<p>Over the past century, the automobile has become an integral part of modern industrializedsociety. Consumer demands, regulatory legislation, and the corporate need togenerate a profit, have been the most influential factors in driving forward the evolutionof the automobile. As the comfort, safety, and reliability of the automobile haveincreased, so has its complexity, and most definitely its mass.The work within this thesis addresses the twofold problem of economy and ecologywith respect to sustainable development of automobiles. Specifically, the conflictingproblems of reducing weight, and maintaining or improving noise, vibration, andharshness behaviour are addressed. Potential solutions to these problems must also beexecutable at the same, or preferably lower production costs. The hypothesis is that byreplacing acoustic treatments, aesthetic details, and complex systems of structural componentsboth on the interior and exterior of the vehicle with a single multi-functionalbody panel, functionality can be retained at a reduced mass (i.e. reduced consumptionof raw materials) and reduced fiscal cost.A case study is performed focusing on the roof structure of a production vehicle. Fullvehicle and component level acoustic testing is performed to acquire acoustic functionalrequirements. Vibro-mechanical testing at the component level is performedto acquire structural functional requirements complimentary to those in the vehiclesdesign specifications. Finite element modelling and analysis is employed to createa model representative of the as-tested component and evaluate its acoustic and mechanicalbehaviour numerically. Results of numerical simulations are compared withthe measured results for both acoustic and mechanical response in order to verify themodel and firmly establish a set of acoustic and mechanical constraints for future work.A new, multi-layered, multi-functional sandwich panel concept is proposed which replacesthe outer sheet metal, damping treatments, transverse beams, and interior trimof the existing structure. The new panel is weight optimized to a set of structural constraintsand its acoustic properties are evaluated. Results show a significant reductionin mass compared to the existing system with no degradation of the acoustic environment.A discussion of the results is presented, as is a suggestion for future research.</p>

Modern industrial society is based on combustion with ever increasing standards on the efficiency of burning. One of the main combustion characteristics is the burning rate, which is influenced by intrinsic flame instabilities, external turbulence and flame interaction with walls of combustor and sound waves. In the present work we started with the problem how to include combustion along the vortex axis into the general theory of turbulent burning. We demonstrated that the most representative geometry for such problem is a hypothetic “tube” with rotating gaseous mixture. We obtained that burning in a vortex is similar to the bubble motion in an effective acceleration field created by the centrifugal force. If the intensity of the vortex is rather high then the flame speed is determined mostly by the velocity of the bubble. The results obtained complement the renormalization theory of turbulent burning. Using the results on flame propagation along a vortex we calculated the turbulent flame velocity, compared it to the experiments and found rather good agreement. All experiments on turbulent combustion in tubes inevitably involve flame interaction with walls. In the present thesis flame propagation in the geometry of a tube with nonslip walls has been widely studied numerically and analytically. We obtained that in the case of an open tube flame interaction with nonslip walls leads to the oscillating regime of burning. The oscillations are accompanied by variations of the curved flame shape and the velocity of flame propagation. If flame propagates from the closed tube end, then the flame front accelerates with no limit until the detonation is triggered. The above results make a good advance in solving one of the most difficult problems of combustion theory, the problem of deflagration to detonation transition. We developed the analytical theory of accelerating flames and found good agreement with results of direct numerical simulations. Also we performed analytical and numerical studies of another mechanism of flame acceleration caused by initial conditions. The flame ignited at the axis of a tube acquires a “finger” shape and accelerates. Still, such acceleration takes place for a rather short time until the flame reaches the tube wall. In the case of flame propagating from the open tube end to the closed one the flame front oscillates and therefore generates acoustic waves. The acoustic waves reflected from the closed end distort the flame surface. When the frequency of acoustic mode between the flame front and the tube end comes in resonance with intrinsic flame oscillations the burning rate increases considerably and the flame front becomes violently corrugated.

Over the past century, the automobile has become an integral part of modern industrializedsociety. Consumer demands, regulatory legislation, and the corporate need togenerate a profit, have been the most influential factors in driving forward the evolutionof the automobile. As the comfort, safety, and reliability of the automobile haveincreased, so has its complexity, and most definitely its mass.The work within this thesis addresses the twofold problem of economy and ecologywith respect to sustainable development of automobiles. Specifically, the conflictingproblems of reducing weight, and maintaining or improving noise, vibration, andharshness behaviour are addressed. Potential solutions to these problems must also beexecutable at the same, or preferably lower production costs. The hypothesis is that byreplacing acoustic treatments, aesthetic details, and complex systems of structural componentsboth on the interior and exterior of the vehicle with a single multi-functionalbody panel, functionality can be retained at a reduced mass (i.e. reduced consumptionof raw materials) and reduced fiscal cost.A case study is performed focusing on the roof structure of a production vehicle. Fullvehicle and component level acoustic testing is performed to acquire acoustic functionalrequirements. Vibro-mechanical testing at the component level is performedto acquire structural functional requirements complimentary to those in the vehiclesdesign specifications. Finite element modelling and analysis is employed to createa model representative of the as-tested component and evaluate its acoustic and mechanicalbehaviour numerically. Results of numerical simulations are compared withthe measured results for both acoustic and mechanical response in order to verify themodel and firmly establish a set of acoustic and mechanical constraints for future work.A new, multi-layered, multi-functional sandwich panel concept is proposed which replacesthe outer sheet metal, damping treatments, transverse beams, and interior trimof the existing structure. The new panel is weight optimized to a set of structural constraintsand its acoustic properties are evaluated. Results show a significant reductionin mass compared to the existing system with no degradation of the acoustic environment.A discussion of the results is presented, as is a suggestion for future research.

In this thesis, the in-duct experimental methods for determining aeroacoustic N-ports of in-duct elements are discussed and improved. The scattering matrix determination methods and the related wave decomposition methods are evaluated from measurements in an empty duct carrying a mean flow. The improvements of a new over-determination method for the source part of the N-port is studied using simulations and measurements; in quiescent air as well as measurements of the flow associated noise of a mixer plate, here a triangular plate inserted at an angle in a duct. The new method is shown to improve suppression of random errors while no improvement is achieved for bias errors.   Further, the methods are applied in the study of two different aeroacoustic phenomena; one is the effect on the flow associated noise of the triangular plate achieved by varying the bending stiffness. For the most resilient plate tested, it is observed that when the Strouhal number of the flow noise coalesce with the Helmholtz number of a specific eigen-mode of the plate, the noise is drastically dampened. There is also a weaker broad band effect.   The other phenomena studied is the amplification and attenuation obtained for sound waves propagating in a T-junction of rectangular ducts. It is found that by adding only 10% of inflow in the side branch relative to that in the main branch, the amplification is heavily increased. By adding another 10% the amplification is again similar to that of no side branch flow. Adding further flow lessens the effects still. / QC 20101118 / Experimental characterization of aero-acoustic sources

The presented dissertation thesis deals with a simulation of the human phonation in terms of latest theories. Phonation is considered here as a bi-directional fluid-structure-acoustic interaction, where the interaction between all three physical domains occurs due to the unsteady viscous compressible Navier-Stokes equations. There is a solid knowledge background in the first part of the thesis. It concerns the latest concepts in computational modeling of the human phonation, the most important and recent theories about the human voice production and some key aspects of the human anatomy, physiology and pathology. Also voice assessment is discussed. The second part of the thesis describes an in-depth analysis of a phonation simulation in a planar computational model. The basic concepts proceed from algorithms developed in the Institute of Solid Mechanics, Mechatronics and Biomechanics. Created models are able to reproduce sounds of all Czech vowels and the most common evaluated parameters very close to physiological ranges. The simulated pathology, Reinke's edema, is demonstrated in order to explore its influence on the vowel sound. The third part focuses on modeling of phonation in a spatial computational model. All Czech vowels are simulated also here and compared to the planar model and to actual measurement. The spatial model serves as the starting point to modeling of a longitudinal pretension incorporated in the vocal folds. In the last part of the thesis, a modeling of the phonation with vocal folds pretension is investigated. Although the models are tuned to a rather soft phonation, the results are in agreement with the relevant physiologic phenomena. While the spatial model is highly computationally expensive, a hybrid planar model with pretension is proposed. A special attention is paid to the analysis of self-sustained oscillation of the vocal folds. It is shown, the planar model cannot reproduce such kind of oscillation in the actual version, albeit time of oscillation was considerably extended. On the other hand, oscillation of the spatial vocal folds are stabilized without effects accompanying subduing of oscillation. It can be supposed that the spatial model is able to reproduce self-sustained oscillation as a basic principle present during the human phonation.

En propulsion solide, l'ajout de particules d'aluminium dans le propergol améliore de façon significative les performances du moteur grâce à une augmentation sensible de la température de chambre. La présence de gouttes d'aluminium et de résidus d'alumine de différentes tailles et en quantité importante a un impact notoire sur le fonctionnement du moteur. Dans cette optique, nous souhaitons obtenir une meilleure prévision de la stabilité de fonctionnement en cas de déclenchement d'instabilités d'origine aéroacoustique ou thermoacoustique. Nous visons des calculs plus précis de l'étendue de la zone de combustion, de la chaleur dégagée par la combustion distribuée des gouttes et de la distribution en taille des résidus. Nos efforts ont porté sur la modélisation des échanges entre la phase gazeuse et cette phase dispersée composée de gouttes de nature et de taille très diverses. Le paramètre taille pilotant la dynamique du spray et le couplage avec le gaz, le suivi précis des changements de taille est un enjeu majeur.Dans cette contribution, nous avons choisi une approche cinétique pour la description des sprays polydisperses. L'équation cinétique de Williams-Boltzmann utilisée pour suivre l'évolution des propriétés du spray est résolue par une approche eulérienne. Les méthodes Multi-Fluide (MF) traitent naturellement les changements de taille tels que l'évaporation et la coalescence. Ces méthodes reposent sur une intégration continue de la variable taille sur des intervalles fixes appelés sections sur lesquels nous pouvons dériver des systèmes d'équations de conservation. Chaque système est vu comme un fluide qui est en couplage fort avec la phase gazeuse via des termes sources.Nous avons travaillé sur une méthode MF à deux moments en taille basée sur une famille de fonctions de forme polynomiale pour reconstruire la distribution en taille au sein des sections. Cette approche d'ordre deux en temps et en espace s'avère performante car elle décrit avec précision l'évolution de la distribution avec un nombre modéré de sections. Un travail original a été mené afin d'étendre l'approche MF à des gouttes bicomposants. Cette méthode ouvre la voie à des modèles de combustion des gouttes d'aluminium plus représentatifs. Dans le contexte des simulations instationnaires, nous avons porté une attention particulière à l'emploi d'une stratégie numérique robuste et précise pour le couplage entre les phases modélisées par une approche Euler-Euler. Nous montrons qu'une méthode de splitting séparant le traitement du transport des phases gazeuse/dispersée de celui des termes sources est particulièrement adaptée pour la résolution d'un problème multi-échelle spatial et temporel. Dans la mesure où les conditions de réalisabilité sur les moments en taille des méthodes MF ne sont pas garanties avec des méthodes d'intégration traditionnelles, nous avons développé des schémas innovants pour l'intégration des termes sources. Les travaux proposés dans cette contribution répond à deux exigences : 1- un ratio coût/précision attractif pour des simulations industrielles 2- une facilité d'implémentation des méthodes et une modularité assurant la pérennisation des codes industriels. Ces développements ont d'abord été vérifiés à l'aide d'un code ad hoc ; des cas test d'étude d'acoustique diphasique linéaire ont notamment souligné la pertinence de la technique de splitting pour restituer avec précision les interactions spray-acoustique. Les nouvelles méthodes ont ensuite été implémentées et validées au sein du code multi-physique CEDRE développé à l'ONERA. Des calculs de propulsion solide sur des configurations moteur réalistes ont finalement mis en évidence le niveau de maturité atteint par les méthodes eulériennes pour décrire avec fidélité la dynamique des sprays polydisperses. Les résultats de ces simulations ont mis en avant la sensibilité des niveaux d'instabilités en fonction de la distribution en taille des gouttes d'aluminium et des résidus. / The addition of a significant mass fraction of aluminum particle in the propellant of Solid Rocket Motors improves performance through an increase of the temperature in the combustion chamber. The distributed combustion of aluminum droplets in a portion of the chamber yields a massive amount of disperse aluminum oxide residues with a large size spectrum, called a polydisperse spray, in the entire volume. The spray can have a significant impact on the motor behavior and in particular on the onset/damping of instability. When dealing with aeroacoustical and thermoacoustical instabilities, the faithful prediction of the interactions between the gaseous phase and the spray is a determining step for understanding the physical mechanisms and for future solid rocket motor optimization. In such a harsh environment, experimental measurements have a hard time providing detailed explanation of the physical mechanisms and one has to resort to numerical simulation. For such a purpose, the distributed combustion zone and thermal profile therein, the heat generated by the combustion of the dispersed droplets and the large size distribution of the aluminum oxide residues and its coupling with he gaseous phase hydrodynamic and acoustic fields have to be accurately reproduced through a proper level of modeling and a high fidelity simulation including a precise resolution of size polydispersity, which is a key parameter.In this contribution, we choose a kinetic approach for the description of polydisperse sprays. The Williams-Boltzmann Equation is used to model the disperse phase and we derive a fully Eulerian approach through moment methods. The Multi-Fluid (MF) methods naturally treat droplet size evolution through phenomena such as evaporation and coalescence. These methods rely on the conservation of size moments on fixed intervals called sections and yield systems of conservation laws for a set of "fluids" of droplet of various sizes, which is strongly coupled with the gas phase via source terms. We derive a new optimal and flexible Two Size Moment MF method based on a family of polynomial reconstruction functions to describe the size distribution in the sections, which is second order accurate and particularly efficient at describing accurately the evolution of the size distribution with a moderate number of sections. An original work is also conducted in order to extend this approach to two-component droplets. For size moment MF methods, realizability of the moments is a crucial issue. Thus, we have developed innovative schemes for integrating source terms in moment conservation equations describing transport in phase space. This method enables the use of more representative aluminum droplet combustion models, and leads to more advanced studies of the distributed combustion zone. Moreover, for unsteady two-phase flow simulations, we have developed a robust and accurate coupling strategy between phases that are modeled by a fully Eulerian approach based on operator splitting in order to treat such spatial and temporal very multi-scale problems with reasonable computational time. All the proposed developments have been carried out following two criteria : 1- an attractive cost/accuracy ratio for industrial simulations in the context of high fidelity simulations 2- a preservation of industrial code legacy. Verification of the models and methods have been conducted first using an in-house reseach code and then in the context of a two-phase acoustic study thus emphasizing the relevance of the splitting technique to capture accurately spray-acoustic interactions.

This doctoral thesis focuses on computational modelling of human vocal folds and vocal tract functions using finite element method (FEM). Human voice is crucial in human communication. Therefore one of the main targets of current medicine is creation of artificial vocal folds, which would substitute the original vocal folds. The computational modelling can be used to understand principles of voice production, determination of parameters that the artificial vocal folds have to meet and verification of their functionality. First part of this thesis focuses on modelling of human voice creation by whisper. Influence of intraglottal gap on eigenvalues distribution for individual vowels was analysed using FEM vocal tract and trachea model. Further there is presented two-dimensional (2D) finite element model of the flow-induced self-oscillation of the human vocal folds in interaction with acoustic spaces of the vocal tract. The 2D vocal tract model was created on the basis of converting the data from magnetic resonance images (MRI). Explicit coupling scheme with separated solvers for structure and fluid domain was used for modelling of the fluid-structure interaction. Created computational model comprises: large deformations of the vocal folds tissue, contact between vocal folds, fluid-structure interaction, morphing the fluid mesh according to the vocal-fold motion (Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian approach), unsteady viscous compressible or incompressible airflow described by the Navier-Stokes equations and airflow separation during glottis closure. This model is used to analyse the influence of stiffness and damping changes in individual vocal fold tissue layers (in particular in superficial lamina propria). Part of this computational analysis is also comparison of vocal folds behaviour for compressible and incompressible flow model. Videokymograms (VKG) are subsequently created from obtained results of FEM calculations which enable to compare individual variants between themselves and with motion of real human vocal folds. In next part of this thesis is presented three-dimensional (3D) finite element model of the flow-induced self-oscillation of the human vocal folds. This 3D model was created from a previous 2D model by extrude to the third direction. Using this model was again compared influence of compressible and incompressible flow model on vocal folds motion and generated sound by using videokymograms and acoustic spectra. The last part of this thesis focuses on the possibility to replace missing natural source voice in form reed-based element. Behaviour of reed-based element was analysed using computational modelling and using measurements on experimental physical model. The physical model enables changes in setting gap between reed and reed stop and performing acoustical and optical measurements.

This thesis discusses the aero-acoustic characterisation of a perforate sample using a three-port technique. A rectangular T-junction with a flush mounted perforated sample at the intersection form the acoustical three-port. Under acoustic excitation from three different directions a direct method of impedance determination is incorporated to experimentally determine the passive acoustic properties of the perforate. The three-port scattering matrix and the normalised transfer impedance are calculated in the presence of grazing flow and for high-level excitation and the behaviour of these characteristics is studied. Validation of the determined results in the linear range is carried out by comparing it with existing models. Moreover, based on the experimental results for low grazing flow velocities the dependence of the real part of the transfer impedance on the grazing flow parameters as well as dimensionless numbers is described, and a semi-empirical model quantifying the behaviour is proposed. Furthermore, the thesis explains some experimental errors pertaining to standing wave patterns and operating conditions, and corrections are suggested to reduce the errors. / <p>QC 221007</p>

Clinical and research practice in the context of Autism rapidly evolved in the last decades. Finer diagnostic procedures, evidence-based models of intervention and higher social inclusivity significantly improved the possibility for autistic children to participate in the fabric of social life. In terms of health best practices, gold-standard procedures still need to be improved, and bridging research and clinical practice still presents several challenges. From the clinical standpoint, the role of process variables, predictors, mechanisms, and timing of change still requires extensive investigation in order to explain response variability and design optimized interventions, tailored to individual needs and maximally effective. Observational techniques represent the elective research methods in child development, especially in clinical contexts, due to their non-invasiveness. However, they still suffer from limited objectivity and poor quantification. Further, their main disadvantage is that they are highly time-consuming and labor-intensive. The aim of this thesis was moving forward to promote translational research in clinical practice of Autism intervention with preschool children. At first, we tried to design and apply quantitative observational techniques to longitudinally study treatment response trajectories during developmental intervention. We tried to characterize different response profiles, and which baseline predictors were able to predict the response over time. Secondly, we investigated mechanisms of change. In particular, we focused on the role of the child-therapist interaction dynamics as a possible active mediator of the process of intervention, especially in the developmental framework that stresses the importance of interpersonal aspects. We also aimed at understanding whether certain time-windows during the intervention were particularly predictive of the response, as well as which specific interaction aspects played a role. Finally, to promote the translational application of observational methods and to improve objective quantification, we proposed and validated an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to automate data annotation in unconstrained clinical contexts, remaining completely non-invasive and dealing with the specific noisy data that characterize them, for the analysis of the child-therapist acoustic interaction. This effort represents a base building block enabling to employ downstream computational techniques greatly reducing the need for human annotation that usually prevents the application of observational research to large amounts of data . We discuss our findings stressing the importance of assuming a developmental framework in Autism, the key role of the interpersonal experience also in the clinical context, the importance of focusing on trajectories of change and the important need to promote the acquisition of large amounts of quantitative data from the clinical contexts exploiting AI-based systems to assist clinicians, improving objectivity, enabling treatment monitoring, and producing precious data-driven knowledge on treatment efficacy.