, without disturbingthe mixing quality.For the numerical method { based on the linearized Navier-Stokes equations,a model of the oscillation of the Reynolds stress (\turbulent damping")due to the acoustic eld is introduced. By comparing with experimental results,it is found that not using this model results in an over-prediction of theamplication at higher frequencies with several factors in magnitude, whileimplementing the model results in a much better agreement. / <p>QC 20121123</p>

Microspheres (< 1000 μm) have applications in various fields (e.g., drug delivery, cosmetics, food, etc.). Microspheres can be generated by the micro-fluidic technique, in which microspheres are produced from one fluid under the action of another immiscible fluid in a network of channels. There are four performance indexes associated with a microsphere generation process with a device, namely (1) the size of microspheres (as small as possible), (2) the uniformity of size distributions (as high as possible), and (3) the flexibility of devices (i.e., the size range of microspheres that can be generated with one device), and (4) the efficacy of the microspheres generation process (mass production or not). Two operating principles along with their corresponding devices, the modified T-junction device and membrane emulsification device, are studied in this dissertation, because of their unique features, with the former having an excellent task flexibility and the latter having an excellent efficacy. The study defined three objectives, namely (1) understanding the mechanism of the microsphere generation process with the modified T-junction by both numerical investigation and experimental investigation, (2) optimizing the microsphere generation process with any micro-fluidic device in general and the modified T-junction device in particular (optimization: the size and uniformity), and (3) designing and fabricating a new emulsification membrane by tackling the shortcoming (i.e., fragile with the membrane) with the existing emulsification membrane. For objective (1), a simulation model was built first, validated by the experiment, and then the simulation model was employed to study the regimes. For objective (2), a new optimization procedure was first proposed for general micro-fluidic systems and then applied to the modified T-junction system. For objective (3), a new membrane was designed and fabricated and tested. The following conclusions can be drawn from the study: (1) the modified T-junction device works based on a combined operating principle (flow focusing and conventional T-junction) and there are three regimes (instead of the four regimes in the conventional T-junction) in the flow; (2) the optimization of the microsphere generation process makes sense for the micro-fluidic device in general and the modified T-junction in particular (the optimal modified T-junction is: the mean size: 16.1 μm and 24.8 μm, and the uniformity (Standard Deviation (SD)): 0.2 μm and 0.7 μm); (3) the shortcoming with emulsification membrane can be overcome with a multi-layer membrane architecture. There are several contributions made by this dissertation in the field of micro-fluidic. First is the provision of an accurate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model for the modified T-junction. Second is the new knowledge discovered regarding the mechanism of microsphere generation with the modified T-junction device. Third is the provision of an effective optimization approach for any micro-fluidic device in general and for the modified T-junction device in particular. Fourth is the design with the successful fabrication of the membrane emulsification device based on new system architecture (i.e., multi-layer structure). From an application’s perspective, this dissertation has provided evidence that with the micro-fluidic technique, the smallest size of microspheres can be 2.3 μm; the highest uniformity (SD) can be 0.8 μm. Further, if an application puts emphasis on the task flexibility, the modified T-junction device is an excellent choice, and if an application puts emphasis on the mass production, the multi-layer membrane device is an excellent choice.

This thesis deals with turbulent mixing processes occurring in internal combustion engines, when applying exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). EGR is a very efficient way to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in internal combustion engines. Exhaust gases are recirculated and mixed with the fresh intake air, reducing the oxygen con- centration of the combustion gas and thus the peak combustion temperatures. This temperature decrease results in a reduction of NOx emissions. When applying EGR, one is often faced with non-uniform distribution of exhaust among and inside the cylinders, deteriorating the emission performance. The mixing of exhaust gases and air is governed by the flow in the engine intake manifold, which is characterized by unsteadiness due to turbulence and engine pulsations. Moreover, the density cannot be assumed to be constant due to the presence of large temperature variations.Different flow cases having these characteristics are computed by compressible Large Eddy Simulations (LES). First, the stationary flows in two T-junction type geometries are investigated. The method is validated by comparison with experimental data and the accuracy of the simulations is confirmed by grid sensitivity studies. The flow structures and the unsteady flow modes are described for a range of mass flow ratios between the main and the branch inlet. A comparison to RANS computations showed qualitatively different flow fields.Thereafter, pulsating inflow conditions are prescribed on the branch inlet in or- der to mimic the large pulsations occurring in the EGR loop. The flow modes are investigated using Dynamical Mode Decomposition (DMD).After having established the simulation tool, the flow in a six-cylinder engine is simulated. The flow is studied by Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and DMD. The mixing quality is studied in terms of cylinder-to-cylinder non-uniformity and temporal and spatial variances. It was found that cycle-averaging of the concentration may give misleading results. A sensitivity study with respect to changes in the boundary conditions showed that the EGR pulsations, have large influence on the results. This could also be shown by POD of the concentration field showing the significance of the pulses for the maldistribution of exhaust gases.Finally, the flow in an intake manifold of a four-cylinder engine is investigated in terms of EGR distribution. For this geometry, pipe bends upstream of the EGR inlet were found to be responsible for the maldistribution. / <p>QC 20130207</p>

Droplet microfluidics is a promising field since it overcomes many of the limitations of single phase microfluidic systems. The improved mixing time scale, the increase of number of samples and the isolation of droplets are some of its virtues. The core of droplet microfluidics is a two-phase flow condition that is subjected to scaling of the confining geometry. With the scaling the complexities of the flow phenomena arise. For that reason both the processes of droplet generation and transport are not fully understood for various flow and fluid conditions. The work in this thesis aims to experimentally examine droplet generation and transport in microchannels for flow and fluid conditions that are experimentally challenging to perform. Examination of droplet generation in a T-junction microchannel design was performed with a quantitative velocity field approach known as micro particle image velocimetry (μPIV). The studies on droplet generation focused on very fast generation regimes, namely transition and dripping that have not been studied for a T-junction design. This achievement was accomplished because of the development of a fast optical detection and triggering system that allowed for acquiring images of different identical droplets at the same position. μPIV results indicate that the quantitative velocity field patterns of different regimes share some similarities. The filling stage in the transition and dripping regimes had some resemblance in their velocity patterns. The velocity patterns for the start of droplet pinch-off were alike for the squeezing and transition regimes. Furthermore, the presence of a surfactant in the droplet phase above the critical micelle concentration (CMC) did not have an effect on the general velocity patterns as long as the capillary number Ca was matched with the no-surfactant condition. The studies of hydrodynamic properties of droplet transport were performed in hard materials to avoid cumulative error sources, such as material pressure compliance and swelling effects. The project had several parts: designing a microchannel network that allowed studying the hydrodynamic properties of small droplets, surface treatments of the channel material for stable droplet generation and examining the hydrodynamics of small liquid droplets with sizes that have not been reported in the literature. The studies examined effects of changing the interfacial tension, viscosity, and flow conditions on the transport of droplets. The experimental results from the hydrodynamic transport studies indicated that for the droplet sizes that were examined the pressure drop of droplets was affected by the capillary number Ca and length of the droplet Ld. Also, the presence of surfactants altered the hydrodynamic properties of droplets. At a high concentration of surfactants the droplets pressure drop was reduced significantly. Moreover, the type of surfactant affected the magnitude of the pressure drop. Experimental results indicate that if the concentration of surfactants was very low (below CMC) it did not have an effect on the droplet excess pressure. These findings are important to consider in designing droplet microfluidic systems with complex channel networks that involve droplet sorting, splitting, and merging for droplets that contain surfactants.

The aim of this thesis is the relocation of roads II/431 and III/4317 near Kojátky village. This is due to the unsuitable layout of current routes which were poorly arranged because of too many horizontal and vertical curves with small radius. Another reason was a bad technical state of bridge structures, one of them was in serious disrepair. The project deals with the relocation of current roads to more suitable routes including the option allowing access to the nearby estates and the connection to the existing cart tracks. The project also addresses two bridge structures across the streams.

This work specifically aims to provide a fundamental framework, with some experimental validation, for understanding droplet emulsion dynamics in a microfluidic channel with an applied electric field. Electrification of fluids can result in several different modes of electrohydrodynamics (EHD). Several studies to date have provided theoretical, experimental, and numerical results for stationary droplet deformations and some flowing droplet configurations, but none have reported a method by which droplets of different diameters can be separated, binned and routed through the use of electric fields. It is therefore the goal of this work to fill that void and report a comprehensive understanding of how the electric field can affect flowing droplet dynamics. This work deals with two primary models used in electrohydrodynamics: the leaky dielectric model and the perfect dielectric model. The perfect dielectric model assumes that fluids with low conductivities do not react to any effects from the small amount of free charge they contain, and can be assumed as dielectrics, or electrical insulators. The leaky dielectric model suggests that even though the free charge is minimal in fluids with low conductivities, it is still is enough to affect droplet deformations. Finite element numerical results of stationary droplet deformations, implemented using the level set method, compare well both qualitatively (prolate/oblate and vortex directions), and quantitatively with results published by other researchers. Errors of less than 7.5% are found when comparing three-dimensional (3D) numerical results of this study to results predicted by the 3D leaky dielectric model, for a stationary high conductivity drop suspended in a slightly lower conductivity suspending medium. Droplet formations in a T-junction with no applied electric field are adequately predicted numerically using the level set finite element technique, as demonstrated by other researchers and verified in this study. For 3D models, droplet size is within 6%, and droplet production frequency is within 2.4% of experimental values found in the microfluidic Tjunction device. In order to reduce computational complexity, a larger scale model was solved first iii to obtain electrical potential distributions localized at the channel walls for the electrode placement configurations. Droplet deceleration and pinning is demonstrated, both experimentally and numerically, by applying steep gradients of electrical potential to the microchannel walls. As droplets flow over these electrical potential “steps,” they are pinned to the channel walls if the resulting electric forces are large enough to overcome the hydrodynamic forces. A balance between four dimensionless force ratios, the electric Euler number (Eue – ratio of inertial to electric forces), Mason number (M a – ratio of viscous to electric forces), electric pressure (P s – ratio of upstream pressure forces to electric forces), and the electric capillary number (Cae – ratio of electric to capillary forces) are used to quantify the magnitudes of each of these forces required to pin a droplet, and is consistent with a cubic dependency on the drop diameter. For larger drop diameters, effects of hydrodynamic forces become more prominent, and for smaller droplets, a greater electric forces is required due to the proximity of the droplet boundary with reference to the electrified channel wall. Droplet deceleration and pinning can be exploited to route droplets into different branches of a microfluidic T-junction. In addition, using steep electrical potential gradients placed strategically along a microchannel, droplets can even be passively binned by size into separate branches of the microfluidic device. These characteristics have been identified and demonstrated in this work.

In the future, there should be a construction of bypasses for the residential areas of Rosice and Tetčice. The bypasses should be, according to the area planning, connected to road I/23 in the place of the existing T-junction of this road and road II/394, located to the east of the city Rosice. This connection will require the changing of the exisisting junction solutions. The thesis deals with the choice of the appropriate type of junctions and mainly contains the study of this designed interchange junction.