This article studies the linear multicommodity network flow problem. This kind of problem arises in a wide variety of contexts. A numerical implementation of the primal-dual interior-point method is designed to solve the problem. In the interior-point method, at each iteration, the corresponding linear system, expressed as a normal equations system, is solved by using the AINV algorithm combined with a preconditioned conjugate gradient algorithm or by the AINV algorithm for the whole normal equations. Numerical experiments are conducted for networks of different dimensions and numbers of products for the distribution problem. The computational results show the effectiveness of the interior-point method for this class of network problems.

Este trabalho objetiva propor diretrizes para a elaboração de um modelo de gestão de fluxo de informações como suporte à logística em empresas construtoras de edifícios. O foco da pesquisa limita-se especificamente à gestão de materiais, apesar da logística também abranger mão-de-obra, serviços e equipamentos. O objetivo da gestão de materiais é o de assegurar um fluxo continuo e sem interferências de materiais e componentes à obra, na quantidade requerida, com a qualidade especificada, no tempo e lugar certo, ao menor custo total. Estas diretrizes foram identificadas visando a uma integração funcional dentro da empresa construtora. Com base em um estudo de caso realizado em três empresas construtoras e em um levantamento e estudo bibliográfico, foram estudados os fluxos de informações ligados à gestão de materiais que ocorrem dentro das empresas construtoras. Desta maneira, identificaram-se os principais fatores que facilitam e que dificultam os fluxos de informações entre agentes relacionados com a gestão de materiais. Uma vez analisados estes fatores, foram identificadas as diretrizes objeto desta pesquisa e foi proposto um fluxo de informações modelo baseado exclusivamente nos casos estudados. Adicionalmente, foram discutidos alguns parâmetros a se levar em conta para avaliar o modelo proposto e conseguir uma melhoria continua dentro do processo. Também, foi brevemente discutida a forma como as parcerias com os fornecedores, o uso de produtos normalizados, a Internet e os códigos de barras poderiam inovar estes fluxos de informações e conseguir a integração tão almejada na cadeia de suprimentos. / This research aims to identify guidelines for developing an information flow management model to support materials management in building construction firms. The main purpose of building materials management is to have the required materials at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity without prejudicing cost and quality. These guidelines were identified considering a functional integration within the construction firm. Based on three case studies developed in construction firms and a literature review, the materials management information flows inside the construction firm were studied. In this way, the principal factors that affect or enhance these information flows were analyzed. Once analyzed these factors, we were able to determine the best arrange for these flows and identify the guidelines and propose an information flow model based exclusively in the three cases studied. Besides this, we discussed the parameters that should be taken into account to guarantee a continuous improvement in the model proposed. Finally, we briefly discuss how partnering with suppliers, the use of normalized products, the Internet and the use of code bars could innovate traditional information flows and integrate the supply chain.

Orientador: Secundino Soares Filho / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T07:22:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AlvarezFerreira_LizRosana_M.pdf: 23688904 bytes, checksum: 10e13f1087d3887e3ebf436379b92f08 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: A jusante da confluência dos rios Paraná, Iguaçu, Acaray e Monday situa-se a estação fluviométrica da Régua 11 ou simplesmente R-11, localizada no rio Paraná a aproximadamente 20 km da central de Itaipu, na fronteira entre Brasil, Argentina e Paraguai. Esta região está sujeita a restrições impostas por acordos internacionais, como o cumprimento do Acordo Tripartite assinado pelo três países em outubro de 1979, segundo o qual as variações do nível do rio Paraná, neste ponto, não devem superar meio metro de uma hora para outra, ou dois metros de um dia para outro, impondo desta forma restrições operacionais para a usina de Itaipu. O atendimento às restrições hidráulicas decorrentes do Acordo Tripartite é de responsabilidade da Itaipu Binacional, no que depender da operação da usina. Neste trabalho apresenta-se um modelo de simulação que determina a variação horária e diária dos níveis da cota do rio Paraná no posto R-11. O simulador calcula os níveis neste ponto utilizando a curva de propagação de König para determinar o impacto ocorrido no nível do Rio Paraná em R-11, devido às variações da defluência em Itaipu, como consequência das alterações nas vazões vertida e turbinada na central hidrelétrica. Além da influência da operação de Itaipu no nível do posto R-11, o simulador considera também a influência da vazão do rio Iguaçu através do método de propagação de vazões Muskingum-Cunge, ao longo do trecho entre a usina de Salto Caxias e o posto de medição Hotel Cataratas, no rio Iguaçu. Os resultados apresentados mostraram uma boa aderência aos valores verificados, já que não foram consideradas todas as vazões incrementais laterais do trecho em estudo, e as vazões dos rios Acaray e Monday foram considerados constantes em 200 [m3/s] devido à indisponibilidade de dados / Abstract: The fluviometric station of rule 11, or simply R-11, is situated downstream from the confluence of the Paraná, Iguaçu, Acaray and Monday rivers, about 20 km away from Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant on the border between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. This region is subject to restrictions imposed by international agreements such as the implementation of the Tripartite Agreement signed by the three countries in October 1979, which states that variations in the level of the Paraná River at this point should not exceed half a meter per hour, or two meters per day, thus imposing operating restrictions for the Itaipu plant. Itaipu is responsible of the fulfillment of the hydraulic constraints of Tripartite Agreement which are dependent on the plant's operation. This work presents a simulation model on hourly basis of the flow at the fluviometric station R-11, to determine the hourly and daily variation levels of the Paraná River at this station. The simulator calculates levels at the point using the König propagation curve to determine the impact occurred at the level of the Paraná River in R-11, due to variations in the flow release in Itaipu, as a consequence of alterations in turbine discharge and spillage in the hydroelectric. Besides Itaipu operation influence on the level of the post R-11, the simulator also considers the influence of the Iguaçu River flow using the Muskingum-Cunge routing method, along the stretch between the Salto Caxias Hydroelectric Power Plant and the fluviometric station of Hotel Cataratas in Iguaçu River. The results showed an adequate representation of the values observed, since not all incremental water inflow of stretch in study was considered. The flow of the river Acaray and Monday were considered constant at 200 [m3/s] due to data unavailability / Mestrado / Energia Eletrica / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

In the area of knowledge management and knowledge governance, previous research has mostly focused on either knowledge stocks or knowledge flows of firms or organizational units. Contrary to this work, our study is among the first to integrate these two perspectives in order to shed light on the complementarity effects of different types of knowledge stocks and flows in the multinational corporation (MNC). We investigate intra-functional as well as cross-functional complementarity effects from the perspective of the knowledge recipient. We test the impact of stocks on flows on the benefit that is created for MNC units. Based on a comprehensive sample of 324 relationships between MNC units we find that both types of complementarity create benefits for these units, but that the effects from intra-functional combinations of knowledge stocks and flows are significantly stronger than from cross-functional combinations.

Over recent years, international trade flows of automotive products have experienced rising trends. Thus, the need to gain a better understanding of trade theories that could explain such trade flows. Until recently, the theoretical and empirical distinction of intra-industry trade (IIT) into patterns of horizontally differentiated (by variety) intra-industry trade (HIIT) and vertically differentiated (by quality) intra-industry trade (VIIT) has become crucial because each IIT pattern may potentially be influenced in different manners by country and industry factors (Greenaway, Hine&Milner, 1995). The objective of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, to measure the empirical significance of IIT in the automobile industry between South Africa and its bilateral trading partners and to decompose total IIT (TIIT) into VIIT and HIIT patterns. Secondly, to develop empirical models to investigate potential country- and industry-specific determinants of IIT patterns in the South African automobile industry. The empirical strategy adopted in this thesis is a gravity model spanning the period 2000 to 2007. The automobile industry is a principal industrial sector in the South African economy contributing notably to trade, investment, employment and national output. The structure and conduct of the industry is aligned with several elements of IIT theories and thus represents an important and fascinating case of IIT patterns to investigate. Therefore, the findings of this thesis will be valuable to trade policy analysts and manufacturers in the local and global automotive industries. According to the objectives, the significance of IIT is estimated using the trade overlap index and the empirical separation of total intra-industry trade (TIIT) into VIIT and HIIT is conducted using the threshold method. The empirical results reveal the presence of significant levels of IIT in automotive trade flows between South Africa and its bilateral trading partners. In accordance with theoretical expectations, the empirical investigation signifies the existence of high shares of VIIT dominating TIIT in the South African automobile industry. Moreover, the empirical analysis postulates that, within VIIT, the domestic automobile industry potentially produces and exports high quality automotive products proposing that such VIIT can be partly explained by fragmentation and international production processes. Next, gravity models are estimated to investigate the determinants of IIT patterns in the automobile industry. The econometric results of the gravity models of VIIT, HIIT and TIIT are statistically and economically significant in the context of the fixed effects method of estimation and in accordance with new trade theories. The empirical results reveal that relative difference in economic size, trade openness, foreign direct investment (FDI) and tariffs stimulates VIIT, whilst distance, economies of scale and automotive assistance negatively affect it. Conversely, relative difference in economic size, FDI and automotive assistance negatively affects HIIT, whereas trade openness and depreciation of the exchange rate positively influences it. Thus, the findings of the thesis assert that IIT patterns of VIIT and HIIT in the automobile industry are influenced differently by country and industry determinants, revealing that the theoretical and empirical distinction of TIIT is important. The thesis proposes advancing trade liberalisation and deregulation of the South African automobile industry that could attract greater efficiency-seeking FDI complementary to trade and as a consequence enhance IIT levels. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Economics / unrestricted

The study of quasi-two-dimensional turbulent jets is relevant to chemical reactors, the coking process in oil refinement, as well as rivers flowing into lakes or oceans. In the event of a spillage of pollutants into a river, it is critical to understand how these agents disperse with the flow in order to assess damage to the environment. For such flows, characteristic streamwise and cross-stream dimensions can be much larger than the fluid-layer thickness, and so the flow develops in a confined environment. When the distance away from the discharge location is larger than ten times the fluid-layer thickness, the flow is referred to as a quasi-two-dimensional jet. From experimental observations using dyed jets and particle image velocimetry, we find that the structure of a quasi-two-dimensional jet consists of a high-speed meandering core with large counter-rotating eddies developing on alternate sides of the core. The core and eddy structure is self-similar with distance from the discharge location. The Gaussianity of the cross-stream distribution of the time-averaged velocity is due, in part, to the sinuous instability of the core. To understand the transport and dispersion properties of quasi-two-dimensional jets we use a time-dependent advection--diffusion equation, with a mixing length hypothesis accounting for the turbulent eddy diffusivity. The model is supported by experimental releases of dye in jets or numerical releases of virtual passive tracers in experimentally-measured jet velocity fields. We consider the statistical properties of this flow by releasing and then tracking large clusters of virtual particles in the jet velocity field. The probability distributions of two-point properties (such as the distance between two particles) reveal large streamwise dispersion. Owing to this streamwise dispersive effect, a significant amount of tracers can be transported faster than the speed predicted by a simple advection model. Using potential theory, we determine the flow induced by a quasi-two-dimensional jet confined in a rectangular domain. The streamlines of the induced flow predicted by the theory agree with experimental measurements away from the jet boundary. Finally, we investigate the case of a quasi-two-dimensional particle-laden jet. Depending on the bulk concentration of dense particles, we identify different flow regimes. At low concentrations, the jet features the same core and eddy structure observed without the particles, and thus quasi-two-dimensional jet theory can apply to some extent. At larger concentrations, we observe an oscillating instability of the particle-laden jet.

No description available.

Le soudage hybride arc / laser représente une solution adéquate à l'assemblage de tôles d'acier de forte épaisseur. La présence d'une source laser en amont de la torche MIG permet d'accroître la productivité du procédé tout en assurant une excellente qualité de la soudure. Cependant la phénoménologie complexe de ce procédé multiphysique n'est pas encore totalement maîtrisée, ce qui motive le développement d'outils de simulation numérique. La présente étude s'est déroulée dans le cadre d'un projet multipartenaires "SISHYFE" (ANR Matériaux et Procédés).Dans ce but un modèle éléments finis 3D non stationnaire a été développé. Construit à partir de l'approche level set, il est en mesure de simuler un procédé multi-passes de soudage hybride arc / laser. Il a été développé autour de quatre principaux axes. (1) Une modélisation plus réaliste de l'apport de chaleur a conduit à la définition d'un nouveau modèle basé sur le rayonnement thermique pour décrire la source MIG. (2) Grâce au couplage entre l'intégration de termes source de matière et de chaleur dans les équations de conservation et l'actualisation de l'interface gaz / métal, le modèle proposé est capable de simuler le développement d'un cordon de soudure. (3) L'intégration d'une modélisation des écoulements du bain de fusion dans une approche level set a été évaluée et son impact sur la distribution thermique dans le métal analysé. (4) La simulation de la formation des contraintes pendant et après soudage a été possible grâce à l'adaptation d'un solveur thermomécanique.La modélisation finale a permis de simuler une configuration industrielle de soudage hybride arc / laser multi-passes. Des mesures expérimentales effectuées par les partenaires du projet "SISHYFE" ont été utilisées afin d'évaluer le modèle et d'éprouver sa capacité à reproduire l'expérience. / Hybrid arc / laser welding represents the solution for high thickness steel sheets assembly. The laser heat source added to the MIG torch improves the process productivity while respecting quality standards. Nevertheless, the phenomenology of the process remains complex and not totally understood. This is the thrust for the development of numerical simulation. The present study has been carried out as part of the "SISHYFE" Material and Process ANR project.For that purpose, a new non stationary 3D finite element model has been developed. Based on the level set approach, it allows to simulate a multipass hybrid arc/ laser welding process. The work focused on four research axes. (1) A more representative model of the plasma heat source has been defined, based on thermal radiation. (2) The coupling of a material and a heat source term integrated in the conservation equations and the update of the level set gas / metal interface is able to correctly model the formation of the weld bead. (3) The integration of a fluid flow model within the level set approach has been evaluated and its impact on thermal distribution analyzed. (4) The stress formation during and after the process has been modeled through the adaptation of a thermo-mechanical solver to the previous modeling in a level set framework.In the end, the developed model has shown to be able to simulate an industrial multi-pass hybrid arc / laser welding process. Experimental measurements provided by the project partners have been used to evaluate the model and to assess its abilities to reproduce experimental features.

Les vagues de tsunami sont des ondes longues générées par des événements géophysiques impulsifs de la croûte terrestre, de volcans, d’impacts d’astéroïdes et de glissements de terrain. Si la majorité des tsunamis sont d'origine tectonique, l'effondrement en masse d'un relief côtier peut constituer une source importante de l’aléa tsunami. Après une brève introduction sur les différentes générations de tsunamis dans l'histoire et les enjeux de cette thèse, le chapitre 1 présente les principaux résultats bibliographiques sur la génération et la propagation de tsunamis, ainsi qu’un rappel sur l’établissement des équations s’appliquant à l’étude des vagues extrêmes. Le second chapitre est dédié à la présentation des différents codes numériques utilisés dans ce manuscrit, à savoir, Gerris et SPHysics. Le chapitre 3 s'intéresse à la génération de tsunami par l’impact d’un bloc solide. Les résultats expérimentaux sont comparés aux résultats numériques des deux codes. A partir de là, une étude systématique a été faite, menant à des lois d’échelles sur le temps d’arrivée et l’amplitude de la première vague générée. Dans le chapitre 4, les interactions entre le glissement de terrain et la vague générée sont étudiées expérimentalement à l'aide d'impact granulaire initialement sec dans l'eau. Une étude systématiques des différents paramètres met en lumière l'importance des propriétés du glissement sur la vague générée. Enfin, Le chapitre 5 est dédié à l’étude de l’effondrement du Cap Canaille à Cassis. Cette étude numérique utilise un modèle de génération et de propagation simplifié afin d'estimer le potentiel destructeur d'un éventuel effondrement majeur. / Tsunami waves are long waves generated by impulsive geophysical events of earth's crust, volcanoes, asteroids impacts or landslides. Even if most of the tsunamis are generated by submarine earthquakes, the massive collapse of coastal landscape may constitute an important source of tsunami hazard. After introducing historical tsunami events, chapter 1 presents a state-of-the-art on the generation and propagation of tsunami waves and the main equations dealing with extreme water waves. Chapter 2 presents the numerical codes used in this thesis: Gerris and SPHysics. Chapter 3 focuses on the generation of tsunami by a solid landslide. Experimental results are compared to numerical simulations obtained using both codes. From this results, we derive scaling laws on the arrival time and amplitude of the first generated wave. The chapter 4 deals with the interactions between the slide and the generated wave by taking into account the impact of an initially dry granular media into water. Systematic studies varying the different parameters exhibit the significance of the internal properties of the slide on the generated wave. Finally, chapter 5 is dedicated to the collapse of the Cap Canaille near Cassis. A idealized model for the generation and the propagation are used to estimate the hazard associated to such a massive collapse.

In the present thesis turbulent natural convection of air within different challenging test cases are investigated numerically by means of an unstructured finite volume code, Code_Saturne. First, flow within both two-dimensional vertical and inclined differentially heated rectangular cavities at 60° and 15° to the horizontal for an aspect ratio of H/L=28.6 and Rayleigh number of 0.86×10e6 is computed using several high and low-Re models. Here the effectiveness of the RANS models in Code_Saturne is assessed through comparisons with a range of available experimental data. After some tests of thermal field inside vertical cavity, the “two-velocity-scale wall function” is chosen to be used with high-Re models. In both vertical and inclined cases the overall flow pattern appears similar, with a single circulation cell, and a boundary layer at the wall. The levels of turbulence energy are generally slightly lower in the inclined case. Most models give a reasonable prediction of measured Nusselt number, with the two low-Re approaches generally being closer to the data than the schemes employing wall functions. For the 15° inclined cavity, a multi cellular motion is shown by the high-Re models. Nevertheless, all the model predictions disagree with experimental data due to the presence in real flow of 3-D unsteady structures as found in Benard convection problems. These cannot, definitely, be reproduced using a 2-D geometry. Both highly resolved LES and unsteady RANS computations are then conducted, for turbulent natural convection of air inside 15° unstably and stably stratified cavities. In accordance with recent experimental data, the LES computations for both enclosures returned three-dimensional time-averaged flow fields. In the case of the unstably stratified enclosure, the flow is highly unsteady with coherent turbulent structures in the core of the enclosure. Results of LES computations show close agreement with the measured data. Subsequent comparisons of different URANS schemes with the present LES are used in order to explore to what extent these models are able to reproduce the large-scale unsteady flow structures. All URANS schemes have been found to be able to reproduce the 3-D unsteady flow features present in the 15° unstable cavity. However, the low-Re model tested as well as requiring a high resolution near-wall grid, also needed a finer grid in the core region than the high-Re models, thus making it computationally very expensive. Flow within the 15° stable cavity also shows some 3-D features, although it is significantly less unsteady, and the URANS models tested here have been less successful in reproducing this flow pattern. Finally, natural convection of CO2 inside a horizontal annular penetration enclosure, which can be found in AGR's, has been performed using a highly resolved LES and a set of RANS models. The Rayleigh number is 1.5×10e9. RANS models agree with the present LES on the fact that the flow is unsteady and there are large-scale oscillations present which decrease in amplitude as one moves from the open towards the closed end of the annular enclosure. Overall heat transfer and thermal quantitative and dynamic results show that RANS schemes are in close agreement with the current LES data except some discrepancies shown by the high-Re model which can be returned to the limitation of the simple wall function used to predict such complex flow.