Understanding the mechanisms that control the mechanical behavior of microscale actuators is necessary to design an actuator that responds to an applied actuation force with the desired behavior. Micro actuators which employ a diaphragm supported by torsional hinges which deform during actuation are used in many applications where device stability and reliability are critical. The material response to the stress developed within the hinge during actuation controls how the actuator will respond to the actuating force. A fully recoverable non-linear viscoelastic response has been observed in electrostatically driven micro actuators employing torsional hinges of silicon covered with thin metal films. The viscoelastic response occurs over a time period of 50 minutes at an operating temperature of 35°C. This viscoelastic phenomenon is similar to that reported in articles addressing anelastic behavior associated with viscous grain boundary slippage and dislocation bowing. In order to investigate this viscoelastic response as a function of metal film composition and thickness, bi-layer torsional hinge actuators consisting of Si with a deposited metal layer were designed to exhibit similar stress levels as the electrostatically driven micro actuators. The test devices were fabricated using common semiconductor fabrication techniques. The actuators were micromachined by deep etching 100mm diameter, 425µm thick, double side polished, single crystal (100) wafers to create a 4.5µm thick device layer. Subsequent etching of the device layer released the fixed-fixed torsional hinge test actuators. Physical vapor depositions of Au, Al and Al-Ti in two different thicknesses (100nm, and 150nm) were deposited in order to investigate the impact of metal film thickness and composition on the viscoelastic response. Grain sizes of the deposited films were estimated using backscattered electron images. Rotational actuation of the test actuators was achieved by using a modified Ambios XP-1 surface profiler that applies a constant force of 0.28mN while measuring the displacement of the actuator with respect to time. The viscoelastic response was observed in the test devices with Au and Al thin films indicating that this phenomenon is attributable to the stresses induced on the torsional hinge. Results indicate that the viscoelastic response was not observed in AlTi thin films consisting of 0.3at% titanium. Two theoretical models are presented that discuss the mechanism associated with the viscoelastic response as well as a method for inhibiting these mechanisms by the addition of an alloying element to form a second phase precipitate.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka fiollärares syn på och användning av stråkteknik i sin undervisning. Detta görs med följande forskningsfrågor: Hur representerar fiollärare sin syn på stråkteknik? och Hur designar fiollärare sin undervisning i stråkteknik? Studien är kvalitativ och data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra olika fiollärare på musik- och kulturskolor. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt utgörs av socialsemiotiskt perspektiv. Intervjuerna ljudinspelades och även videodokumenterades för att sedan transkriberas och analyseras med hjälp av analysverktyg från det valda teoretiska ramverket. I studiens resultat beskrivs fiollärarnas syn på stråkteknik samt hur de designar sin undervisning i stråkteknik. De teman som presenteras är stråkteknik som tonbildning, stråkteknik som hållning, stråkteknik som instrumentteknik, materiella resurser i undervisningen samtkroppsliga och klingande resurser i undervisningen.I resultatet framkommer många skillnader men även likheter i de intervjuade fiollärarnas utsagor, men alla belyser stråkteknikens betydelse i undervisningen och dess funktion. I studiens avslutande kapitel diskuteras resultatet i förhållande till tidigare litteratur och forskning samt till studiens socialsemiotiska perspektiv. De teman som presenteras är undervisning ur ett socialsemiotiskt perspektiv samt stråkteknik kopplat till stråkhållning och tonbildning. Det tas även upp om metoddiskussion, arbetets betydelse samt fortsatt forskning. / The purpose of the study is to investigate violin teachers’ view of and use of bowing technique in their teaching. The study´s research questions concern how do violin teachers represent their view of bow technique? And how do violin teachers design their teaching in bow technique? The study is qualitative, and data has been collected through semi structured interviews with four different violin teachers at music and cultural schools. The theoretical starting point of the study is social semiotic perspective. The interviews were recorded by audio and video and were then transcribe and analyzed. The analysis was conducted with tools from the chosen theoretical framework. In the study's results, the violin teachers' view of bow technique is described and how they design their teaching in bow technique. The themes presented are string techniques such as tone formation, bow technique such as posture, bow technique such as instrument technology, material resources in teachingandbodily and sounding resources in teaching. The result shows many differences but also similarities in the interviewed violin teachers' statements, but all highlight the significance of the bow technique in teaching and its function. In the final chapter of the study, the result is discussed in relation to previous literature and research, and to the social semiotic perspective of the study. The themes presented are teaching from a social semiotic perspectiveand bow technique linked to posture and tone formation. The method discussion, the importance of work and continued research is also mentioned.

Thermal bowing, often referred as bulging or out-of-plane wall deflection, is a common issue on sandwich panel walls caused by a temperature differential between a building interior temperature and the environment. The stresses caused by temperature changes in concrete members are widely known in the practice of bridge design, but not on sandwich wall panels. For sandwich wall panel applications, it is common to have non-composite panels when the designer expects a high temperature gradient, what yields a less economical design, but reduces the bowing. This project aimed to validate current assumptions regarding the heat flow in sandwich wall panels and to perform a parametric study of panels subject to thermal loads, varying the concrete layer thickness, panel length, type of shear connector and separation using a commercial finite element analysis software. This study concluded that current design practices either underestimate, in the case of multiplying the classical mechanics values by the reported degree of composite behavior, or overestimate the real value of bowing, by using classical mechanics. A method for determining the percentage of composite action and compute bowing was developed and recommendations addressing the importance of this type of loading were given.

Les interconnexions des circuits intégrés sub-0.25µm nécessitent l'intégration d'isolants «low-K» à plus faible permittivité diélectrique que SiO2 (~ 4.4) tel que le SiLK™ (~ 2.65), un matériau organique prometteur. Mais sa gravure plasma conduit à l'obtention de structures en forme de tonneau («bow»), alors que les profils gravés doivent rester anisotropes pour les étapes ultérieures d'intégration. Afin de réduire le bow, cette étude montre que la passivation des flancs des structures gravées est nécessaire, et fortement corrélée à la dégradation («graphitisation») du SiLK et à la présence de résidus carbonés peu volatils dans le plasma. La présence de sources carbonées autres que le SiLK™ permet aussi d'améliorer la passivation. L'étude du phénomène à l'origine du bow montre enfin que les charges électrostatiques jouent un rôle majoritaire dans la déflexion des ions sur les flancs. Ces résultats intéressent également tous les low-Ks à faible seuil de gravure ionique réactive.

Herstellung anwendungsbezogener SiO2- Grabenstrukturen im sub-μm-Bereich durch RIE und ICP-Prozesse.

La région du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean est géographiquement située dans une enclave qui a contribué à l’isolement des populations s’y étant installées. Aussi cet éloignement aurait-il favorisé la présence de certaines spécificités culturelles dans cette région, spécificités ayant été relevées au sein de plusieurs domaines tel que la génétique, la linguistique, le patrimoine culinaire, l’histoire et la musique. Cette recherche vise à documenter plus spécifiquement l’élément musical dans la région du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean par l’analyse du style et du répertoire de quatre joueurs de violon traditionnel ayant appris par transmission orale. La classification du répertoire et l’identification de différentes techniques de jeu au niveau du style permettent de relever à la fois des éléments communs et distincts chez les quatre violoneux. Outre les analyses quantitatives et qualitatives proposées au niveau du répertoire et du style, cette recherche comprend un survol de l’histoire des populations de la région avançant différentes pistes sur les origines et les influences des violoneux ayant habité ou séjourné sur le territoire depuis la traite des fourrures jusqu’à l’industrialisation, de même qu’un recensement de plus d’une centaine de violoneux du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean depuis la colonisation, et un lexique endogène de la terminologie des violoneux étudiés. / The Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region is an enclave, and this fact contributed, through the years, to the isolation of the populations established there. This isolation is a factor that would have contributed to the presence of cultural distinctiveness amongst the inhabitants of the region. This cultural specificity has been observed in many fields of research, such as genetics, linguistics, culinary traditions, history and music. This thesis documents the musical element of culture in the region of Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, through the analysis of style and repertoire of four fiddle players from the region. The classification of repertoire and the identification of different playing techniques, highlight both common and individual elements featured in the music of these four fiddlers. The research also contains a historical overview of the people who lived in or crossed the region, from the period of fur trading to industrialisation, and how they could have influenced the music in this region. Additionally, this research contains a census of over 100 fiddle players who have inhabited or passed through the region since colonisation, as well as a lexic explaining over 70 terms and expressions used by the fiddle players of Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean.

Herstellung anwendungsbezogener SiO2- Grabenstrukturen im sub-μm-Bereich durch RIE und ICP-Prozesse.

Vibraphone performance continues to be an expanding field of music. Earliest accounts of the presence of the vibraphone and vibraphone players can be found in American Vaudeville from the early 1900s; then found shortly thereafter in jazz bands as early as the 1930s, and on the classical concert stage beginning in 1949. Three Pieces for Vibraphone, Opus 27, composed by James Beale in 1959, is the first solo concert piece written exclusively for the instrument. Since 1959, there have been over 690 pieces written for solo concert vibraphone, which stands as evidence of the popularity of both the instrument and the genre of solo concert literature. Christopher Deane has contributed to solo vibraphone repertoire with works that are regarded as staples in the genre. Deane's compositions for vibraphone consistently expand the technical and musical potential of the instrument. Performance of Deane's vibraphone works requires a performer to utilize grips and specific performance techniques that are departures from standard performance practices. Many of the performance techniques needed to successfully execute these pieces are not routinely found in either percussion pedagogy courses or performance ensemble situations. As a result, most percussionists are not familiar with these techniques and will require additional assistance, instruction, or demonstrations. The impetus of this document is to present explanations and solutions for performance areas that require extended performance techniques, to offer recommendations on the creation, choosing, and manipulating of special implements, and to propose varied choices related to artistic interpretation of three of Deane's vibraphone pieces: Mourning Dove Sonnet (1983), The Apocryphal Still Life (1996), and Dis Qui Etude (2004).

This thesis sets out to investigate new notation symbols, systems, and string techniques in some one hundred 20th century string quartets, selected from a variety of composers. The analysis includes compositions that have, through contemporary aesthetic ideals, extended musical and technical resources and stimulated the development of compositional methods in such a way as to influence later works in the genre. k The thesis divided into two parts : Histoiy and Research Part One is a brief history of 20th century music, and includes the development o f the string quartet from earliest times up to the mid-century. Part Two researches string techniques and notation from the turn of the century up to 1990. The historical perspective demonstrates that after World War n, with the emergence o f the electronic age and a changing social and intellectual climate, traditional concepts were being challenged. Composers facing the dilemma affecting music in general, and the string quartet in particular, had to adapt to radically developing techniques and styles. Sounds and syntax o f a different type were initially, but unsuccessfully, sought to unify the divergent thinking o f the time. Ultimately, the developmental paths took shape from the problem itself and different approaches emerged to master the multi-faceted dimensions available to composers. Part Two investigates music syntax from the viewpoint of recording new symbols, notation systems and string techniques. Quartets of the first half of the century show that both the dissolution and the extension o f traditional processes were contained, importantly, within the continued use of conventional notation. The impact and significance of these quartets within the context of 20th century development cannot be ignored. However, the quartets researched post-1960 demonstrate that composers have enlarged all parameters of the genre through the extension of traditional resources and by radical innovation. This research demonstrates that the emergence of new symbols and string techniques in the second half of the century has been largely on an arbitrary basis. Nevertheless^ broad classification of these elements is undertaken. / Art History, Visual Arts & Musicology / D.Mus. (Musicology)

This thesis is a critical study of three violoncello suites of Johann 8ebastian Bach from the performer's point of view. Its purpose is to determine the comparative differences and similarities of several well known editions including the Bach Gesellschaft edition and the Pablo Casals recording. It will explain a few of the many discrepancies and provide adequate reasons for given suggestions and preferences concerning dynamics, tempi, ornamentation, bowing styles, and other elements of performance. By stating a brief historical background of the evolution of the violoncello and the development of musical form and style, it is possible to conceive Bach's ideas and intentions as he wrote the collection of six suites.