O presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal a eletrofiação de nanofibras poliméricas de poliacrilonitrila (PAN) e polifluoreto de vinilideno (PVDF), incorporadas com negro de fumo (NF) e ftalocianina de cobre (CuPc), visando aplicações em dispositivos sensores. Inicialmente foram preparadas soluções de PAN puro a 6 % em peso e PVDF puro a 20% em peso e foram misturadas a essas soluções partículas de negro de fumo e ftalocianina de cobre, obtendo soluções de PAN/NF, PVDF/NF, PAN/CuPc e PVDF/CuPc. Foi determinada a viscosidade absoluta das soluções. Realizou-se a eletrofiação para obtenção de nanofibras que foram caracterizadas segundo o diâmetro e morfologia, usando microscópio óptico e microscópio eletrônico de varredura. Para avaliar as interações polímero-polímero, polímero-partícula foram analisadas por espectroscopia FITR e Raman. Com as fibras de PAN/NF foi analisada a resistência e condutância elétrica das membranas usando um picoamperímetro digital, visando aplicação como filtro eletrostático. Foi construído canal na lâmina de silício usando um feixe de laser visando a deposição de fibras dentro do canal usando a técnica de focagem eletrodinâmica com tensão aplicada em máscaras de cobre. Foi usada a técnica da microbalança de cristal de quartzo para determinar a variação de massa adsorvida por membranas de PAN/CuPc e PVDF/CuPc por meio da medida da variação de frequência usando um frequencímetro digital, onde se observou que essas membranas são promissoras para atuar como sensores de vapor de amônia. / The main objective of this work is the incorporation of different particles in order to electrospun polymeric nanofibers of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), aiming at applications in sensor devices. Initially, solutions of PAN pure 6 wt% and PVDF pure 20 wt% were prepared and these solutions were mixed with carbon black (NF) particles and copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), obtaining solutions of PAN/NF, PVDF/NF, PAN/CuPc and PVDF/CuPc. The absolute viscosity of the solutions was determined. The electrospinning was performed to obtain nanofibers that were characterized according to the diameter and morphology, using optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy. To evaluate the polymer-polymer and polymer-particle interactions, FITR and Raman spectroscopy were performed. The resistance and conductance of the membranes electrospun from PAN/NF solution were analyzed using a digital picoammeter, and an increase in the resistance was measured. This result shows that the membrane is suitable to be applied as electrostatic filter. A channel was constructed on the silicon wafer using a laser beam for the deposition of fibers inside the channel using the electrodynamic focusing technique. The quartz crystal microbalance technique was used to determine the applicability of the membranes as sensor layer. The results of PAN/CuPc and PVDF/CuPc membranes suggests that these membranes are promising to act such as ammonia vapor sensors.

The master thesis is focused on the calculation of electrodynamic forces acting on the contacts of the moulded case circuit breaker Siemens 3VA5 from OEZ Letohrad. This work is divided into ten chapters. In the introductory chapter it is described why it is important to deal with the calculation of the electrodynamic forces and the design of the current path. The second chapter describes the problem of the origin and effect of electrodynamic forces on individual parts of the electrical device. The third chapter describes the parameters, properties and design of the 3VA5 Siemens circuit breaker. The fourth chapter describes the Finite Element Methods. The fifth chapter describes how to create a 3D current path model in Solidworks. The sixth to ninth chapter is focused on the stationary calculation of moments in the program Ansys Maxwell by means of Magnetostatic Analysis and on the calculation of the total repulsive force between contacts with the influence of ferromagnetic materials. The last chapter is focused on dynamic calculation of moments and forces acting on contacts in a certain time interval.

Particulate contamination of the optical surfaces of solar collectors, often called "soiling", can have a significant deteriorating impact on energy yield due to the absorption and scattering of incident light. Soiling has more destructive effect on concentrated solar systems than on flat-plate photovoltaic panels, as the former are incapable of converting scattered sunlight. The first part of this thesis deals with the soiling losses of flat-plate photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), and concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems in operation in several regions of the world. Influential parameters in dust accumulation losses, as well as different cleaning mechanisms in pursuit of restoring the efficiency of soiled systems, have been thoroughly investigated. In lieu of the most commonly-practiced manual cleaning method of using high-pressure water jets, the concept of automatic dust removal using the electrostatic forces of electrodynamic screen (EDS) technology is in a developmental stage and on its way toward commercialization. This thesis provides comprehensive analytical solutions for the electric potential and electric field distribution in EDS devices having different configurations. Numerical simulations developed using finite element analysis (FEA) software have corroborated the analytical solutions which can easily be embedded into software programs for particle trajectory simulations while also providing flexibility and generality in the study on the effect of different parameters of the EDS on the electric field and ensuing dust-removal performance. Evaluation and comparison of different repelling and attracting forces exerted on dust particles is of utmost importance to a detailed analysis of EDS performance in dust removal. Hence, the balance of electrostatic and adhesion forces, including van der Waals and capillary forces, have received significant attention in this dissertation. Furthermore, different numerical analyses have been conducted to investigate the potential causes of observed failures of EDS prototypes that functioned well in a laboratory environment but failed after outdoor exposure. Experimental studies form the last two chapters of this dissertation. Different tests have been conducted on an EDS sample integrated with a PV cell to restore the efficiency of the cell after dust deposition. In order to evaluate the performance of the EDS in dust-particle removal, we have studied the particle size distribution on the EDS surface after each dust deposition and EDS cleaning cycle using a custom-built dust-deposition analyzer. Furthermore, we have pursued several experiments to examine how the geometric and operational EDS parameters affect particle charge via charge-to-mass-ratio measurements.

A stochastic method is developed, implemented and investigated here for solving Laplace, Poisson's, and standard parabolic wave equations. This method is based on the properties of random walk, diffusion process, Ito formula, Dynkin formula and Monte Carlo simulations. The developed method is a local method i:e: it gives the value of the solution directly at an arbitrary point rather than extracting its value from complete field solution and thus is inherently parallel. Field computation by this method is demonstrated for electrostatic and electrodynamic propagation problems by considering simple examples and numerical results are presented to validate this method. Numerical investigations are carried out to understand efficacy and limitations of this method and to provide qualitative understanding of various parameters involved in this method.

This master’s thesis is focused on calculation, simulation and experimental verification of electrodynamic forces acting upon movable contact piece of MCCB and experimental current carrying path. A short description of low voltage circuit breakers is briefly discussed in first chapter. Second chapter is focused upon contact system analysis of particular MCCB with thermomagnetic trigger. A hardness of contact materials is briefly described. A detailed analytical calculations were used to determine electrodynamic forces in MCCB. A FEM simulation in ANSYS Maxwell was carried out for comparison with analytical results. An experimental apparatus was designed and built for verification of constriction repulsion force, so called Holm’s force. A series of measurements is subsequently performed on proposed apparatus and results are compared with results from previous chapters.

Este trabalho foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de estudar a aplicação, para sistema de frenagem veicular, de uma máquina elétrica sem escovas, de armadura toroidal, e fluxo magnético axial produzido por ímãs permanentes de terras raras, a chamada máquina Torus. A máquina foi construída no LMEAE e estudada inicialmente como motor em outro trabalho. Mas, para que se possa avaliar seu funcionamento em sistema de frenagem, o foco é do ponto de vista da máquina como gerador. São realizados testes dinâmicos e estáticos experimentalmente e modelo numérico pelo método dos elementos finitos com um formato de ímãs permanentes de seção setorial, possibilitando o comparativo com a versão anterior da máquina que empregou ímãs de seção quadrada. Mudanças físicas e no sistema de acionamento da máquina, e ensaios de frenagem dinâmica foram realizados. Modelagem analítica para indução magnética foi desenvolvida utilizando-se da técnica de Transformação Conforme. O trabalho busca apresentar as características da máquina e justificativas que demonstram o seu potencial de aplicabilidade em um subsistema veicular sob frenagem regenerativa e a capacidade de fornecimento de energia a um sistema de armazenamento com uma parte de energia cinética, ou seja, baterias e supercapacitores. / This work is carried out with the aim to study the application, by a vehicular braking system, of a brushless electrical machine with a toroidal armature core, and axial magnetic flux delivered by rare earth permanent magnets, the so-called Torus machine. The machine was built in the LMEAE, and previously studied as a motor by other work. However, in order to assess its performance in a braking system, the focus is the point of view of the machine as a generator. Static and dynamic tests are implemented as well as a numerical model by means of the finite element method, in order to compare the machine with sector poles permanent magnets and with square magnet poles. Physical changes and on the driving system of the machine, and dynamic braking tests are performed. The analytical modelling for the magnetic induction was developed using the technique of conformal transformation. The study aims to present the features of the machine and demonstrates its potential applicability to a vehicular subsystem under regenerative braking and the ability to supply an energy storage system with part of the kinetic energy, i.e. batteries and super capacitors.

Apresenta-se um estudo analítico e experimental do fenômeno de interação entre excitadores eletrodinâmicos e a estrutura em ensaios de vibração e discutem-se causas e efeitos desta interação na qualidade dos resultados obtidos. Inicialmente, realizam-se simulações numéricas que contemplam as características mecânicas e eletromagnéticas do excitador. Definido o modelo para o excitador, realizam-se simulações de teste com estruturas, dos quais obtêm-se as forças de entrada e funções de resposta em freqüência (FRFs) estimadas que serão comparadas às FRF reais da estrutura. Posteriormente, considera-se a inclusão de graus de liberdade rotacionais aos modelos do excitador e da estrutura. Finalmente, as simulações de testes com múltipla excitação têm como objetivo principal o de observar os fenômenos de queda de força de excitação e seus efeitos sobre as FRFs estimadas. Com os resultados experimentais verificam-se os principais fenômenos da interação excitador / estrutura observados nas simulações numéricas tais como a queda da força de excitação e a influência da dinâmica do conjunto excitador / amplificador na resposta da estrutura. Através dos resultados experimentais obtidos com uma viga metálica observam-se os principais efeitos previstos pelas simulações. Ainda, comparam-se as alterações nos dados obtidos com outros métodos de excitação tais como, martelo impulsivo e excitação em malha fechada. Testes realizados com diferentes estruturas, como um pneumático e um chassi tubular, vêem complementar os dados obtidos até então para excitação com um único excitador. Os testes realizados com a finalidade de validar os modelos que incluem graus de liberdade rotacionais mostram que tais grandezas não podem ser negligenciadas, principalmente no que se referem aos testes com excitação via base, em que o item de teste é montado diretamente sobre o excitador. Ainda, verificam-se os resultados obtidos com diversos estimadores de FRFs em ensaios com acréscimo de ruído aos sinais de entrada e saída. Os resultados experimentais realizados com dois excitadores mostram os mesmos efeitos observados nas simulações, em geral uma redução na queda da força de excitação e uma melhor distribuição de energia pela estrutura. / An analytical and experimental study of the interaction between electrodynamic exciters and the structure under test is presented, and the causes and effects of this interaction on the obtained data quality are discussed. Initially, some numerical simulations are performed concerning the shaker\'s mechanical and electrical features. Once the shaker model is defined, some tests with structures were simulated in order to obtain the input forces and the estimated frequency response functions to be compared with the measured FRFs. Afterwards, the rotational degrees of freedom were included in the shaker and structure models. Ending this section, tests with multiple input forces were simulated. The experimental results confirm most of the phenomena observed in the simulation section, such as the input force drop-off and the influence of the shaker / power amplifier assembly on the structure\'s response. The tests conducted with a steal beam confirmed the effects predicted by the simulations. Therefore, these results are compared with others, obtained from alternative methods such as impact test and closed loop shaker tests. Tests with structures like a truck tyre and a tubular chassis complement the assessment of single input tests. The tests performed with the objective of validating the models considering rotational degrees of freedom show that these quantities cannot be neglected, mainly when base driven tests are concerned. Also, the efficiency of FRF estimators applied to shaker tests, in the presence of noise on the input and output channels is verified experimentally. The multiple input tests corroborate the effects observed in the simulations, in general, a reduction of the droopoff on the force and an improvement on the input energy distribution on the structure.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The use of electrodynamic tethers on-board satellites is an exciting scientific prospect. These conductive tethers provide the means for satellites to generate power and to do propulsion by electrodynamic interaction with the geomagnetic field. Although well researched in theory, the concept has not enjoyed much success in practice. This study aims to utilise low-cost CubeSats as experimental tool to verify many of the theoretical principles that govern the behaviour of conductive tethers in orbit. The study provides a theoretical background of the concept by evaluating past tether missions and analysing existing theory. A feasible application of an electrodynamic tether within the size and weight limitations of a Nano-satellite is formulated. Existing theoretical work is adapted to model the dynamics and electrodynamics of specifically Nano-satellites. Using these mathematical models, control and estimation algorithms are designed which would provide stable deployment of a tethered CubeSat pair and stable control of the orientation of the tethered system. To be able to implement these algorithms on a satellite mission, a prototype of a sensor capable of measuring the angle of the tether using a CMOS camera is designed and built. A hardware platform is built to test the deployment of the tether using an electric motor. Electronics are designed to control the operation of the camera, to do motor control, and to run control and estimation algorithms. Using the results obtained from the practical tests done on the hardware, and using the theoretical models and control algorithms designed, a full orbital simulation of the deployment was done. This simulation includes the performance of the deployment system, the electrodynamic performance of the tether in earth‟s plasmasphere, and the estimation and control algorithms to control the system. Different deployment strategies are analysed and their performance are compared. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die gebruik van elektrodinamiese toue aanboord satelliete is 'n opwindende wetenskaplike vooruitsig. Hierdie geleidende toue verleen aan die satelliete die vermoë om krag op te kan wek en propulsie deur elektriese interaksie met die geomagnetiese veld te kan doen. Alhoewel dit goed nagevors is in teorie, het die konsep nog nie veel sukses in die praktyk geniet nie. Hierdie studie het dit ten doel om lae-koste CubeSats aan te wend as 'n eksperimentele instrument om baie van die teoretiese beginsels wat geld vir die gedrag van geleidende toue in wentelbane te verifieer. Die studie bied 'n teoretiese agtergrond van die konsep deur die evaluering van vorige tou-missies sowel as die analise van bestaande teorie. 'n Uitvoerbare toepassing van 'n elektrodinamiese tou binne die grootte- en gewigsbeperkinge van 'n Nano-satelliet is geformuleer. Bestaande teoretiese werk is aangepas om die dinamika en elektrodinamika spesifiek van toepassing op Nano-satelliete, te modelleer. Deur hierdie wiskundige modelle te gebruik, is beheer- en afskattingsalgoritmes ontwerp wat stabiele ontplooiing van 'n verbinde CubeSat-paar en stabiele beheer van die oriëntasie van die verbinde stelsel sal verseker. Om hierdie algoritmes te implementeer op 'n satelliet-sending, is 'n prototipe van 'n sensor wat in staat is om die hoek van die tou met behulp van 'n CMOS kamera te meet, ontwerp en gebou. 'n Hardeware platform is gebou om die ontplooiing van die tou met behulp van 'n elektriese motor te toets. Elektronika is ontwerp om die kamera te beheer, motor beheer te doen asook om beheer- en afskattingsalgoritmes uit te voer. Deur gebruik te maak van die resultate wat verkry is tydens die praktiese toetse wat gedoen is op die hardeware, en deur gebruik te maak van die teoretiese modelle en beheeralgoritmes wat ontwerp is, is 'n volle wentelbaan-simulasie van die ontplooiing gedoen. Hierdie simulasie sluit die gedrag van die ontplooiingstelsel, die elektriese gedrag van die geleidende tou in die aarde se plasmasfeer, en die afskatting- en beheeralgoritmes om die stelsel te beheer in. Verskillende ontplooiingstrategieë word ontleed en hul gedrag word vergelyk.

The present thesis is focused on study of dust grain charging. The experimental part covers interaction between dust grains and high-energy electrons and self-discharging of grains by both field electron emission and field ionization. The second part of the thesis describes construction and evaluation of a linear electrodynamic trap of the novel design. We have observed charging of small dust grains towards high positive electric potentials when bombarded by the high-energy electron beam. We have described an increase of the secondary electron- electron emission yield from negatively charged grains due to the surface field. Further, self-discharging characteristics for both positively and negatively charged grains were measured. The relationship between discharging rate and the rate of the flow of atoms leaving the grain surface due to diffusion was observed for positively charged grains. This suggests significantly lower surface field necessary for ionizing such atoms compared to the ionization of atoms of surrounding gas and compared to the typically published field ionization thresholds. Based on the design published in the master thesis, a linear quadrupole trap of novel design was constructed. Testing measurements confirmed functionality and expected characteristics of the trap. In addition, effects of...

Este trabalho foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de estudar a aplicação, para sistema de frenagem veicular, de uma máquina elétrica sem escovas, de armadura toroidal, e fluxo magnético axial produzido por ímãs permanentes de terras raras, a chamada máquina Torus. A máquina foi construída no LMEAE e estudada inicialmente como motor em outro trabalho. Mas, para que se possa avaliar seu funcionamento em sistema de frenagem, o foco é do ponto de vista da máquina como gerador. São realizados testes dinâmicos e estáticos experimentalmente e modelo numérico pelo método dos elementos finitos com um formato de ímãs permanentes de seção setorial, possibilitando o comparativo com a versão anterior da máquina que empregou ímãs de seção quadrada. Mudanças físicas e no sistema de acionamento da máquina, e ensaios de frenagem dinâmica foram realizados. Modelagem analítica para indução magnética foi desenvolvida utilizando-se da técnica de Transformação Conforme. O trabalho busca apresentar as características da máquina e justificativas que demonstram o seu potencial de aplicabilidade em um subsistema veicular sob frenagem regenerativa e a capacidade de fornecimento de energia a um sistema de armazenamento com uma parte de energia cinética, ou seja, baterias e supercapacitores. / This work is carried out with the aim to study the application, by a vehicular braking system, of a brushless electrical machine with a toroidal armature core, and axial magnetic flux delivered by rare earth permanent magnets, the so-called Torus machine. The machine was built in the LMEAE, and previously studied as a motor by other work. However, in order to assess its performance in a braking system, the focus is the point of view of the machine as a generator. Static and dynamic tests are implemented as well as a numerical model by means of the finite element method, in order to compare the machine with sector poles permanent magnets and with square magnet poles. Physical changes and on the driving system of the machine, and dynamic braking tests are performed. The analytical modelling for the magnetic induction was developed using the technique of conformal transformation. The study aims to present the features of the machine and demonstrates its potential applicability to a vehicular subsystem under regenerative braking and the ability to supply an energy storage system with part of the kinetic energy, i.e. batteries and super capacitors.