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Pressure gain combustion is a form of combustion that uses pressure waves to transfer energy and generate a rise in total pressure during the combustion process. Pressure gain combustion shows potential to increase the cycle efficiency of conventional gas turbine engines if used in place of the steady combustor. However, one of the challenges of integrating pressure gain combustion into a gas turbine engine is that a turbine driven by pulsing flow experiences a decrease in efficiency. The interaction of pressure pulses with a turbine was investigated to gain physical insights and to provide guidelines for designing turbines to be driven by pulsing flow. An experimental rig was built to compare steady flow with pulsing flow. Compressed air was used in place of combustion gases; pressure pulses were created by rotating a ball valve with a motor. The data showed that a turbine driven by full annular pressure pulses has a decrease in turbine efficiency and pressure ratio. The average decrease in turbine efficiency was 0.12 for 10 Hz, 0.08 for 20 Hz, and 0.04 for 40 Hz. The turbine pressure ratio, defined as the turbine exit total pressure divided by the turbine inlet total pressure, ranged from 0.55 to 0.76. The average decrease in turbine pressure ratio was 0.082 for 10 Hz, 0.053 for 20 Hz, and 0.064 for 40 Hz. The turbine temperature ratio and specific turbine work were constant. Pressure pulse amplitude, not frequency, was shown to be the main cause for the decrease in turbine efficiency. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were created and were validated with the experimental results. Simulations run at the same conditions as the experiments showed a decrease in turbine efficiency of 0.24 for 10 Hz, 0.12 for 20 Hz, and 0.05 for 40 Hz. In agreement with the experimental results, the simulations also showed that pressure pulse amplitude is the driving factor for decreased turbine efficiency and not the pulsing frequency. For a pulsing amplitude of 86.5 kPa, the efficiency difference between a 10 Hz and a 40 Hz simulation was only 0.005. A quadratic correlation between turbine efficiency and corrected pulse amplitude was presented with an R-squared value of 0.99. Incidence variation was shown to cause the change in turbine efficiency and a correlation between corrected incidence and corrected amplitude was established. The turbine geometry was then optimized for pulsing flow conditions. Based on the optimization results and observations, design recommendations were made for designing turbines for pulsing flow. The first design recommendation was to weight the design of the turbine toward the peak of the pressure pulse. The second design recommendation was to consider the range of inlet angles and reduce the camber near the leading edge of the blade. The third design recommendation was to reduce the blade turning to reduce the wake caused by pulsing flow. A new turbine design was created and tested following these design recommendations. The time-accurate validation simulation for a 10 Hz pressure pulse showed that the new turbine decreased the entropy generation by 35% and increased the efficiency by 0.04 (5.4%).

Low noise, directional microphones are critical for hearing aid applications. This thesis is focused on further development of a biomimetic micromachined directional microphone based on the ear structure of the Ormia Ochracea, a parasitic fly able to locate sound sources in the audio frequency range with high accuracy. The development efforts have been on implementing a version of the microphone for a behind the ear (BTE) package while improving the overall optical efficiency and noise level, demonstrating pulsed laser operation for reduced power consumption, and electrostatic control of the microphone diaphragm position for stable operation over a long time. The new packaging method for the microphone addressed the need for tighter placement tolerances along with a redesigned diaphragm and integration of a microscale optical lens array to improve the optical efficiency of the device. The completed packages were characterized for sensitivity improvement and optical efficiency. The overall optical efficiency was significantly increased from less than 1% to the photo diode array collecting 50% of the emitted optical power from the Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL). This, coupled with the new diaphragm design, improved the acoustic performance of the microphones. Consequently, the noise levels recorded on the devices were about 31 dBA SPL, more than 15dB better than conventional directional microphones with nearly 10 times larger port spacing. Since the application for this technology is hearing aids, the power consumed by the working device needs to be at an acceptable level. The majority of the power used by the microphone is from continuously operating the VCSEL with 2mW optical output power. To reduce this power requirement, it was suggested to pulse the VCSEL at high enough frequency with low duty cycle so that the acoustic signals can be recovered from its samples. In this study, it was found that the VCSEL can be pulsed with little to no degradation in signal to noise ratio as long as the thermal mechanical noise dominated the noise spectrum. The results also indicated that a pulse train with a duty cycle of around 20% can be used without a major loss of performance in the device, meaning the device can effectively run at 1/5 of its original power under pulsed operation mode. Finally, a control technique to overcome some inherent problems of the microphone was demonstrated. Since the optical sensitivity of the microphone depends on the gap between the diaphragm grating and the integrated mirror, it is important to keep that bias gap constant during long term operation against environmental variations and charging effects. Using a simple electrostatic bias controller scheme, the sensitivity variation of the microphone was improved by a factor of 7.68 with bias control. Overall, this thesis has addressed several important aspects of a micromachined biomimetic microphone and further demonstrated its feasibility for hearing aid applications.

Resumo: Face à carência de estudos relacionados à fisiologia pós-colheita de flores, a presente pesquisa teve como finalidade estudar a fisiologia e conservação póscolheita de flores cortadas de rosas cv. Vega, considerando os fatores associados à senescência floral e perda de vida decorativa. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, em esquema fatorial. Em todos os experimentos, as rosas foram mantidas em ambiente de laboratório com 20±2ºC e 67±3% UR, padronizadas em 50 cm e realizadas as seguintes avaliações (exceto para o experimento 5): perda de massa fresca, massa seca, taxa respiratória, notas de qualidade (escurecimento, turgescência e curvatura), conteúdo relativo de água, carboidratos solúveis e redutores, antocianina e coloração. Para o experimento 5 foi avaliada a quantidade de água absorvida e transpirada das rosas. No primeiro experimento, as flores foram colocadas dentro de uma câmara hermética e expostas ao 1-MCP, por um período de seis horas, nas seguintes concentrações: 1) Água destilada (controle); 2) 1-MCP 100 a ppb; 3) 1-MCP a 250 ppb; 4) 1-MCP a 500 ppb. Ao contrário do tratamento com água destilada, todas as concentrações de 1-MCP foram eficientes para retardar a senescência das flores, com destaque para a de 500 ppb que melhor manteve a qualidade, além de prolongar a vida de vaso das rosas até 19 dias. No segundo experimento, as flores permaneceram nas seguintes soluções de manutenção: 1) Água destilada (Controle); 2) 8-HQC (200 mg.L-1); 3) Sacarose (2%) + 8-HQC (200 mg.L-1); 4) Ácido Cítrico (75 mg.L-1); 5) Sacarose (2%) + Ácido Cítrico (75 mg.L-1); 6) 6- BA (60 mg.L-1); 7) Sacarose (2%) + 6-BA (60 mg.L-1). As rosas foram muito sensíveis à 6-benziladenina, associada ou não à sacarose, e perderam a qualidade aos seis dias de vida de vaso. Em contrapartida, o tratamento com 8-hidroxiquinolina ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Given the lack of studies on postharvest physiology of flowers, this research aims to study the postharvest physiology and keeping quality of Vega cut rose, were observed the factors associated with floral senescence and loss of decorative life. The experiments followed complete randomized design, in factorial arrangement. In all experiments, the roses were kept at room temperature with 20 ± 2ºC and 67±3% UR, standardized at 50 cm and it were analysis (except the fifth experiment): weight loss, dry weight, rate respiratory, quality (browning, turgidity and curvature), relative water content, soluble and reducing carbohydrates, anthocyanin, color and longevity. On the fifth experiment was to evaluation the water absorbed and transpired roses. On the first experiment, the flowers were placed inside an airtight chamber and exposed to 1-MCP for a period of six hours, in these concentrations: 1) Distilled water (control); 2) 1-MCP (100 ppb); 3) 1-MCP ( 250 ppb); 4) 1-MCP (500 ppb). Unlike treatment with distilled water, all concentrations of 1-MCP were effective in delaying the senescence of flowers, however, the concentration of 500 ppb of 1-MCP induced better maintenance of quality and extended vase life of roses to 19 days. On the second experiment, the flowers remained in these following holding solutions: 1) Distilled water (Control); 2) 8-HQC (200 mg.L-1); 3) Sucrose (2%) + 8-HQC (200 mg.L-1); 4) Citric Acid (75 mg.L-1); 5) Sucrose (2%) + Citric Acid (75 mg.L-1); 6) 6-BA (60 mg.L-1); 7) Sucrose (2%) + 6-BA (60 mg.L-1). The roses were very sensitive to 6-benzyladenine, with or without sucrose, and lost quality of six days of vase life. In contrast, treatment with 8-hydroxyquinoline has proved the most promising to maintain the quality of the flowers, for ten days. On the third experiment, the roses were treated this way: 1) Distilled water (Control), 2) STS (1 mM) ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Ben-Hur Mattiuz / Coorientador: Teresinha de Jesus Deléo Rodrigues / Coorientador: Claudia Fabrino Machado Mattiuz / Banca: Kathia Fernandes Lopes Pivetta / Banca: Regina Maria Monteiro de Castilho / Mestre

Le futur collisionneur électron-positon ILC est un projet d'envergure internationale. Il doit poursuivre le programme scientifique actuellement en cours auprès du Large Hadron Collider (LHC) lorsque celui-ci aura atteint les limites de sa sensibilité. Cet ambitieux projet d'accélérateur nécessitera également la mise en place de nouveaux concepts du point de vue de la détection. Afin d'optimiser la reconstruction des événements, une approche basée sur le suivit de particule (Particle Flow) a ainsi été adoptée. Jusqu'à aujourd'hui, les calorimètres hadroniques ont souvent représenté le point faible des expériences de physique des hautes énergies auprès de collisionneurs. En effet, leur faible granularité dégrade fortement la résolution en énergie des jets reconstruits. Dans le cas de l'ILC, il est envisagé d'utiliser des calorimètres de forte granularité de manière à distinguer clairement chaque dépôt d'énergie. Il est ainsi possible d'améliorer la résolution en énergie globale de l'expérience en utilisant le détecteur le plus approprié pour caractériser chaque particule fille issue de la collision. Les membres de la collaboration CALICE sont en charge du développement de ces calorimètres ultra granulaires. Dans ce cadre, plusieurs projets de calorimètres sont à l'étude afin de s'assurer que la technologie finalement choisie soit optimale. Durant ces trois dernières années, j'ai participé au développement de l'un de ces détecteurs : le calorimètre hadronique semi digital SDHCAL. Cet instrument utilise des chambres à plaques résistives de verre (GRPC) en tant qu'élément sensible. Ce calorimètre à échantillonnage comporte 48 plans de détection successifs séparés par de l'acier. Il est segmenté latéralement en cellules de un centimètre carré, pour un total de 50 millions de canaux. La dissipation thermique de l'électronique de lecture embarquée est un facteur clef du projet. […] / The future electron-positon linear collider ILC is an international project aiming to follow and go forward the scientific program which is actually on-going at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Such a leptonic collider project implies also new concepts in particle detection to ensure a better event reconstruction : this can be achieved by using particle flow techniques. Until now, hadronic calorimeters are the bottleneck of particle detectors concepts. They are usually poorly granular and they contribute strongly to degrade the energy resolution of the reconstructed jets. In the ILC case, we aim to build highly granular calorimeters to distinguish each energy deposit. This way we can improve the energy resolution by using the most suitable detector to perform energy measurement for each particle. The CALICE collaboration federate the highly granular calorimeters R&D activities in order to distinguish the best technology for the final detector concept. I worked for the last three years on one of those projects : the SDHCAL, a semi digital hadronic calorimeter based on glass resistive plate chambers (GRPC). This 48 layer sampling calorimeter is segmented in cells of one square centimeter for a total of 50 millions channels. […]

Deep-marine sandstones containing significant (> 10%) detrital mud (silt and clay) matrix have become increasingly recognized, but mostly in drill core or poorly exposed outcrops where details of their vertical and lateral variability are poorly captured. Exceptional vertical and along-strike exposures of matrix-rich and associated matrix-poor deposits in deep-marine strata of the passive margin Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup and foreland basin Ordovician Cloridorme Formation, provide an unparalleled opportunity to document such characteristics. In both study areas, strata form a 100s m long depositional continuum that at its upflow end consists of thick-bedded matrix-poor sandstone (<20% matrix) that transforms progressively downflow to medium- to thick-bedded muddy sandstone (20 – 50% matrix) to medium-bedded bipartite facies with a basal sandy (30 – 60% matrix) part overlain sharply by a muddier part (40 – 80% matrix), and then to thin-bedded sandy mudstone (50 – 90% matrix). This depositional continuum is then overlain everywhere by a thin- to very thin-bedded traction-structured sandstone and/or silty mudstone cap. This consistent lithofacies change is interpreted to reflect particle settling in a rapidly but systematically evolving, negligibly-sheared sand-mud suspension developed along the margins (Windermere) and downflow terminus (Cloridorme) of a high-energy, mud-enriched avulsion jet. Stratigraphically upward, beds of similar lithofacies type succeed one another vertically and transform to the next facies in the depositional continuum at about the same along-strike position, forming stratal units 2–9 beds thick whose grain-size distribution gradually decreases upward. This spatial and temporal regularity is interpreted to be caused by multiple surges of a single, progressively waning turbidity current, with sufficient lag between successive surges for the deposition of a traction-structured sandstone overlain by mudstone cap. Furthermore, the systematic backstepping or side-stepping recognized at the stratal unit scale in both the Windermere and Cloridorme is interpreted to be driven by a combination of knickpoint migration and local topographic steering of the flows, which continued until the supply of mud from local seafloor erosion became exhausted, the main channel avulsed elsewhere, or a new stratal element developed.

Trois techniques de mesure différentes ont été utilisées pour étudier la distribution des fluides dans un lit fixe : la tomographie à fils, le collecteur de liquide et un ensemble de thermistances. La tomographie à fils, dont la première application dans le cadre des lits fixes est décrite ici, a permis, tout comme le collecteur de liquide, d’obtenir des résultats intéressants concernant l’influence de paramètres tels que la distribution initiale, le type de chargement et les débits de fluides sur la distribution du liquide. L’étude a notamment montré l’importance de bien définir la maldistribution de liquide en termes de la grandeur mesurée et a apporté un regard critique vis-à-vis des consensus généraux concernant l’effet sur la distribution de liquide de paramètres tels que le débit de gaz (dont les expériences ont montré qu’elle dépend du distributeur utilisé) et le type de chargement (l’hypothèse selon laquelle le chargement dense disperse mieux le liquide dans la direction radiale par rapport au chargement lâche n’a pas été vérifié). Une étude réalisée en régime à haute interaction a permis aussi d’observer la relation étroite qui existe entre la distribution initiale et le régime d’écoulement / Three different measuring techniques were used to study the fluid distribution inside a trickle-bed reactor: the wire mesh tomography, the liquid collector and a set of thermistors. The liquid collector and specially the wire mesh tomography, whose first application in trickle bed reactors is described here, yielded interesting results concerning the influence of variables such as the initial liquid distribution, the loading method and the fluid flow rates on liquid maldistribution. Among the main observations, the study illustrates the importance of well defining liquid maldistribution in terms of the measured quantity and prompts to some caution when referring to some “normally accepted facts” like the advantages in terms of liquid distribution obtained when increasing the gas flow rate (which depends, according to this study, on the quality of initial liquid distribution) or when using a dense loading of the catalyst (the hypothesis according to which, compared with a sock loading, dense loading favors radial dispersion was not verified by the study). Also, a study performed under high interaction conditions showed the intimate relationship between the inlet distribution and the flow regime observed inside the reactor

L’optique non linéaire traite les modifications des propriétés optiques d'un matériau induites par la propagation de la lumière. Depuis ses débuts, il y a cinquante ans, des nombreuses applications ont été démontrées dans presque tous les domaines de la science. Dans le domaine de la micro et nano-photonique, les phénomènes non linéaires sont à la fois au cœur d’une physique fondamentale fascinante et des applications intéressantes: ils permettent d'adapter et de contrôler le flux de lumière à une échelle spatiale inferieure à la longueur d'onde. En effet, les effets non linéaires peuvent être amplifiés dans des systèmes qui confinent la lumière dans des espaces restreints et avec de faibles pertes optiques. Des bons candidats pour ce confinement sont les nanocavités à cristaux photoniques (CPs), qui ont été largement étudiées ces dernières années. Parmi la grande diversité des processus non linéaires en optique, les phénomènes dynamiques tels que la bistabilité et l'excitabilité font l’objet de nombreuses études. La bistabilité est bien connue pour ces applications potentielles pour les mémoires et les commutateurs optiques et pour les portes logiques. Une réponse excitable typique est celle subjacente dans le déclanchement du potentiel d'action dans les neurones. En optique, l'excitabilité a été observée il y a une quinzaine d’années. Dans ce travail, nous avons étudié les régimes bistables, auto-oscillants et excitables dans des nanocavités semiconductrices III-V à CP. Afin de coupler efficacement la lumière dans les nanocavités, nous avons développé une technique de couplage par onde évanescente en utilisant une microfibre optique étirée. Grâce à cette technique, nous avons démontré pour la première fois l’excitabilité dans une nanocavité à CP. En parallèle, nous avons accompli la première étape vers la dynamique non linéaire dans un réseau de cavités couplées en démontrant le couplage optique linéaire entre nanocavitités adjacentes. Ceci a été réalisé en utilisant de mesures de photoluminescence en champ lointain. Un ensemble de résonateurs non linéaires couplés ouvre la voie à une famille de phénomènes dynamiques non linéaires très riches, basés sur la rupture spontanée de symétrie. Nous avons démontré théoriquement ce phénomène dans deux cavités couplées par onde évanescente. Les premières études expérimentales de ce régime ont été menées, établissant ainsi les bases pour une future démonstration de la rupture spontanée de symétrie dans un réseau de nanocavités non linéaires couplées. / Nonlinear optics concerns the modifications of the optical properties of a material induced by the propagation of light. Since its beginnings, fifty years ago, it has already found applications in almost any field of science. In micro and nano-photonics, nonlinear phenomena are at the heart of both fascinating fundamental physics and interesting potential applications: they give a handle to tailor and control the flow of light within a sub-wavelength spatial scale. Indeed, the nonlinear effects can be enhanced in systems allowing tight light confinement and low optical loses. Good candidates for this are the Photonic Crystal (PhC) nanocavities, which have been extensively studied in recent years. Among the great diversity of nonlinear processes in optics, nonlinear dynamical phenomena such as bistability and excitability have recently received considerable attention. While bistability is well known as a building block for all-optical memories, switching and logic gates, excitability has been demonstrated in optics about fifteen years ago: coming from neuroscience, it is the mechanism underlying action potential firing in neurons. In this work, we have studied bistable, self-pulsing and excitable regimes in InP-based PhC nanocavities. In order to achieve efficient light coupling into the nanocavities, we have developed an evanescent coupling technique using tapered optical microfibers. As a result, we have demonstrated for the first time excitability in a PhC nanocavity. In addition, we have accomplished the first step towards nonlinear dynamics in arrays of coupled cavities by demonstrating optical linear coupling between adjacent nanocavitites. This was achieved using far field measurements of photoluminescence. A set of coupled nonlinear resonators opens the door to a rich family of nonlinear dynamical phenomena based on spontaneous symmetry breaking. We have theoretically demonstrated this phenomenon in two evanescently coupled cavities. The first experimental studies on this regime were carried out, which establish a basis for a future demonstration of spontaneous symmetry breaking in arrays of nonlinear coupled PhC nanocavities.

A fundamental problem of microwave (MW) thermal processing of materials is the intrinsic non-uniformity of the resulting internal heating pattern. This project proposes a general technique to solve this problem by using comprehensive numerical modeling to determine the optimal process guaranteeing uniformity. The distinctive features of the approach are the use of an original concept of uniformity for MW-induced temperature fields and pulsed MW energy as a mechanism for achieving uniformity of heating. The mathematical model used to represent MW heating describes two component physical processes: electromagnetic wave propagation and heat diffusion. A numerical solution for the corresponding boundary value problem is obtained using an appropriate iterative framework in which each sub-problem is solved independently by applying the 3D FDTD method. Given a specific MW heating system and load configuration, the optimization problem is to find the experiment which minimizes the time required to raise the minimum temperature of the load to a prescribed goal temperature while maintaining the maximum temperature below a prescribed threshold. The characteristics of the system which most dramatically influence the internal heating pattern, when changed, are identified through extensive modeling, and are subsequently chosen as the design variables in the related optimization. Pulsing MW power is also incorporated into the optimization to allow heat diffusion to affect cold spots not addressed by the heating controlled by the design variables. The developed optimization algorithm proceeds at each time-step by choosing the values of design variables which produce the most uniform heating pattern. Uniformity is measured as the average squared temperature deviation corresponding to all distinct neighboring pairs of FDTD cells representing the load. The algorithm is implemented as a collection of MATLAB scripts producing a description of the optimal MW heating process along with the final 3D temperature field. We demonstrate that CAD of a practical applicator providing uniform heating is reduced to the determination of suitable design variables and their incorporation into the optimization process. Although uniformity cannot be attained using“static" MW heating, it is achievable by applying an appropriate pulsing regime. The functionality of the proposed optimization is illustrated by computational experiments which show that time-to-uniformity can be reduced, compared to the pulsing regime, by up to an order of magnitude.