A variedade dos meios porosos é evidente na pluralidade de seus usos. Não por acaso, a avaliação dos escoamentos que neles sucedem é comum a diversos campos de conhecimento. Avanços nas técnicas experimentais e numéricas têm sido observados recentemente. No entanto, progressos posteriores no assunto encontram-se condicionados à evolução da contraparte teórica. Em virtude disso, no presente estudo, foi desenvolvido um modelo analítico para o escoamento em meios porosos. Este modelo se baseia no princípio da entropia máxima (PEM), advindo da teoria da informação. Por meio dele, foi possível a determinação estatística das velocidades locais de um fluido e puderam ser deduzidas expressões embasadas nas Equações de Navier-Stokes, tais quais as Leis de Darcy, de Forchheimer e a Equação de Darcy-Weisbach. Ele permitiu, também, a atribuição de significados físicos mais precisos para grandezas intervenientes no escoamento em meios porosos, como o número de Reynolds e o coeficiente de permeabilidade intrínseca. Dele emergiu, ainda, o parâmetro de entropia, modelador da distribuição de velocidades, capaz de delimitar os regimes de escoamento e que viabiliza a conexão entre a micro e a macroescala do problema. Verificou-se uma grande aderência do modelo proposto a resultados obtidos em escala de bancada, piloto e real, constantes na literatura científica. Por essas razões e pelo fato de o modelo proposto ter como base um número bastante reduzido de premissas, conclui-se que ele é geral e robusto, sendo aplicável às mais distintas áreas que requeiram uma descrição analítica do escoamento em meios porosos. / Given the wide-ranging uses of porous media, it is no coincidence that several distinct fields of knowledge require analysis and evaluation of flows occurring therein. Recent advances in this area have included experimental and numerical techniques. However, further developments in the subject are conditioned to (and held back by) the evolution in its theoretical counterpart. As a result, this study proposes a new analytical model for the flow through porous media, based on information theory\'s principle of maximum entropy (POME). The proposed model allows for the statistical determination of a fluid\'s local velocities. Further, it also permits the deduction of expressions based on the Navier-Stokes Equations, such as Darcy\'s and Forchheimer\'s Laws and the Darcy-Weisbach Equation. It bestows more precise physical meanings to the quantities typically involved in the flow through porous media, such as the Reynolds number and the intrinsic permeability coefficient, as well. Furthermore, the proposed model introduces an entropy parameter, which represents the statistical distribution of velocities and is capable of delimiting flow regimes. This parameter also permits a clear connection between both micro and macro scales of the problem. The proposed model showed great adherence to bench, pilot and real scale results found in scientific literature. For these reasons, and due to its reduced number of premises, the proposed model is concluded to be general and robust, and that it can be applied to countless areas in which an analytical description of flow through porous media is required.

In modern low pressure plasma discharges, the electron mean free path often exceeds the device dimensions. Under such conditions the electron velocity distribution function may significantly deviate from Maxwellian, which strongly affects the discharge properties. The description of such plasmas has to be kinetic and often requires the use of numerical methods. This thesis presents the study of kinetic effects in inductively coupled plasmas and Hall thrusters carried out by means of particle-in-cell simulations. The important result and the essential part of the research is the development of particle-in-cell codes. <p>An advective electromagnetic 1d3v particle-in-cell code is developed for modelling the inductively coupled plasmas. An electrostatic direct implicit 1d3v particle-in-cell code EDIPIC is developed for plane geometry simulations of Hall thruster plasmas. The EDIPIC code includes several physical effects important for Hall thrusters: collisions with neutral atoms, turbulence, and secondary electron emission. In addition, the narrow sheath regions crucial for plasma-wall interaction are resolved in simulations. The code is parallelized to achieve fast run times. <p>Inductively coupled plasmas sustained by the external RF electromagnetic field are widely used in material processing reactors and electrodeless lighting sources. In a low pressure inductive discharge, the collisionless electron motion strongly affects the absorption of the external electromagnetic waves and, via the ponderomotive force, the density profile. The linear theory of the anomalous skin effect based on the linear electron trajectories predicts a strong decrease of the ponderomotive force for warm plasmas. Particle-in-cell simulations show that the nonlinear modification of electron trajectories by the RF magnetic field partially compensates the effects of electron thermal motion. As a result, the ponderomotive force in warm collisionless plasmas is stronger than predicted by linear kinetic theory. <p>Hall thrusters, where plasma is maintained by the DC electric field crossed with the stationary magnetic field, are efficient low-thrust devices for spacecraft propulsion. The energy exchange between the plasma and the wall in Hall thrusters is enhanced by the secondary electron emission, which strongly affects electron temperature and, subsequently, thruster operation. Particle-in-cell simulations show that the effect of secondary electron emission on electron cooling in Hall thrusters is quite different from predictions of previous fluid studies. Collisionless electron motion results in a strongly anisotropic, nonmonotonic electron velocity distribution function, which is depleted in the loss cone, subsequently reducing the electron wall losses compared to Maxwellian plasmas. Secondary electrons form two beams propagating between the walls of a thruster channel in opposite radial directions. The secondary electron beams acquire additional energy in the crossed external electric and magnetic fields. The energy increment depends on both the field magnitudes and the electron flight time between the walls. <p>A new model of secondary electron emission in a bounded plasma slab, allowing for emission due to the counter-propagating secondary electron beams, is developed. It is shown that in bounded plasmas the average energy of plasma bulk electrons is far less important for the space charge saturation of the sheath than it is in purely Maxwellian plasmas. A new regime with relaxation oscillations of the sheath has been identified in simulations. Recent experimental studies of Hall thrusters indirectly support the simulation results with respect to the electron temperature saturation and the channel width effect on the thruster discharge.

The development flow region of stepped chutes was studied experimentally. Three configuration of chute bed slopes 3.5H:1V, 5H:1V, and 10H:1V were used to study the flow characteristics. Each model had five horizontal steps and with constant step height of 15 cm. Constant temperature anemometry was used to investigate the velocity field characteristics as well as local void fraction. Pressure transducers were used to examine the pressure distribution. The conditions of aerated and non-aerated cavity were studied. It was found that the temperature anemometry is a valuable tool in the study of water flow problems due to its good spatial and temporal resolution. It is recommended that the constant overheat ratio procedure should be used in dealing with non-isothermal water flows. Flow conditions along the development flow region were found to be quite complex with abrupt changes between steps depending whether or not the flow jet has disintegrated. The flow on this region does not resemble a drop structure and after the first step, the step cavity condition does not affect the flow parameters. Pressure distribution was also found to be complex. It was found that there are no conclusive pressure profiles either on the step treads nor on step risers. No correlation was observed with the values of pool depth. The instantaneous characteristics of the velocity field along the jet of a drop structure were also studied. It was concluded that the cavity condition does not affect the velocity field of the sliding jet. The shear stress layer at the jet/pool interface was quantified. / May 2006

In modern low pressure plasma discharges, the electron mean free path often exceeds the device dimensions. Under such conditions the electron velocity distribution function may significantly deviate from Maxwellian, which strongly affects the discharge properties. The description of such plasmas has to be kinetic and often requires the use of numerical methods. This thesis presents the study of kinetic effects in inductively coupled plasmas and Hall thrusters carried out by means of particle-in-cell simulations. The important result and the essential part of the research is the development of particle-in-cell codes. <p>An advective electromagnetic 1d3v particle-in-cell code is developed for modelling the inductively coupled plasmas. An electrostatic direct implicit 1d3v particle-in-cell code EDIPIC is developed for plane geometry simulations of Hall thruster plasmas. The EDIPIC code includes several physical effects important for Hall thrusters: collisions with neutral atoms, turbulence, and secondary electron emission. In addition, the narrow sheath regions crucial for plasma-wall interaction are resolved in simulations. The code is parallelized to achieve fast run times. <p>Inductively coupled plasmas sustained by the external RF electromagnetic field are widely used in material processing reactors and electrodeless lighting sources. In a low pressure inductive discharge, the collisionless electron motion strongly affects the absorption of the external electromagnetic waves and, via the ponderomotive force, the density profile. The linear theory of the anomalous skin effect based on the linear electron trajectories predicts a strong decrease of the ponderomotive force for warm plasmas. Particle-in-cell simulations show that the nonlinear modification of electron trajectories by the RF magnetic field partially compensates the effects of electron thermal motion. As a result, the ponderomotive force in warm collisionless plasmas is stronger than predicted by linear kinetic theory. <p>Hall thrusters, where plasma is maintained by the DC electric field crossed with the stationary magnetic field, are efficient low-thrust devices for spacecraft propulsion. The energy exchange between the plasma and the wall in Hall thrusters is enhanced by the secondary electron emission, which strongly affects electron temperature and, subsequently, thruster operation. Particle-in-cell simulations show that the effect of secondary electron emission on electron cooling in Hall thrusters is quite different from predictions of previous fluid studies. Collisionless electron motion results in a strongly anisotropic, nonmonotonic electron velocity distribution function, which is depleted in the loss cone, subsequently reducing the electron wall losses compared to Maxwellian plasmas. Secondary electrons form two beams propagating between the walls of a thruster channel in opposite radial directions. The secondary electron beams acquire additional energy in the crossed external electric and magnetic fields. The energy increment depends on both the field magnitudes and the electron flight time between the walls. <p>A new model of secondary electron emission in a bounded plasma slab, allowing for emission due to the counter-propagating secondary electron beams, is developed. It is shown that in bounded plasmas the average energy of plasma bulk electrons is far less important for the space charge saturation of the sheath than it is in purely Maxwellian plasmas. A new regime with relaxation oscillations of the sheath has been identified in simulations. Recent experimental studies of Hall thrusters indirectly support the simulation results with respect to the electron temperature saturation and the channel width effect on the thruster discharge.

No description available.

The development flow region of stepped chutes was studied experimentally. Three configuration of chute bed slopes 3.5H:1V, 5H:1V, and 10H:1V were used to study the flow characteristics. Each model had five horizontal steps and with constant step height of 15 cm. Constant temperature anemometry was used to investigate the velocity field characteristics as well as local void fraction. Pressure transducers were used to examine the pressure distribution. The conditions of aerated and non-aerated cavity were studied. It was found that the temperature anemometry is a valuable tool in the study of water flow problems due to its good spatial and temporal resolution. It is recommended that the constant overheat ratio procedure should be used in dealing with non-isothermal water flows. Flow conditions along the development flow region were found to be quite complex with abrupt changes between steps depending whether or not the flow jet has disintegrated. The flow on this region does not resemble a drop structure and after the first step, the step cavity condition does not affect the flow parameters. Pressure distribution was also found to be complex. It was found that there are no conclusive pressure profiles either on the step treads nor on step risers. No correlation was observed with the values of pool depth. The instantaneous characteristics of the velocity field along the jet of a drop structure were also studied. It was concluded that the cavity condition does not affect the velocity field of the sliding jet. The shear stress layer at the jet/pool interface was quantified.

The development flow region of stepped chutes was studied experimentally. Three configuration of chute bed slopes 3.5H:1V, 5H:1V, and 10H:1V were used to study the flow characteristics. Each model had five horizontal steps and with constant step height of 15 cm. Constant temperature anemometry was used to investigate the velocity field characteristics as well as local void fraction. Pressure transducers were used to examine the pressure distribution. The conditions of aerated and non-aerated cavity were studied. It was found that the temperature anemometry is a valuable tool in the study of water flow problems due to its good spatial and temporal resolution. It is recommended that the constant overheat ratio procedure should be used in dealing with non-isothermal water flows. Flow conditions along the development flow region were found to be quite complex with abrupt changes between steps depending whether or not the flow jet has disintegrated. The flow on this region does not resemble a drop structure and after the first step, the step cavity condition does not affect the flow parameters. Pressure distribution was also found to be complex. It was found that there are no conclusive pressure profiles either on the step treads nor on step risers. No correlation was observed with the values of pool depth. The instantaneous characteristics of the velocity field along the jet of a drop structure were also studied. It was concluded that the cavity condition does not affect the velocity field of the sliding jet. The shear stress layer at the jet/pool interface was quantified.

In some species, including humans, red blood cells (RBCs) under low shear stress tend to clump together and form into regular stacks called rouleaux. These stacks are not static, and constantly move and break apart. This phenomenon is referred to as red blood cell aggregation and disaggregation. When modelled as a single liquid, blood behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid. Its viscosity varies, mainly due to the aggregation of RBCs. The aim of this research is to develop a mesoscale computational model for the simulation of RBCs in plasma. This model considers RBC interaction and aggregation to predict blood-flow characteristics such as viscosity, rouleaux size and velocity distribution. In this work, the population-balance modelling (PBM) approach is utilized to model the RBC aggregation process. The PBM approach is a known method that is used for modelling agglomeration and breakage in two-phase flow fluid mechanics to find aggregate size. The PBM model is coupled to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for the plasma. Both models are numerically solved simultaneously. The population-balance equation has been used previously in a more restricted form, the Smoluchowski equation, to model blood viscosity, but it has never been fully coupled with the Navier-Stokes equation directly for the numerical modelling of blood flow. This approach results in a comprehensive model which aims to predict RBC aggregate size and their velocities for different flow configurations, as well as their effects on the apparent macro-scale viscosity. The PBM approach does not treat the microscopic physics of aggregation directly but rather uses experimental correlations for aggregation and disaggregation rates to account for the effects of aggregation on the bulk. To find the aggregation rate, a series of experiments on RBC sedimentation due to gravity is designed. In these tests, aggregated RBCs (rouleaux) tend to settle faster than single RBCs and, due to low shear stresses, disaggregation is very low and can be neglected. A high-speed camera is used to acquire video-microscopic pictures of the process. The size of the aggregates and their velocities are extracted using image processing techniques. For image processing, a general Matlab program is developed which can analyze all the images and report the velocity and size distribution of rouleaux. An experimental correlation for disaggregation rate is found using results from a previous steady-state Couette flow experiment. Aggregation and disaggregation rates from these experiments are used to complete the PBM model. Pressure-driven channel flow experiments are then used for the final validation of the model. Comparisons of the apparent viscosity of whole blood in previous experiments show reasonable agreement with the developed model. This model fills a gap between micro-scale and macro-scale treatments and should be more accurate than traditional macro-scale models while being cheaper than direct treatment of RBCs at the micro-scale.

Les radiations peuvent endommager notre environnement biologique mais elles peuvent aussi être bienfaisantes si elles sont contrôlées. L'action initiale des radiations à l'échelle microscopique consiste en une excitation électronique dans une molécule. L'observation de la redistribution de l'énergie dans l'environnement de cette molécule excitée est primordiale à la compréhension et à la description de l'effet des rayonnements dans les systèmes biomoléculaires. Les agrégats de molécules isolés en phase gazeuse constituent des systèmes modèles prometteurs pour étudier les interactions entre molécules sous irradiation. La première partie de ce travail décrit la construction et la validation d'une ligne de faisceau permettant la production de paquets d'agrégats moléculaires froid injectables dans l'anneau de stockage RICE à RIKEN. La ligne de faisceau est composée d'une source electrospray, d'un filtre en masse quadripolaire, de guides d'ions d'un tube d'accélération, la pièce centrale étant un piège à ions cryogénique refroidi à 4 K. Le paquet d'ions froids, dont les ions ont été sélectionnés en masse et accélérés jusqu'à 20 keV, a été sondé avec un laser. La ligne a été validée par la mesure d'un spectre d'action du bleu de méthylène. La seconde partie de ce travail s'appuie sur les expériences réalisées auprès du dispositif d'irradiation d'agrégats moléculaires (DIAM-IPNL). La méthode COINTOF-VMI permet la mesure de la distribution de vitesse des molécules d'eau évaporées à partir d'un agrégat après collision à haute vitesse avec un atome d'argon. Les distributions de vitesse mesurées pour des agrégats mixtes pyridine protonée et eau présentent deux composantes : une partie à basse vitesse qui correspond à une évaporation après redistribution de l'énergie dans l'agrégat, et une partie à haute vitesse où la molécule d'eau est évaporée avant redistribution de l'énergie. La comparaison des résultats avec les distributions calculées par dynamique moléculaire statistique montre que la partie basse vitesse peut être interprétée comme la contribution des deux possibilités d'excitation induites par la collision : l'excitation de la pyridine protonée ou l'excitation d'une des molécules d'eau / Radiation can damage our biological environment, but it can also be beneficial under certain controlled conditions. Initial action at microscopic scale consists of electronic excitation in molecules. The redistribution of this excitation energy to the environment is the primary process to be understood to describe the radiation effect on biomolecular system. Isolated molecular clusters in gas-phase are a promising model system to study the molecular interaction under radiation.The first part of this work describes the construction and the validation of a beamline which can produce bunches of cold molecular cluster ions to be injected in the RIKEN cryogenic electrostatic (RICE} storage ring. The beamline is composed of an electrospray ion source, a quadrupole mass filter, ion guides and an acceleration tube; with the main part being a cryogenic ion trap cool down to SK. The cold ion bunches, in which the ions have been mass selected and accelerated to 20keV, was probed with a laser. The beamline was successfully taken into operation and a measurement of the methylene blue action spectrum in gas-phase was carried out. The second part of this work rely on experiment realized with the dispositif d'irradiation d'agrégats moléculaires (DIAM-IPNL}. The COINTOF-VMI method allows the measurement of the velocity distributions of evaporated molecules from a cluster after high velocity collisions with an argon atom. The velocity distribution measured for mixed clusters protonated pyridine and water has two components: a low velocity part which corresponds to the evaporation of a water molecule after energy redistribution in the cluster, and a high velocity part in which the molecule is evaporated before total energy redistribution. Comparison with the distribution calculated by statistic molecular dynamic simulation shows that the low velocity part can be interpreted as the contribution of two possible excitations induced by collision: excitation on protonated pyridine and excitation on a water molecule

In this work, we study the time evolution of systems containing a large number of particles interacting via a $1/r$ binary interaction potential, such as Coulombian and self-gravitating systems. In particular, we study the effect on the dynamics of the Holtsmark-Chandrasekhar theory, which describes the static fluctuations of the total force field around the Vlasov mean-field. We derive these effects by developing a new perturbative theory using the fundamental representation of Statistical Mechanics :The BBGKY hierarchy. This leads to a modification of the Vlasov equation by an additional term involving a fractional Laplacian to the power $3/4$ in velocity space, and a fractional iterated time integral of order $1/2$. We show that one of the consequences of this new term for spatially homogeneous systems is the appearance in the velocity distribution of long tails in $v^{-5/2}$. By extension, similar behaviors can be expected for weakly inhomogeneous systems. These long tails correspond to a universal mechanism related to the divergence of the interaction potential in $1/r$. More specifically, they are induced by the long tails of the total force field distribution as described by the Holtsmark-Chandrasekhar theory. Such a result cannot be obtained from theories based on the weak-coupling between particles, which lead to the Vlasov term, and, the Landau collision operator at the next order. We verify numerically these results by means of molecular dynamics simulations. We study the evolution of the velocity distributions for times very short compared to the violent relaxation time. In this particular time regime, we find, as expected, power laws in $v^{alpha}$ for the velocity distribution tail. In particular, when the regularization parameter of the interaction potential tends to $0$, the exponent in the power law indeed tends from below toward the theoretically predicted value $alpha=-5/2$. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished