Zugl.: Hamburg, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2006

Thesis (D.Min.)--Liberty University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

The transport of multi-phase flow in pipelines can be met in a wide range of industrial applications, including the oil and gas industry, showing great savings in developments. In addition, as the exploration of new fields in oil and gas expands to harsh environments, such as ocean or polar, the multi-phase flow transport sometimes becomes the only feasible option. The important features of such multi-phase flow applications include flow regimes, pressure drop and liquid holdup. The precise estimation of these parameters has significant technical and economical impacts on the design and operation of an oil and gas pipelines. Many prediction correlations and methods have been developed; computational fluid dynamics (CFD) being one of them. This type of modelling approach has many advantages over the conventional approaches such as its ability to solve 3D transient problems; offering access to a wealth of information which with conventional techniques is extremely difficult to obtain. Therefore, interest in applying CFD for multi-phase flow transport in pipelines has been on the rise. This thesis is aimed at presenting CFD simulations based on the use of the Volume of Fluid model (VOF) approach for various conditions of gas-liquid turbulent flow in a horizontal circular pipe. In the current VOF formulation in addition to the secondary phase transport equation, a geometric reconstruction technique based on a piecewise-linear interface construction approach is used for reconstructing the interface. A number of multi-phase studies using different turbulence models to the current one have recently appeared in the open literature for simple flow geometries such as rectangular channels. However, most of them assume specific boundary conditions (such as fully-separated phases for stratified flows, the use of square wave at the inlet to represent slug flow or imposing an interfacial disturbance to initiate slugging). These require case-by-case empirical information such as, interfacial roughness for stratified- or slug frequency for intermittent-flow. However, most of them have not presented any detailed validation of their results. The former two points are very crucial for the design of transport pipelines as a pre-knowledge of the operative flow regime and empirical information are not available at the design stage. The predictive accuracy of the present simulations is tested against most common mechanistic approaches and detailed measurements of stratified two-phase flow in a horizontal pipe of Strand (1993) and have been found to be in reasonable quantitative agreement. For the intermittent flow type cases, the numerical results are qualitatively compared against experiments in a horizontal pipe of Al-alweet (2008). The computed flow data of intermittent flow type are further tested against some empirical and mechanistic correlations; the numerical results are qualitatively in a reasonable agreement. Gas compressibility effects on the simulations of slug flow are also explored and are found to bring about some positive benefit. Overall, the predictive accuracy of the present approach is reasonable and promising, demonstrating the ability of the model to predict different types of flow regimes found in two-phase pipe flows. Furthermore, the proposed model shows potential for general applicability to the design of two-phase pipeline systems as it does not require pre-knowledge of the flow regime or any case-by-case empirical information.

La grande capacité de calcul, flexibilité, faible consommation d'énergie, redondance intrinsèque et la haute performance fournie par les processeurs multi/many-cœur les rendent idéaux pour surmonter les nouveaux défis dans les systèmes informatiques. Cependant, le degré d'intégration de ces dispositifs augmente leur sensibilité aux effets des radiations naturelles. Par conséquent, des fabricants, partenaires industriels et universitaires travaillent ensemble pour améliorer les caractéristiques de ces dispositifs ce qui permettrait leur utilisation dans des systèmes embarqués et critiques. Dans ce contexte, le travail effectué dans le cadre de cette thèse vise à évaluer l'impact des SEEs (Single Event Effects) dans des applications parallèles s'exécutant sur des processeurs multi-cœur et many-cœur, et développer et valider une approche logicielle pour améliorer la fiabilité du système appelée N- MoRePar. La méthodologie utilisée pour l'évaluation était fondée sur des études de cas multiples. Les différents scénarios mis en œuvre envisagent une large gamme de configurations de système en termes de mode de multi-processing, modèle de programmation, modèle de mémoire et des ressources utilisées. Pour l'expérimentation, deux dispositifs COTS ont été sélectionnés: le quad-core Freescale PowerPC P2041 en technologie SOI 45nm, et le processeur multi-cœur KALRAY MPPA-256 en CMOS 28nm. Les études de cas ont été évaluées par l'injection de fautes et par des campagnes des tests sur neutron. Les résultats obtenus servent de guide aux développeurs pour choisir la configuration du système la plus fiable en fonction de leurs besoins. En outre, les résultats de l'évaluation de l'approche N-MoRePar basée sur des critères de redondance et de partitionnement augmente l'utilisation des processeurs COTS multi/many-cœur dans des systèmes qui requièrent haute fiabilité. / The large computing capacity, great flexibility, low power consumption, intrinsic redundancy and high performance provided by multi/many-core processors make them ideal to overcome with the new challenges in computing systems. However, the degree of scale integration of these devices increases their sensitivity to the effects of natural radiation. Consequently manufacturers, industrial and university partners are working together to improve their characteristics which allow their usage in critical embedded systems. In this context, the work done throughout this thesis aims at evaluating the impact of SEEs on parallel applications running on multi-core and many-core processors, and proposing a software approach to improve the system reliability. The methodology used for evaluation was based on multiple-case studies. The different scenarios implemented consider a wide range of system configurations in terms of multi-processing mode, programming model, memory model, and resources used. For the experimentation, two COTS devices were selected: the Freescale PowerPC P2041 quad-core built in 45nm SOI technology, and the KALRAY MPPA-256 many-core processor built in 28nm CMOS technology. The case-studies were evaluated through fault-injection and neutron radiation. The obtained results serve as useful guidelines to developers for choosing the most reliable system configuration according to their requirements. Furthermore, the evaluation results of the proposed N-MoRePar fault-tolerant approach based on redundancy and partitioning criteria boost the usage of COTS multi/many-core processors in high level dependability systems.

abstract: Cloud computing has received significant attention recently as it is a new computing infrastructure to enable rapid delivery of computing resources as a utility in a dynamic, scalable, and visualized manner. SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) provide a now paradigm in cloud computing, which goal is to provide an effective and intelligent way to support end users' on-demand requirements to computing resources, including maturity levels of customizable, multi-tenancy and scalability. To meet requirements of on-demand, my thesis discusses several critical research problems and proposed solutions using real application scenarios. Service providers receive multiple requests from customers, how to prioritize those service requests to maximize the business values is one of the most important issues in cloud. An innovative prioritization model is proposed, which uses different types of information, including customer, service, environment and workflow information to optimize the performance of the system. To provide "on-demand" services, an accurate demand prediction and provision become critical for the successful of the cloud computing. An effective demand prediction model is proposed, and applied to a real mortgage application. To support SaaS customization and fulfill the various functional and quality requirements of individual tenants, a unified and innovative multi-layered customization framework is proposed to support and manage the variability of SaaS applications. To support scalable SaaS, a hybrid database design to support SaaS customization with two-layer database partitioning is proposed. To support secure SaaS, O-RBAC, an ontology based RBAC (Role based Access Control) model is used for Multi-Tenancy Architecture in clouds. To support a significant number of tenants, an easy to use SaaS construction framework is proposed. As a summary, this thesis discusses the most important research problems in cloud computing, towards effective and intelligent SaaS. The research in this thesis is critical to the development of cloud computing and provides fundamental solutions to those problems. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Computer Science 2011

NoSQL databases are widely used for many applications as a technology for data storage, and their usage and popularity rises. The first aim of the thesis is to research the existing approaches and technologies for schema evolution in NoSQL databases. Next, we introduce an approach for schema evolution in multi-model databases with a unified interface for the most common data models. The proposed approach is easy to use and covers the common migration scenarios. We have also implemented a prototype, optimized its read/write operations, and demonstrated its properties on real-world data. 1

Covert channel attacks utilize shared resources to indirectly transmit sensitive information to unauthorized parties. Many current operating systems, such as SELinux, rely on generating labels based on a file's security classification and system-wide security policies and then binding these labels to all such files in the filesystem. Enforcement of security policies in such systems occurs at the time of access to a file or resource. Such mechanisms are flawed, however, in that they do not adequately protect against information laundering by means of covert channels. One recent development, Colored Linux, serves as an extension to SELinux and utilizes watermarking algorithms to "color" the contents of files with their respective security classification in order to enhance resistance to information laundering attacks. In this thesis, a mobile agent-based approach to implementing Colored Linux is proposed to automate the process of detecting and coloring receptive hosts' filesystems and to provide monitoring of the colored filesystem for instances of potential information leakage. Implementation details and execution results are included to illustrate the merits of the proposed approach. An evaluation of the performance of this agent-based system is conducted over a single host as well as a local network of machines and detailed here as well. Finally, third-party analysis of the agent system using formal methods is discussed.

Multi-agent systems rely heavily on coordination and cooperation to achieve a variety of tasks. It is often assumed that these agents will be fully cooperative, or have reliable and equal performance among group members. Instead, we consider cooperation as a spectrum of possible interactions, ranging from performance variations within the group to adversarial agents. This thesis examines several scenarios where cooperation and performance are not guaranteed. Potential applications include sensor coverage, emergency response, wildlife management, tracking, and surveillance. We use geometric methods, such as Voronoi tessellations, for design insight and Lyapunov-based stability theory to analyze our proposed controllers. Performance is verified through simulations and experiments on a variety of ground and aerial robotic platforms. First, we consider the problem of Voronoi-based coverage control, where a group of robots must spread out over an environment to provide coverage. Our approach adapts online to sensing and actuation performance variations with the group. The robots have no prior knowledge of their relative performance, and in a distributed fashion, compensate by assigning weaker robots a smaller portion of the environment. Next, we consider the problem of multi-agent herding, akin to shepherding. Here, a group of dog-like robots must drive a herd of non-cooperative sheep-like agents around the environment. Our key insight in designing the control laws for the herders is to enforce geometrical relationships that allow for the combined system dynamics to reduce to a single nonholonomic vehicle. We also investigate the cooperative pursuit of an evader by a group of quadrotors in an environment with no-fly zones. While the pursuers cannot enter the no-fly zones, the evader moves freely through the zones to avoid capture. Using tools for Voronoi-based coverage control, we provide an algorithm to distribute the pursuers around the zone's boundary and minimize capture time once the evader emerges. Finally, we present an algorithm for the guaranteed capture of multiple evaders by one or more pursuers in a bounded, convex environment. The pursuers utilize properties of the evader's Voronoi cell to choose a control strategy that minimizes the safe-reachable area of the evader, which in turn leads to the evader's capture.

[pt] A presente pesquisa apresenta uma inédita abordagem multi-critério aplicada a seleção de parâmetros para a usina mecânica. O modelo proposto aborda a seleção de ferramentas de corte e a otimização das condições de usinagem em múltiplos estágios (mais especificamente a seleção do avanço, da velocidade de corte e da composição de estágios de usinagem). Apresenta-se, também, um sistema computacional (SIAD_T) desenvolvido em pararelo à presente pesquisa, com o objetivo de simular a metodologia aqui proposta. Este sistema, aplicável à seleção de condições de usinagem em operações de carreamento em tornos mecânicos, é dotado das seguintes ferramentas: (i) ferramenta gráfica para entrada das características geométricas da peça a ser usinada; (ii) ferramenta gráfica para definição dos volumes unitários (estágios de usinagem); (iii) código numérico para implementação do modelo multi-critério no processo de seleção de variáveis para a usinagem dos volumes unitários; e, (v) código numérico para implementação do modelo multi-critério no processo de seleção das famílias de volumes unitários (conjuntos de volumes unitários). Além destes pontos, o presente texto apresenta uma inédita análise de sensibilidade, na qual se avalia e questiona o grau de relevância da aplicação de uma abordagem multi-critério ao processo de tomada de decisões no contexto da usinagem. / [en] This work describes a original multicriteria approach to the machining parametes selection problem. The proposed model comprises the cutting tools selection problem and optimal parameters selection for multiple estages machining. In addition, a computacional system (SIAD_T) is developed to simulate the proposed methology implementation. This system, applicable to turning operations, has the following characteristica: (i) a graphical tool to input the geotric features of the workpiece,(ii) a graphical tool to input the unitary volumes, (iii) a numerical code to simulate the application o the multicriteria approach to the cutting tools selection process,(iv) a numerical code to simulate the application of the multicriteria approach on the machining parameters selection process, and (v) a numerical code to simulate the application of the multicriteria approach to the selection of machinable volumes (or selection of a set of unitary volumes). Finally, this work presents an analysis of the revelance of applying a multicriteria approach to decision making process concerning the machining context.

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