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Benefited from the efficiency of hydraulic fracturing and horizon drilling, the production of unconventional oil and gas resources, such as shale gas and tight oil, has grown quickly in 21th century and contributed to the North America oil and gas production. Although the new enhancing oil recover (EOR) technologies and strong demand spike the production of unconventional resources, there are still unknowns in recovery mechanisms and phase behavior in tight rock reservoirs. In such environment, the phase behavior is altered by high capillary pressure owing to the nanoscale pore throats of shale rocks and it may also influence minimum miscibility pressure (MMP), which is an important parameter controlling gas floods for CO2 injection EOR. To investigate this influence, flash calculation is modified with considering capillary pressure and this work implements three different method to calculate MMP: method of characteristics (MOC); multiple mixing cell (MMC); and slim-tube simulation. The results show that CO2 minimum miscibility pressure in nanopore size reservoirs are affected by gas-oil capillary pressure owing to the alternation of key tie lines in displacement. The values of CO2-MMP from three different methods match well. Moreover, in tight rock reservoirs, the heterogeneous pore size distribution, such as the ones seen in fractured reservoirs, may affect the recovery mechanisms and MMP. This work also investigates the effect of pore size heterogeneity on multicomponent multiphase hydrocarbon fluid composition distribution and its subsequent influence on mass transfer through shale nanopores. According to the simulation results, compositional gradient forms in heterogeneous nanopores of tight reservoirs because oil and gas phase compositions depend on the pore size. Considering that permeability is small in tight rocks and shales, we expect that mass transfer within heterogeneous pore size porous media to be diffusion-dominated. Our results imply that there can be a selective matrix-fracture component mass transfer during both primary production and gas injection secondary recovery in fractured shale rocks. Therefore, molecular diffusion should not be neglected from mass transfer equations for simulations of gas injection EOR or primary recovery of heterogeneous shale reservoirs with pore size distribution. / Master of Science / The new technologies to recover unconventional resources in oil and gas industry, such as fracturing and horizontal drilling, boosted the production of shale gas and tight oil in 21st century and contributed to the North America oil and gas production. Although the new technologies and strong demand spiked the production of tight oil resources, there are still unknowns of oil and gas flow mechanisms in tight rock reservoirs. As we know, the oil and gas resources are stored in the pores of reservoir formation rock. During production process, the oil and gas are pushed into production wells by formation pressure. However, the pore radius of shale rock is extremely small (around nanometers), which reduces the flow rate of oil and gas and raises capillary pressure in pores. The high capillary pressure will alter the oil and gas phase behavior and it may influence the value of minimum miscibility pressure (MMP), which is an important design parameter for CO2 injection (an important technology to raise production). To investigate this influence, we changed classical model with considering capillary pressure and this modified model is implemented in different methods to calculate MMP. The results show that CO2 -MMP in shale reservoirs are affected by capillary pressure and the results from different methods match well. Moreover, in tight rock reservoirs, the heterogeneous pore size distribution, such as fractures in reservoirs, may affect the flow of oil and gas and MMP value. So, this work also investigates the effect of pore size heterogeneity on oil and gas flow mechanisms. According to the simulation results, compositional gradient forms in heterogeneous nanopores of tight reservoirs and this gradient will cause diffusion which will dominate the other fluid flow mechanisms. Therefore, we always need to consider molecular diffusion in the simulation model for shale reservoirs.

Nanotechnology is the science and engineering of creating functional materials by precise control of matter at nanometer (nm) length scale and exploring novel properties at that scale. It is vital to understand the quantum mechanical phenomena manifested at nanometer scale dimensions since that will enable us to precisely engineer quantum mechanical properties to realize novel device functionalities. This dissertation investigates optical and electronic properties of compound and transition metal doped compound semiconductor nanowires with a view to exploiting them for a wide range of applications in semiconductor electronic and optical devices. In this dissertation work, basic concepts of optical and electronic properties at low dimensional structures will be discussed in chapter 1. Chapter 2 discusses the nanofabrication technique employed to fabricate highly ordered nanowires. Using this method, which is based on electrochemical self-assembly techniques, we can fabricate highly ordered and size controlled nanowires and quantum dots of different materials. In Chapter 3, we report size dependent fluorescence spectroscopy of ZnSe and Mn doped ZnSe nanowires fabricated by the above method. The nanowires exhibit blue shift in the emission spectrum due to quantum confinement effect, which increases the effective bandgap of the semiconductor. We found that the fluorescence spectrum of Mn doped ZnSe nanowires shows high luminescence efficiency, which seems to increase with increasing Mn concentration. These results are highly encouraging for applications in multi spectral displays. Chapter 4 investigates field emission results of highly ordered 50 nm tapered ZnO nanowires that were also fabricated by electrochemical self-assembly. Subsequent to fabrication, the nanowires tips are exposed by chemical etching which renders the tips conical in shape. This tapered shape concentrates the electric field lines at the tip of the wires, and that, in turn, increases the emission current density while lowering the threshold field for the onset of field emission. Measurement of the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling current carried out in partial vacuum indicates that the threshold electric field for field emission in 50-nm diameter ZnO nanowires is 15 V/µm. In this study we identified the key constraint that can increase the threshold field and reduce emission current density. In Chapter 5 we report optical and magnetic measurement of Mn-doped ZnO nanowires. Hysterisis measurements carried out at various temperatures show a ferromagnetic behavior with a Curie temperature of ~ 200 K. We also studied Mn-doping of the ZnO nanowires. The room temperature fluorescence spectroscopy of Mn-doped ZnO nanowires shows a red-shift in the spectra compared to the undoped ZnO nanowires possibly due to strain introduced by the dopants in the nanowires. Finally, in Chapter 6, we report our study of the ensemble averaged transverse spin relaxation time (T2*) in InSb thin films and nanowires using electron spin resonance (ESR) measurement. Unfortunately, the nanowires contained too few spins to produce a detectable signal in our apparatus, but the thin films contained enough spins (> 109/cm2) to produce a measurable ESR signal. We found that the T2* decreases rapidly with increasing temperature between 3.5 K and 20 K, which indicates that spin-dephasing is primarily caused by spin-phonon interactions.

Le comportement de l’interface acier-béton a une grande importance lorsque la fissuration des structures en béton armé est étudiée. Une approche par éléments finis a été proposée par (Torre-Casanova, 2013) et (Mang, 2016) pour représenter l'interface acier-béton dans les simulations de structures à grandes dimensions Le modèle proposé permet de calculer le glissement tangentiel entre l'acier et le béton. L’objectif de cette étude est d’améliorer ce modèle initial pour le rendre plus efficace et plus représentatif. Le document est découpé en trois parties : 1) Le modèle initial de liaison est évalué. Puis amélioré tant en chargement monotone qu’alterné. Le nouveau modèle est validé par plusieurs applications numériques. 2) L'effet de confinement est implémenté dans le modèle de liaison acier-béton. L'effet sur le comportement structural du confinement actif est étudié en utilisant le nouveau modèle. A partir des simulations proposées, il est montré, par l’utilisation du nouveau modèle, que l’effet de confinement actif peut jouer un rôle sur les comportements monotone que cyclique. 3) L'effet goujon est étudié avec le nouveau modèle liaison acier-béton. Deux campagnes expérimentales différentes sont simulées avec différents modelés de renforts (1D barre et poutre) et d’interface (liaison acier-béton et liaison parfaite). Les résultats montrent que le nouveau modèle de liaison acier-béton permet de mieux reproduire les résultats expérimentaux par rapport au modèle de liaison parfaite aux échelles globale et locale. / In numerical applications of reinforced concrete structures, the steel-concrete interface behavior has a vital importance when the cracking properties are investigated. A finite element approach for the steel-concrete interface to be used in large-scale simulations was proposed by (Torre-Casanova, 2013) and (Mang, 2016). It enables to calculate the slip between the steel and concrete in the tangential direction of the interface element representation. The aim is here to improve the initial bond-slip model to be more efficient and more representative. The document is divided into three parts: 1) The existing bond-slip model is evaluated. The bond-slip model is then improved by considering transversal and irreversible bond behaviors under alternative loads. The new bond-slip model is validated with several numerical applications. 2) Confinement effect is implemented in the bond-slip model to capture the effect of external lateral pressure. According to the performed numerical applications, it is demonstrated how the active confinement can play a role, through the steel-concrete bond, during monotonic and cyclic loading cases. 3) Dowel action is finally investigated with the new bond-slip model. Two different experimental campaigns (Push-off tests and four-point bending tests) are reproduced with different reinforcement (1D truss and beam) and interface (new bonds-slip and perfect bond) models. The results show that the proposed simulation strategy including the bond slip model enables to reproduce experimental results by predicting global (force-displacement relation) and local behaviors (crack properties) of the reinforced concrete structures under shear loading better than the perfect bond assumption which is commonly used in the industrial applications.

Reinforced concrete (RC) structures constitute a significant portion of the building inventory in earthquake-prone regions of the United States. Accurate analysis tools are necessary to allow the quantitative assessment of the performance and safety offered by RC structures. Currently available analytical approaches are not deemed adequate, because they either rely on overly simplified models or are restricted to monotonic loading. The present study is aimed to establish analytical tools for the accurate simulation of RC structures under earthquake loads. The tools are also applicable to the simulation of reinforced masonry (RM) structures. A new material model is formulated for concrete under multiaxial, cyclic loading conditions. An elastoplastic formulation, with a non-associative flow rule to capture compression-dominated response, is combined with a rotating smeared-crack model to capture the damage associated with tensile cracking. The proposed model resolves issues which characterize existing concrete material laws. Specifically, the newly proposed formulation accurately describes the crack opening/closing behavior and the effect of confinement on the strength and ductility under compressive stress states. The model formulation is validated with analyses both at the material level and at the component level. Parametric analyses on RC columns subjected to quasi-static cyclic loading are presented to demonstrate the need to regularize the softening laws due to the spurious mesh size effect and the importance of accounting for the increased ductility in confined concrete. The impact of the shape of the yield surface on the results is also investigated. Subsequently, a three-dimensional analysis framework, based on the explicit finite element method, is presented for the simulation of RC and RM components under cyclic static and dynamic loading. The triaxial constitutive model for concrete is combined with a material model for reinforcing steel which can account for the material hysteretic response and for rupture due to low-cycle fatigue. The reinforcing steel bars are represented with geometrically nonlinear beam elements to explicitly account for buckling of the reinforcement. The strain penetration effect is also accounted for in the models. The modeling scheme is validated with the results of experimental static and dynamic tests on RC columns and RC/RM walls. The analyses are supplemented with a sensitivity study and with calibration guidelines for the proposed modeling scheme. Given the computational cost and complexity of three-dimensional finite element models in the simulation of shear-dominated structures, the development of a conceptually simpler and computationally more efficient method is also pursued. Specifically, the nonlinear truss analogy is employed to capture the response of shear-dominated RC columns and RM walls subjected to cyclic loading. A step-by-step procedure to establish the truss geometry is described. The uniaxial material laws for the concrete and masonry are calibrated to account for the contribution of aggregate interlock resistance across inclined shear cracks. Validation analyses are presented, for quasi-static and dynamic tests on RC columns and RM walls. / Ph. D.

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