The problem of dissolved oxygen drawdown and sulfate production in strip mine spoil dams due to chemical reaction between an excess of pyrite, water, and dissolved oxygen is investigated. A finite element analysis is used to solve the diffusion-convection equation assuming steady state conditions and no internal oxygen sources. Oxygen recharge along the free surface is permitted. The analysis is performed in three steps. Step one calculates the nodal piezometric heads and elemental bulk fluid velocities. Steps two and three determine the nodal dissolved oxygen and sulfate concentrations. Solutions are presented for a wide range of soil permeabilities and dissolved oxygen reaction coefficients. It is found that as the dissolved oxygen reaction coefficients. decreased, the dissolved oxygen deficit decreased and the sulfate concentration increased. From these results it was found that the maximum dissolved oxygen deficit occurs at an internal point in the dam and the maximum sulfate concentration occurs on the downstream face of the dam. The computer program used in the analysis is written in FORTRMi IV computer language and requires a minimum of programming knowledge to implement. / Ph. D.

The fundamental issue of determining acoustic properties of porous media from their local geometry is examined in this PhD dissertation thesis, thanks to a sample of open-cell aluminum foam analyzed by axial computed microtomography. Various geometric properties are measured to characterize the experimental sample at the cell size level. This is done in order to reconstruct a porous medium by means of idealized three- and two- dimensional unit-cells.The frequency dependant thermal and velocity fields governing the propagation and dissipation of acoustic waves through rigid porous media are computed by Brownian motion simulation and the finite element method, respectively. Macroscopic behavior is derived by spatial averaging of the local fields. Our results are compared to experimental data obtained from impedance tube measurements. Firstly, this approach leads to the identification of the macroscopic parameters involved in Pride and Lafarge semiphenomenological models. Secondly, it yields a direct access to thermal and viscous dynamic permeabilities. However, the bi-dimensional model underestimates the static viscous permeability as well as the viscous characteristic length; what thus require a three-dimensional implementation.

L’EVOH est un copolymère thermoplastique semi-cristallin composé de segments de polyéthylène et d’alcool polyvinylique de proportion variable. Grâce notamment à une importante densité d’énergie cohésive lui conférant d’excellentes propriétés barrière à l’oxygène et aux arômes en condition anhydre, ce matériau est aujourd’hui largement utilisé dans l’élaboration d’emballages alimentaires multicouches. Sa grande sensibilité à l’eau, provoquant une détérioration importante des propriétés du matériau en conditions hydratées, reste cependant la principale problématique liée à son utilisation actuelle. Dans ce contexte, les travaux ont dans un premier temps porté sur la compréhension approfondie du comportement d’hydratation de l’EVOH afin de mettre en évidence des relations propriétés-structure, ce qui n’avait pas été réalisé jusqu’à présent. Deux axes de recherches ont ensuite été développés dans le but d’améliorer les propriétés barrière du matériau aussi bien à l’état anhydre qu’à l’état hydraté, tout en conservant une bonne transparence et une tenue mécanique correcte: le mélange de polymère d’une part, et l’approche nanocomposite d’autre part. Le choix de la voie fondu, procédé de mise en œuvre peu décrit dans la littérature pour ces systèmes, et celui des charges ont été guidés par la possibilité de transposer facilement les études à l’échelle industrielle / EVOH is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic copolymer composed of polyethylene and polyvinyl alcohol segments in various contents. Thanks to an important cohesive energy density leading to excellent oxygen and food aromas barrier properties in anhydrous state, this material is currently widely used in the elaboration of multilayer food packaging. Its high moisture sensitivity, causing an important deterioration of the properties of the material in hydrated conditions, still constitutes the main inconvenient for its current use. In this context, the studies were firstly focused on the detailed comprehension of the hydration behavior of EVOH in order to underline properties-structure relations, which was still unrealized. Two research axes were then developed in order to improve the barrier properties of the material in both dry and hydrated states, while remaining mechanical behavior and transparency stable: the polymers blend, on the one hand, and the nanocomposite approach on the other hand. The choice of the melting way, rarely described in the literature for these systems, and the one of the fillers nature were dictated by the possibility to easily transpose the experiments to an industrial scale