Basic diffusion analytical solutions of one-dimensional consolidation are presented for the case of a semi-infinite domain. Typical tractions considered include instantaneous loads of the medium with a free boundary pressure, as well as the case of a permeable membrane located at the forced boundary. <br /><br /> Two-dimensional boundary value problems for a porous half-space, described by the widely recognized Biot's equations of poroelasticity, including inertia effects is discussed. In this poroelastic version of Lamb's problem in the classical theory of linear elastic waves, the surface of a porous half-space is subjected to a prescribed line traction. The following two broadly applicable cases are considered: 1) A steady state harmonic load, 2) An impulsive load (Dirac delta function time dependence). A general analytical solution of the problem in the Fourier -- Laplace space was obtained by the application of the standard Helmholtz potential decomposition, which reduces the problem to a system of wave equations for three unknown potentials, which correspond to three types of motion: P1, slow P2 wave, and the shear wave S. The possibilities of, and procedure for, obtaining analytic solutions in the physical space subsequently are discussed in detail. When viscous dissipation effects are taken into account, a steady-state harmonic line traction solution can be represented in the form of well convergent integrals, while for the case when viscous dissipation is ignored, closed form analytic solutions can be obtained for impulsive forcing with the application of the Cagniard -- de Hoop inversion technique. Numerical studies of the dispersion relation of the Rayleigh, or surface, wave for cases in which the dissipation is not negligible are presented.

Basic diffusion analytical solutions of one-dimensional consolidation are presented for the case of a semi-infinite domain. Typical tractions considered include instantaneous loads of the medium with a free boundary pressure, as well as the case of a permeable membrane located at the forced boundary. <br /><br /> Two-dimensional boundary value problems for a porous half-space, described by the widely recognized Biot's equations of poroelasticity, including inertia effects is discussed. In this poroelastic version of Lamb's problem in the classical theory of linear elastic waves, the surface of a porous half-space is subjected to a prescribed line traction. The following two broadly applicable cases are considered: 1) A steady state harmonic load, 2) An impulsive load (Dirac delta function time dependence). A general analytical solution of the problem in the Fourier -- Laplace space was obtained by the application of the standard Helmholtz potential decomposition, which reduces the problem to a system of wave equations for three unknown potentials, which correspond to three types of motion: P1, slow P2 wave, and the shear wave S. The possibilities of, and procedure for, obtaining analytic solutions in the physical space subsequently are discussed in detail. When viscous dissipation effects are taken into account, a steady-state harmonic line traction solution can be represented in the form of well convergent integrals, while for the case when viscous dissipation is ignored, closed form analytic solutions can be obtained for impulsive forcing with the application of the Cagniard -- de Hoop inversion technique. Numerical studies of the dispersion relation of the Rayleigh, or surface, wave for cases in which the dissipation is not negligible are presented.

The aim of this thesis is to examine whether Venezuela's democratic decline could be explained by the consolidation theory of Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan. Between the years 2005 – 2017, the organization Freedom House concluded that Venezuela’s political and civil rights declined, resulted in that Freedom House classified Venezuela from “partly free” in 2005 to “not free” in 2017, and several scientists classified Venezuela year 2017 as an autocracy. The method is to apply the consolidation theory and its five arenas (the civil society, the political society, rule of law, state bureaucracy and economic society) in the case Venezuela between the years 2005 – 2017. Each arena contains different qualifications which are all needed for a state to transition from democracy to consolidated democracy. However, in this thesis the aim is to study if the consolidation theory is able to explain a state’s transition from democracy to autocracy. By using material as scientific articles and reports, it is concluded that each arenas’ qualifications have deteriorated between the years 2005 - 2017. Therefore, it is found that the consolidation theory works very well in explaining a state’s transition from democracy to autocracy, which in this case is Venezuela.

Ce travail de thèse vise à améliorer la compréhension des phénomènes physiques se produisant durant le pressage en continu des graines oléagineuses et à développer un modèle phénoménologique décrivant le comportement mécanique de la matière au cours de sa compression le long de la vis. Les expérimentations ont été réalisées sur des graines de colza, en utilisant un pilote de presse à vis instrumenté (Reinartz, Allemagne). Deux arrangements de vis différents ont été étudiés et comparés, de manière à observer l’influence de la géométrie sur les performances opératoires, le développement des contraintes à l’intérieur de la cage et les propriétés mécaniques du gâteau de pressage. L’instrumentation de la presse a permis de générer des données précises de débits d’huile et de gâteau, capacité de traitement, rendement d’extraction et consommation d’énergie spécifique, pour des vitesses de rotation de la vis comprises entre 0 et 18,2 tr/min. Des profils de pression, teneur en huile et vitesse de déplacement ont également été déterminés pour les deux arrangements de vis, pour caractériser le fonctionnement de la presse. Ces données ont permis d’identifier une alternance de zones de compression et de transport le long de la vis, avec une présence éventuelle de phénomènes de reflux. Une représentation simplifiée a été proposée, pour décrire le pressage continu comme une succession de d’étapes de pressage discontinu. En se basant sur la théorie de filtration/consolidation, le coefficient de consolidation, le module de compressibilité et la résistance spécifique du gâteau de pressage ont étés calculés pour chaque zone de compression. Les propriétés mécaniques du gâteau de pressage ont finalement été utilisées pour développer une relation semi-empirique permettant de prédire le débit d’huile et le rendement d’extraction de la presse. Les résultats expérimentaux correspondent aux données estimées avec une précision satisfaisante. / This work was devoted to better understand the physical phenomena occurring during oilseeds expression in continuous screw presses and to develop a phenomenological model describing the compression behavior of the press cake along the screw. Experiments were conducted on canola seeds, using an instrumented pilot screw press (Reinartz, Germany). Two different screw arrangements were studied and compared in order to observe the influence of the geometry on the operating performances, the constraints development in the barrel and the press cake mechanical properties. Press monitoring provided accurate data about oil and cake flowrates, treatment capacity, extraction yield and specific energy consumption, for screw rotation speeds ranging between 0 and 18.2rpm. Pressure, deoiling and displacement velocity profiles were also determined for both arrangements to characterize the press operation. These data allowed to identify the alternation of compression and transport sections along the screw, possibly supplemented by oil reflux. A simplified representation was proposed, describing continuous pressing as a succession of multiple batch pressing steps. Based on the filtration/consolidation theory, the consolidation coefficient, compressibility modulus and press cake specific resistance were calculated in each compression sections. The press cake mechanical properties were finally used to develop a semi-empirical relation predicting the press oil flowrate and extraction yield. Experimental results fitted the estimated data with satisfactory accuracy.