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Neste trabalho foram produzidos filmes finos de Si[100]/buffer/NiFe/FeMn/Ta (buffer = Cu; Ta) e válvulas de spin de Si[100]/Cu/NiFe/Cu/NiFe/FeMn/Ta via Sputtering, e seus comportamentos magnéticos foram estudados analisando curvas de inversão de primeira ordem (First Order Reversal Curves, FORCs). Um Modelo de Preisach com Exchange-Bias foi desenvolvido e sua implementação computacional permitiu simular a histerese e as curvas forcas das bicamadas de NiFe/FeMn. O modelo também permitiu reproduzir os comportamentos assimétricos dos dois ramos da curva de histerese destes filmes. A análise dos resultados evidenciou os efeitos de campo médio sobre a camada de Py em função da espessura da camada de FeMn. A aplicação da análise FORC nas válvulas de spin se revelou interessante para estudar o grau de acoplamento entre as camadas livre e pressa, assim como os efeitos de campo médio em cada camada. / In this work, thin films of Si[100]/buffer/NiFe/FeMn/Ta (buffer = Cu; Ta) and spin valves of Si[100]/Cu/NiFe/Cu/NiFe/FeMn/Ta were produced via sputtering and their magnetic behavior were studied by First Order Reversal Curves (FORC\'s) analysis. A Preisach Model with Exchange-Bias was developed and applied in order to simulate the hysteresis and the first order reversal curves of the NiFe/FeMn bilayers. In addition, the model allowed to reproduce the asymmetric behaviors present in both branches of the hysteresis curve in these films. The study put in evidence the mean field effects on de Py layer as a function of the thickness of the FeMn layer. The application of the FORC analysis in the spin valves was interesting to study the degree of coupling between the free and the pressed layers, as well as the effect of mean field in each layer.

Depuis quelques années, les matériaux à transition de spin présentant une bistabilité thermique ou photoinduite sont très étudiés en raison des applications futures potentielles pour le stockage de l'information. Dans ce contexte, ce travail a pour objectif la synthèse de nouveaux systèmes bistables du fer (ll). Pour ce faire, deux stratégies ont été utilisées : l'une consiste à augmenter les interactions intramoléculaires en substituant le contre-ion d'un système à transition de spin, l'autre consiste à associer un ligand neutre polydentate à un co-ligand anionique pontant.Dans une première partie, Ia modification du contre-ion a permis l'obtention d'un système discret mononucléaire à base d'un ligand macrocyclique présentant de la bistabilité thermique. Le second système discret est un complexe dinucléaire à base du ligand tmpa (triméthylpyridyl amine] qui a permis de mettre en avant les effets de la substitution du Iigand sur les caractéristiques de la transition de spin.Dans un deuxième temps, nous nous sommes orientés vers la synthèse de systèmes à structures étendues en utilisant des ligands anioniques rigides pontants de type tétracyanométallate [M(CN)4 ]²zassociés au ligand organique 8-aminoquinoléine (aqin). Cette association a conduit à l'obtention de chaînes monodimensionnelles présentant une transition abrupte avec hystérésis.Enfin, pour obtenir des systèmes bi- et tri-dimensionnels, nous avons associé le ligand 4-(2pyridyl)-1,2,4, 4H-triazole (trz-pyJ, potentiellement pontant, aux ligands anioniques [tcpd]L et [Pt(CN]al].Le système [Fe[trz-pyJz[Pt[CNJ4)].3H20 obtenu est un réseau 2D de type Hofmann avec des propriétés magnétiques et photo-magnétiques originales se distinguant par la présence d'une hystérésis cachée révélée par pho to-irradiation. / In recent years, Spin Crossover materials [SCO) with thermal or Iight induced bistability are extensively studied because of their futur potential applications in memory display devices. In this context, the aim of this work is the synthesis of bistable new spin crossover systems based on Fe(ll). Two strategies were used: the first one is to increase the intramolecular interactions by substituting the counter-ion nature in a spin crossover system, the second one is to associate a neutral ligand to a bridging polydentate co-ligand.In rhe ffrst part, the modification of the counter-ion enabled us to obtain a discrete mononuclear system based on macrocycle ligand with thermal bistability. The second discrete system is a dinuclear complex based on tmpa (triimethylpyridyl amine) which led us to study ligand substitution effects of the Spin Cross-Over behaviour.In rhe second part, the aim is the synthesis of extended structures systems by using rigid anionic bridging ligands like tetracyanometallate anions [M[CN)4]2-and the organic ligand quinolin-8-amine. This association allowed to obtain 1D chains with abrupt spin crossover presenting hysteresis.Finally, to synthesise SCO 2D and 3D systems, we have associated the potentially bridging 4-[2pyridyl)-t,2,4,4H-triazole (trz-pyJ ligand to inorganic bridging anions tcpd²- and [Pt[CN)4]²-. The [Fe[trzpy)2(Pt[CN)4]].3H20 system obtained is as Hofmann-like 2D network with novel magnetic and photomagnetic properties with hidden hysteresis revealed by photo-switching.

The finite element method (FEM) has been widely applied to various medical imaging applications over the past two decades. The remarkable progress in high-resolution imaging techniques has allowed FEM to draw great research interests in computing trabecular bone (TB) stiffness from three-dimensional volumetric imaging. However, only a few results are available in literature on applying FEM to multi-row detector CT (MDCT) imaging due to the challenges posed by limited spatial resolution. The research presented here develops new methods to preserve TB structure connectivity and to generate high-quality mesh representation for FEM from relatively low resolution images available at MDCT imaging. Specifically, it introduced a space-variant hysteresis algorithm to threshold local trabecular structure that preserves structure connectivity. Also, mesh generation algorithms was applied to represent TB micro-architecture and mesh quality was compared with that generated by traditional methods. TB stiffness was computed using FEM simulation on micro-CT (µ-CT) and MDCT images of twenty two cadaveric specimens of distal tibia. Actual stiffness of those specimens were experimentally determined by mechanical testing and its correlation with computed stiffness was analyzed. The observed values of linear correlation (r2) between actual bone stiffness and computed stiffness from µ-CT and MDCT imaging were 0.95 and 0.88, respectively. Also, reproducibility of the FEM-based computed bone stiffness was determined from repeat MDCT scans of cadaveric specimens and the observed intra-class correlation coefficient was a high value of 0.98. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of application of FEM with high sensitivity and reproducibility on MDCT imaging of TB at distal tibia under in vivo condition.

Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (NAPLs) include commonly occurring organic contaminants such as gasoline, diesel fuel and chlorinated solvents. When released to subsurface environments their spreading is a complex process of multi-component, multi-phase flow. This work has strived to develop new models and methods to describe the spreading of NAPLs in heterogeneous geological media. For two-phase systems, infiltration and immobilisation of NAPL in stochastically heterogeneous, water-saturated media were investigated. First, a methodology to continuously measure NAPL saturations in space and time in a two-dimensional experiment setup, using multiple-energy x-ray-attenuation techniques, was developed. Second, a set of experiments on NAPL infiltration in carefully designed structures of well-known stochastic heterogeneity were conducted. Three detailed data-sets were generated and the importance of heterogeneity for both flow and the immobilised NAPL architecture was demonstrated. Third, the laboratory experiments were modelled with a continuum- and Darcy’s-law-based multi-phase flow model. Different models for the capillary pressure (Pc) – fluid saturation (S) – relative permeability (kr) constitutive relations were compared and tested against experimental observations. A method to account for NAPL immobility in dead-end pore-spaces during drainage was introduced and the importance of accounting for hysteresis and NAPL entrapment in the constitutive relations was demonstrated. NAPL migration in three-phase, water-NAPL-air systems was also studied. Different constitutive relations used in modelling of three-phase flow were analysed and compared to existing laboratory data. To improve model performance, a new formulation for the saturation dependence of tortuosity was introduced and different scaling options for the Pc-S relations were investigated. Finally, a method to model the spreading of multi-constituent contaminants using a single-component multi-phase model was developed. With the method, the migration behaviour of individual constituents in a mixture, e.g. benzene in gasoline, could be studied, which was demonstrated in a modelling study of a gasoline spill in connection with a transport accident. / Flerfasföroreningar innefattar vanligt förekommande organiska vätskor som bensin, dieselolja och klorerade lösningsmedel. Spridningen av dessa föroreningar i mark är komplicerad och styrs av det samtidiga flödet av organisk vätska, vatten och markluft samt utbytet av komponenter (föroreningar) mellan de olika faserna. Detta arbete syftade till att utveckla nya metoder och modeller för att studera spridningen av flerfasföroreningar i mark: (i) En metodik utvecklades för att i laboratorium noggrant och kontinuerligt mäta hur en organisk vätska är rumsligt fördelad i en tvådimensionell experimentuppställning. Metoden baserades på röntgenutsläckning för olika energinivåer. (ii) Infiltration av organisk vätska i vattenmättade medier studerades för olika konfigurationer av geologisk heterogenitet. I experimentuppställningen packades olika sandmaterial noggrant för att konstruera en välkänd, stokastiskt heterogen struktur. Spridningsprocessen dokumenterades i tre detaljerade mätserier och heterogenitetens påverkan på flöde och kvarhållning av den organiska vätskan påvisades. (iii) Experimenten simulerades med en numerisk modell. Olika modeller prövades för att beskriva de grundläggande relationerna mellan kapillärtryck (Pc) vätskehalt (S) och relativ permeabilitet (kr) för detta tvåfassystem av vatten och organisk vätska. En relation infördes för att beskriva partiell orörlighet hos den organiska vätskan i porer vars halsar tillfälligt blockeras av vatten då mediet avvattnas. Vikten av att i de grundläggande relationerna ta hänsyn till hysteresis och kvarhållning av organisk fas visades. (iv) Olika Pc-S-kr relationer för trefassystem av vatten, organisk vätska och markluft testades mot befintliga experimentella data. En ny relation för hur slingrigheten (eng. tortuosity) beror av vätskehalten infördes i kr-S relationen och olika möjligheter för att skala Pc-S relationen analyserades. (v) En modelleringsmetodik utvecklades för att studera spridningen av flerkomponentsföroreningar. Med metoden kunde spridningsbeteendet hos enskilda, särskilt skadliga komponenter som t.ex. bensen särskiljas då ett bensinutsläpp i samband med en transportolycka simulerades.

<p>Many geotechnical engineering problems involve combining two or more independent physical processes as a coupled solution of seepage, volume change and shear strength. For any physical process being modeled, it is desirous to be able to compute any of the volume-mass soil properties. When the volume-mass soil properties are combined with the stress state of the soil, the result is a volume-mass constitutive relationship. Three volume-mass constitutive relationships (i.e., void ratio, water content and degree of saturation) are generally viewed as being the most fundamental; however, only two of the relations are independent. The unsaturated soil properties associated with seepage, volume change and shear strength problems are also related to the volume-mass soil properties. While the unsaturated soil properties are often estimated as simply being a function of the soil-water characteristic curve, it is more accurate to define the properties in a more rigorous manner in terms of the volume-mass soil properties. The advancement of computing capabilities means that it is quite easy to formulate constitutive relations for shear strength and permeability, for example, in terms of all volume-mass properties of the unsaturated soil.</p><p>The objectives of this dissertation include: i) the development of volume-mass constitutive models for unsaturated soils; ii) the further study and verification of the volume-mass constitutive behavior of unsaturated soils; and iii) the development of techniques for visualization of volume-mass constitutive surfaces for unsaturated soils. To achieve these objectives, the present research study was conducted from both theoretical and experimental bases.</p><p>The theoretical program commenced with a comprehensive literature review of the volume-mass constitutive relationships for unsaturated soils. A new, more rigorous volume-mass constitutive model was then proposed. Appropriate terminology was introduced for the development of the model, followed by an outline of the assumptions used and the mathematical derivation. The proposed model requires conventionally obtainable soil properties for its calibration. The model is capable of predicting both the void ratio and water content constitutive relationships for various unsaturated soils, taking into account elastic and plastic volume changes. Various stress paths can be simulated and hysteresis associated with the soil-water characteristic curve can be taken into account. </p><p>Two closed-form equations for the volume-mass constitutive relationships were derived. A computer software program was written based on the theory of the proposed volume-mass constitutive model. Techniques for the visualization of the volume-mass constitutive surfaces were then presented. An experimental program was conducted in the laboratory. The experimental program involved the verification of a new testing apparatus. Several soils were selected for testing purposes and appropriate testing procedures were established (i.e., soil specimens were initially slurry). The testing stress paths followed in the experimental program were different from most research programs conducted in the past and reported in the research literature. Conclusions regarding the compressibility, stress path dependency, and hysteretic nature of the soil-water characteristic curve of an unsaturated soil were presented.</p><p>A considerable number of test results (i.e., from both the experimental program and the research literature) were used in the verification of the new volume-mass constitutive model. This model has proven to be effective in predicting both collapse and expansion of a soil. The volume-mass constitutive model appears to predict behaviour in a satisfactory manner for a wide range of soils; however, the predictions appear to be superior for certain soils. In all cases the volume-mass predictions of the model appear to be satisfactory for geotechnical engineering practice.

The central concern of this thesis is the study of non-equilibrium behaviour in magnetic materials and its interpretation within the framework of the Preisach model of hysteresis. Comprehensive experimental characterizations of the field and temperature and time dependence of a suite of standard magnetic response functions have been performed on a variety of magnetic materials, including a naturally occurring mineral of nanodimensional titanomagnetite particles embedded in volcanic glass, a compressed powder of nanodimensional magnetite particles immobilized in an organic binder, a thin film of nanodimensional Fe particles embedded in alumina, and a series of sintered, bond-disordered CaxSr1-xRuO3 ferromagnets. The measurements were compared with numerical simulations based on a model Preisach ensemble of thermally activated two-level subsystems, characterized individually by a double well free energy profile in a two-dimensional configuration space, an elementary moment reversal, a dissipation field and a bias field, and characterized collectively by a distribution of these characteristic fields. Our efforts were concentrated on two principal spheres of investigation. (1) By performing detailed numerical simulations of the relaxation response of model Preisach collections of two-level subsystems under the same field and temperature protocols used to probe experimentally the relaxation dynamics of spin glasses, we have been able to show that aging, memory and rejuvenation effects are ubiquitous features of all materials which possess a broad distribution of free energy barriers which block the approach to thermal equilibrium. (2) We propose a general strategy for isolating and quantifying the two principal mechanisms, thermal fluctuations and barrier growth, which are jointly responsible for shaping the measured temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of all magnetic materials which exhibit a history dependent response to an external field excitation, and is based on the analysis of viscosity isotherms and, in particular, on a plot of T ln(tr/0) versus Ha , where tr is the time at which a viscosity isotherm measured in a field Ha at temperature T reverses sign. When thermal activation dominates barrier growth, this plot will yield a universal curve while, in the opposite limit the plot fractures into a family of isothermal curves. The strategy is applied to the analysis of each magnetic material listed above. / February 2009

<p>Many geotechnical engineering problems involve combining two or more independent physical processes as a coupled solution of seepage, volume change and shear strength. For any physical process being modeled, it is desirous to be able to compute any of the volume-mass soil properties. When the volume-mass soil properties are combined with the stress state of the soil, the result is a volume-mass constitutive relationship. Three volume-mass constitutive relationships (i.e., void ratio, water content and degree of saturation) are generally viewed as being the most fundamental; however, only two of the relations are independent. The unsaturated soil properties associated with seepage, volume change and shear strength problems are also related to the volume-mass soil properties. While the unsaturated soil properties are often estimated as simply being a function of the soil-water characteristic curve, it is more accurate to define the properties in a more rigorous manner in terms of the volume-mass soil properties. The advancement of computing capabilities means that it is quite easy to formulate constitutive relations for shear strength and permeability, for example, in terms of all volume-mass properties of the unsaturated soil.</p><p>The objectives of this dissertation include: i) the development of volume-mass constitutive models for unsaturated soils; ii) the further study and verification of the volume-mass constitutive behavior of unsaturated soils; and iii) the development of techniques for visualization of volume-mass constitutive surfaces for unsaturated soils. To achieve these objectives, the present research study was conducted from both theoretical and experimental bases.</p><p>The theoretical program commenced with a comprehensive literature review of the volume-mass constitutive relationships for unsaturated soils. A new, more rigorous volume-mass constitutive model was then proposed. Appropriate terminology was introduced for the development of the model, followed by an outline of the assumptions used and the mathematical derivation. The proposed model requires conventionally obtainable soil properties for its calibration. The model is capable of predicting both the void ratio and water content constitutive relationships for various unsaturated soils, taking into account elastic and plastic volume changes. Various stress paths can be simulated and hysteresis associated with the soil-water characteristic curve can be taken into account. </p><p>Two closed-form equations for the volume-mass constitutive relationships were derived. A computer software program was written based on the theory of the proposed volume-mass constitutive model. Techniques for the visualization of the volume-mass constitutive surfaces were then presented. An experimental program was conducted in the laboratory. The experimental program involved the verification of a new testing apparatus. Several soils were selected for testing purposes and appropriate testing procedures were established (i.e., soil specimens were initially slurry). The testing stress paths followed in the experimental program were different from most research programs conducted in the past and reported in the research literature. Conclusions regarding the compressibility, stress path dependency, and hysteretic nature of the soil-water characteristic curve of an unsaturated soil were presented.</p><p>A considerable number of test results (i.e., from both the experimental program and the research literature) were used in the verification of the new volume-mass constitutive model. This model has proven to be effective in predicting both collapse and expansion of a soil. The volume-mass constitutive model appears to predict behaviour in a satisfactory manner for a wide range of soils; however, the predictions appear to be superior for certain soils. In all cases the volume-mass predictions of the model appear to be satisfactory for geotechnical engineering practice.

The dissertation studies the nonlinear resonance problems of power systems. Generally speaking, ferroresonance has usually occurred in low-voltage distribution system, especially for potential transformers. Due to the considerable increase of power consumption, the power system is more complex than before. Besides, a number of under-ground cables are used, and transformers¡¦ loss reduce due to improvement of core iron material. These factors could probably result in ferroresnance occurring in extra-high-voltage power system. The dissertation proposed three-phase representation method to analyze unbalance and non-linear system. This method employ magnetically coupled electrical circuit techniques and the original voltage equations can be used without the need for any transformations, which improves significantly computation accuracy. Consequently, it is quite suitable for power system design and incident investigation. Since the traditional d-q-0 model is not well suited for the study of unbalanced faults and requires further transformation, the analytical solution becomes rather complicated and the solutions are still inaccurate. At last we simulated the ferroresonant overvoltages occurring at a nuclear power station in Taiwan in order to investigate the causes and afford mitigation. The simulation results were enough to prove accuracy and practicability of this method.

Deterioration in the mechanical properties of concrete, masonry and steel structures are usually observed under repeated cyclic loading in the inelastic response range. Therefore such a behavior becomes critical when these types of structures are subjected to ground motions with specific characteristics. The objective of this study is to address the influence of degrading behavior on simple systems. The Structural Performance Database on the PEER web site, which contains the results of cyclic, lateral-load tests of reinforced concrete columns, are employed to quantify the degradation characteristics of simple systems by calibrating the selected degrading model parameters for unloading stiffness, strength and pinching of a previously developed hysteresis model. The obtained values of parameters from cyclic test results are compared with the recommended values in literature. In the last part of the study, response of SDOF systems with various degradation characteristics are investigated using a set of seismic excitations recorded during some major earthquakes. The results indicate that when all the degradation components are combined in a structural system, the effect of degradation on response values becomes much more pronounced.