Recent efforts in understanding the variability inherent in coastal and offshore waters have highlighted the need for higher resolution sampling at finer spatial and temporal resolutions. Gliders are increasingly used in these transitional waters due to their ability to provide these finer resolution data sets in areas where satellite coverage may be poor, ship-based surveys may be impractical, and important processes may occur below the surface. Since no single instrument platform provides coverage across all needed spatial and temporal scales, Ocean Observation systems are using multiple types of instrument platforms for data collection. However, this results in increasingly large volumes of data that need to be processed and analyzed and there is no current “best practice” methodology for combining these instrument platforms. In this study, high resolution glider data, High Frequency Radar (HFR), and satellite-derived data products (MERRA_2 and ARMOR3D NRT Eddy Tracking) were used to quantify: 1) dominant scales of variability of the central Red Sea, 2) determine the minimum sampling frequency required to adequately characterize the central Red Sea, 3) discriminate whether the fine scale persistency of oceanographic variables determined from the glider data are comparable to those identified using HFR and satellite-derived data products, and 4) determine additional descriptive information regarding eddy occurrence and strength in the Red Sea from 2018-2019. Both Integral Time Scale and Characteristic Length Scale analysis show that the persistence time frame from glider data for temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-α, and dissolved oxygen is 2-4 weeks and that these temporal scales match for HFR and MERRA_2 data, matching a similar description of a ”weather-band” level of temporal variability. Additionally, the description of eddy activity in the Red Sea also supports this 2-4-week time frame, with the average duration of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies from 2018-2019 being 22 and 27 days, respectively. Adoption of scale-based methods across multiple ocean observation areas can help define “best practice” methodologies for combining glider, HFR, and satellite-derived data to better understand the naturally occurring variability and improve resource allocation.

Pour l'analyse de durabilité et la conception économique (moins de matériel) de structures en matériaux ressemblant à du béton, la modélisation de la rupture est essentielle. Dans le cadre de la mécanique des milieux continus, une longueur interne est introduite dans les modèles non locaux pour remédier au problème lié à la sensibilité du maillage qui est une pathologie des modèles d'endommagement classiques , lorsqu'il s'agit de matériaux adoucissantes. Toutefois, l'évaluation de la longueur interne de hétérogénéités du matériau est toujours une question difficile, ce qui rend un problème obscur en utilisant des modèles non locaux. Nos travaux portent sur le développement d'un outil numérique basée sur la méthode des éléments en treillis (LEM) qui est un modèle discret pour la simulation et la prévision de la rupture des structures en béton. En utilisant le modèle de réseau à l'échelle mésoscopique, il n'est pas nécessaire d'introduire une longueur interne dans la loi de comportement, comme cela se fait dans les modèles non locaux, et nous pouvons affranchir ce paramètre en introduisant explicitement la mesotructure matérielle via une description géométrique. Basé sur l'outil numérique développé, nous avons étudié, en effectuant des tests numériques de traction uniaxiale, l'influence géométrique de la mesotructure du matériau ainsi que l'influence des conditions aux limites et de tailles d'échantillons (qui se traduisent par le gradient de sollicitation et le champ de rotation de matériel différents) sur le taille de la FPZ (fracture process zone) et sur la longueur caractéristique du matériau quasi-fragile homogénéisé. Ces études fournissent des recommandations/avertissements lors de l'extraction d'une longueur interne nécessaire pour les modèles nonlocaux à partir de la microstructure du matériau. Par ailleurs, les études contribuent un aperçu direct de l'origine mésoscopic de la taille FPZ et la longueur de la caractéristique du matériau, et par conséquent sur l'origine et la nature du comportement non linéaire du matériau. Ensuite, nous avons implanté le modèle du treillis dans la bibliothèque de SOFA développé par l'INRIA pour réaliser le couplage avec la méthode des éléments finis (MEF) afin de faire face avec des structures à grande échelle. Nous avons proposé un algorithme de couplage entre une approche macroscopique représentée par MEF et une approche mésoscopique infligés par LEM au sein d'une manière adaptative. Le modèle de couplage est d'abord utilisée pour valider l'approche multi-échelle proposée sur des simulations heuristiques. Et à long terme, il fournit un outil prometteur pour des simulations de grandes structures en matériaux quasi-fragiles de la vie réelle. / For durability analysis and economic design (less material) of structures made of concrete-like materials, modeling of cracking process and failure is essential. In the framework of continuum mechanics, an internal length is introduced in nonlocal models to remedy the problem related to mesh sensitivity which is a pathology of classical damage models, when dealing with softening materials. However, the assessment of the internal length from heterogeneities of the material is still a difficult question, which makes an obscure issue in using nonlocal models. Our work concerns developing of a numerical tool based on the Lattice Element Method (LEM) which is a discrete model for simulating and predicting fracture in concrete(-like) material. Using the lattice model at the mesoscopic scale, there is no need to introduce any internal length in the constitutive law, as done in nonlocal models, and we can enfranchise this parameter by explicitly introducing the material mesotructure via geometric description. Based on the developed numerical tool, we studied, by performing numerical uniaxial tensile tests, the geometric influence of the material mesotructure as well as the influence of the boundary conditions and specimen sizes (that result in different stress gradient and material rotation field) on the size of the FPZ (Fracture Process Zone) and on the characteristic length of the homogenized quasi-brittle material. These studies provide recommendations/warnings when extracting an internal length required for nonlocal damage models from the material microstructure. Moreover, the studies contribute a direct insight into the mesoscale origin of the FPZ size and the material characteristic length, and consequently into the origin and nature of the nonlinear behavior of the material. Then, we implemented the lattice model into SOFA library developed by INRIA for realizing the coupling with the Finite Element Method (FEM) in order to deal with large-scale structures. We proposed a strong coupling algorithm between a macroscopic approach represented by FEM and a mesoscopic approach dealt by LEM within an adaptive manner. The coupling model is first used to validate the multiscale approach proposed on heuristic simulations. And in the long term, it provides a promising tool for simulations of large-scale structures made of quasi-brittle materials of real life.

Ce travail porte sur l'identification de modèles de zones cohésives. Ces modèles, proposés initialement dans les années 60 sont maintenant de intensivement utilisés dans les simulations numériques pour rendre compte de l'initiation et de la propagation de fissures pour différents matériaux et structures.L'identification de ces modèles reste encore aujourd'hui une problématique délicate. Les développements récents de techniques d'imagerie permettent d'accéder à des champs de mesures locales (e.g. déformation et température, …). On se propose dans ce travail d'utiliser la richesse des informations issues de ces techniques d'imagerie pour mettre en place une procédure d'identification qui prenne en compte à la fois le développement de la localisation (effet de structure) mais aussi la nature des différentes irréversibilités mises en jeu (comportement thermo-mécanique). On s'intéresse à des comportements élasto-plastiques endommageables de matériaux ductiles. L'endommagement est associé à un comportement cohésif de l'interface entre les éléments volumiques supposés purement élasto-plastiques.La procédure d'identification comporte deux étapes. La première consiste à caractériser la forme et les paramètres de la loi cohésive sur des essais de traction standard à partir d'une analyse des champs mécaniques localement développés. La seconde étape consiste à vérifier la cohérence thermo-mécanique du modèle identifié en confrontant les mesures calorimétriques déduites des champs de température avec les prévisions du modèle identifié.Cette méthode est appliquée avec succès sur différents matériaux (acier Dual Phase et cuivre). Une attention particulière est portée sur la caractérisation de la longueur caractéristique qui est nécessairement introduite dans l'identification. On montre que cette longueur peut être estimée au regard des différents paramètres introduits dans les traitements d'images.Cette méthode est appliquée sur différents matériaux (acier et cuivre). Une attention particulière est portée sur la caractérisation de la longueur caractéristique qui est nécessairement introduite dans l'identification. On montre que cette longueur peut-être corrélée à l'échelle d'identification des processus d'endommagement sous-jacents. Ainsi les modèles cohésifs identifiés sont fournis au modélisateur avec l'échelle physique à laquelle ils résument l'endommagement volumique du matériau. / This work deals with the identification of cohesive zone models. These models were intially proposed in the 1960s. They are now more and more frequently used in numerical simulations to account for crack initiation and propagation in different materials and structures.The identification of these models still remains a delicate issue. The recent developments in imaging techniques now allow reaching local measurement fields (e.g. strain, temperature,…). We propose here to use the large amount of information given by these techniques to set up an identification procedure accounting for either the localization development (structural effect) and also the character of the different irreversibility sources encountered (thermo-mechanical behavior). We study damageable elasto-plastic ductile materials. Damage is associated to a cohesive behavior of the interface between volumic elements supposed to remain purely elasto-plastic.The identification procedure involves two steps. The first one consists in characterizing the shape and the parameters of the cohesive zone on tensile tests by analyzing the mechanical fields locally developed. The second one consists in checking the thermo-mechanical consistency of the identified model by confronting the calorimetric measurements deduced from temperature fields with the previsions of the identified model.This method is applied on different materials (Dual Phase steel and copper). A specific caution is conferred to the characterization of the characteristic length necessarily introduced by the identification. It is shown that this length can be estimated regarding the different parameters introduced in the image processing.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:14:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 parte1.pdf: 6372308 bytes, checksum: db3e915edd1663a97d16d8935fc5becf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-02 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In this work we study numerically the generation and dynamics of topological defects in nematic liquid crystals. Our study is based on a Ginzburg-Landau model describing the evolution of the orientational order of a liquid crystal in terms of a symmetric, traceless, second-rank tensor. This phenomenological model allows studies of nematic phases at scales ranging from few nanometers to few micrometers (mesoscopic scale). Within this framework we developed a software named LICRA (Liquid CRystal Algorithm) that combines standard finite difference algorithm for the spatial derivatives with a Runge-Kutta temporal integration to solve the relaxational equations of nematodynamics without thermal fluctuations and hydrodynamic flow. Using this software we investigate the coarsening dynamics of defects of two- and three-dimensional uniaxial nematic liquid crystals. The time dependences of the structure factor and characteristic length scale were computed. The characteristic length scale is expected to grow as a power law in time, L ∝ tα. From dimensional analysis α = 1/2 and we found α = 0, 45±0, 01 in two-dimensions and α = 0, 350±0, 003 in three-dimensions. Furthermore, in all cases Porod s law is satisfied for large values of wave number k. We also investigate, using LICRA, the coarsening dynamics of liquid crystal textures in a two-dimensional nematic under applied electric fields. We consider both positive and negative dielectric anisotropies and two different possibilities for the orientation of the electric field parallel and perpendicular to the two-dimensional lattice. We determine the effect of an applied electric field pulse on the evolution of the characteristic length scale and other properties of the liquid crystal texture network. In particular, we show that different types of defects are produced after the electric field is switched on, depending on the orientation of the electric field and the sign of the dielectric anisotropy. Finally, we present the effect of the rotation of an external electric field on the dynamics of half-integer disclination networks in two and three dimensional nematic liquid crystals with a negative dielectric anisotropy. We show that a rotation of π of the electric field around an axis of the liquid crystal plane continuously transforms all half-integer disclinations of the network into disclinations of opposite sign via twist disclinations. We also determine the evolution of the characteristic length scale, thus quantifying the impact of the external electric field on the coarsening of the defect network. / Neste trabalho estudamos numericamente a formação e dinâmica de defeitos topológicos em cristais líquidos nemáticos. Nosso estudo é baseado no modelo de Ginzburg- Landau, o qual descreve a evolução da ordem orientacional de um cristal líquido em termos de um tensor de segunda ordem simétrico e com traço nulo. Este modelo fenomenológico permite estudar a fase nemática em escalas que vão de poucos nanômetros até poucos micrômetros (escala mesoscópica). Para tal estudo numérico, desenvolvemos um programa de computador que denominamos de LICRA (Liquid CRystal Algotithm). Este programa combina o algoritmo de diferença finita para calcular derivadas espaciais com a integração temporal de Runge-Kutta para resolver a equação de relaxação da nematodinâmica, sem a presença de flutuações térmicas e fluxos hidrodinâmicos. Usando este programa de computador investigamos a dinâmica de coalescência em duas e três dimensões em um cristal líquido nemático uniaxial. Tanto o fator de estrutura quando a escala de comprimento característico foram calculadas no tempo. Espera-se que esta escala cresça como uma lei de potências do tempo, L ∝ tα, onde, a partir de uma análise dimensional, α = 1/2. Encontramos os valores de α = 0, 45 ± 0, 01 em duas dimensões e α = 0, 350 ± 0, 003 em três dimensões. Além disso, em todos os casos verificamos que a lei de Porod é satisfeita para número de ondas k de grandes valores. Utilizando LICRA, investigamos também a dinâmica de coalescência de cristais líquidos nemáticos em duas dimensões submetidos a um campo elétrico externo. Consideramos a anisotropia dielétrica positiva e negativa e duas diferentes possibilidades de orientação do campo elétrico: paralelo e perpendicular ao plano da rede bidimensional. Determinamos os efeitos de um pulso de campo elétrico na evolução da escala do comprimento característico e as alterações nas texturas dos cristais líquidos. Em particular, mostramos que os diferentes tipos de defeitos que são produzidos após o campo elétrico ser aplicado dependem da orientação do campo elétrico e do sinal da anisotropia dielétrica. Finalmente, apresentamos os efeitos da rotação de um campo elétrico externo na dinâmica de uma rede de defeitos semi-inteiros em cristais líquidos nemáticos em duas e três dimensões com anisotropia dielétrica negativa. Mostramos que, girando o campo elétrico por um ângulo π ao redor de um eixo pertencente a plano da rede, ocorre uma transformação contínua de todas as desclinações semi-inteiras da rede em desclinações com sinal oposto. Esta transformação é intermediada por desclinações do tipo torção. Além disso, determinamos a evolução da escala de comprimento característico quantificando o impacto do campo elétrico externo na dinâmica de coalescimento da rede.

No description available.

The thesis is focused on a test on determination of the fracture-mechanical parameters of quasi-brittle materials, especially concrete. What is referred to as the wedge-splitting test is considered, for which a variety of shapes of notched specimen can be used. This work is exclusively focused on the cylinder-shaped specimen of diameter 150 mm and breadth of 100 mm. The test is performed virtually using Atena 2D FEM software. Progress of failure is observed during loading of the specimen for various notch lengths. The amount of energy released for the development the failure outside of the tested cross-sectional area (weakened by the notch) is quantified and the size of the fracture process zone is investigated. The described analysis is performed for several material sets witch differ in cohesive properties of the quasi-brittle material expressed via the so-called characteristic length. Suitable proportions of the test specimen are sought, in order to avoid the failure and thus also the energy dissipation outside of the specimen ligament area during the experimental tests, which shall lead to more accurate estimates of fracture-mechanical parameters of the tested material.