Several technologies involve the coating of a bulk material with a thin layer made up of another material, so as to achieve enhanced mechanical properties for the composite system. The use of coated solids embraces a broad field of applications, so that a strong research effort has been devoted to these systems. From a mechanical point of view, a coating layer diffuses the load on an attached solid in a non-local way, thus introducing a characteristic length, and profoundly affects the mechanical response and failure mechanisms of the coated object. Therefore, the development of mechanical models to describe the behaviour of coated materials plays an important role in engineering design. In the framework of linear elasticity, the case of an elastic thin layer, perfectly bonded to an elastic disk, is analyzed in the present thesis by providing a mathematical tool with which to determine the mechanical response of the coating/bulk complex, which may find application in micro and nano technologies, for instance in the characterization of nanowires via nanoindentation. The coating is modelled by means of an Euler-Bernoulli curved rod, assumed to be perfectly bonded on the boundary of a circular elastic disk. The elastic rod acts as a coating for the disk and its axial inextensibility imposes an isoperimetric constraint on the internal disk, which is constrained to maintain its perimeter constant during the deformation process. The mechanical model for the coating/disk system is formulated for general loading, using the complex potential formalism. The elastic rod becomes equivalent to a Benveniste-Miloh interface characterized by the bending stiffness of the rod; in this way the problem can be solved entirely on the disk through the complex potential formalism and Kolosov- Muskhelishvili potentials. The kinematics and statics of the rod, together with its axial inextensibility, lead to the formulation of a 5th-order differential equation governing the mechanical state at every point on the boundary of the disk. The solution of this equation is obtained by means of a complex Fourier series expansion for the unknown fields on the boundary of the disk, when a particular distribution of the external load is prescribed. The complex variables method shows that the unknown complex coefficients involved in the series expansion depend only on the external load. Hence, all the elastic fields become known on the coating and on the boundary and within the disk. The analytical results are complemented with experiments related to a load distribution which models two equal and opposite concentrated forces. In this regard, two coated disks were designed and then manufactured (with a CNC engraving machine) from a single block of polymethyl methacrylate so that the bonding between the coating and disk was perfect and residual stresses were absent. The samples were tested in a circular polariscope and the results strongly supported the coated disk model, so the photoelastic fringes were very well captured by the elastic solution. Different situations were investigated in order to study the non-local stress diffusion of the coating. The limit case of an isoperimetric disk was also investigated by imposing a vanishing bending stiffness for the coating. This limit situation corresponded to a disk equipped with a device able to preserve the perimeter of the disk during the deformation. Exploiting the framework developed, the bifurcation problem of the coated disk was analyzed, assuming that the coating was subject to a radial pressure of three different types. A closed-form analytical solution was obtained for the bifurcation pressure and modes, showing that the presence of the disk profoundly changed the bifurcation landscape of the coating, forming a circular elastic rod. In fact, the circular rod admits only oval modes, while the coating/disk system displays high-frequency circumferential undulations. The experimental, analytical, and numerical results presented open new possibilities for the design of coated solids of cylindrical geometry, which may find applications in micro and nano technologies, for instance in the characterization of nanowires via nanoindentation.

Bifurcations in Huang's chaotic chemical reactor system leading from simple dynamics into chaotic regimes are considered. Following the linear stability analysis, the periodic orbit resulting from a Hopf bifurcation of any of the six fixed points is constructed analytically by the method of multiple scales across successively slower time scales, and its stability is then determined by the resulting final secularity condition. Furthermore, we run numerical simulations of our chemical reactor at a particular fixed point of interest, alongside a set of parameter values that forces our system to undergo Hopf bifurcation. These numerical simulations then verify our analysis of the normal form.

Les travaux de recherche concernent le développement et la mise en oeuvre de nouveaux critères de détection des défauts de striction localisée/éclatement et de plissement/flambage lors de procédés d'emboutissage et d'hydroformage de structures minces. La striction est considérée comme une instabilité du flux de matière. Elle est modélisée via une Analyse Linéaire de Stabilité (ALS) par méthode de perturbation étendue à un état tridimensionnel. Ainsi, de nouveaux modes de striction sont repérés. De plus, le critère initial est amélioré par la détermination rigoureuse du seuil d'instabilité différenciant l'instabilité effective de l'instabilité absolue. Des Courbes Limites de Formage sont construites pour étudier l'influence de paramètres de comportement matériel sur l'apparition de la striction/éclatement. Enfin l'ALS appliquée à une plaque e flexion pure montre que les défauts observés ne sont pas dus à un phénomène de striction. Concernant le plissement, ce défaut semble plus correspondre à un problème de bifurcation qu'à un problème d'instabilité. Dans cet ouvrage, une nouvelle analyse basée sur l'équilibre d'une plaque est développée. De plus, l'analyse qualitative de Nordlund et Häggblad est reprise. Enfin, un nouveau critère basé sur une méthode de perturbation est développé en annexe. Les modélisations présentées pour la détection de striction/éclatement et de plissement/flambage ont été intégrées dans le code POLYFORM? de simulation par éléments finis des procédés d'emboutissage et d'hydroformage. L'influence des paramètres de procédés et de comportement matériel sur la prédiction des défauts lors de simulations est présentée. La validation expérimentale des prédictions est réalisée pour un procédé d'hydroformage oscillant. L'influence des paramètres de ce procédé sur l'apparition de défauts est également observée

We study a discrete time, structured population dynamic model that is motivated by recent field observations concerning certain life history strategies of colonial- nesting gulls, specifically the glaucouswinged gull ( Larus glaucescens). The model focuses on mechanisms hypothesized to play key roles in a population's response to degraded environment resources, namely, increased cannibalism and adjustments in reproductive timing. We explore the dynamic consequences of these mechanics using a juvenile- adult structure model. Mathematically, the model is unusual in that it involves a high co- dimension bifurcation at R0 = 1 which, in turn, leads to a dynamic dichotomy between equilibrium states and synchronized oscillatory states. We give diagnostic criteria that determine which dynamic is stable. We also explore strong Allee effects caused by positive feedback mechanisms in the model and the possible consequence that a cannibalistic population can survive when a non- cannibalistic population cannot.

Dans ce mémoire, nous étudions le problème centre-foyer sur un système polynomial. Nous développons ainsi deux mécanismes permettant de conclure qu’un point singulier monodromique dans ce système non-linéaire polynomial est un centre. Le premier mécanisme est la méthode de Darboux. Cette méthode utilise des courbes algébriques invariantes dans la construction d’une intégrale première. La deuxième méthode analyse la réversibilité algébrique ou analytique du système. Un système possédant une singularité monodromique et étant algébriquement ou analytiquement réversible à ce point sera nécessairement un centre. Comme application, dans le dernier chapitre, nous considérons le modèle de Gauss généralisé avec récolte de proies. / In this thesis, we study the center-focus problem in a polynomial system. We describe two mechanisms to conclude that a monodromic singular point in this polynomial system is a center. The first one is the method of Darboux. In this method, one uses invariant algebraic curves to build a first integral. The second method is the algebraic (and analytic) reversibility. A monodromic singularity, which is algebraically or analytically reversible at the singular point, is necessarily a center. As an application, in the last chapter, we consider the generalized Gause model with prey harvesting and a generalized Holling response function of type III.

I consider a model for the control of criminality in cities. The model was developed during my REU at UCLA. The model is a system of partial differential equations that simulates the behavior of criminals and where they may accumulate, hot spots. I have proved a prior bounds for the partial differential equations in both one-dimensional and higher dimensional case, which proves the attractiveness and density of criminals in the given area will not be unlimitedly high. In addition, I have found some local bifurcation points in the model.

The South Atlantic has a relevant role on the AMOC variability as it includes two main conduits of its upper-ocean return flow: the NBUC and the IWBC that carry, mainly, the SACW and the AAIW and are originated from the bifurcation of the SEC. One of the hypotheses of this work is that analyzing the bifurcation variability it is possible to get an index of the AMOC changes. Another hypothesis is that in a global warming scenario, changes in the hydrological cycle would drive modifications in the water masses that are part of the AMOC, and thus, contribute to its variability. Four global model results were used, with different forcing and spatial resolution. Results show that changes in the bifurcation are linked to modications in the currents both caused by variations in the wind stress curl. Good correlations were found between the SEC bifurcation at the surface and the AMOC. The NBUC seems to be the link between them. Shallowing of the SACW core is related to an increase of the salinity on neutral surfaces. The AAIW is occupying less space in the water column due to an increasing of the salinity in the neutral surfaces at 11°S, while the opposite happens at 27°S / The South Atlantic has a relevant role on the AMOC variability as it includes two main conduits of its upper-ocean return flow: the NBUC and the IWBC that carry, mainly, the SACW and the AAIW and are originated from the bifurcation of the SEC. One of the hypotheses of this work is that analyzing the bifurcation variability it is possible to get an index of the AMOC changes. Another hypothesis is that in a global warming scenario, changes in the hydrological cycle would drive modifications in the water masses that are part of the AMOC, and thus, contribute to its variability. Four global model results were used, with different forcing and spatial resolution. Results show that changes in the bifurcation are linked to modications in the currents both caused by variations in the wind stress curl. Good correlations were found between the SEC bifurcation at the surface and the AMOC. The NBUC seems to be the link between them. Shallowing of the SACW core is related to an increase of the salinity on neutral surfaces. The AAIW is occupying less space in the water column due to an increasing of the salinity in the neutral surfaces at 11°S, while the opposite happens at 27°S

Neste trabalho obtemos que o espaço dos invariantes locais do tipo Vassiliev de primeira ordem de aplicações estáveis de 3-variedade fechada orientada em \' R POT. 4\' é 4-dimensional. Damos uma interpretação geométrica para 2 dos 4 geradores deste espaço, a saber, \'I IND. Q\' o número de pontos quádruplos e \'I IND. C / P\' o número de pares de pontos do tipo crosscap/plano, da imagem de uma aplicação estável. Ao reduzir o espaço das aplicações para o das imersões esáaveis, obtemos que o espaço dos invariantes locais de imersões estáveis é 3-dimensional. Os invariantes que obtemos são: \'I IND. Q\' o número de pares de pontos quádruplos da imagem de uma imersão estável e dois índices de interseção \'I IND. I\'`+ e \'I IND. l\' introduzidos por V. Goryunov em [15]. Como início de um estudo que almejamos realizar sobre a geometria de uma m-variedade em \'R POT. m+1\' com singularidades, obtemos os tipos de contatos genéricos da suspensão do crosscap (única singularidade estavel de \'R POT. 3\' em \'R POT. 4\' ) com hiperplanos de \'R POT.4\' / In this work we obtain that the space of first order local Vassiliev type invariants of stable maps of oriented 3-manifolds in \'R POT. 4\' is 4-dimensional. We give a geometric interpretation for two of the four generators of this space, namely, \'I IND. Q\' the number of quadruple points and \'I IND. C / P\' the number of pairs of points of crosscap/plane type, of the image of a stable map. In the case of stable immersions, we obtain that the space of local invariants of stable immersions is 3-dimensional. The invariants that we obtain are: \'I IND. Q\' the number of pairs of quadruple points of the image of a stable immersion and the positive and negative linking invariants \'I IND. I`+ and I\'I IND., l\' introduced by V. Goryunov in [15]. As a beging of a study that we want to realise about the geometry of a m-manifold in \'R POT. m+1\' with singularities, we obtain the generic contacts of the suspension of crosscap (the only stable singularity from \'R POT. 3\' to \'R POT. 4\') with hyperplanes of \'R POT. 4\'

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é apresentar uma exposição detalhada do Teorema de Poincaré-Andronov-Hopf para uma família de transformações do plano. Apresentaremos também uma aplicação a um sistema dinâmico que modela a evolução do preço e excesso de demanda em um mercado constituído por uma única mercadoria. / The main purpose of this work is to present a detailed exposition of the Poincaré-Andronov-Hopf Theorem for a family of transformations in the plane. We also present an application to a dynamical system modelling the evolution of the price and the excess demand in a single asset market.

Este trabalho é concernente a periodicidade na equação de Wright. Provaremos a existência de soluções periódicas não constantes, explorando o conceito de ejetividade de um teorema de ponto fixo. Além disso, provamos a existência de uma seqüência infinita de Bifurcação de Hopf. / This work is concerned with periodicity in the Wright's equation. We prove the existence of nonconstant periodic solutions by exploiting the ejectivity concept in a theorem of fixed point. Furthemore, we prove the existence of an infinite sequence of Hopf Bifurcations.