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This paper presents the spatial implementation of the karst feature database (KFD) of Minnesota in a GIS environment. ESRI's ArcInfo and ArcView GIS packages were used to analyze and manipulate the spatial operations of the KFD of Minnesota. Spatial operations were classified into three data manipulation categories: single layer operation, multiple layer operation, and other spatial transformation in the KFD. Most of the spatial operations discussed in this paper can be conducted using ArcInfo, ArcView, and ArcGIS. A set of strategies and rules were proposed and used to build the spatial operational module in the KFD to make the spatial operations more efficient and topographically correct.

Passive and compact heat dissipation systems are and will remain vital for the successful operation of modern electronic systems. Oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) have been a part of this research area since their inception due to their ability to passively manage high heat fluxes. In the current investigation, different designs of tubular, flat plate, and multiple layer oscillating heat pipes are studied by using different operating parameters to investigate the operating limitations of each design. Furthermore, selective laser melting was demonstrated as a new OHP manufacturing technique and was used to create a compact multiple layer flat plate OHP. A 7-turn tubular oscillating heat pipe (T-OHP) was created and tested experimentally with three working fluids (water, acetone, and n-pentane) and different orientations (horizontal, vertical top heating, and vertical bottom heating). For vertical, T-OHP was tested with the condenser at 0°, 45° and 90° bend angle from the y-axis (achieved by bending the OHP in the adiabatic) in both bottom and top heating modes. The results show that T-OHP thermal performance depends on the bend angle, working fluid, and orientation. Another design of L-shape closed loop square microchannel (750 x 750 microns) copper heat pipe was fabricated from copper to create a thermal connector with thermal resistance < 0.09 ˚C/W for electronic boards. The TC-OHP was able to manage heat rates up to 250 W. A laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) method was employed for fabricating a multi-layered, Ti-6Al-4V oscillating heat pipe (ML-OHP). The 50.8 x 38.1 x 15.75 mm3 ML-OHP consisted of four inter-connected layers of circular mini-channels, as well an integrated, hermetic-grade fill port. A series of experiments were conducted to characterize the ML-OHP thermal performance by varying power input (up to 50 W), working fluid (water, acetone, NovecTM 7200, and n-pentane), and operating orientation (vertical bottom-heating, horizontal, and vertical top-heating). The ML-OHP was found to operate effectively for all working fluids and orientations investigated, demonstrating that the OHP can function in a multi-layered form, and further indicating that one can ‘stack’ multiple, interconnected OHPs within flat media for increased thermal management.

Stand Up Weave explores multiple-layer weaving from a sculptural and spatial perspective in combination with non-textile materials as a way of challanging what weaving can be and how it can be developed in the changing textile industry. The aim was to develop three-dimensional fabrics by hand weaving in multiple layers with integrated supporting structures to achieve sculptural textile objects directed towards experimental textile design. The work investigates and develops methods of how to design and produce complete textile objects directly in the loom without industrial machines or finishing processes such as sewing together parts. The result is a collection of three woven objects, each exhibiting different ways of constructing three-dimensional textiles with individual solutions for warp planning, weaving and supporting structures.

Multiple-layer Lamina Emergent Mechanisms (MLEMs) are mechanisms made from multiple sheets (lamina) of material with motion that emerges out of the fabrication plane. This study has shown that understanding how layers are used in existing products and in nature provides insight into how MLEMs can also use layers to achieve certain tasks. The multi-layered nature of MLEMs and the interactions between these layers are what enhance the capabilities of MLEMs and allow them to better meet design objectives. Layer separation is one objective for which MLEMs are well-suited. Layer separation can have a variety of applications and there are a number of different ways to design a MLEM to achieve this objective. Single-layer LEM and MLEM designs could greatly benefit from suitable actuation techniques; those that are consistent with the advantages of these mechanisms and could be incorporated into their design. This work presents shape memory alloys, piezoelectrics and dielectric elastomers as suitable ways of actuating LEMs and MLEMs. A number of novel MLEMs are presented throughout this thesis.

Yes / Three-dimensional printing (3DP) has demonstrated great potential for multi-material fabrication because of its capability for printing bespoke and spatially separated material conformations. Such a concept could revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry, enabling the production of personalised, multi-layered drug products on demand. Here, we developed a novel stereolithographic (SLA) 3D printing method that, for the first time, can be used to fabricate multi-layer constructs (polypills) with variable drug content and/or shape. Using this technique, six drugs, including paracetamol, cffeine, naproxen, chloramphenicol, prednisolone and aspirin, were printed with dfferent geometries and material compositions. Drug distribution was visualised using Raman microscopy, which showed that whilst separate layers were successfully printed, several of the drugs diffused across the layers depending on their amorphous or crystalline phase. The printed constructs demonstrated excellent physical properties and the different material inclusions enabled distinct drug release profiles of the six actives within dissolution tests. For the first time, this paper demonstrates the feasibility of SLA printing as an innovative platform for multi-drug therapy production, facilitating a new era of personalised polypills.

Les travaux de cette thèse concernent des études fondamentales liées à la rhéologie interfaciale des systèmes polymères multicouches. Les matériaux choisis sont à base de deux polymères compatibles,PVDF et PMMA de différentes masses molaires. Ces systèmes ont été étudiés sous sollicitations en cisaillement et en élongation suivant les deux régimes en viscoélasticité linéaire (VEL) et non-linéaire (VENL). Les études en VEL ont permis d’étudier la cinétique de développement de l’interphase. Quant aux études en VENL, elles ont permis d’étudier les propriétés intrinsèques de l’interphase simulant ainsi les conditions de mise en œuvre proches de celles des procédés usuels. On démontre ainsi que la rhéologie joue le rôle d’une sonde très fine pour explorer les propriétés aux interfaces des matériaux multicouches. Des modélisations ont été établies en se basant sur les mécanismes physiques mis en jeu. Dans un premier temps, le comportement rhéologique à l’état fondu des multicouches a été étudié par spectrométrie mécanique dynamique en VEL. Les cinétiques d'interdiffusion ainsi que le développement de l’interphase générée aux interfaces de bicouches symétriques et asymétriques ont été étudiés. Les résultats obtenus ont été analysés et modélisés en se basant sur les concepts de la dynamique moléculaire en l’occurrence le modèle de Doi et Edwards. De plus, un nouveau modèle rhéologique a été développé. Il a permis de quantifier les coefficients d'interdiffusion. Les coefficients de friction des chaines et les propriétés rhéologiques de l’interphase ont été modélisés à leur tour. Les résultats obtenus corroborent ceux de la littérature, obtenus par des méthodes spectroscopiques sophistiquées. Le modèle a permis de quantifier les grandeurs viscoélastiques et l’épaisseur de l’interphase. Dans un second temps, des expérimentations en VENL ont été réalisées. Un modèle original a été également proposé pour décrire le comportement relatif à la relaxation des multicouches et de l'interphase. De plus, la sensibilité de la densité d’enchevêtrement a été étudiée pendant et après sollicitations. On démontre que sa présence retarde l'écoulement interfacial surtout sous hautes déformations et vitesses de déformation. En outre, les études des structures multicouches sous sollicitation élongationnelle ont montrées que les propriétés dépendent du rapport de viscosité des couches et les propriétés de l’interphase diffuse. Les travaux de cette thèse mettent en lumière la compétition entre l’effet négatif de l'orientation des chaînes et l'effet favorable de l'écoulement sur les cinétiques de la diffusion. Ensuite, des cartes de stabilités des écoulements stratifiés ont été établies.. La présence de l'interphase diffuse a contribué à une élimination des instabilités. On montre ainsi qu’outre la cinématique de l’écoulement en cisaillement et en élongation, les propriétés de l’interphase ont un rôle important dans la stabilité des écoulements stratifiés en coextrusion. / Fundamental studies have been devoted in this work to probe and modelize the interfacial phenomena at multilayered polymer systems based on two model compatible polymers of PVDF and PMMA with varying molar masses. Linear and nonlinear rheology have been demonstrated to be sensitive to the presence of diffuse interphase triggered from interdiffusion at polymer/polymer interface. Firstly, the interdiffusion kinetics as well as the development of the interphase decoupled to flow as generated at a symmetrical (self diffusion) and an asymmetrical (mutual diffusion) bilayer have been investigated using small-amplitude oscillatory shear measurements. Results were analyzed according to Doi-Edwards theory (tube model) and the effects of annealing factors as well as structural properties on the diffusion kinetics have been studied. The PMMA/PVDF mixtures have been examined to be a couple of weak thermorheological complexity, owning close monomeric friction coefficients of each species in the present experimental conditions. Based on this physics, a new rheological model was developed to quantify the interdiffusion coefficients by taking into account the component dynamics in mixed state and the concept of interfacial rheology. Rheological and geometrical properties of the interphase have been able to be quantified through this model, as validated by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Secondly, experiments of step strain, startup in simple shear and in uni-axial extension have been carried out on the PMMA/PVDF multilayer structures. An original model was proposed to fit the stress relaxation behavior of multilayer structures and to estimate the relaxation behavior of the interphase. Lack of entanglement at the interface and weak entanglement intensity at the diffuse interphase make them to be subsequently readily to suffer from interfacial yielding even interfacial failure during and after continuous large deformations. Interphase delays the interfacial yielding to a larger external deformation or a higher deformation rate. Besides, elongational properties of the multilayer structures have been shown to be a function of composition as controlled by layer number(interfacial area) and interphase properties (rheology related to entanglement intensity). Finally, the diffuse interphase development coupled to flow in practical coextrusion process has been considered. The compromising result between negative effect of chain orientation and favorable effect of flow on diffusion kinetics gives rise to a broadening interphase after coextrusion. Presence of the diffuse interphase was demonstrated to significantly weaken (or even eliminate) the viscous and elastic instabilities despite of the high rheological contrast. Hence, this work gives guidelines on the key role of the interphase plays in structure-property-processing relationships.