North American grassland bird populations are declining more rapidly than other groups of birds. A well-established method of quantifying and monitoring grassland bird populations is by locating active nests. Active nests are often difficult to locate in grassland swards due to the varying heights within the canopy that nests are established. Studies quantifying grassland bird populations have low statistical power due to low sample sizes and high disturbance. Advances in small, unmanned aerial systems and thermographic imaging technologies have potential to improve efficiency of locating nests throughout canopies. This study explored detection accuracy of using thermal imagery to identify simulated grassland bird nests located at different heights within monoculture tall-stature grass canopies. This methodology was tested in blind evaluations, using multiple evaluators. Results from this study suggest that surveying thermal images is a reliable method for detecting active nests at depths of up to 1 m into a grass canopy.

The abilities of powerful regression and multi-type data processing allow deep learning to effectively and accurately complete multi-tasks, which is the need of civil engineering. More cases showed that deep learning has become a greatly powerful and increasingly popular tool for civil engineering. Based on these, this dissertation developed deep learning studies for the condition assessment of civil infrastructure and materials. This dissertation included five main works: (1) Deep learning and infrared thermography for asphalt pavement crack severity classification. This work focused on longitudinal or transverse cracking. This work first built a dataset with four severity levels (no, low-severity, medium-severity, and high-severity) and three image types (visible, infrared, and fusion). Then this work applied the convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify the crack severity based on two strategies deep learning from scratch and transfer learning). This work also investigated the effect of image types on the accuracy of these two strategies and on the classification of different severity levels. (2) Asphalt pavement crack detection based on convolutional neural network and infrared thermography. This work first built an open dataset with three image types (visible, infrared, and fusion) and different conditions (single, multi, thin, and thick cracks; clean, rough, light, and dark backgrounds) and periods (morning, noon, and dusk). Then this work evaluated the performance of the CNN model based on the accuracy and complexity (computational and model). (3) An artificial neural network model on tensile behavior of hybrid steel-PVA fiber reinforced concrete containing fly ash and slag powder. This work considered a total of 23 factors for predicting the tensile behavior of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete (HFRC), including fibers' characteristics, mechanical properties of plain concrete, and concrete composition. Then this work compared the performance of the artificial neural network (ANN) method and the traditional equation-based method in terms of predicting the tensile stress, tensile strength, and strain corresponding to tensile strength. (4) Deep transfer learning-based vehicle classification by asphalt pavement vibration. This work first applied the pavement vibration IoT monitoring system to collect raw vibration signals and performed the wavelet transform to obtain denoised vibration signals. Then this work represented the vibration signals in two different ways, including the time-domain graph and the time-frequency graph. Finally, this work proposed two deep transfer learning-based vehicle classification methods according to these two representations of vibration signals. (5) Physical-informed long short-term memory (PI-LSTM) network for data-driven structural response modeling. This work first applied the single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system to investigate the performance of the proposed PI-LSTM network compared with the existing methods. Then this work further investigated and validated the proposed PI-LSTM network in terms of the experimental results of one six-story building and the numerical simulation results of another six-story building. / Doctor of Philosophy / With the development of technologies, deep learning has been applied to numerous fields to improve accuracy and efficiency. More work shows that deep learning has become a greatly powerful and increasingly popular tool for civil engineering. Since civil infrastructure and materials play a dominant role in civil engineering, this dissertation applied deep learning to the condition assessment of civil infrastructure and materials. Deep learning methods were applied to detect cracks in asphalt pavements. The mechanical properties of fiber reinforced concrete were investigated by deep learning methods. Based on the asphalt pavement vibration, the type of vehicles was classified by deep learning methods. Deep learning methods were also used to investigate the structural response.

Shoulder injuries are a focus of work related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) research due to rising healthcare costs, an aging workforce, and long recovery times. Substantial research has been performed in the area of shoulder WMSDs and a number of risk factors have been implicated in their development; including static loads, repetition, and deviated posture. However, knowledge of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms is limited. Thermography provides a non-invasive technique that may offer clues to unknown physiological markers associated with injury development during job task performance. The objective of this study was to quantify anterior deltoid surface temperature changes as function of changing task demands. Skin surface temperature changes of the anterior deltoid, modified Borg CR-10 ratings, and endurance time during overhead static exertions until exhaustion for two work loads (15 and 30% MVC) and shoulder angles (90o and 115o) were quantified. Ten participants (5 males and 5 females) participated in the study and were free of confounding conditions (such as chronic or acute shoulder injury) and were required to meet body fat percentile requirements. Thermography showed that the higher shoulder angle had a reduced blood flow while there were no differences in temperature for exertion. Modified Borg ratings were not found to be well correlated with temperature values. The findings suggest that workers performing overhead work should minimize their deviated posture when available to prevent a high risk of developing a shoulder WMSD. / Master of Science

A practical and non-invasive method of calculating the efficiency of electric motors could help reduce anthropogenic green house gas emissions by up to 6%. Such a method has been developed using quantitative thermography, however currently, the time required for its implementation is prohibitive. In this thesis, registration and segmentation techniques are applied to the thermograms of the above method, particularly thermograms used in the lumped capacitance method (LCM) and those used to find the average temperature of motors, reducing the time required to process thermograms. The processing of LCM thermograms was completely automated (±5% difference when compared to results obtained manually) while processing of motor thermograms required the location of the motor be provided manually the first time a motor is examined, but was completely automated for subsequent thermo- grams of the same motor (±0.9°C and ±0.6°C difference for non-occluded and occluded motors respectively compared to manual results). / NSERC Chair in Environmental Design Engineering

An experimental investigation of the flow boiling of water at atmospheric pressure was undertaken, including a high—speed cine photographic study of the flow structure near the Critical Heat Flux (CHF). Experimental tests from single-phase forced convection to burnout were conducted at different flow velocities and inlet subcoolings for water flowing upwards through a vertical channel of rectangular cross—section electrically heated on one wall with a glass window forming the opposite wall. The test surfaces were stainless steel strips of constant dimensions, except that wall thickness ranged from 0.08 mm to 0.20 mm. Quantitative measurements of the bubble parameters for the same heating surface under the same operating conditions with varying levels of heat flux (70% to 95% of CHF) were carried out. A nucleation site deactivation/reactivation process was observed with increasing heat flux. A proposed site deactivation mechanism explained this behaviour. A nucleate boiling heat transfer model was proposed for the fully— developed nucleate boiling region, with allowance made for the overlapping areas of bubble influence. It compared favourably with the experimental data. The effect of wall thickness on CHF was investigated: increases in CHF as between the 0.08 mm and the 0.20 mm wall thickness ranging from 38% to 57% were observed. An empirical expression for CHF, including wall thickness as a parameter was developed, correlating the experimental data to within 15% and indicating a limiting value for wall thickness affecting CHF. The flow regimes near burnout were identified as bubbly and slug, these being independent of wall thickness. Other models proposed for the CHF mechanism were tested against the detailed experimental observations at high subcoolings. They were found to be inconsistent with the experimental evidence. A possible alternative for the CHF mechanism points towards stabilisation/ growth of a vapour patch following bubble coalescence as a most likely cause for burnout.

This thesis deals with non-destructive testing (NDT). It Describes two basic thermographic methods, lock-in and pulse thermography. Different types of measurements using Fluke Ti55, points to the possibility of applying these methods in practice. Pulse thermography issue is a substantial part of this work, due to its good applicability. Also, it compares visual testing methods (VIS) and pulse thermography due to measurement with die-casting alloy AC-AlSi9Cu3 (Fe).

This research aims to investigate the application of infrared thermography (IRT) as a method of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) for the detection of defects in the rail base area. Rails have to withstand harsh conditions during their application. Therefore, defects can develop in the base area of rails due to stresses such as bending, shear, contact, and thermal stresses, fatigue, and corrosion. Such defects can cause catastrophic failures in the rails, ultimately leading to train derailments. Rail base defects due to fatigue and corrosion are difficult to detect and currently there are no reliable or practical non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods for finding these types of defects in the revenue service. Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) had previously conducted a research on the capability of flash IRT to detect defects in rail base area based on simulation approach. The research covered in this thesis is the continuation of the same project.In this research, three rail samples were prepared with each containing a notched-edge, side-drilled holes (SDHs), and bottom-drilled holes (BDHs). Two steel sample blocks containing BDHs and SDHs of different sizes and depths were also prepared. Preliminary IRT trials were conducted on the steel samples to obtain an optimal IRT setup configuration. The initial inspections for one of the steel samples were outsourced to Thermal Wave Imaging (TWI) where they employed Thermographic Signal Reconstruction (TSR) technique to enhance the resulting images. Additional inspections of the steel samples were performed in the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIUC) facility. In case of the rail samples, the SDHs and the notched-edge reflectors could not be detected in any of the experimental trials performed in this research. In addition, two more rail samples containing BDHs were prepared to investigate the detection capabilities for three different surface conditions: painted, unpainted, and rusted. The painted surface provided a best-case scenario for inspections while the other conditions offered further insight on correlating the application to industry-like cases.A 1300 W halogen lamp was employed as the heat source for providing continuous thermal excitation for various durations. Post-processing and analysis of the resulting thermal images was performed within the acquisition software using built-in analysis tools such as temperature probes, Region of Interest (ROI) based intensity profiles, and smoothing filters. The minimum defect diameter to depth (aspect) ratio detected in preliminary trials for the steel sample blocks were 1.0 at a diameter of 4.7625 mm (0.1875 in) and 1.5 at a diameter of 3.175 mm (0.125 in). For the inspection of painted rail sample, the longest exposure times (10 sec) provided the best detection capabilities in all sets of trials. The three holes having aspect ratio greater or equal to 1.0 were indicated in the thermal response of the painted and rusted samples while only the two holes having aspect ratio greater or equal to 1.5 were indicated in the unaltered sample. Indications of reflectors were identified through qualitative graphical analysis of pixel intensity distributions obtained along a bending line profile. The results obtained from the painted sample provided a baseline for analyzing the results from the unpainted and rusted rail samples. This provided an insight on the limitations and requirements for future development. The primary takeaway is the need for an optimized heat source. Poor contrast in the resulting image for the unpainted and rusted rail samples is experienced due to both noise and lack of penetration of the heat energy. This could have been due to decreased emissivity values. Moreover, the excitation method employed in this research does not comply with current industry standards for track clearances. Therefore, exploration of alternative excitation methods is recommended.

The disintegration of a liquid jet emerging from a nozzle has been under investigation for several decades. A direct consequence of the liquid jet disintegration process is droplet formation. The breakup of a liquid jet into discrete droplets can be brought about by the use of a diverse forcing mechanism. Cavitation has been thought to assist the atomization process. Previous experimental studies, however, have dealt with cavitation as a secondary phenomenon assisting the primary atomization mechanism. In this dissertation, the role of the energy created by the collapse of cavitation bubbles, together with the liquid pressure perturbation is explicitly configured as a principal mechanism for the disintegration of the liquid jet. A prototype of an atomizer that uses this concept as a primary atomization mechanism was developed and experimentally tested using water as working fluid. The atomizer fabrication process and the experimental characterization results are presented. The parameters tested include liquid injection pressure, ultrasonic horn tip frequency, and the liquid flow rate. The experimental results obtained demonstrate improvement in the atomization of water. To fully characterize the new atomizer, a novel infrared thermography-based technique for the characterization and visualization of liquid sprays was developed. The technique was tested on the new atomizer and two automotive paint applicators. The technique uses an infrared thermography-based measurement in which a uniformly heated background acts as a thermal radiation source, and an infrared camera as the receiver. The infrared energy emitted by the source in traveling through the spray is attenuated by the presence of the droplets. The infrared intensity is captured by the receiver showing the attenuation in the image as a result of the presence of the spray. The captured thermal image is used to study detailed macroscopic features of the spray flow field and the evolution of the droplets as they are transferred from the applicator to the target surface. In addition, the thermal image is post-processed using theoretical and empirical equations to extract information from which the liquid volume fraction and number density within the spray are estimated.

L'ébullition est présente dans la vie de tous les jours et elle a été par conséquent le sujet de beaucoup d'études, mais pour la plupart en régimes stationnaires. Néanmoins, l'intérêt de connaître les caractéristiques de l'ébullition transitoire est aussi important notamment pour la prévention des accidents nucléaires majeurs. C'est justement dans l'optique de mieux comprendre les phénomènes d'ébullition qui se produisent lors d'un RIA (Accident d'Insertion de Réactivité) que cette thèse a été financée par l'IRSN. Le RIA est un accident qui peut résulter d'une défaillance du mécanisme de la grappe contrôlant la réaction nucléaire. La réaction s'emballe pendant quelques dizaines de millisecondes (pulse de puissance) provoquant une augmentation rapide de la température du crayon de combustible et donc l'évaporation du liquide qui l'entoure. Des tests ont été faits par le passé soit sur des crayons de combustibles, soit sur des tubes chauffés ayant les mêmes dimensions qu'un crayon, afin d'améliorer la connaissance de ce phénomène. Par contre, les mesures étaient entachées d'incertitudes importantes, dues à des techniques de mesure non appropriées à des phénomènes si rapides. L'objectif de ce travail a été de concevoir et mettre en place une expérience capable de simuler un RIA à petite échelle, pour mieux comprendre les caractéristiques de l'ébullition lorsque la paroi monte en température très rapidement. De plus, ce dispositif expérimental devait être apte à étudier des montées en température moins violentes pour améliorer la connaissance de l'ébullition transitoire en général. Cette expérience a été conçue à l'Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse. Elle est constituée d'une feuille métallique d'acier de 50µm d'épaisseur, formée en demi cylindre (8mm de diamètre et 200mm de longueur) et chauffée par effet Joule. Elle est entourée par du fluide réfrigérant HFE7000, qui permet de travailler en similitude par rapport au cas réel en eau. Le fluide est confiné par un deuxième demi cylindre en verre, ayant 34mm de diamètre. Les expériences peuvent être en vase ou avec écoulement, écoulement qui a été caractérisé par des mesures PIV. Plusieurs débits peuvent donc être employés et le sous-refroidissement du liquide est aussi ajustable. L'emploi d'une alimentation pilotable et très flexible permet d'obtenir des chauffages du métal jusqu'à 2500K/s, mais aussi des montées en température plus faibles, pour tracer des courbes d'ébullition stationnaires ou faiblement transitoires. La température de la paroi est mesurée grâce à une caméra infrarouge, couplée à des visualisations rapides et à des mesures de pression et température dans le liquide. / Boiling phenomena can be found in the everyday life, thus a lot of studies are devoted to them, especially in steady state conditions. Transient boiling is less known but still interesting as it is involved in the nuclear safety prevention. In this context, the present work was supported by the French Institute of Nuclear Safety (IRSN). In fact, the IRSN wanted to clarify what happens during a Reactivity-initiated Accident (RIA). This accident occurs when the bars that control the nuclear reactions break down and a high power peak is passed from the nuclear fuel bar to the surrounding fluid. The temperature of the nuclear fuel bar wall increases and the fluid vaporises instantaneously. Previous studies on a fuel bar or on a metal tube heated by Joule effect were done in the past in order to understand the rapid boiling phenomena during a RIA. However, the measurements were not really accurate because the measurement techniques were not able to follow rapid phenomena. The main goal of this work was to create an experimental facility able to simulate the RIA boiling conditions but at small scale in order to better understand the boiling characteristics when the heated-wall temperature increases rapidly. Moreover, the experimental set-up was meant to be able to produce less-rapid transients as well, in order to give information on transient boiling in general. The facility was built at the Fluid-Mechanics Institute of Toulouse. The core consists of a metal half-cylinder heated by Joule effect, placed in a half-annulus section. The inner half cylinder is made of a 50 microns thick stainless steel foil. Its diameter is 8mm, and its length 200mm. The outer part is a 34mm internal diameter glass half cylinder. The semi-annular section is filled with a coolant, named HFE7000. The configuration allows to work in similarity conditions. The heated part can be place inside a loop in order to study the flow effect. The fluid temperature influence is taken into account as well. A flexible power supply that can generate a free-shape signal, allows to get to a wall-temperature increase rate up to 2500 K/s but also to obtain lower rates, which permits to study weaker transients and steady state conditions. The thermal measurements are realised by means of an infra-red camera and a high-speed camera is employed in order to see the boiling phenomena at the same time. From the voltage and current measurements the heat flux that is passed to the fluid is known.

Orientador: Eunice Oba / Resumo: RESUMO YAMADA, P.H. EFEITOS DE DIFERENTES MÉTODOS DE CASTRAÇÃO SOBRE A FUNÇÃO TESTICULAR, CARACTERÍSTICAS DE CARCAÇA E DOR EM NOVILHOS ZEBUÍNOS. Botucatu - SP. 2019, p.97. Tese (Doutorado) - Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Campus Botucatu, Universidade Estadual Paulista. Resumo O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar os efeitos da castração cirúrgica, química e imunológica sobre as características espermáticas, morfometria e termografia testicular, concentração testosterona e avalição da expressão facial durante o ato da castração. Para isso, foram utilizados 80 novilhos da raça Nelore com aproximadamente 20 meses de idade, contemporâneos, oriundos do mesmo rebanho, mantidos a pasto, com suplementação durante o período experimental até atingirem o peso de 480 kg para o abate. Os novilhos foram divididos em 4 grupos (n=20/grupo) homogêneos conforme o peso. Os tratamentos consistiram em três métodos de castração, sendo eles: orquiectomia (ORQ); químico (QUI); imunológico (IMUN); e o grupo controle, sem castração (CONT). Na QUI, foram injetados em cada testículo, 15 mL de CaCl 40% associado a 0,5% DMSO, após bloqueio anestésico regional e local. no procedimento para a IMUN foram aplicados 1mL/animal de Bopriva® (Zoetis, São Paulo, SP, Brasil), por via subcutânea, em três aplicações (D-30, D0 e D90). Sete dias antes dos tratamentos foram realizados o exame andrológico. Os animais foram abatidos no D220. Os resultados mostram que, a avaliação (CE) e volume te... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The aim of this project was to evaluate and compare the surgical, chemical and immunological methods of castration in cattle, and to verify the impact of each method on sperm production and testicular morphometry. For this purpose, 80 Nelore calves with approximately 20 months old, from the same herd, kept on pasture, were used during the experimental period until reaching a slaughter weight of 480 kg. The animals were divided into 4 groups (n = 20 / group) homogeneous according to weight. The treatments consisted of three methods of castatrion: orchiectomy (ORQ); chemical (QUI); immunological (IMUN); and the control group, non-castrated (CONT). In the QUI, 15 mL of 40% CaCl associated with 0.5% DMSO were injected into each testicle, after regional and local anesthetic block. In IMUN, 1mL / animal of Bopriva® (Zoetis, São Paulo, SP, Brazil) was applied subcutaneously in three applications (D 30, D0 and D90. The andrological exam was performed seven days before the treatments. The animals were slaughtered on the D220. The results show that, in the evaluation (EC) and testicular volume, no statistically significant difference was observed at time D0. At the time D15, the chemical group presented an increase when compared to the immunological and control groups. At the concentration, the immunological group presented higher concentration in relation to the chemical group at time D15. Motility was lower in the immunological group when compared to the control group at the time D60... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor