Wave energy conversion technology has gained popularity due to its potential to be-come one of the most preferred energy sources. Its high energy density and low car-bon footprint have inspired the development of many wave energy converter (WEC) technologies, few of which have made their way to commercialisation, and many are progressing. The Floating Power Plant (FPP) device is a combined floating wind and wave converter. The company, Floating Power Plant, was established in 2004 and has developed and patented a floating device that consists of a semi-submersible that serves as a foundation for a single wind turbine and hosts four wave energy converters (WECs). Each WEC consists of a partially submerged wave absorber whose pitching motion generates energy from incoming waves. The wave absorbers are connected to an oil hydraulic power take-off system located in a dry “engine room” above the free water surface, where the mechanical energy in the absorber is converted to electricity. When undergoing pitching movements, there are interactions between individual wave absorbers and the surrounding platform. This thesis focuses on developing methods to improve the FPP WEC’s hydrodynamic interactions. The first part of this thesis optimises the wave absorber (WA) ballast. An ana-lytical model is developed to enable systematic selection of WA ballast combination with significantly less computational effort when compared with the more conven-tional means, such as using CAD software. The study suggests an algorithm with which the absorbed power and resonance frequency can be improved and adjusted by manipulating the ballasts’ mass, the position of its centre of gravity, placement and inclination of the WA. The proposed method is generic and can be applied to other WEC concepts or submerged bodies in general. The results show the feasibility of designing the absorber ballast to offer passive control for increased wave absorption. It demonstrates the effect of ballast on the WA inclination, resonance frequency and response amplitude operator (RAO). The second part focuses on the optimisation of the FPP platform geometry. The genetic algorithm optimisation technique is implemented to maximise the annual en-ergy produced by the relative pitch motion of the WA to the floating platform. The optimised variables are characteristic lengths of the floating platform, most of which are part of the immediate surrounding walls of the absorber. The objective function is a function of the WA’s annual energy production (AEP) and RAO. Results show the feasibility of improving the hydrodynamic interaction between the floating platform and its integrated wave absorbers for a given wave climate by using a heuristic search technique. The number of iterations to convergence tends towards increased values when considering more optimised variables. It is also observed that the computational time appears to be independent of the number of variables but is significantly impacted by the computational power of the machine used.

Spintronics is an attractive field that combines magnetism and electronics to realize new devices. Spin based oscillators (SBOs) have gained significant interest in recent years due to their attractive characteristics, including high operating frequency, low power, small area and integration compatibility with CMOS circuitry. SBOs have shown potential in the fields of wireless communication systems, magnetic field sensing and neuromorphic computing. A relatively new and promising SBO architecture is the three-terminal Spin Hall Nano Oscillator (SHNO). To accelerate the design of next generation spintronic devices, co-design and simulation of three-terminal SHNOs with CMOS technology are of great importance. To realize this, a comprehensive analytical model is needed. In this thesis, an extensive survey of SBO theory is performed and a set of compact equations are proposed to describe the SBO characteristics. From these equations a compact model is realized in Verilog-A and verified against experimental measurements. The model shows good agreement with experimental results and opens up the possibility of designing CMOS circuits for three-terminal SHNOs. / Spintronics kombinerar magnetism och elektronik med syftet att utveckla nya komponenter. Spin baserade oscillatorer (SBO) har fått ökad intresse de senaste åren på grund av deras attraktiva egenskaper, inklusive hög frekvens, låg kraft, liten yta och integrations kompatibilitet med CMOS-kretsar. SBO har visat potential i kommunikationssystem, avkänning av magnetfält och neuromorfisk databehandling. En ny och förhoppningsfull SBO-arkitektur är den tre-terminala Spin Hall Nano Oscillator (SHNO). För att påskynda design av nästa generations spintronic-komponenter är co-design och simulering av tre-terminala SHNOs med CMOS-teknik av en stor betydelse. En modell krävs för att göra detta. I denna avhandling utförs en omfattande undersökning av SBO teori samt ekvationer för beskrivning av SBO egenskaper är föreslagen. Från dessa ekvationer är en kompakt modell i Verilog-A utvecklad och verifieras mot experimentella mätningar. Modellen visar god överensstämmelse med experimentella resultat och öppnar möjligheten att designa CMOS-kretsar för tre-terminal SHNOs.

Environmental concerns, resource depletion, energy security, technological advancements, and global policies are just a few of the variables influencing the global energy perspective. In the case of technological advancement, lithium batteries play a key role in the development of a more sustainable energy infrastructure. The high energy density and long lifespan of lithium batteries make them ideal for usage in a broad range of applications, such as portable electronics, electric vehicles, and grid-scale energy storage for renewable energy sources. However, there are certain possible concerns regarding the safe operation and performance of lithium batteries, most of which are associated with the temperature sensitivity of lithium batteries. Hence, battery thermal management systems are an essential component of a battery package for regulating the temperature level in lithium batteries to avoid the aging process, poor performance, and safety issues.   Many studies have been conducted to develop battery thermal management systems with improved cooling performance. Within this framework, Paper A in this licentiate thesis considers how the design of a lithium battery cell may be improved to reduce the thermal load on the thermal management system. An analytical model based on the integral transform technique is developed to accurately and efficiently predict the thermal behavior of a cylindrical lithium battery cell. Following model validation, the thermal behavior of cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells with different jelly-roll layers and can sizes are compared. The results demonstrate that 21700 cylindrical battery cells outperform other types of cylindrical battery cells in terms of thermal performance. Furthermore, the thermally optimal thicknesses for positive active material, negative active material, positive current collector, and negative current collector are 180, 34, 21, and 20 um, respectively. After learning about design considerations to reduce thermal issues in lithium-ion battery cells and developing a proper tool for further studies, the focus was set on the flow behavior surrounding a cylindrical battery cell in an air-based cooling system. The cooling system under consideration is a wall-bounded cross-flow heat exchanger, the most common air-based cooling system for battery applications. Despite the importance of the cooling system in battery safety, few studies have been conducted to investigate the thermo-flow characteristics of wall-bounded cross-flow heat exchangers. Hence, in the battery research field, it is common to estimate the performance of wall-bounded cross-flow heat exchangers using the thermal characteristics of free cross-flow heat exchangers due to their geometrical similarities. In Paper B, this assumption is scrutinized by comparing the thermo-fluid characteristics of free and wall-bounded cross-flow heat exchangers. According to the results, flow through both heat exchangers shows almost similar thermo-fluid behavior in areas sufficiently far from the bounding walls. A turbulence model study suggests that the k-kl-omega transition model is a time-efficient and reliable turbulence model for capturing thermo-fluid characteristics in such heat exchangers. Moreover, it is observed that the two different heat exchangers have an almost identical area-averaged heat transfer rate despite the local changes in Nusselt number along the height of cells. This finding shows that it is possible to do two-dimensional simulations for applications that only require an area-averaged heat transfer rate on the battery cells. The findings in Paper A and Paper B may be used to investigate the cooling performance of a battery thermal management system with a practical design. Hence, in Paper C, a comprehensive yet simplified model is developed that can be used to study the thermal field of lithium battery cells in a large-scale air-based battery thermal management system. The model consists of the CFD model derived in Paper B, which predicts the flow behavior around cells in the inner region of the battery package, and the analytical model described in Paper A, which determines the thermal field within the battery cells. The area-averaged heat transfer coefficient interconnects the models, and a system of equations is employed to estimate the row-to-row variation of the thermal field. The model is employed to assess the effect of transverse and longitudinal pitch ratios on the thermal performance of an air-based battery thermal management system used in a hybrid electric vehicle.

No description available.

Severe accidents in a Light Water Reactor (LWR) have been a subject of the research for the last three decades. The research in this area aims to further understanding of the inherent physical phenomena and reduce the uncertainties surrounding their quantification, with the ultimate goal of developing models that can be applied to safety analysis of nuclear reactors. The research is also focusing on evaluation of the proposed accident management schemes for mitigating the consequences of such accidents. During a hypothetical severe accident, whatever the scenario, there is likelihood that the core material will be relocated and accumulated in the lower plenum in the form of a debris bed or a melt pool. Physical phenomena involved in a severe accident progression are complex. The interactions of core debris or melt with the reactor structures depend very much on the debris bed or melt pool thermal hydraulics. That is why predictions of heat transfer during melt pool formation in the reactor lower head are important for the safety assessment. The main purpose of the present study is to advance a method for describing turbulent natural convection heat transfer of a melt pool, and to develop a computational platform for cost-effective, sufficiently-accurate numerical simulations and analyses of Core Melt-Structure-Water Interactions in the LWR lower head during a postulated severe core-melting accident. Given the insights gained from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, a physics-based model and computationally-efficient tools are developed for multi-dimensional simulations of transient thermal-hydraulic phenomena in the lower plenum of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) during the late phase of an in-vessel core melt progression. A model is developed for the core debris bed heat up and formation of a melt pool in the lower head of the reactor vessel, and implemented in a commercial CFD code. To describe the natural convection heat transfer inside the volumetrically decay-heated melt pool, we advanced the Effective Convectivity Conductivity Model (ECCM), which was previously developed and implemented in the MVITA code. In the present study, natural convection heat transfer is accounted for by only the Effective Convectivity Model (ECM). The heat transport and interactions are represented through an energy-conservation formulation. The ECM then enables simulations of heat transfer of a high Rayleigh melt pool in 3D large dimension geometry. In order to describe the phase-change heat transfer associated with core debris, a temperature-based enthalpy formulation is employed in the ECM (the phase-change ECM or so called the PECM). The PECM is capable to represent possible convection heat transfer in a mushy zone. The simple approach of the PECM method allows implementing different models of the fluid velocity in a mushy zone for a non-eutectic mixture. The developed models are validated by a dual approach, i.e., against the existing experimental data and the CFD simulation results. The ECM and PECM methods are applied to predict thermal loads to the vessel wall and Control Rod Guide Tubes (CRGTs) during core debris heat up and melting in the BWR lower plenum. Applying the ECM and PECM to simulations of reactor-scale melt pool heat transfer, the results of the ECM and PECM calculations show an apparent effectiveness of the developed methods that enables simulations of long term accident transients. It is also found that during severe accident progression, the cooling by water flowing inside the CRGTs plays a very important role in reducing the thermal load on the reactor vessel wall. The results of the CFD, ECM and PECM simulations suggest a potential of the CRGT cooling as an effective mitigative measure during a severe accident progression. / QC 20101119

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans une thématique de recherche prioritaire développée par le laboratoire GREAH et portant sur l’optimisation de l'efficacité énergétique des systèmes de gestion et de production de l’énergie électrique. Dans ce cadre, les performances de convertisseurs d’énergie (machines électriques pour la conversion de l'énergie électromécanique) ont un impact déterminant sur l'efficacité énergétique de la conversion et sur la qualité de gestion de l'énergie électrique en termes de rendement, de maximisation de la puissance massique, de réduction des émissions, de réduction des coûts, ce qui nécessite, par conséquent, un effort particulier de conception et de dimensionnement. L’objectif principal de cette thèse vise à développer un modèle léger permettant d’exploiter assez rapidement l’espace des solutions potentiellement optimales dans la première phase de la conception des machines synchrones à aimants permanents. Les travaux présentés dans ce mémoire de thèse portent sur la modélisation électromagnétique pour le pré-dimensionnement et la conception des machines synchrones à aimants permanents intégrées dans l’éolien de fort puissance. Dans ce manuscrit, deux approches de modélisation des machines électriques ont été proposées. La modélisation par réseau de réluctances présentée consiste à découper le domaine d’étude en un certain nombre d’éléments volumiques dont chacun est décomposé en tubes de flux. La modélisation analytique hybride proposée est basée sur un couplage fort entre un réseau de réluctances généré à partir d’un maillage du domaine d’étude et une solution formelle des équations de Maxwell dans les régions de faible perméabilité (entrefer magnétique). Les résultats obtenus à partir de ces modèles sont validés par les résultats correspondants issus de la méthode des éléments finis. Pour montrer le gain obtenu en temps de calcul, les temps d’exécutions des codes de calcul sont comparés aux temps mis par le logiciel Flux. / This subject of the thesis is part of a priority research theme developed by the GREAH laboratory on the optimization of the energy efficiency of electrical energy management and production systems. In this context, the performance of energy converters (electrical machines for the conversion of electromechanical energy) have a decisive impact on the energy efficiency of the conversion and on the quality of electrical energy management in terms of efficiency, reduction of emissions, reduction of costs, which therefore requires a special effort to design. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a light model allowing to exploit fairly quickly the space of potentially optimal solutions in the first phase of machine design. The work presented in this thesis focuses on electromagnetic modeling for the pre-design of permanent magnets synchronous machines integrated into high power wind turbines. In this manuscript, two modeling approaches of electric machines have been proposed. The presented reluctance network modeling is generated from the mesh of studied domain as the finite element method. Reluctance elements are used for the mesh. The proposed hybrid analytical modeling is based on a strong coupling between a reluctances network generated from a mesh of the study domain and analytical models based on the formal solution of Maxwell’s equations in regions of low permeability (magnetic gap). This approach can help solve the problem of air-gap modeling in MEC method, and the consideration of the local magnetic saturation in modeling approaches involving analytical technique. The results obtained from these models are validated by the corresponding results from the finite element method and very good has been observed. To indicate the gain obtained in time, the execution times of the programs are compared to the times set by the Flux software.

Si l'utilisation des transformateurs piézoélectriques se bornait jusqu'alors à l'alimentation ou la protection de dispositifs électriques, ils sont aujourd'hui envisagés pour la génération de décharges plasma directement à leur surface. Les propriétés remarquables de ces générateurs piézoélectriques en font une alternative intéressante aux dispositifs conventionnels, notamment par la simplicité de mise en œuvre. La surface du transformateur constitue à la fois le support de décharge et l'élément élévateur de tension réduisant significativement l'encombrement des dispositifs. En outre les gains en tension de ces transformateurs sont remarquablement élevés et permettent d'obtenir des décharges pour des tensions d'alimentation n'excédant pas quelques volts. Ces avantages peuvent répondre avantageusement à certains problèmes rencontrés dans les procédés plasmas dont l'implantation dans les processus industriels, bien qu'elle soit en constante amélioration, est parfois confrontée à des problèmes de mise en œuvre d'enceintes complexes, rendant le procédé couteux ou inadapté aux conditions opératoires. L'objet de cette thèse porte sur l'étude fondamentale d'un transformateur piézoélectrique de type Rosen dédié à la génération de décharges électriques. Plus particulièrement, ce travail s'attèle au développement d'un modèle analytique permettant de mieux appréhender les limites de ce procédé innovant, ainsi qu'une meilleure compréhension du comportement des décharges plasma face aux spécificités de ce transformateur et de son matériau. Pour ce faire l'étude se consacre en première partie à la caractérisation du transformateur piézoélectrique hors décharge à partir de ses bornes, puis à l'extension d'un modèle analytique afin d'appréhender la distribution du potentiel électrique à sa surface. Le développement d'un dispositif expérimental permettra la mesure du potentiel ainsi que la discussion du modèle. Dans un second temps l'étude s'attache au comportement du transformateur piézoélectrique en décharge. La distribution de potentiel à présent connue constitue une donnée d'entrée nécessaire à l'étude de la dynamique de décharges dans ces différentes configurations. Les phénomènes à l'œuvre dans ce processus de génération étant complexes, l'étude est conduite suivant différentes étapes. Tout d'abord en passant par l'étude des propriétés des céramiques ferroélectriques au travers d'une décharge à barrière diélectrique plan-plan. Ensuite la dynamique des décharges est abordée par modélisation numérique suivant trois configurations différentes. Ces cas d'études conduisent à des régimes de décharges différents pouvant faire l'objet de mise en application future. Bien que le problème soit sous l'hypothèse d'un couplage faible, les résultats ont corroborés les observations expérimentales et ont permis de mieux comprendre l'influence des hautes permittivités et de la distribution du potentiel sur l'évolution spatio-temporelle de ce procédé. / Nowadays piezoelectric transformers are not only used to supply or protect electrical devices, but also to generate plasma discharges directly on their surface. The remarkable properties of these piezoelectric generators make them an interesting alternative to conventional devices, especially the simple implementation. The surface of the transformer constitutes both the discharge support and the voltage elevator component reducing significantly the bulk of the devices. Besides the transformers' gain voltage are remarkably high and permit to generate discharges for low voltage supply not exceeding a few volts. These advantages respond to some problems met in the plasma processes of which the establishment in industrial processes - in constant improvement - is sometimes confronted to problems of chambers implementations, making this process expensive and not adequate to the operating conditions. The purpose of this thesis focuses on the fundamental studies of a Rosen piezoelectric transformer dedicated to the generation of electrical discharges. In particular, this work tackles the development of an analytical model allowing to improve the understanding of the limits of this innovating process, as well as a better comprehension of the plasma discharges behavior face with transformer and material features. In order to do this the first part of the study is devoted to the characterization of the piezoelectric transformer without discharge, then the extension of the analytical modeling in order to comprehend the distribution of surface electrical potential. The development of an experimental device will allow the potential measurement and the discussion of the model. In a second part the study focuses on behavior of the piezoelectric transformer in discharge. The potential distribution known today constitutes a necessary input data for the study of the discharge dynamic in different configurations. The complexity of the phenomena implemented in this process of generation requires to conduct the study following different steps. First of all, by the study of ferroelectric ceramic features through a dielectric-barrier discharge. Then the discharges dynamic is approached by numerical modeling following three different configurations. This cases conduct to different discharge regimes that can be the subject of future application. Even if the problem is under the hypothesis of a weak coupling, the results confirmed the experimental observations and permitted to understand better the influence of high permittivity and of the potential distribution on the saptio-temporal evolution of this process.

Ce travail a pour objectif de développer un outil analytique multi-physiques de dimensionnement d’une gamme de moteurs « hybrides » à démarrage direct, intégrant les avantages des deux technologies : l’auto-démarrage de la technologie asynchrone et les bonnes performances énergétique en régime permanent de la technologie synchrone à aimants permanents en répondant aux nouveaux enjeux d’efficacité énergétique et en ajoutant à cela les aspects économiques.La validation de cet outil est effectuée par des modèles éléments finis créés avec un logiciel commercial ANSYS/Maxwell et par des essais expérimentaux réalisés à l’aide de deux prototypes LSPMSM 7.5kW. / This work aims to develop a multi-physical generic model (and a pre-design software) for a range of LSPMSMs which would integrate the advantages of both technologies: self-start asynchronous technology and good energy performance of synchronous permanent magnet technology. The validation of this model is carried out by finite element commercial software ANSYS / Maxwell and by experimental tests using two 7.5kW.LSPMSM prototypes.

V dnešní době je kladen vysoký nárok na účinnost elektrických zařízení a to jak ze strany provozovatele, tak i legislativy. Nejlepší účinnosti dosahují synchronní motory s permanentními magnety umístěnými na povrchu rotoru (SMPM), se kterými lze i u malých motorů dosáhnout účinnosti nad 90%. Nicméně tyto motory jsou z důvodů použití magnetů ze vzácných zemin, např. NdFeB, drahé a jsou schopny provozu pouze s frekvenčním měničem. Z cenových důvodů jsou hledány levnější alternativy k SMPM motorům. Jedním z typů motorů, kterým lze SMPM nahradit je synchronní reluktanční motor s permanentními magnety (PMASR). Tento motor je cenově výhodnější, protože používá menší množství magnetů, při zachování podobných, mnohdy i lepších vlastností, nicméně neodpadá potřeba použití frekvenčního měniče. Navíc je zde možnost použití levnějších feritových magnetů a tím ještě výrazněji snížit cenu motoru. V této práci bude PMASR topologie popsána důkladněji včetně elektromagnetického návrhu metodou konečných prvků. Bude provedena i mechanická analýza zvoleného optimálního modelu. Výsledky dosažené metodou konečných prvků budou následně porovnány s analytickým modelem. Z navrženého modelu bude vyroben prototyp a naměřené výsledky budou porovnány s výpočty.

The diploma thesis deals with analytical description of vehicle - track dynamic interface. There are described basic analytical models which are subsequently extended in order to get a more precise description of dynamic phenomena. The aim is to compile a model that faithfully describes the dynamic phenomena in the track. These new compiled models are qualitatively compared with data obtained by measuring in the track.