Food packaging should ensure the safety and quality of food, minimize spoilage and provide an easy way of storing and handling it. Barrier coatings are generally used to meet the demands placed on fibre-based food packages, as these have the ability to regulate the amount of gases that can enter them. Some gases are detrimental to food quality: oxygen, for example, initiates lipid oxidation in fatty foods. Using both experimental data and computer modelling, this thesis explains some aspects of how the structure of barrier coatings influences the mass transport of oxygen with the aim of obtaining essential knowledge that can be used to optimize the performance of barriers. Barrier coatings are produced from polyvinyl alcohol and kaolin blends that are coated onto a polymeric support. The chemical and physical structures of these barriers were characterized according to their influence on permeability in various climates. At a low concentration of kaolin, the crystallinity of polyvinyl alcohol decreased; in the thinner films, the kaolin particles were orientated in the basal plane of the barrier coating. The experimental results indicated a complex interplay between the polymer and the filler with respect to permeability. A computer model for permeability incorporating theories for the filled polymeric layer to include the polymer crystallinity, addition of filler, filler aspect ratio and surrounding moisture was developed. The model shows that mass transport was affected by the aspect ratio of the clay in combination with the clay concentration, as well as the polymer crystallinity. The combined model agreed with the experiments, showing that it is possible to combine different theories into one model that can be used to predict the mass transport. Four barrier coatings: polyethylene, ethylene vinyl alcohol + kaolin, latex + kaolin and starch were evaluated using the parameters of greenhouse gas emissions and product costs. After the production of the barrier material, the coating process and the end-of-life handling scenarios were analysed, it emerged that starch had the lowest environmental impact and latex + kaolin had the highest. / Food packaging is required to secure the safety and quality of food, as well as minimize spoilage and simplify handling. Barrier coatings are generally used to meet the demands placed on fibre-based food packages, as these have the ability to regulate the amount of gases that can enter them. Some gases are detrimental to food quality: oxygen, for example, initiates lipid oxidation in fatty foods. This thesis focuses on the mass transport of oxygen in order to gain deeper knowledge of, and thereby optimise, the performance of barrier coatings. This experimental study, together with computer modelling, characterized the structure of barrier materials with respect to the mass transport process. The performance of the barriers was evaluated based on the parameters of environmental impact and product costs. As the long-term aim is to use non-petroleum-based barrier coatings for packaging, these should be evaluated by assessing the properties of the material in question, its functionality and its environmental impact to provide more insight into which materials are desirable as well as to develop technology. The results from this study indicate that several parameters (the orientation, concentration and aspect ratio of the clay and the polymer crystallinity) influence the properties of a barrier. Using this knowledge, researchers and food packaging engineers can work toward improving and customising renewable barriers. / VIPP

In this report, we study how finite differences can be used to simulate acoustic wave propagation originating from a point source in the ocean using the Helmholtz equation. How to model sediment layers and the vast size of the ocean is studied in particular. The finite differences are implemented with summation by parts operators with boundary conditions enforced with simultaneous approximation terms and projection. The numerical solver is combined with the WaveHoltz method to improve the performance. Sediment layers are handled with interface conditions and the domain is artificially expanded using absorbing layers. The absorbing layer is implemented with an alternative approach to the super-grid method where the domain expansion is accomplished by altering the wave speed rather than with coordinate transformations. To isolate these issues, other parameters such as variations in the ocean floor are neglected. With this simplification, cylindrical coordinates are used and the angular variation is assumed to be zero. This reduces the problem to a quasi-three-dimensional system. We study how the parameters of the alternative absorbing layer approach affect its quality. The numerical solver is verified on several test cases and appears to work according to theory. Finally, a semi-realistic simulation is carried out and the solution seems correct in this setting.

Particle suspensions occur in many situations in nature and industry. In this master’s thesis, the motion of a single rigid spheroidal particle immersed in Stokes flow is studied numerically using a boundary integral method and a new specialized quadrature method known as quadrature by expansion (QBX). This method allows the spheroid to be massless or inertial, and placed in any kind of underlying Stokesian flow.   A parameter study of the QBX method is presented, together with validation cases for spheroids in linear shear flow and quadratic flow. The QBX method is able to compute the force and torque on the spheroid as well as the resulting rigid body motion with small errors in a short time, typically less than one second per time step on a regular desktop computer. Novel results are presented for the motion of an inertial spheroid in quadratic flow, where in contrast to linear shear flow the shear rate is not constant. It is found that particle inertia induces a translational drift towards regions in the fluid with higher shear rate. / Partikelsuspensioner förekommer i många sammanhang i naturen och industrin. I denna masteruppsats studeras rörelsen hos en enstaka stel sfäroidisk partikel i Stokesflöde numeriskt med hjälp av en randintegralmetod och en ny specialiserad kvadraturmetod som kallas quadrature by expansion (QBX). Metoden fungerar för masslösa eller tröga sfäroider, som kan placeras i ett godtyckligt underliggande Stokesflöde.   En parameterstudie av QBX-metoden presenteras, tillsammans med valideringsfall för sfäroider i linjärt skjuvflöde och kvadratiskt flöde. QBX-metoden kan beräkna kraften och momentet på sfäroiden samt den resulterande stelkroppsrörelsen med små fel på kort tid, typiskt mindre än en sekund per tidssteg på en vanlig persondator. Nya resultat presenteras för rörelsen hos en trög sfäroid i kvadratiskt flöde, där skjuvningen till skillnad från linjärt skjuvflöde inte är konstant. Det visar sig att partikeltröghet medför en drift i sidled mot områden i fluiden med högre skjuvning.

Head injuries in American football is a serious issue regarding player health which is highly affected by velocity and its direction. Impact location can affect the severity of the head injury in both helmet-to-helmet impacts and helmet-to-ground impacts hence the understanding of concussive outcome from velocities and impact locations must be improved. In this thesis a video analysis resulted in simulation of five helmet-to-helmet impacts and two helmet-to-ground impacts, where velocity in each impact also was approximated with the method of least squares to avoid extreme values. The average velocity in helmet-to-helmet impacts was 5.1728 m/s for tackler player and 4.4766 m/s for tackled player and in helmet-to-ground impacts it instead was 6.1975 m/s. With the regression method an average velocity of 4.3982 m/s for tackler player and 5.3854 m/s for the tackled player in helmet-to-helmet impacts and 5.874 m/s in helmet-to-ground impacts. The simulations were performed with LS-DYNA and examined in LS-PrePost where head kinematics and the strain of brain tissue or more specific the maximum principal strain (MPS) was of interest. Further the MPS was scaled to its 95th percentile which determined the concussive likelihood for each impact scenario. The highest concussive outcome for an impact scenario was 100% and the lowest was 15%. The head kinematics of interest was linear acceleration, angular acceleration and angular velocity which in high risk for concussive outcome wasn't dominated by a single head kinematic. Impacts locations in helmet-to-helmet impacts didn't show any connection between impact location and high concussive risk. In helmet-to-ground impacts a connection between impact location at the back of the head and high concussive risk was observed. / Huvudskador inom Amerikansk fotboll är ett återkommande problem när det gäller spelarnas hälsa. Hastigheten och vart tacklingen träffar är starkt kopplat till hur allvarlig en huvudskada kan bli i både hjälm-mot-hjälm tacklingarn och hjälm-mot-mark. För att förhindra huvudskador måste förståelsen om kinematiken och vart tacklingen träffar förbättras.  I detta examensarbete gjordes en videoanalys vilket resulterade i fem hjälm-mot-hjälm simuleringar och två hjälm-mot-mark. Hastigheten approximerades också genom att använda uppskattnings metoden minsta kvadratmetoden. Medel-värdet av hastigheterna från videoanalysen blev 5.1728 m/s för spelaren som utförde tacklingen och 4.4766 m/s för spelaren som blev tacklad i hjälm-mot-hjälm tacklingar. I hjälm-mot-mark blev det istället ett medelvärde på 6.1975 m/s. Med uppskattnings metoden blev hastigheterna istället 4.3982 m/s för den tacklande spelaren och 5.3854 m/s för den tacklade spelaren i hjälm-mot-hjälm tacklingar. För hjälm-mot-mark blev medelvärdet av hastigheten 5.874 m/s med uppskattnings metoden. Simuleringarna av tacklings fallen gjordes med LS-DYNA och analyserades i LS-PrePost där huvudets kinematik och töjningen av hjärnvävnad är av intresse. Töjningen mättes av maximum principal strain (MPS) och den 95:e percentilen av MPS för att bestämma risken för hjärnskakning där den största risken för hjärnskakning var 100% och den minsta 15%. För huvudets kinematik var det linjär acceleration, vinkelacceleration och vinkelhastighet som var av intresse. Det fanns ingen koppling mellan endast en av kinematikerna och hög risk för hjärnskakning. Gällande vart tacklingen träffar fanns det ingen koppling mellan vart den träffar och hög risk för hjärnskakning i hjälm-mot-hjälm tacklingar. För hjälm-mot-mark tacklingar fanns det ett samband mellan att bakre delen av huvudet träffar marken och hög risk för hjärnskakning.

Small satellites are gaining popularity in a wide range of applications where attitude systems require high precision performance. One of the main sources of errors, in case of magnetic attitude control systems, is the residual magnetic moment (RMM) of the spacecraft. To keep the RMM low and stable, mitigation methods shall be applied based on the satellite’s magnetic dipole moment (MDM) characterization, which shall be measured accurately. For small satellites, the most common technique involves the generation of a field-free region for the magnetic measurements using a test bed. The test bed measurement setup is normally mechanical, where measurements from the device under test (DUT) are very tedious. Optical magnetic test beds (OMTB) are being developed for MDM characterization providing simpler set ups and faster measurements than mechanical test beds. In this work, accuracy of OMTB of Aalto University has been evaluated by measuring three permanent magnets in two configurations. The measurements show a relationship between the estimation accuracy and the DUT’s marker area seen by the camera. Moreover, it was observed that the field-free region generated by Helmholtz coil cage can generate false data points. Based on these observations, the detection of the marker’s positions have been evaluated using the view area (VA) and the pointing angle (PA). The analysis shows that there is a consistent pattern depending on the combination of the VA and PA. Hence, the method of data acquisition was improved in order to prioritize the markers which position allow better accuracy. The achieved improvement of MDM estimation results is 2 %, and the test bed’s overall error evaluated is a 13 % in MDM position estimation and 23 % in MDM magnitude estimation. The improved OMTB was used to characterize the MDM of four magnetic attitude coils of Foresail-1 satellite. The measurements results are consistent with design parameters, showing three dipole configuration in all coils with a MDM magnitude order of 10−2 A·m2. / Foresail-1

Följande studie är utförd på uppdrag av företaget Nilar som tillverkar Nickel-Metallhydridbatterier (NiMH-batterier) vid sin produktionanläggning i Gävle. Den nuvarande beräkningen av State of Charge (SoC) sker på deras Battery Management Unit (BMU) och är implementerad i Structured Text i exekveringsmiljön CODESYS. Nilar vill flytta SoC-beräkningen från BMU:n så att den kan exekveras på en Interface Control Unit (ICU). Motiveringen till detta är för att distribuera SoC-beräkningen då ett flertal ICU:er finns tillgängliga per Battery Management System (BMS) men även för att i framtiden helt byta ut CODESY. Syftet med denna studie är att migrera implementationen av SoC-algoritmen till programmeringsspråket C så att algoritmen senare kan exekveras på ICU:n. Därefter optimeras algoritmen för att sänka exekveringstiden. Studien utforskar kodstrukturella och funktionella skillnader mellan implementationerna samt metoder för att optimera SoC-algoritmen. Migreringen av algoritmen fullföljdes utan större inverkan på noggrannheten. Algoritmen optimerades genom att skapa en variant av en LU-faktorisering som var specifikt anpassad för det aktuella problemet. Optimeringen av algoritmen resulterade i en minskning på 25% av den totala exekveringstiden för algoritmen. De nya implementationerna tar markant längre tid att exekvera då batteriet befinner sig under laddning jämfört när det befinner sig under urladdning, någonting som inte kan noteras för den gamla implementationen. / The following study was carried out on the behalf of Nilar, which manufactures Nickel–metal hydride batteries at its production site in Gävle. The current State of Charge (SoC) calculation is done on their Battery Manegment Unit (BMU) and is implemented in Structured Text for the CODESYS runtime. Nilar wants to move the SoC calculation from the BMU so that its executed on a Interface Control Unit (ICU). The reasoning behind this is to distribute the SoC computation as several ICUs are available per Battery Management System (BMS) but also to remove the CODESYS dependency in the future. The purpose of this study is to migrate the implementation of the SoC-algorithm to the programming language C so that the algorithm can be executed on an ICU in the future. Furthermore this study aims to optimize the the algorithm to lower the execution time. The study explores differences in code structure and functionallity between the implementations as well as methods to optimize the SoC algorithm. The migration of the algorithm was completed without major impact on the accuracy. The algorithm was optimized by creating a variant of a LU factorization that was specifically suited to LU factorize the given problem. The optimization of the algorithm resulted in a 25% lower total execution time. The new implementations suffers from a longer total execution time when the battery is charging compared to when it’s discharging, something that’s not prevalent for the old implementation.

The main body of this thesis consists of four appended papers. The first two consider different aspects of the trajectory planning problem, while the last two deal with observer design for mobile robotic and Euler-Lagrange systems respectively. The first paper addresses the problem of designing a real time, high performance trajectory planner for aerial vehicles. The main contribution is two-fold. Firstly, by augmenting a novel safety maneuver at the end of the planned trajectory, this paper extends previous results by having provable safety properties in a 3D setting. Secondly, assuming initial feasibility, the planning method is shown to have finite time task completion. Moreover, in the second part of the paper, the problem of simultaneous arrival of multiple aerial vehicles is considered. By using a time-scale separation principle, one is able to adopt standard Laplacian control to this consensus problem, which is neither unconstrained, nor first order. Direct methods for trajectory optimization are traditionally based on a priori temporal discretization and collocation methods. In the second paper, the problem of adaptive node distribution is formulated as a constrained optimization problem, which is to be included in the underlying nonlinear mathematical programming problem. The benefits of utilizing the suggested method for online trajectory optimization are illustrated by a missile guidance example. In the third paper, the problem of active observer design for an important class of non-uniformly observable systems, namely mobile robotics systems, is considered. The set of feasible configurations and the set of output flow equivalent states are defined. It is shown that the inter-relation between these two sets may serve as the basis for design of active observers. The proposed observer design methodology is illustrated by considering a unicycle robot model, equipped with a set of range-measuring sensors. Finally, in the fourth paper, a geometrically intrinsic observer for Euler-Lagrange systems is defined and analyzed. This observer is a generalization of the observer recently proposed by Aghannan and Rouchon. Their contractivity result is reproduced and complemented by a proof that the region of contraction is infinitely thin. However, assuming a priori bounds on the velocities, convergence of the observer is shown by means of Lyapunov's direct method in the case of configuration manifolds with constant curvature. / QC 20101108

In this study within quantitative portfolio optimization, stochastic programming is investigated as an investment decision tool. This research takes the direction of scenario based Mean-Absolute Deviation and is compared with the traditional Mean-Variance model and widely used Risk Parity portfolio. Furthermore, this thesis is done in collaboration with the First Swedish National Pension Fund, AP1, and the implemented multi-asset portfolios are thus tailored to match their investment style. The models are evaluated on two different fund management levels, in order to study if the portfolio performance benefits from a more restricted feasible domain. This research concludes that stochastic programming over the investigated time period is inferior to Risk Parity, but outperforms the Mean-Variance Model. The biggest aw of the model is its poor performance during periods of market stress. However, the model showed superior results during normal market conditions. / I denna studie inom kvantitativ portföljoptimering undersöks stokastisk programmering som ett investeringsbeslutsverktyg. Denna studie tar riktningen för scenariobaserad Mean-Absolute Deviation och jämförs med den traditionella Mean-Variance-modellen samt den utbrett använda Risk Parity-portföljen. Avhandlingen görs i samarbete med Första AP-fonden, och de implementerade portföljerna, med era tillgångsslag, är därför skräddarsydda för att matcha deras investeringsstil. Modellerna utvärderas på två olika fondhanteringsnivåer för att studera om portföljens prestanda drar nytta av en mer restrektiv optimeringsmodell. Den här undersökningen visar att stokastisk programmering under undersökta tidsperioder presterar något sämre än Risk Parity, men överträffar Mean-Variance. Modellens största brist är dess prestanda under perioder av marknadsstress. Modellen visade dock något bättre resultat under normala marknadsförhållanden.

This is a study on the effect of management and CEO stock ownership on company performance. A regression analysis is performed on panel data consisting of a sample of 30 companies listed on OMX Stockholm Mid Cap. A total of 210 and 2520 observations is considered on a yearly and monthly basis, respectively, for seven years (2010-2016). The Hausman test is applied for determining between the fixed effects and random effects regression models. Results show that management relative stock ownership has a significant positive effect on company net income growth and return on assets. The effect is not significant for CEO stock ownership, which is contrary to what commonly has been shown for large companies in previous research. Moreover, alternative methodology is discussed for the benefit of the future researcher. The authors illustrate how the selection of dummy variables can be vital for final model outcomes, and it is thus an important aspect to consider when performing panel data analysis. / I den här studien undersöks hur aktieinnehav hos ledning och den verkställande direktören i ett företag påverkar företagsutvecklingen. Studien genomförs med regressionsanalys på paneldata som består av 30 företag, samtliga noterade på OMX Stockholm Mid Cap. Totalt samlas 210 och 2520 observationer på årsbasis respektive månadsbasis över sju år (2010-2016). Hausman-testet används för att bestämma vilken av fixed effects-modellen och random effects-modellen som ska användas i regressionen. Resultaten visar att relativt aktieinnehav hos ledningen har en positiv signifikant påverkan på ett företags nettoinkomstutveckling och avkastning på tillgångar. Den verkställande direktörens aktieinnehav visas inte vara signifikant, vilket är motsatt till det som generellt har visats för stora företag i tidigare forskning. Regressionerna genomförs även med alternativa metoder, vilka det resoneras kring i en diskussion som bör vara till gagn för vidare forskning. Författarna illustrerar hur val av dummy-variabler kan ha en avgörande betydelse för regressionsanalysen, och att det således är en viktig aspekt att ta hänsyn till när regressioner genomförs på paneldata.

In this thesis, important theories in financial mathematics will be explained and derived. These theories will later be used to value financial derivatives. An analytical formula for valuing European call and put option will be derived and European call options will be valued under the Black-Scholes partial differential equation using three different finite difference methods. The Crank-Nicholson method will then be used to value American call options and solve their corresponding free boundary value problem. The optimal exercise boundary can then be plotted from the solution of the free boundary value problem. The algorithm for valuing American call options will then be further developed to solve the stock loan problem. This will be achieved by exploiting a link that exists between American call options and stock loans. The Crank-Nicholson method will be used to value stock loans and their corresponding free boundary value problem. The optimal exit boundary can then be plotted from the solution of the free boundary value problem. The results that are obtained from the numerical calculations will finally be used to discuss how different parameters affect the valuation of American call options and the valuation of stock loans. In the end of the thesis, conclusions about the effect of the different parameters on the optimal prices will be presented. / I det här kandidatexamensarbetet kommer fundamentala teorier inom finansiell matematik förklaras och härledas. Dessa teorier kommer lägga grunden för värderingen av finansiella derivat i detta arbete. En analytisk formel för att värdera europeiska köp- och säljoptioner kommer att härledas. Dessutom kommer europeiska köpoptioner att värderas numeriskt med tre olika finita differensmetoder. Den finita differensmetoden Crank-Nicholson kommer sedan användas för att värdera amerikanska köpoptioner och lösa det fria gränsvärdesproblemet (free boundary value problem). Den optimala omvandlingsgränsen (Optimal Exercise Boundary) kan därefter härledas från det fria gränsvärdesproblemet. Algoritmen för att värdera amerikanska köpoptioner utökas därefter till att värdera lån med aktier som säkerhet. Detta kan åstadkommas genom att utnyttja ett samband mellan amerikanska köpoptioner med lån där aktier används som säkerhet. Den finita differensmetoden Crank-Nicholson kommer dessutom att användas för att värdera lån med aktier som säkerhet. Den optimala avyttringsgränsen (Optimal Exit Boundary) kan därefter härledas från det fria gränsvärdesproblemet. Resultaten från de numeriska beräkningarna kommer slutligen att användas för att diskutera hur olika parametrar påverkar värderingen av amerikanska köpoptioner, samt värdering av lån med aktier som säkerhet. Avslutningsvis kommer slutsatser om effekterna av dessa parametrar att presenteras.