A blade-to-blade computer program, using the method of finite differences has been written to calculate the velocity distributions on the rotor blade of an axial-flow compressor. The shape of the blade has been approximated in two different ways employing a rather elaborate method and one whose primary goal was simplicity. The ensuing velocity distributions were compared and can be judged to be satisfactory in that they follow the expectations and show a reasonable behavior, even close to the leading and trailing stagnation point. The latter fact represents an improvement to results obtained from a previous work [ref. 3], however the calculations still need to be confirmed by the experiment. In the second part of this thesis, following a recommendation of reference 3, the blade boundary layer effects have been calculated from the velocity distributions of the first part. Considering certain assumptions, these results also may be judged as satisfactory and the rather important conclusion may be drawn that turbulent separation, if it occurs at all, takes place close to the rear stagnation point of the blade for the applied range of upstream velocities. Another conclusion may be drawn from the displacement thickness distribution in that the flow values would not affect greatly the potential flow calculation and hence an iterative procedure between the potential flow field and the blade boundary layer should converge rapidly. The results from the second part also require a confirmation by the experiment. / Master of Science

Electromagnetic levitation has been commonly researched for the use in ground transit systems. It is ideal for high-speed applications that require low friction. The principle is simple, use electromagnetic force to balance the force imposed by gravity. However, for attractive levitation the system is unstable and nonlinear. Two dominant approaches to this problem have been to use a state feedback control system or a simple linear PID compensated control architecture. State feedback is a well-known control technique, but is complicated to implement and can rely on linearization of the system dynamics. The simple PID control structure is very easy to implement, but can have severe performance degradation in the presence of noise. This system can usually be identified by its large acoustic noise. This is primarily due to the differential term in the controller. This thesis proposes a solution that uses two concepts: Current Command Generation (CCG) and a closed velocity loop. CCG linearizes the control structure by utilizing the known magnetic properties of the system to convert a desired force to a current for any given air gap. This removes squared command terms from the control structure. This allows for a reliable and predictable implementation of linear feedback control systems. The PID implementation of an attractive levitation system uses two control loops. The inner loop is a current controller, which receives current commands from the outer position loop. The proposed control architecture uses three loops. The innermost loop is the current controller, which receives current commands for the CCG. The middle loop is a velocity controller, which receives commands from the position (outer most) loop and produces force command output used as inputs to the CCG. The three loops consist of two Proportional Integral (PI) controllers for the current and velocity controllers and a Proportional (P) controller. There is no derivative term, making the proposed solution's performance far less dependent on noise. This architecture removes the necessity of nonlinear elements in the control architectures and improves noise rejection through the use of the velocity loop. The acoustic noise performance of this system is enhanced by both of these methodologies and is shown in the experimental setup. / Master of Science

A Virginia V-notch weir·box culvert combination gaging station is a discharge measuring device to record the runoff from small watersheds, usually less than two thousand acres in area. The station is composed of a prebuilt highway culvert, a one-foot thick triangular shaped weir placed between wing walls of the culvert entrance and a water level recorder placed 10 feet upstream from the weir. Water runs over the weir and enters the culvert, its surface elevation is controlled by the weir for low stages and, by the culvert, for high stages. The advantages of this kind of gaging station are: l. to make low flow measurable and accurate, 2. to permit free passage of debris and, 3. economical. The main purpose of this thesis is to determine the relationship between the discharge and the measured flow stage. Scaled model studies have been previously made for the same gaging station and the result is found practically agreeable. Theoretical analysis shows that the weir is hydraulically short-created. A suggestion, to place the flow stage measuring section within the wing walls of the culvert entrance, is recommended in this thesis. / Master of Science

<p dir="ltr">Studying changes in seismic velocities beneath two separate volcanic systems in the Aleutian arc. Focusing on eruptive behavior, this research delineates subsurface changes through the lens of changes in seismic velocity.</p>

Velocity tomography is a noninvasive technique that can image the interior of a rock structure. To apply tomography to rock specimens, a propagation wave, which acts as a probe, is used. The propagation wave propagates from a source until it reaches a sensor on the surface of the rock specimen. Tomograms can then be generated from the velocity distribution within the rock structure. Areas of higher velocity are typically representative of higher stress concentrations, whereas areas of low velocity can be areas of fracturing. The variation of velocity tomography described in this thesis uses acoustic emissions as sources for the propagation wave. Acoustic emission sources provide advantages over mechanical sources, since the acoustic emission source is generated by the rock as a result of deformation and fracturing. Velocity tomography of rock structures in the field has numerous applications and advantages. Velocity tomography can be used to monitor rock structures surrounding tunnels and underground openings such as mines. To monitor the rock structure, velocity tomography is used to determine areas of higher stress concentration that may be precursors to rock failure. However, velocity tomography must first be used in a laboratory environment to determine failure in rock samples before being applied to the field. The research presented includes the unconfined compression strength testing of 19 Berea sandstone samples. These samples were loaded to failure and during the experiment the acoustic emission events within the samples were monitored using a commercial acquisition system manufactured by Engineering Seismology Group (ESG) Canada. Source location software, also produced by ESG, was used for the location of the acoustic emission events. Ray inversions were performed on the data from the experiments to generate tomograms. The tomograms generated display the p-wave velocity distribution imaged within the Berea sandstone samples with the ultimate goal of being able to predict rock failure. Based on the experiments discussed in this thesis it can be inferred that velocity tomography is a useful tool for imaging the inside of the Berea sandstone samples. Precursors of rock failure could not be determined in this early stage of research. However, the tomograms do image the p-wave velocity distribution and do show a gradual progression of the p-wave velocity from the initial velocity model to higher velocities. Results of these 19 experiments do provide reasonable confidence in the method and warrant pursuit of further research to refine and improve this method of monitoring velocity tomography. / Master of Science

It is well known that for small Reynolds numbers, flow around a cylinder is laminar and stable. For larger Reynolds numbers, although the flow regime remains laminar, the formation of complex periodic structures appear downstream. The cyclic nature of this periodic flow is well characterized by the vortex shedding frequency and Strouhal number. However, complexities of these periodic structures downstream continue to be a topic of research. Periodic laminar 2D incompressible viscous flow around a cylinder is simulated using OpenFoam, an open source computational fluid dynamics program. To better understand these complex structures downstream, a customized computer graphical tool, VerFlow-V.01, was created to analyze and study OpenFoam simulation results. This study includes an investigation of calculating the details of drag and lift coefficients for the cylinder using mathematical models that integrate properties in subdomains, an approach not previously explored to the knowledge of the author. Numerical integration is accomplished using a finite difference approach for solving surface and contour integrals in subdomains of interest. Special attention is given to pressure and to the second invariant of the velocity gradient, as they have a clear mathematical relationship, which is consistent with results previously published. A customized visual data analysis tool, called VerFlow-V.01, allowed investigators to compare simulation data variables in a variety of useful ways, revealing details not previously understood. Main subroutines and a user's manual are included as appendices to encourage reproducibility and future development of the numerical, analytical and graphical models developed here. Together these models resulted in a new understanding of periodic laminar flow around a cylinder. A unique approach was developed to qualitatively understand the origins of drag and lift coefficients associated with properties mapped as images in subdomains of interest downstream. These results explain the development of convergent, eddy, and stream zones embedded in flow fields downstream. / Master of Science

A theoretical method for extracting the rotational degrees of freedom from a reconstructed three-dimensional velocity field has been developed. To extract the angular velocities the curl of the translational velocities must be performed. The three-dimensional velocity field is to be equally spaced so that the DFT-IDFT technique of taking partial derivatives of the translational velocities is used. A program was written in C along with MATLAB® which performed the theoretical calculations. Two proposed methods of experimentally verifying the angular velocity data is developed using a Kistler translational/angular piezobeam accelerometer to compare against the DFT-IDFT partial derivative technique for calculating the angular velocities. / Master of Science

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was used to predict the gas-solid hydrodynamics of fluidized beds. An Eulerian-Eulerian multi-fluid model and granular kinetic theory were used to simulate fluidization and to capture the complex physics associated therewith. The commercial code ANSYS FLUENT was used to study two-dimensional single solids phase glass bead and walnut shell fluidized beds. Current modeling codes only allow for modeling of spherical, uniform-density particles. Owing to the fact that biomass material, such as walnut shell, is abnormally shaped and has non-uniform density, a study was conducted to find the best modeling approach to accurately predict pressure drop, minimum fluidization velocity, and void fraction in the bed. Furthermore, experiments have revealed that all of the bed mass does not completely fluidize due to agglomeration of material between jets in the distributor plate. It was shown that the best modeling approach to capture the physics of the biomass bed was by correcting the amount of mass present in the bed in order to match how much material truly fluidizes experimentally, whereby the initial bed height of the system is altered. The approach was referred to as the SIM approach. A flow regime identification study was also performed on a glass bead fluidized bed to show the distinction between bubbling, slugging, and turbulent flow regimes by examining void fraction contours and bubble dynamics, as well as by comparison of simulated data with an established trend of standard deviation of pressure versus inlet gas velocity. Modeling was carried out with and without turbulence modeling (k-ϵ), to show the effect of turbulence modeling on two-dimensional simulations. / Master of Science

Results from two-station surface-wave inversions across the Archean Kaapvaal craton of southern Africa are compared with seismic velocities estimated from approximately 100 mantle xenoliths brought to the surface in kimberlite pipes. As the xenoliths represent a snapshot of the mantle at the time of their eruption, comparison with recently recorded seismic data provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the independently gained results. These cratonic xenoliths from the southern Kaapvaal, all less than 100Ma in age, have been analyzed geothermobarometrically to obtain the equilibrium P-T conditions of the cratonic mantle to about 180km depth [James et al 2004]. Seismic velocity-depth and density-depth profiles calculated on the basis of these P-T data and the mineral modes of the xenoliths are used to produce theoretical surface-wave dispersion curves and to generate roughly the upper 200km of a starting/reference model. A regionally-developed crustal structure [Niu and James 2002] was used for the crust and 300km of mantle values taken from PREM filled in down to 500km depth. This composite model was used as the starting/reference model for a Neighbourhood Algorithm surface-wave inversion using fundamental-mode Rayleigh-wave phase velocities for 16 paths within the Kaapvaal Craton from five events. The velocity structures found by that inversion are consistent with those derived from the xenolith data. Hence the velocity structure (i.e. thermal structure) of the mantle to a depth of 180km beneath the Kaapvaal craton is basically the same today as it was 80-90Ma. Further, synthetics runs show that for this surface-wave dataset, there is no strong low-velocity zone at depths shallower than at least 200km. / Master of Science

The role of nitric acid (HNO3) on the atmospheric corrosion of metals has so far received little or no attention. However, the last decades of decreasing sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels and unchanged HNO3 levels in many industrialized countries have resulted in an increased interest in possible HNO3-induced atmospheric corrosion effects. In this study a new method was developed for studying the corrosion effects of HNO3 on metals at well-defined laboratory exposure conditions. The method has enabled studies to be performed on the influence of individual exposure parameters, namely HNO3-concentration, air velocity, temperature and relative humidity, as well as comparisons with newly generated field exposure data. The corrosion rate and deposition rate of HNO3 on copper was shown to follow a linear increase with HNO3 concentration. The deposition velocity (Vd) of HNO3 increased up to an air velocity of 11.8 cm s-1. Only at a higher air velocity (35.4 cm s-1) the Vd on copper was lower than the Vd on an ideal absorbent, implying the Vd of HNO3 at lower air velocities to be mass-transport limited. Within the investigated temperature range of 15 to 35 ºC only a minor decrease in the HNO3-induced copper corrosion rate could be observed. The effect of relative humidity (RH) was more evident. Already at 20 % RH a significant corrosion rate could be measured and at 65 % RH the Vd of HNO3 on copper, zinc and carbon steel reached maximum and nearly ideal absorption conditions. During identical exposure conditions in HNO3-containing atmosphere, the corrosion rate of carbon steel was nearly three times higher than that of copper and zinc. The HNO3-induced corrosion effect of copper, zinc and steel turned out to be significantly higher than that induced by SO2 alone or in combination with either NO2 or O3. This is mainly attributed to the much higher water solubility and reactivity of HNO3 compared to SO2, NO2 and O3. Relative to SO2, zinc exhibits the highest sensitivity to HNO3, followed by copper, and carbon steel with the lowest sensitivity. Extrapolation of laboratory data to an assumed average outdoor wind velocity of 3.6 m s-1 enabled a good comparison with field data. Despite the fact that ambient SO2 levels are still much higher than HNO3 levels, the results show that HNO3 plays a significant role for the atmospheric corrosion of copper and zinc, but not for carbon steel. The results generated within this doctoral study emphasize the importance of further research on the influence of HNO3 on degradation of other materials, e.g. stone and glass, as well as of other metals.