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Unsteady shock waves are formed by the coalescence of pressure waves. The attenuationof pressure and shock waves in general is of great importance in a wide varietyof application such as vehicle performance, health and safety. Previous researcheshave been carried out on a variety of geometries to understand the physics. Theaim of this project is to advance the previous-state-of-the-art and to shed furtherlight into the fundamental physics associated with the shock wave interactions andphenomena. Shock wave attenuation was studied by using rough walls in a three-pipe system. The roughness at the walls is added by placing grooves on the upper and lower wallsof the junctions. The angles of the branch pipe were varied from 30 to 150 degrees. Shock wave interactions with a co-flow jet were also examined. All the experimentswere performed for driver gas (air) pressures of 4, 8, and 12 bar and atmosphericpressure within the driven section, giving theoretical Mach number of 1.34, 1.54, and1.66, respectively. Three different velocities, 114, 138, and 178 m/s, were used forthe co-flow jet. High-speed schlieren photography, particle image velocimetry (PIV),and pressure measurements techniques were employed to visualise and quantify theflow field. Expansion and compression waves produced by the grooves led to a highly unsteadyflow field, an increase to the pressure upstream, and the formation of asecondary shock wave. The pressure of the incident shock front was reduced by anestimated 20%. A maximum of 10% reduction of velocity of the shock front at theexit was achieved. The shock vortex/ structure led to multiple reflections, distortionof the vortical field, a lambda-shock configuration and pressure fluctuations. Theinfluence of the co-flow jet dissipated the shock/vortex structure, and attenuatedthe pressure peaks caused by multiple reflections. Complementing this investigation the testing of pressure sensitive paints (PSP)for the use of unsteady and high speed flows was carried out. The results showedthat the use of luminophores with high intensity output, and pressure sensitivityapplied on a porous material were the most suitable PSPs for these applications.

Yes / In this study, a new three-dimensional (3-D) model was developed to provide better understanding of the mechanism for wave-induced seabed response around mono-pile. Based on poro-elastic theory, the fully dynamic (FD) formulations were adopted in the present model to simulate pore water pressure, soil stresses, displacements of both soil and mono-pile. Good agreement between numerical simulation and experimental results was obtained. Based on parametric study, numerical results indicated: (1) wave diffraction and reflection have significant effects on pore water pressure and soil displacements around mono-pile; (2) the most sensitive position for seabed parameter to pore water pressure around mono-pile locates in front of mono-pile while the least sensitive position is at the position of angle 3π/4 with respect to the incident wave direction; and (3) the increase of mono-pile horizontal displacement corresponds to the increase of wave height and the decrease of seabed Young's modulus. / National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (51425901), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51209082, 51379071, 41176073), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20120094120006, 20130094110014), the 111 project (B12032), the 333 project of Jiangsu Province (2013Ⅲ-1882)

In this study, available coastal models are briefly discussed and under wind waves and a numerical shoreline change model for longshore sediment transport based on &ldquo / one-line&rdquo / theory is developed. In numerical model, wave diffraction phenomenon in one-dimensional modeling is extensively discussed and to represent the irregular wave diffraction in the sheltered zones of coastal structures a simpler approach based on the methodology introduced by Kamphuis (2000) is proposed. Furthermore, the numerical model results are compared with analytical solutions of accretion and erosion at a single groin. An application to a case study of a groin field constructed to the east side of Kizilirmak river mouth, at Bafra alluvial plain, is carried out by the numerical model. The results of comparisons show that the numerical model is in good agreement with the analytical solutions of shoreline changes at a groin. Similarly, numerical model results are compared with field data of Bafra and it is shown that they are in good agreement qualitatively. Therefore, the numerical model is accepted to be capable of representing of shoreline evolution qualitatively even for complex coastal regions.

Two of the principal phenomena observed and exploited in the field of spintronics are giant magnetoresistance (GMR) and spin transfer torque (STT). With GMR, the resistance of a magnetic multilayer is affected by the relative orientation of its magnetic layers due to (electron) spin dependent scattering. For the STT effect, a spin-polarized electric current is used to alter the magnetic state of a ferromagnet. Together, GMR and STT are at the foundation of numerous technologies, and they hold promise for many more applications. To achieve the high current densities (~10¹² A/m²) that are necessary to observe STT effects, point contacts – constricted electrical pathways (~1–100 nm in diameter) between conducting materials – are often used because of their small cross-sectional areas. In this sense, we have explored STT in bilayer magnetic nanopillars, where an electric current was used to induce precession of a ferromagnetic layer. This precessional state was detected as an increase in resistance of the device, akin to GMR. Temperature dependent measurements of the onset of precession shed light on the activation mechanism, but raised further questions about its detailed theory. Point contacts can also be used as local sources or detectors of electrons. In this context, we have observed transverse electron focusing (TEF) in a single crystal of bismuth. TEF is a k-selective technique for studying electron scattering from within materials. Using lithographically fabricated point contacts, we have studied the temperature dependence of the relaxation time for ballistic electrons from 4.2 to 100 K. These measurements indicated a transition between electron-electron dominated scattering at low temperatures and electron-phonon scattering as the Debye temperature was approached. We present preliminary work toward a TEF experiment to measure spin dependent scattering from a non-magnet/magnet interface. We also investigated spin wave propagation in thin, magnetic waveguide structures. At the boundary between the waveguide and continuous magnetic film, spin wave rays were found to radiate into the film, or to reflect and form standing waves in the waveguide. A circular defect in the waveguide was observed to cause diffraction of spin waves, generating an interference pattern of higher modes of oscillation. / text

This work is divided in to two distinct parts. In the first part a model is developed to assess the redistribution of wave energy about an offshore array of overtopping type wave energy converters. The model is based on a classical analytical solution for diffraction about a breakwater which is modified to consider an array of dissipating, reflecting and transmitting breakwater segments, which are used to approximate an overtopping type WEC array. The model is computationally efficient and phase resolving which allows the effect of wave scattering to be investigated for large domains with high resolution irregular wave distributions. It was found that the radial waves generated by the diffraction effect spreads and defocus wave energy away from the geometrical shadow of the array. This counteracts the rate of recovery of wave energy deficit from wave directional spreading. In the second part, short-term wave forecasting for pneumatic power regulation through relief valve control is investigated at the Pico oscillating water column power plant, located in the Azores. Operational data from the Pico OWC is used to develop and critically assess a number of univariate and multivariate short-term wave forecast modelling approaches. A number of relief valve control strategies, which utilise a short-term wave forecast, are also developed and assessed using a numerical time-domain wave to wire system model. A system model for the Pico OWC is developed and validated using operational data from the Pico plant. The absolute performance potential resulting from control utilising a perfect forecast is considered, in addition to the realistic potential where a forecast, realisable in real-time, is used to drive control actions. One of the proposed relief valve control strategies is within the mechanical limitations of the existing relief valve adjustment system at Pico and this strategy was deployed in real field tests. Field test results of the plant’s performance under this strategy closely matched the simulated performance and power enhancements of up to 29% were achieved in certain sea states and the expected annual power enhancement was projected to be around 10%. Simulations of the long term plant performance under the more advanced relief valve control strategies project far greater potential for enhanced power production although these could not be tested in the field due to the project limitations.

[Truncated abstract] The study reported in this thesis extends the scaled boundary finite-element method to firstorder and second-order wave diffraction problems. The scaled boundary finite-element method is a newly developed semi-analytical technique to solve systems of partial differential equations. It works by employing a special local coordinate system, called scaled boundary coordinate system, to define the computational field, and then weakening the partial differential equation in the circumferential direction with the standard finite elements whilst keeping the equation strong in the radial direction, finally analytically solving the resulting system of equations, termed the scaled boundary finite-element equation. This unique feature of the scaled boundary finite-element method enables it to combine many of advantages of the finite-element method and the boundaryelement method with the features of its own. ... In this thesis, both first-order and second-order solutions of wave diffraction problems are presented in the context of scaled boundary finite-element analysis. In the first-order wave diffraction analysis, the boundary-value problems governed by the Laplace equation or by the Helmholtz equation are considered. The solution methods for bounded domains and unbounded domains are described in detail. The solution process is implemented and validated by practical numerical examples. The numerical examples examined include well benchmarked problems such as wave reflection and transmission by a single horizontal structure and by two structures with a small gap, wave radiation induced by oscillating bodies in heave, sway and roll motions, wave diffraction by vertical structures with circular, elliptical, rectangular cross sections and harbour oscillation problems. The numerical results are compared with the available analytical solutions, numerical solutions with other conventional numerical methods and experimental results to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the scaled boundary finite-element method. The computed results show that the scaled boundary finite-element method is able to accurately model the singularity of velocity field near sharp corners and to satisfy the radiation condition with ease. It is worth nothing that the scaled boundary finite-element method is completely free of irregular frequency problem that the Green's function methods often suffer from. For the second-order wave diffraction problem, this thesis develops solution schemes for both monochromatic wave and bichromatic wave cases, based on the analytical expression of first-order solution in the radial direction. It is found that the scaled boundary finiteelement method can produce accurate results of second-order wave loads, due to its high accuracy in calculating the first-order velocity field.