In this thesis, a modified wear calculation method is developed to calculate the train wheel wear, which can give less precise but faster results compared to the classic wear calculation method. This modified method is developed based on the classic wear calculation method developed by Jendel, which uses Hertz theory and Kalker’s simplified theory to calculate the contact variables and uses Achard theory to calculate the wear volume in an iterative manner. Compared with the classic method, this modified wear calculation method does not execute the multibody simulation (MBS) at each wear step, instead, it executes MBS by different strategies, for example, does MBS only at the first wear step or does it at every several wear steps. This way, a look-up table is utilised to store the contact variables from MBS and when no MBS is executed, the variables stored in the look-up table would be used to calculate the wear.In order to make the implementation of the modified wear calculation method possible, a contact point detection program is developed in this research. Significantly, this contact point detection program considers the material flexibility and can detect multiple contact points, which makes it very precise. It uses the pressure distribution calculated by Winkler theory as a weighting function to consider the material flexibility. In terms of multiple contact points detection, the gap between wheel and rail is regarded as a function, and the derivative relationship of the function is used to detect multiple contact points. Results from the modified wear calculation method are compared with results from the classic wear calculation method. The effects of different strategies are discussed, and the analysis of the error source is carried out in this work.This modified wear calculation method could be used for predicting the wear condition of the wheel when a quick result with only moderate precision is needed. / I den här avhandlingen utvecklas en modifierad beräkningsmetod för slitage av spårfordons hjul, som ger mindre exakta men snabbare resultat jämfört med den klassiska beräkningsmetoden för hjulslitage. Den modifierade beräkningsmetoden är utvecklad baserat på den klassiska beräkningsmetoden för slitage som utvecklats av Tomas Jendel, som använder Hertz-teorin och Kalkers förenklade teori för att beräkna kontaktvariablerna och använder Achard-teorin för att beräkna volymen av materialet som har slitits bort med en iterativ metod. Jämfört med den klassiska metoden utför inte denna modifierade beräkningsmetod flerkroppssimulering (MBS) vid varje steg där normal hjulprofilen uppdateras, utan använder sig av olika strategier. Till exempel genomförs gör MBS bara vid första slitagesteget eller vid några av slitagestegen. Därför används en uppslagstabell för att lagra kontaktvariablerna från MBS och när ingen MBS exekveras, användas variablerna lagrade i uppslagstabellen för att beräkna slitage.För att möjliggöra implementeringen av den modifierade beräkningsmetoden för slitage utvecklas ett kontaktpunktdetekteringsprogram i denna examensarbete.. Det är viktigt att detekteringsprogrammet tar hänsyn till materialflexibiliteten och att det kan detektera flera kontaktpunkter, med hög precision. Programmet använder Winkler-metoden och den tryckfördelning som beräknas enligt Winkler-teorin som en viktning för att beakta materialets flexibilitet. När det gäller detektering av flera kontaktpunkter betraktas gapet mellan hjul och räls som en funktion, och derivatan av den funktionen används används för att detektera flera kontaktpunkter.Resultat från den modifierade beräkningsmetoden för slitage jämförs med resultaten från den klassiska beräkningsmetoden. Effekterna av olika strategier diskuteras och felkällor analyseras.Denna modifierade beräkningsmetod för slitage kan användas för att förutsäga hjulets slitagetillstånd när ett snabbt resultat med endast måttlig precision behövs.

Principal message of this thesis is to introduce designer Pavel Pánek putting him into proper historical context and to reveal some of his unpublished designs or sketches which are hidden to the eye of wider audience. First chapter is fully devoted to the concise history of technique of pressing glass and mention is made of so called pressing ring playing important role in it. One of the sections contains in brief Pavel Pánek's biography where some moments of crucial importance are underlined. Most important part is that, which provides with account of Pánek's works that I found either interesting or crucial for the development of pressed glass. At the beginning of the description of each piece brief description of used technology is added. I am striving to emphasize Pánek's inexhaustible inventiveness and knowledge of techniques that eventually gave rise to some of his best pieces ever. It appears that in some way Pánek was to a certain extent predestined to grow into a sculptor of great providence especially for the sake of his vocational education. Due to the fact Pánek's personality faces false accusation of plagiarism and theft of foreign invention nowadays I had to include apologetic chapter in it. At the end of the thesis I conclude that Pánek, embodied one of the most experimentally -...

La radio impulsionnelle UWB (IR-UWB) est une technologie de communication relativement récente, qui apporte une solution intéressante au problème de l’encombrement du spectre RF, et qui répond aux exigences de haut débit et localisation précise d’un nombre croissant d’applications, telles que les communications indoor, les réseaux de capteurs personnels et corporels, l’IoT, etc. Ses caractéristiques uniques sont obtenues par la transmission d’impulsions de très courte durée (inférieure à 1 ns), occupant une largeur de bande allant jusqu’à 7,5 GHz, et ayant une densité spectrale de puissance extrêmement faible (inférieure à -43 dBm/MHz). Les meilleures performances d’un système IR-UWB sont obtenues avec des récepteurs cohérents de type Rake, au prix d’une complexité accrue, due notamment à l’étape d’estimation du canal UWB, caractérisé par de nombreux trajets multiples. Cette étape de traitement nécessite l’estimation d’un ensemble de composantes spectrales du signal reçu, sans pouvoir faire appel aux techniques d’échantillonnage usuelles, en raison d’une limite de Nyquist particulièrement élevée (plusieurs GHz).Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous proposons de nouvelles approches, à faible complexité, pour l’estimation du canal UWB, basées sur la représentation parcimonieuse du signal reçu, la théorie de l’acquisition compressée, et les méthodes de reconstruction des signaux à taux d’innovation fini. La réduction de complexité ainsi obtenue permet de diminuer de manière significative le coût d’implémentation du récepteur IR-UWB et sa consommation. D’abord, deux schémas d’échantillonnage compressé, monovoie (filtre SoS) et multivoie (MCMW) identifiés dans la littérature sont étendus au cas des signaux UWB ayant un spectre de type passe-bande, en tenant compte de leur implémentation réelle dans le circuit. Ces schémas permettent l’acquisition des coefficients spectraux du signal reçu et l’échantillonnage à des fréquences très réduites ne dépendant pas de la bande passante des signaux, mais seulement du nombre des trajets multiples du canal UWB. L’efficacité des approches proposées est démontrée au travers de deux applications : l’estimation du canal UWB pour un récepteur Rake cohérent à faible complexité, et la localisation précise en environnement intérieur dans un contexte d’aide à la dépendance.En outre, afin de réduire la complexité de l’approche multivoie en termes de nombre de voies nécessaires pour l’estimation du canal UWB, nous proposons une architecture à nombre de voies réduit, en augmentant le nombre d’impulsions pilotes émises.Cette même approche permet aussi la réduction de la fréquence d’échantillonnage associée au schéma MCMW. Un autre objectif important de la thèse est constitué par l’optimisation des performances des approches proposées. Ainsi, bien que l’acquisition des coefficients spectraux consécutifs permette une mise en oeuvre simple des schémas multivoie, nous montrons que les coefficients ainsi choisis, ne donnent pas les performances optimales des algorithmes de reconstruction. Ainsi, nous proposons une méthode basée sur la cohérence des matrices de mesure qui permet de trouver l’ensemble optimal des coefficients spectraux, ainsi qu’un ensemble sous-optimal contraint où les positions des coefficients spectraux sont structurées de façon à faciliter la conception du schéma MCMW. Enfin, les approches proposées dans le cadre de cette thèse sont validées expérimentalement à l’aide d’une plateforme expérimentale UWB du laboratoire Lab-STICC CNRS UMR 6285. / Ultra-wideband impulse radio (IR-UWB) is a relatively new communication technology that provides an interesting solution to the problem of RF spectrum scarcity and meets the high data rate and precise localization requirements of an increasing number of applications, such as indoor communications, personal and body sensor networks, IoT, etc. Its unique characteristics are obtained by transmitting pulses of very short duration (less than 1 ns), occupying a bandwidth up to 7.5 GHz, and having an extremely low power spectral density (less than -43 dBm / MHz). The best performances of an IR-UWB system are obtained with Rake coherent receivers, at the expense of increased complexity, mainly due to the estimation of UWB channel, which is characterized by a large number of multipath components. This processing step requires the estimation of a set of spectral components for the received signal, without being able to adopt usual sampling techniques, because of the extremely high Nyquist limit (several GHz).In this thesis, we propose new low-complexity approaches for the UWB channel estimation, relying on the sparse representation of the received signal, the compressed sampling theory, and the reconstruction of the signals with finite rate of innovation. The complexity reduction thus obtained makes it possible to significantly reduce the IR-UWB receiver cost and consumption. First, two existent compressed sampling schemes, single-channel (SoS) and multi-channel (MCMW), are extended to the case of UWB signals having a bandpass spectrum, by taking into account realistic implementation constraints. These schemes allow the acquisition of the spectral coefficients of the received signal at very low sampling frequencies, which are not related anymore to the signal bandwidth, but only to the number of UWB channel multipath components. The efficiency of the proposed approaches is demonstrated through two applications: UWB channel estimation for low complexity coherent Rake receivers, and precise indoor localization for personal assistance and home care.Furthermore, in order to reduce the complexity of the MCMW approach in terms of the number of channels required for UWB channel estimation, we propose a reduced number of channel architecture by increasing the number of transmitted pilot pulses. The same approach is proven to be also useful for reducing the sampling frequency associated to the MCMW scheme.Another important objective of this thesis is the performance optimization for the proposed approaches. Although the acquisition of consecutive spectral coefficients allows a simple implementation of the MCMW scheme, we demonstrate that it not results in the best performance of the reconstruction algorithms. We then propose to rely on the coherence of the measurement matrix to find the optimal set of spectral coefficients maximizing the signal reconstruction performance, as well as a constrained suboptimal set, where the positions of the spectral coefficients are structured so as to facilitate the design of the MCMW scheme. Finally, the approaches proposed in this thesis are experimentally validated using the UWB equipment of Lab-STICC CNRS UMR 6285.

La première mesure du spectre en phi*_eta du boson Z à 7 TeV a été réalisée dans cette thèse. Cette variable permet de sonder la dynamique de production des Z de façon fine. L’échantillon complet des données enregistrées par ATLAS en 2011 a été utilisé ce qui correspond à 4.7/fb de luminosité intégrée. Les résultats de cette mesure sont publiés dans la Ref. [18] fondé sur la note interne Ref. [69]. La section efficace différentielle de Z->ee en fonction phi*_eta a été mesurée et comparée aux calculs perturbatifs à ordre fixé, avec/sans resommation pour la région des petits phi*_eta. Le code RESBOS fournit la meilleure description des données, cependant il est incapable de reproduire, à mieux de 4%, la forme détaillée de la section efficace mesurée. La section efficace différentielle a également été comparée aux prédictions de différents générateurs Monte Carlo interfacés avec un algorithme de parton shower. Les meilleures descriptions du spectre en phi*_eta mesuré sont données par les générateurs SHERPA et POWHEG+PYTHIA8. La mesure précise de la section efficace différentielle en phi*_eta fournit des informations précieuses pour l’ajustement des codes Monte Carlo. La précision expérimentale typique de cette mesure (~0.5%) est dix fois meilleure que la précision des calculs théoriques et elle est donc aussi précieuse pour contraindre la théorie. La mesure du spectre en ptZ a également été faite pour quantifier l’incertitude systématique de cette mesure en utilisant la grande statistique de l’échantillon de données. Cela permet de comparer deux mesures qui traitent de l’impulsion transverse du boson Z. Dans la plupart du domaine en phi*_eta l’incertitude systématique de la mesure de ptZ est deux fois plus grande que celle de la mesure de phi*_eta. Cette comparaison confirme l’intérêt de la variable phi*_eta. Les résultats présentés dans cette thèse ont beaucoup d’implications pour les études futures. Ajustant les générateurs Monte Carlo en utilisant les résultats de la mesure précise du spectre en phi*_eta minimisera l’incertitude sur leurs paramètres. Une mesure de la section efficace doublement différentielle en ptZ et phi*_eta est intéressante pour mieux comprendre la corrélation entre ces deux variables. La mesure précise du spectre en ptZ utilisant la variable phi*_eta peut être appliquée au spectre en ptW et on sait que des mesures plus fines du ptW sont importante pour une détermination précise de la masse du boson W. De plus, une compréhension précise du spectre en ptZ est importante pour comprendre les propriétés cinématiques de la production du boson de Higgs. / The first measurement of the phi*_eta spectrum of Z bosons at 7 TeV of pp collisions has been studied in this thesis, which is an alternative way to probe the transverse momentum of Z bosons. The full data sample recorded by the ATLAS detector during 2011 run of the LHC was used, which corresponds with 4.7/fb integrated luminosity. The results of this measurement were reported in Ref. [18] supported by the internal note in Ref. [69]. The differential cross section of Z->ee as a function of phi*_eta has been measured and compared to fixed order perturbative QCD calculations with/without a resummation for the low phi*_eta region. Calculations using RESBOS provide the best descriptions of the data. However, they are unable to reproduce the detailed shape of the measured cross section to better than 4%. The differential cross section was also compared to predictions from different Monte Carlo generators interfaced to a parton shower algorithm. The best descriptions of the measured phi*_eta spectrum are provided by SHERPA and POWHEG+PYTHIA8 Monte Carlo event generators. The precise measurement of the differential cross section as a function of phi*_eta provides valuable information for the tuning of MC generators. The typical experimental precision of this measurement (~0.5%) is ten times better than the typical theoretical precision and therefore is valuable to constrain the theoretical predictions further. The ptZ measurement has been also studied to quantify the systematic uncertainty of this measurement using the high statistic data sample. This allows to compare two measurements which both address the physics issues of the Z transverse momentum. In most of the phi*_eta range, the systematic uncertainty of the ptZ measurement is two times larger than the one of the phi*_eta measurement. This comparison confirms the interest for the phi*_eta variable. The measurements presented in this thesis has many implications for future studies. Tuning MC generators using the result of the precise measurement of the phi*_eta spectrum will minimize the uncertainty on the tuned parameters. A double differential cross section measurement as a function of ptZ and phi*_eta is interesting to understand the correlation between ptZ and phi*_eta variables. The precise measurement of the ptZ spectrum using the new variable phi*_eta can be applied to ptZ. More precise measurement of ptZ are important to obtain precise measurements of the W mass. In addition, a precise understanding of the ptZ spectrum is important to understand kinematic properties of Higgs boson production.

Nanotechnology is expected to play a major role in many technology areas including electronics, materials, and defense. One of the most popular tools for nanoscale surface analysis is the atomic force microscope (AFM). AFM can be used for surface manipulation along with surface imaging. The primary motivation for this research is to demonstrate AFM-based lithography on thin films using cantilevers with integrated heaters. These thermal cantilevers can control the temperature at the end of the tip, and hence they can be used for local in-situ thermal analysis. This research directly addresses applications like nanoscale electrical circuit fabrication/repair and thermal analysis of thin-films. In this study, an investigation was performed on two thin-film materials. One of them is co-polycarbonate, a variant of a polymer named polycarbonate, and the other is an energetic material called pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN). Experimental methods involved in the lithography process are discussed, and the results of lithographic experiments performed on co-polycarbonate and PETN are reported. Effects of dominant parameters during lithography experiments like time, temperature, and force are investigated. Results of simulation of the interface temperature between thermal cantilever tip and thin film surface, at the beginning of the lithography process, are also reported.

A new method of adaptive impulse control is developed to precisely and quickly control the position of machine components subject to friction. Friction dominates the forces affecting fine positioning dynamics. Friction can depend on payload, velocity, step size, path, initial position, temperature, and other variables. Control problems such as steady-state error and limit cycles often arise when applying conventional control techniques to the position control problem. Studies in the last few decades have shown that impulsive control can produce repeatable displacements as small as ten nanometers without limit cycles or steady-state error in machines subject to dry sliding friction. These displacements are achieved through the application of short duration, high intensity pulses. The relationship between pulse duration and displacement is seldom a simple function. The most dependable practical methods for control are self-tuning; they learn from online experience by adapting an internal control parameter until precise position control is achieved. To date, the best known adaptive pulse control methods adapt a single control parameter. While effective, the single parameter methods suffer from sub-optimal settling times and poor parameter convergence. To improve performance while maintaining the capacity for ultimate precision, a new control method referred to as Adaptive Impulse Control (AIC) has been developed. To better fit the nonlinear relationship between pulses and displacements, AIC adaptively tunes a set of parameters. Each parameter affects a different range of displacements. Online updates depend on the residual control error following each pulse, an estimate of pulse sensitivity, and a learning gain. After an update is calculated, it is distributed among the parameters that were used to calculate the most recent pulse. As the stored relationship converges to the actual relationship of the machine, pulses become more accurate and fewer pulses are needed to reach each desired destination. When fewer pulses are needed, settling time improves and efficiency increases. AIC is experimentally compared to conventional PID control and other adaptive pulse control methods on a rotary system with a position measurement resolution of 16000 encoder counts per revolution of the load wheel. The friction in the test system is nonlinear and irregular with a position dependent break-away torque that varies by a factor of more than 1.8 to 1. AIC is shown to improve settling times by as much as a factor of two when compared to other adaptive pulse control methods while maintaining precise control tolerances.

Esta tese tem como objetivo investigar os limites constitucionais ao emprego de normas tributárias extrafiscais, contribuindo, de maneira original, com o desenvolvimento de métodos que possibilitem que estes instrumentos sejam controlados de modo mais preciso pelo Poder Judiciário. Para a consecução deste objetivo central, trabalhou-se a partir de quatro blocos de investigação. Primeiro, a pesquisa centrou-se em discutir a importância de segregação das normas tributárias entre fiscais e extrafiscais, analisando as diversas propostas de métodos para a separação entre estas. Ao final, a tese sugere que as normas tributárias extrafiscais devem ser identificadas a partir das suas finalidades, conforme venha a ser interpretado pelo aplicador da norma. Superada a questão, passa-se à investigação dos fundamentos constitucionais que legitimam o emprego das normas tributárias extrafiscais, quando se debate em que sentido normativo se pode falar em neutralidade tributária. Em um terceiro módulo de investigação, as normas tributárias extrafiscais são contrapostas às limitações constitucionais ao poder de tributar, ao conflito entre competência regulatória e competência tributária, ao conceito constitucional de tributo, bem como aos limites ínsitos às espécies tributárias previstas pela Constituição Federal. Por fim, apresenta-se um modelo de protocolo decisório que pode ser utilizado para fins de controlabilidade das normas tributárias extrafiscais pelo Poder Judiciário, colocando-se em destaque os princípios da igualdade e da proporcionalidade. / The main goal of this thesis is to investigate the constitutional limits on the use of non-fiscal purpose tax laws, contributing, with originality, to the development of methods that allow a more precise control of these instruments by the Judiciary Branch. To achieve such goal, the thesis was divided into four parts. The first part focuses in discussing the importance of segregation of tax laws in two groups: fiscal and non-fiscal, and analyzes the numerous methods proposed for such classification. The thesis suggests that non-fiscal purpose tax laws must be identified by their purpose, as interpreted by those responsible for applying the law. The second part investigates the constitutional basis that legitimates the use of non-fiscal purpose tax laws and discusses to what normative extent one can speak of tax neutrality. In the third part, the non-fiscal purpose tax laws are compared to the constitutional limits on taxation, to the conflict between regulatory competence and fiscal competence, to the constitutional concept of tax, as well as to the limits involving the tax species provided by the Federal Constitution. Finally, a model of decision making protocol is presented for use a mean of control by the Judiciary Branch of the non-fiscal purpose tax, highlighting the principles of equality and proportionality.

La tesi si propone di indagare l’intertestualità dantesca nell’opera volgare di Matteo Maria Boiardo. Il fenomeno è già stato oggetto di studi – indirizzati soprattutto al poema cavalleresco, e in misura minore (specie negli ultimi anni) al canzoniere lirico – che si sono mossi però nell’alveo dell’impostazione strutturalista, con una considerazione della memoria poetica da un punto di vista formalista e tipologico. Questa corrente ha consentito sviluppi importanti negli studi filologici, ma porta a vedere il fatto letterario staccato dal suo contesto di riferimento. Se questo esito in Italia è stato arginato da una forte base storicista, va detto che gli studi sulle riprese poetiche hanno però vissuto una situazione particolare. Da una parte, infatti, lo strutturalismo fra anni ’60 e ’70 ha imposto anche in Italia, attraverso una serie di importanti lavori, il suo modo di trattare la questione, senza poi che il successivo approdo semiotico incidesse in maniera significativa. Dall’altra, la reazione di chi voleva agganciare il fenomeno al dato storico ha riportato il problema all’impostazione erudita della critica delle fonti, privilegiando la raccolta dati da mettere in relazione con le informazioni sulla storia della tradizione e della circolazione. L’obbiettivo di questa tesi è fare un passo avanti, nella convinzione che per lo studio di questi fenomeni di riuso sia la circolazione manoscritta che i dati testuali e formali vadano letti in una piena prospettiva semiotica: guardare ai fenomeni di tradizione e trasmissione testuale nell’ottica dei processi ricettivi, e considerare le scelte di memoria poetica come atti comunicativi, con un valore pragmatico. La ricerca ha l’intento di giungere ad una maggior comprensione del rapporto del dotto poeta umanistico con il modello dantesco, un’interpretazione più chiara delle strategie di riuso, determinate dal particolare modo di leggere la Commedia nel contesto specifico, e perciò attraverso un preciso filtro fra quelli disponibili al tempo. Accanto all’insieme di informazioni filologiche sulle attestazioni manoscritte nelle biblioteche del tempo, l’indagine qui condotta consente – anche da un punto di vista che potremmo definire attributivo – di indicare in Benvenuto da Imola l’esegeta di riferimento per Boiardo e il suo pubblico, proprio perché l’osservazione ravvicinata dei testi e dei loro legami fa emergere questa tradizione interpretativa come la più attiva nell’elaborazione boiardesca rivolta ai lettori. Il lavoro non ha preso le mosse da un afflato teorico, teso a riconcettualizzare l’intertestualità, ma da un intento di chiarificazione sui testi e alcuni loro aspetti che non sembravano però trovare una spiegazione soddisfacente all’interno del quadro metodologico diffuso. Il lavoro, allora, ha assunto poco alla volta anche una vena metodologica sorta dall’osservazione dei fenomeni in modo nuovo. E così, accanto all’indagine storico-letteraria, e in stretta relazione con essa, è stato possibile avanzare alcune proposte ermeneutiche sui meccanismi intertestuali in base alle dinamiche della comunicazione letteraria. E nelle pagine che seguono il percorso si articola attorno a nuclei diversi ma interconnessi: da una parte la riflessione generale a carattere semiotico sui fenomeni di memoria poetica, che vengono concettualizzati grazie agli apporti di discipline come la pragmatica; segue una ricognizione storica sulle modalità di lettura e ricezione del modello dantesco – e non solo – in base alla circolazione dei testi e dei loro apparati esegetici; si arriva poi al nucleo del lavoro con l’affondo diretto su opere e paratesti esegetici con le loro relazioni, che si instaurano all’interno del laboratorio d’autore e poi da lì arrivano al pubblico.