An understanding of the generation of higher harmonics in Lamb waves is of critical importance for applications such as remaining life prediction of plate-like structural components. The objective of this work is to use nonlinear Lamb waves to experimentally investigate inherent material nonlinearities in aluminum plates. These nonlinearities, e.g. lattice anharmonicities, precipitates or vacancies, cause higher harmonics to form in propagating Lamb waves. The amplitudes of the higher harmonics increase with increasing propagation distance due to the accumulation of nonlinearity while the Lamb wave travels along its path. Special focus is laid on the second harmonic, and a relative nonlinearity parameter is defined as a function of the fundamental and second harmonic amplitude. The experimental setup uses an ultrasonic transducer and a wedge for the Lamb wave generation and laser interferometry for detection. The experimentally measured Lamb wave signals are processed with a short-time Fourier transformation (STFT) and a chirplet transformation-based algorithm, which yield the amplitudes of the frequency spectrum as functions of time, allowing the observation of the nonlinear behavior of the material. The increase of the relative nonlinearity parameter with propagation distance as an indicator of cumulative second harmonic generation is shown in the results for two different aluminum alloys. The difference in inherent nonlinearity between both alloys as determined from longitudinal wave measurements can be observed for the Lamb wave measurements, too.

Cette thèse porte sur la propagation d’ondes non-linéaires dans des métamatériaux acoustiques unidimensionnels. Plus précisément, nous voulons étudier les interactions entre les non-linéarités, les pertes et la dispersion. Ce travail combine des calculs analytiques, des simulations numériques et des résultats expérimentaux. En particulier, nous concentrons notre analyses sur deux phénomènes : la génération du second harmonique et la formation de solitons acoustiques. Deux types différents de métamatériaux sont étudiés : (i) un guide d’onde chargé par une distribution périodique de trous latéraux (milieu à densité effective négative) et (ii) un guide d’onde chargé périodiquement par des  plaques élastiques encastrées (milieu à masse effective négative). En s’appuyant sur une analogie électroacoustique et sur la théorie des lignes de transmission, un modèle discret de la propagation est développé pour chaque système. L’approximation des grandes longueurs d’ondes est ensuite utilisée pour obtenir une modèle continu permettant d’établir une équation non-linéaire, dispersive et dissipative pour la propagation. Cette dernière est analysée à l’aide de la méthode des perturbations conduisant à une expression analytique pour la génération du second harmonique. De plus, la méthode des échelles multiples est utilisée pour obtenir les diverses solutions de solitons d’enveloppe (bright, dark et gray) présents dans les systèmes. Les prédictions analytiques sont corroborées par des simulations numériques directes et des mesures de la génération de second harmonique sont effectuées mettant en lumière un bon accord avec le modèle théorique. / The subject of this PhD thesis is the propagation of nonlinear waves in 1D acoustic metamaterials. More specifically we aim to study the interplay between nonlinearity, loss and dispersion. Our studies combine analytical calculations, numerical simulations and experimental results. In particular we focus our analysis on two main phenomena: the second harmonic generation and the formation of solitary waves. Two different acoustic metamaterials are studied: (i) A waveguide loaded with a periodic distribution of side holes (featuring negative effective bulk modulus) and (ii) a waveguide periodically loaded with clamped elastic plates (featuring negative effective mass density). Relying on the electroacoustic analogy and the transmission line approach, we derive a discrete lattice model for each system. The corresponding long wavelength, continuum approximation of the lattice models, leads to a nonlinear, dispersive and dissipative wave equation. From the latter, by utilising a perturbation method, we obtain analytical results regarding the second harmonic generation. Furthermore with the use of a multiple scale analysis we find various envelope (bright, gap, black and gray) soliton solutions supported by the acoustic metamaterial. The analytical predictions are corroborated by direct numerical simulations. We finally perform experiments on an acoustic waveguide loaded with a periodic distribution of side holes and measure the second harmonic generation in close agreement with our theoretical predictions.

No description available.

<p>This dissertation investigates the optimal aerodynamic performance and design of conventional and coaxial helicopters in hover and forward flight using conventional and higher harmonic blade pitch control. First, we describe a method for determining the blade geometry, azimuthal blade pitch inputs, optimal shaft angle (rotor angle of attack), and division of propulsive and lifting forces among the components that minimize the total power for a given forward flight condition. The optimal design problem is cast as a variational statement that is discretized using a vortex lattice wake to model inviscid forces, combined with two-dimensional drag polars to model profile losses. The resulting nonlinear constrained optimization problem is solved via Newton iteration. We investigate the optimal design of a compound vehicle in forward flight comprised of a coaxial rotor system, a propeller, and optionally, a fixed wing. We show that higher harmonic control substantially reduces required power, and that both rotor and propeller efficiencies play an important role in determining the optimal shaft angle, which in turn affects the optimal design of each component. Second, we present a variational approach for determining the optimal (minimum power) torque-balanced coaxial hovering rotor using Blade Element Momentum Theory including swirl. We show that the optimal hovering coaxial rotor generates only a small percentage of its total thrust on the portion of the lower rotor operating in the upper rotor's contracted wake, resulting in an optimal design with very different upper and lower rotor twist and chord distributions. We also show that the swirl component of induced velocity has a relatively small effect on rotor performance at the disk loadings typical of helicopter rotors. Third, we describe a more refined model of the wake of a hovering conventional or coaxial rotor. We approximate the rotor or coaxial rotors as actuator disks (though not necessarily uniformly loaded) and the wake as contracting cylindrical vortex sheets that we represent as discrete vortex rings. We assume the system is axisymmetric and steady in time, and solve for the wake position that results in all vortex sheets being aligned with the streamlines of the flow field via Newton iteration. We show that the singularity that occurs where the vortex sheet terminates at the edge of the actuator disk is resolved through the formation of a 45 degree logarithmic spiral in hover, which results in a non-uniform inflow, particularly near the edge of the disk where the flow is entirely reversed, as originally hypothesized by previous authors. We also quantify the mutual interference of coaxial actuator disks of various axial spacing. Finally, we combine our forward flight optimization procedure and the Blade Element Momentum Theory hover optimization to form a variational approach to the multipoint aerodynamic design optimization of conventional and coaxial helicopter rotors. The resulting nonlinear constrained optimization problem may be used to map the Pareto frontier, i.e., the set of rotor designs for which it is not possible to improve upon the performance in one flight condition without degrading performance in the other. We show that for both conventional and coaxial rotors analyzed in hover and high speed flight, a substantial tradeoff in performance must be made between the two flight conditions. Finally, computational results demonstrate that higher harmonic control is able to improve the Pareto efficiency for both conventional and coaxial rotors.</p> / Dissertation

Applying ferroelectric materials for nanoelectronic circuits opens, next to exploiting completely new functionalities, the possibility of improving resource efficiency in electronic circuits. Due to its defined and easy-to-manipulate domain structure, lithium niobate (LiNbO3, LNO) is a promising candidate to realize such circuits. As a prerequisite, a detailed understanding of the underlying conduction mechanisms is required for a future large scale application. The main field of attention of this thesis is the domain wall conductivity in lithium niobate, investigated with temperature-dependent dc conductivity measurements as well as higher-harmonic current analysis under alternating-voltage excitation. Thereby the parameters of the electric field are of special interest, comprising the static dc field and both the amplitude and the frequency of the ac excitation voltage. Prior to the analysis of the experimental results, the setups are characterized in depth and a theoretical framework to calculate higher-harmonic current contributions generated by non-ohmic conduction models is derived. In case of high static offset voltages, an ohmic-like conductance is observed, which is ascribed to the intrinsic conductivity of the domain wall. For lower static offset fields, a diode-like current-voltage characteristic is found, originating from the junction of the domain wall and the metallic contact electrode. The results are compared to measurements at an industrial Schottky diode taken under the same conditions. Based on the theory of metal-semiconductor junctions, the effective donor density within the conducting domain wall is estimated to be of the order of 1019/cm3, which agrees well with theoretical calculations in the literature. An equivalent circuit based on two diodes and two resistors is proposed to model the observed nonohmic conductance. For all experimental techniques, a good agreement between this model and the experimental data is observed, proving especially the non-ohmic conductivity to be of Schottky-type.

Abstract : The objective of this work is the characterization of heat and mechanical damage in the mortar by the nonlinear acoustic waves. The correlation between non-linear/linear acoustic parameters and damage in mortar is studied based on experiments and modelling. Experimental measurements of non-linear acoustic parameters as a function of temperature and crack size were performed on mortar. The velocities showed a decrease when increasing the degradation and the non-linear parameters showed an increase when increasing the damage. For the heat damage, cylindrical specimens were prepared and were characterized by studying the porosity and saturation. Then, the temperature controls the degradation. Indeed, the linear acoustic (UPV) and non-linear acoustic (Higher harmonic generation) were applied to characterize the damage. The linear acoustic tests have shown that the longitudinal, transverse velocities and modulus of Young of the mortar decreases in function of the temperature. The non-linear acoustic tests have shown that beta increases in function of the temperature. For the mechanical damage and the self-healing, an annular specimens were prepared and cracked by controlling the size of each crack. Then the self-healing phenomenon was characterized by the permeability and the acoustic tests. Indeed, the permeability tests have shown that the airflow and the crack size decreases quickly in the first month then slowly for the rest of the self-healing process. On the other hand, the non-linear acoustic tests shown that the alpha and beta decreases according to the self-healing process which means that the nonlinear parameters are good indicators to characterize the self-healing. Moreover, the analysis of the experimental results indicates that the frequency resonant technique is more efficient to characterize the defects in the mortar than the higher harmonic generation. From the experimental tests and to get a general result independent for our case study, the nonlinear parameters were related to a damage index. A polynomial correlations of a 2nd degree was established between the nonlinear parameters and the index damage. A numerical model based on the finite element volume was proposed to establish a correlation between the crack size and the airflow. The numerical results were compared with the results of the permeability tests and shown a good agreement. The findings of this work should be most appropriate as a foundation for the study of the self-healing by the nonlinear acoustic waves. / Résumé : L'objectif de ce travail est la caractérisation de l’endommagement thermique et mécanique dans le mortier par les ondes acoustiques non linéaires. La corrélation entre les paramètres acoustiques linéaires et non linéaires est basée sur les essais expérimentaux et la modélisation. Des mesures expérimentales des paramètres acoustiques non linéaires en fonction de la taille de la fissure et la température ont été effectuées sur mortier. Les vitesses ont montré une diminution et les paramètres non linéaires ont montré une augmentation en augmentant le degré de fissuration. Pour l’endommagement thermique, des éprouvettes cylindriques ont été préparées et ont été caractérisées par l'étude de la porosité et de la saturation. L'acoustique linéaire (UPV) et l’acoustique non linéaire (génération d'harmoniques) ont été appliquées afin de quantifier l’endommagement. Les essais acoustiques linéaires ont montré que les vitesses transversales, longitudinales et le module d'Young du mortier diminuent en fonction de la température. Les essais acoustiques non linéaires ont montré l'augmentation du bêta est fonction de l’endommagement thermique. Pour l’endommagement mécanique et l'autocicatrisation, des anneaux de mortier ont été préparés et fissurés en contrôlant la taille de chaque fissure. Ensuite, le phénomène d'autocicatrisation est suivi par la perméabilité et des essais acoustiques. Les essais de perméabilité ont montré que le débit d'air et la taille de la fissure diminuent rapidement au cours du premier mois, puis lentement durant le reste du processus d'autocicatrisation. D'autre part, les tests acoustiques non linéaires ont montré que « alpha » et « bêta » diminuent durant le processus de l’autocicatrisation, ce qui signifie que les paramètres non linéaires sont des bons indicateurs pour caractériser ce phénomène. En outre, l'analyse des résultats expérimentaux indique que la technique de résonance de fréquence est plus efficace pour caractériser les défauts dans le mortier que la génération d'harmoniques plus élevés. À partir des essais expérimentaux et dans le but d'obtenir un résultat plus général indépendant de notre cas d’étude, les paramètres non linéaires ont été liés à un index d’endommagement. Une corrélation polynomiale de 2e degré a été établie entre les paramètres non linéaires et l’index d’endommagement. Un modèle numérique basé sur la méthode des volumes finis a été proposé afin d'établir une corrélation entre la taille de la fissure et le flux d'air. Les résultats numériques ont été comparés avec les résultats des tests de perméabilité et montré un bon accord. Les résultats de ce travail représentent un bon départ pour étudier le phénomène de l'autocicatrisation par les ondes acoustiques non linéaires.

Ces dernières années, les métamatériaux acoustiques sont largement étudiés pour leur intérêt dans la réalisation de divers types de contrôle des ondes à une échelle sub-longueur d’onde. En particulier, les métasurfaces acoustiques ont montré leur capacité à manipuler des ondes en limites de milieux de propagation via les processus de réflexion, de transmission et de réfraction. Contrairement au régime linéaire qui concerne l’immense majorité des travaux sur les métamatériaux acoustiques, les études sur les propriétés non linéaires des métamatériaux, de surcroit des métasurfaces, restent peu nombreuses, malgré la possibilité de générer des phénomènes acoustiques riches et variés. Les principaux freins au développement des métamatériaux non linéaires sont l'efficacité généralement faible de la réponse non linéaire et le manque de contrôle sur cette non-linéarité. Les travaux de recherche présentés ici ont donc pour objectif de concevoir des architectures de métasurfaces élastiques, permettant un contrôle des ondes acoustiques dans le régime non linéaire. En particulier l’effet de conversion d’une onde fondamentale vers son deuxième harmonique est étudié dans le processus de réflexion et de transmission unidirectionnelle. Cela nécessite le design de la non-linéarité élastique, qui est réalisé à base de modélisations discrètes de systèmes masses-ressorts et d'architectures composées d'éléments tournants. Les métasurfaces ainsi conçues, résonantes et à non-linéarité contrôlée, permettent de générer des effets non linéaires acoustiques inhabituels, potentiellement intéressants pour la manipulation d'ondes acoustiques. / In recent years, acoustic metamaterials have proven to be of great interest for their ability to achieve a variety of wave control at sub-wavelength scale. In particular, acoustic metasurfaces have shown their ability to manipulate waves from the boundaries of propagation media, via the reflection, transmission and refraction processes. Unlike the linear regime which has been extensively investigated in acoustic metamaterials, studies of the nonlinear acoustic properties of metamaterials, especially nonlinear acoustic metasurfaces, are quite scarce, despite the possibility to lead to a rich and diverse set of non-trivial acoustic phenomena. The key limitations in the development of nonlinear acoustic metamaterials are the typically weak efficiency of their nonlinear response together with the lack of control on this nonlinearity. This PhD research is thus dedicated to the design of nonlinear elastic metamaterial and metasurface architectures, enabling acoustic wave control in the nonlinear regime. Specifically, the conversion effect from a fundamental wave to its second harmonic is studied through the one-dimensional scattering process (reflection and transmission) by metasurfaces. This requires the elastic nonlinearity management, realized via the discrete modeling of lumped-element systems and architectures made of rotating units. Such designed metasurfaces, resonating and with harnessed nonlinearity, can create unusual nonlinear acoustic effects, potentially interesting for wave control. This research open the path to a more systematic study of nonlinear acoustic wave manipulation by metamaterials.

The presented dissertation thesis deals with a novel structure of delta-sigma () modulator which compensates influence of higher harmonic distortion and therefore it is possible to achieve high resolution up to 16 bits. This novel proposed structure combines advantages of one bit quantizer modulators with mutli-bit modulators. The novel second order structure is presented, correct function is verified in MATLAB simulation enviroment and requirements for partial block are studied. The second part of the work deals with design of converter with novel structure of modulator using switched capacitor technique utilizing ONSemi I3T25 technology. Advantages and disadvantages of the novel structure are evaluated and novel structure is compared with common structures of modulators.

The size reduction of transistors has been the main reason for a successful development of semiconductor integrated circuits over the last decades. Because of the physically limited downscaling of transistors, alternative technologies namely the information processing and nonvolatile resistive switches (also termed memristors) have come into focus. Memristors reveal a fast switching speed, long retention time, and stable endurance. Nonvolatile analog bipolar resistive switching with a considerable large On/Off ratio is reported in BiFeO3 (BFO)-based resistive switches. So far resistive switches are mainly applied in memory applications or logic operations. Given the excellent properties of BFO based memristors, the further exploration of functionalities for memristive devices is required. A new approach for hardware based cryptographic system was developed within the framework of this dissertation. By studying the power conversion efficiencies on BFO memristor at various harmonics, it has been shown that two sets of clearly distinguishable power ratios are achievable when the BFO memristor is set into high or into low resistance state. Thus, a BFO-based binary encoding system can be established. As an example the unrecoverable seizure information from encoded medical data suggests the proper functioning of the proposed encryption system. Aside from cryptographic functionality, the single pairing spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP) in BFO-based artificial synapses is demonstrated, which can be considered as the cornerstone for energy-efficient and fast hardware-based neuromorphic networks. In comparison to the biological driven realistic way, only single one pairing of pre- and postsynaptic spikes is applied to the BFO-based artificial synapse instead of 60-80 pairings. Thus, the learning time constant of STDP function can be reduced from 25 ms to 125 us. / In den letzten Jahrzehnten war die Größenreduktion von Transistoren einer der Hauptgründe für die Leistungssteigerung von integrierten Halbleiterschaltungen. Aufgrund des physikalisch beschränkten Skalierungspotentials, werden alternative Technologien für Halbleiterschaltungen entwickelt. Dazu zählen neuartige Widerstandsschalter, sogenannte Memristoren, welche wegen ihrer schnellen Schaltgeschwindigkeit, langen Speicherzeit und stabilen Haltbarkeit in den Fokus der Forschung gerückt sind. Das nichtflüchtige analoge bipolare Schalten des Widerstandwertes mit einem On/Off Verhältnis größer als 100 wurde in BiFeO 3 (BFO)-basierten Widerstands-schaltern beobachtet. Bisher wurden Widerstandsschalter hauptsächlich als Speicher oder in rekonfigurierbaren Logikschaltungen verwendet. Aufgrund der ausgezeichneten Eigenschaften von BFO-basierten Memristoren, ist die Untersuchung weiterer neuer Funktionalitäten vielversprechend. Als neuer Ansatz für ein Hardware-basiertes Kryptosystem wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit die Ausnutzung des Leistungsübertragungskoeffizienten in BFO Memristoren vorgeschlagen. Mit Hilfe der unterschiedlichen Oberschwingungen, welche von einem BFO Memristor im ON und OFF Zustand generiert werden, wurde ein Kryptosystem zum Kodieren binärer Daten entwickelt. Ein Test des Hardware-basierten Kryptosystems an Biodaten ergab, dass die kodierten Biodaten keine vorhersagbare Korrelation mehr enthielten. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden darüberhinaus BFO-basierte künstliche Synapsen mit einer Aktionspotentials-Intervall abhängigen Plastizität (STDP) für Einzelpulse entwickelt. Diese Einzelpuls-STDP legt den Grundstein für energieffiziente und schnelle neuromorphe Netzwerke mit künstlichen Synapsen. Im Vergleich zu biologischen Synapsen mit einer 60-80-Puls-STDP und einem Lernfenster auf der ms-Zeitskale, konnte das Lernfenster von BFO-basierten künstlichen Synapsen von 25 ms auf 125 μs reduziert werden. Solch ein schnelles Lernen ermöglicht auch die extreme Reduzierung des Leistungsverbrauchs in neuromorphen Netzwerken.

The size reduction of transistors has been the main reason for a successful development of semiconductor integrated circuits over the last decades. Because of the physically limited downscaling of transistors, alternative technologies namely the information processing and nonvolatile resistive switches (also termed memristors) have come into focus. Memristors reveal a fast switching speed, long retention time, and stable endurance. Nonvolatile analog bipolar resistive switching with a considerable large On/Off ratio is reported in BiFeO3 (BFO)-based resistive switches. So far resistive switches are mainly applied in memory applications or logic operations. Given the excellent properties of BFO based memristors, the further exploration of functionalities for memristive devices is required. A new approach for hardware based cryptographic system was developed within the framework of this dissertation. By studying the power conversion efficiencies on BFO memristor at various harmonics, it has been shown that two sets of clearly distinguishable power ratios are achievable when the BFO memristor is set into high or into low resistance state. Thus, a BFO-based binary encoding system can be established. As an example the unrecoverable seizure information from encoded medical data suggests the proper functioning of the proposed encryption system. Aside from cryptographic functionality, the single pairing spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP) in BFO-based artificial synapses is demonstrated, which can be considered as the cornerstone for energy-efficient and fast hardware-based neuromorphic networks. In comparison to the biological driven realistic way, only single one pairing of pre- and postsynaptic spikes is applied to the BFO-based artificial synapse instead of 60-80 pairings. Thus, the learning time constant of STDP function can be reduced from 25 ms to 125 us. / In den letzten Jahrzehnten war die Größenreduktion von Transistoren einer der Hauptgründe für die Leistungssteigerung von integrierten Halbleiterschaltungen. Aufgrund des physikalisch beschränkten Skalierungspotentials, werden alternative Technologien für Halbleiterschaltungen entwickelt. Dazu zählen neuartige Widerstandsschalter, sogenannte Memristoren, welche wegen ihrer schnellen Schaltgeschwindigkeit, langen Speicherzeit und stabilen Haltbarkeit in den Fokus der Forschung gerückt sind. Das nichtflüchtige analoge bipolare Schalten des Widerstandwertes mit einem On/Off Verhältnis größer als 100 wurde in BiFeO 3 (BFO)-basierten Widerstands-schaltern beobachtet. Bisher wurden Widerstandsschalter hauptsächlich als Speicher oder in rekonfigurierbaren Logikschaltungen verwendet. Aufgrund der ausgezeichneten Eigenschaften von BFO-basierten Memristoren, ist die Untersuchung weiterer neuer Funktionalitäten vielversprechend. Als neuer Ansatz für ein Hardware-basiertes Kryptosystem wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit die Ausnutzung des Leistungsübertragungskoeffizienten in BFO Memristoren vorgeschlagen. Mit Hilfe der unterschiedlichen Oberschwingungen, welche von einem BFO Memristor im ON und OFF Zustand generiert werden, wurde ein Kryptosystem zum Kodieren binärer Daten entwickelt. Ein Test des Hardware-basierten Kryptosystems an Biodaten ergab, dass die kodierten Biodaten keine vorhersagbare Korrelation mehr enthielten. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden darüberhinaus BFO-basierte künstliche Synapsen mit einer Aktionspotentials-Intervall abhängigen Plastizität (STDP) für Einzelpulse entwickelt. Diese Einzelpuls-STDP legt den Grundstein für energieffiziente und schnelle neuromorphe Netzwerke mit künstlichen Synapsen. Im Vergleich zu biologischen Synapsen mit einer 60-80-Puls-STDP und einem Lernfenster auf der ms-Zeitskale, konnte das Lernfenster von BFO-basierten künstlichen Synapsen von 25 ms auf 125 μs reduziert werden. Solch ein schnelles Lernen ermöglicht auch die extreme Reduzierung des Leistungsverbrauchs in neuromorphen Netzwerken.