Magister Scientiae Dentium - MSc(Dent) / The Tip-Edge and edgewise techniques are the main techniques that are mostly used in orthodontics, and are applicable to the treatment of any type of malocclusion from the most simple to the most complex. The edgewise bracket wire combination produces bodily tooth movement simultaneously or separately in all three planes of space and hence permits correction of the most extreme tooth malpositions. On the other hand Tip-Edge offers a differential tooth movement (just like the previously used Begg technique) within an edgewise based bracket system (Parkhouse 2003). When treating patients using the Tip-Edge technique, it is recommended that a specialized archwire i.e. Australian stainless steel wire be used. This wire can be described as a round austenitic stainless steel wire that is heat-treated and cold-drawn to its proper diameter. This was done in order to produce its special and needed properties such as toughness, resiliency and tensile strength (Kesling, 1985). It is used in conjunction with light (2oz) class II elastics. The aim of this study was to compare cephalometric changes in skeletal and dento-alveolar parameters in cases treated by these two different orthodontic techniques. This was to be established by calculating and comparing the pre- and post-treatment cephalometric variables of cases treated with these techniques by looking at the skeletal and dento-alveolar measurements. Thirty Tip-Edge and thirty edgewise treated cases that had class II malocclusion, had extraction of four premolars and were treated with Class II elastics were selected. The gender distribution between the Tip-Edge and the edgewise techniques were 47% and 60% respectively for females. For males it was 53% in Tip-Edge and 40% in the edgewise techniques.

When using timber for construction purposes it is important to know its strength. One way to do this is by sorting the boards into strength classes that are defined by European standards.  A commonly used method for strength grading is based on dynamic excitation in the longitudinal direction of the board to obtain an average dynamic longitudinal modulus of elasticity (MOE). This in turn correlates with the bending strength of the board in such a way that it can be used as an indicating property (IP) to bending strength. The use of MOE as an IP has proven to give the highest coefficient of determination (R2) to both bending and tensile strength in boards. Through the research described in this thesis, one might find that both reducing the length of a board to half its initial length and by removing the part containing the lowest local MOE in edgewise bending provided similar results, the axial dynamic MOE remaining within a 1% tolerance whereas the lowest IP based on local MOE in edgewise bending increased by 6–7%.

Aviation industry has a crucial impact on society on the grounds that it offers wider social and economic benefits. The demand of transportation is increasing and it is expected that the worldwide fleet of aircraft and rotorcraft will increase accordingly. This growth will introduce an increased environmental impact which can be controlled with the introduction and the implementation of new and greener technologies which can provide both a reduced carbon foot-print and increased efficiency. Therefore, the simulation of new designs with tools that can capture the flow physics accurately is crucial, on the grounds that an accurate simulation could provide novel designs and new ways in order to design from scratch new vehicles as well as providing a better appreciation of the physics that are involved. This work has a central aim to propose a methodology which combines CFD simulations and the method of performance mapping. It focuses on the application of a ducted tail rotor which can offer significant performance benefits compared to a conventional tail rotor. The developed methodology was tested against the results of an in-house rotorcraft comprehensive code and provided a reasonable qualitative correlation. In principle, this methodology can work for all helicopter flight phases such as hover, climb, cruise, descend but due to the complexity of the investigations, together with the lack of experimental data that can be used to refine the CFD model, only the hover and forward flight were considered. Although CFD studies of a ducted tail rotor currently exist in the literature (though scarce), this work can be considered, to the best knowledge of the author as a first attempt in investigating the performance of the configuration, from low to high forward flight speed, by combining CFD and performance mapping.

This thesis evaluates the possibility to detect natural defects, such as knots, in timber boards using dynamic excitation test and ABAQUS software. In the study the edgewise bending direction were compared with axial direction. Dynamic excitation and modal analysis were used to extract the natural frequencies of several sound and artificially defected boards with the help of Signalcalc. Mobylizer software. By using the first edgewise natural frequency, modulus of elasticity (MOE) was calculated. An ABAQUS 2D Finite Element model was utilized to model the board and to extract the frequencies for the six first mode shapes in both axial and edgewise directions. The extracted frequencies from the model were compared with the frequencies from the tests. The analytical and experimental results, from the homogeneous boards, in edgewise direction has similar frequency variations. The defects in the timber boards decreased the natural frequencies. The bending modes with more curvature at the location of the artificial defect displayed more frequency deviation in that mode. The variation in response frequencies for uniform and defected boards was more noticeable in edgewise bending modes than in longitudinal modes.

<p>This thesis evaluates the possibility to detect natural defects, such as knots, in timber boards using dynamic excitation test and ABAQUS software. In the study the edgewise bending direction were compared with axial direction. Dynamic excitation and modal analysis were used to extract the natural frequencies of several sound and artificially defected boards with the help of Signalcalc. Mobylizer software. By using the first edgewise natural frequency, modulus of elasticity (MOE) was calculated. An ABAQUS 2D Finite Element model was utilized to model the board and to extract the frequencies for the six first mode shapes in both axial and edgewise directions. The extracted frequencies from the model were compared with the frequencies from the tests. The analytical and experimental results, from the homogeneous boards, in edgewise direction has similar frequency variations. The defects in the timber boards decreased the natural frequencies. The bending modes with more curvature at the location of the artificial defect displayed more frequency deviation in that mode. The variation in response frequencies for uniform and defected boards was more noticeable in edgewise bending modes than in longitudinal modes.</p>

Aviation industry has a crucial impact on society on the grounds that it offers wider social and economic benefits. The demand of transportation is increasing and it is expected that the worldwide fleet of aircraft and rotorcraft will increase accordingly. This growth will introduce an increased environmental impact which can be controlled with the introduction and the implementation of new and greener technologies which can provide both a reduced carbon foot-print and increased efficiency. Therefore, the simulation of new designs with tools that can capture the flow physics accurately is crucial, on the grounds that an accurate simulation could provide novel designs and new ways in order to design from scratch new vehicles as well as providing a better appreciation of the physics that are involved. This work has a central aim to propose a methodology which combines CFD simulations and the method of performance mapping. It focuses on the application of a ducted tail rotor which can offer significant performance benefits compared to a conventional tail rotor. The developed methodology was tested against the results of an in-house rotorcraft comprehensive code and provided a reasonable qualitative correlation. In principle, this methodology can work for all helicopter flight phases such as hover, climb, cruise, descend but due to the complexity of the investigations, together with the lack of experimental data that can be used to refine the CFD model, only the hover and forward flight were considered. Although CFD studies of a ducted tail rotor currently exist in the literature (though scarce), this work can be considered, to the best knowledge of the author as a first attempt in investigating the performance of the configuration, from low to high forward flight speed, by combining CFD and performance mapping.

Please read the abstract in the dissertation. Copyright / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted

This thesis provides an approach to incorporate natural composites like Flax Fiber using a resin with 30% bio-content to enhance the packaging boxes made of corrugated cardboard. The objective of introducing natural composite skins is to reduce/eliminate the compressive loading subjected to the boxes while stacking in warehouses.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis provides an approach to incorporate natural composites like Flax Fiber using a resin with 30% bio-content to enhance the packaging boxes made of corrugated cardboard. The objective of introducing natural composite skins is to reduce/eliminate the compressive loading subjected to the boxes while stacking in warehouses.

Från slutet på 1800-talet till runt 1970-talet gjordes tennisracket i trä och då tekniken inte var så avancerad var de tunga och böjliga. På 1970-talet började dock andra material som exempelvis kolfiber användas som var styvare och gav ett lättare racket. Över tid har metoderna för tillverkningen i trä fallit i glömska vilket gör att undersökningar som denna är intressanta att utföra. Då kolfiber framställs av råolja kan materialet bli mindre attraktivt både ur ett miljö- och ekonomiskt perspektiv då oljepriserna stiger. På grund av detta har företaget Epok Tennis, som arbetet har utförts ihop med, valt att experimentera och prova sig fram i tillverkningen av racket i trä i jakt efter den mest optimala uppsättningen och konstruktionen. Kunskapsläget är dåligt inom området då studie av denna typen generellt görs på större element för användning i exempelvis bostäder och dessa består då framför allt av gran och furu. Därför är det intressant för Epok Tennis att se inverkan av olika träslag som inte vanligtvis används i balkar av i små dimensioner som är jämförbara med tennisracket.Epok Tennis har undersökt hur träracketen byggdes förr och försökt implementera tekniken moderna racket byggs, detta för att skapa en träprodukt som kan fungera lika bra som en modern racket. De viktigaste parametrarna att ta hänsyn till i arbetet var produkternas vikt, styvhet och hållfasthet. I arbetet undersöktes 21 kors- och parallellimmade balkar bestående av totalt sex nordiska träslag. Träslagen i fråga var ask, björk, bok, ek, lönn och valnöt. Sju av balkarna var korslimmade och 14 parallellimade. De korslimmade elementen varierade mellan ett och två tvärgående skikt. Två av balkarna innehöll även produkter som kolfiberduk och linnetyg vilka inte beaktades i beräkningarna men vars resultat var av intresse att analysera. Syftet med arbetet var att undersöka hur olika kombinationer av olika träfanérskivor påverkarböjstyvheten och hållfastheten för en tennisrackets konstruktion. Målet var sedermera att fastställa vilken av balkarna som har högst böjstyvhetoch hållfasthet samt ge förslag om optimal komposituppsättning. Teoretiska beräkningar samt experiment av fyrpunktsböjning utfördes på balkarna där resultaten jämfördes och analyserades. Experimenten utfördes både i balkarnas flat- och kantvisa riktning. Även densiteterna noterades för elementen då konstruktionens totala vikt i slutändan är av stor betydelse.Resultaten av studien visade att de homogena parallellimmade balkarna av björk, lönn och valnöt hade högst böjstyvhet. Vid analys av resultaten noterades att korslimning av elementen generellt försvagade dem i både flat- och kantvis riktning. Till detta ändamål kan det därför vara klokt att endast använda parallellimmade element. I resultatet redovisas även balkarnas knäcklast i kantvisa riktningen.Förekomsten av kvistar i lamellerna ansågs ha en stor inverkan på balkarnas hållfasthet. Därför bör lameller med kvistar försöka undvikas vid framställningen av ramarna till tennisracketen. I förslaget om optimal komposituppsättning har en kombination av lönn och valnöt angetts då dessa visade högst böjstyvhet med avsevärt lägre densitet än björk som dock liknande värde på böjstyvheten.Enligt resultaten av studien är slutsatserna som dragits kortfattat att korslimning generellt försvagar elementen gentemot parallellimning och att bästa komposituppsättning består av lönn och valnöt, i kombination med varandra eller var för sig. / The knowledge of creating wooden tennis rackets has been lost since the emergence of materials like carbon fibre. In this study 21 cross- and parallel laminated beams have been examined, seven of which are cross laminated and 14 parallel laminated. The wood species used were ash, beech, birch, maple, oak and walnut.The purpose of the study was to determine how different combinations of wood lamellas affect strength and stiffness of the beams in terms of bending.The goal was to determine which of the 21 beams had the highest bending stiffness and to give a recommendation of what would be the optimal composite set.Calculations and experiments of four point bending were done in the flat- and edgewise directions, the results of which were compared and analyzed.The results of the study showed that the homogenous parallel laminated beams consisting of birch, maple and walnut had the highest bending stiffness. When analyzing the results, it was found that the parallel laminated beams were generally stronger and stiffer than the cross laminated specimens, for both flat- and edgewise bending.In the recommendation of optimal construction, a combination of maple and walnut has been suggested due to them having similar bending stiffness to birch but significantly lower density.