Sliding isolation bearings are used widely around the world to minimize damage to structures and their contents during earthquakes. Past studies have typically focused on the behavior of sliding isolation bearing under design conditions; however, as the performance-based earthquake engineering advances, it is necessary and critical to understand the ultimate or even failure behavior, of structural systems under extreme conditions. Using a double friction pendulum bearing with non-articulated slider as an example, this thesis comprehensively investigates the extreme behavior of the sliding bearing components as well as steel frame buildings isolated using these bearings. This thesis is comprised of two major parts. The first includes numerical and experimental studies of double friction pendulum bearings at the component-level. Finite element investigation shows that depending on the superstructure mass there are two major failure modes for the double friction pendulum bearings. When the superstructure mass is sufficiently large, the failure mode is dominated by the restraining rim yielding; however, when the mass is relatively small, its failure mode shifts to bearing uplift. A simplified analytical model which can directly simulate the impact and uplift behavior of double friction pendulum bearing is also implemented, comparing well to the finite element analysis. Then, to validate the ability of the models to predict extreme behavior as well as to investigate the effect of the restraining rim design, which varies around the world, an experimental study was carried out. Uplift behavior and significant rim yielding were observed during the shake table tests. Moreover, other response parameters, including uplift and shear forces, are evaluated and compared among different rim designs. It is found the restraining rim design has a substantial influence on the bearing’s extreme behavior. The second part of the thesis investigates the system-level behavior of steel frame buildings isolated with double friction pendulum bearings. It is found that the stiffness of the superstructure largely dictates the system-level failure modes and collapse probability. Initially, bearings with rigid restraining rims are investigated. For flexible moment-resisting frames, the system-level failure modes are mixed: both the bearing uplift and superstructure yielding contribute; also, using current code-minimum design results in acceptably low probability of collapse. However, for stiff concentrically-braced frames, the impact force can impose large ductility demands on the superstructure regardless of its strength. As a result, the system-level failure comes exclusively from superstructure yielding, and only by increasing bearing’s displacement capacity beyond the minimum code allowed can the design meet as acceptably low collapse probability. When flat rims are used instead for the bearing design, the failure modes for both building types are exclusively bearing failure. Furthermore, while it is more apparent for concentrically-braced frames, using flat rims for the bearings can reduce the collapse probability compared to using rigid rims. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Current seismic design practice promotes inelastic response in order to reduce the design forces. By allowing the structure to yield while increasing the ductility of the structure, the global forces can be kept within the limited bounds dictated by the yield strength. However, during severe earthquakes, the structures undergo significant inelastic deformations leading to stiffness and strength degradation, increased interstory drifts, and damage with residual drift. The research presented in this thesis has three components that seek to address these challenges. To prevent the inelastic effects observed in yielding systems, a new concept “apparent weakening” is proposed and verified through shake table studies in this thesis. “Apparent weakening” is introduced in the structural system using a complementary “adaptive negative stiffness device” (NSD) that mimics "yielding” of the global system thus attracting it away from the main structural system. Unlike the concept of weakening and damping, where the main structural system strength is reduced, the new system does not alter the original structural system, but produces effects compatible with an early yielding. Response reduction using NSD is achieved in a two step sequence. First the NSD, which is capable of exhibiting nonlinear elastic stiffness, is developed based on the properties of the structure. This NSD is added to the structure resulting in reduction of the stiffness of the structure and NSD assembly or “apparent weakening”-thereby resulting in the reduction of the base shear of the assembly. Then a passive damper, designed for the assembly to reduce the displacements that are caused due to the “apparent weakening”, is added to the structure-thereby reducing the base shear, acceleration and displacement in a two step process. The primary focus of this thesis is to analyze and experimentally verify the response reduction attributes of NSD in (a) elastic structural systems (b) yielding systems and (3) multistory structures. Experimental studies on 1:3 scale three-story frame structure have confirmed that consistent reductions in displacements, accelerations and base shear can be achieved in an elastic structure and bilinear inelastic structure by adding the NSD and viscous fluid damper. It has also been demonstrated that the stiffening in NSD will prevent the structure from collapsing. Analogous to the inelastic design, the acceleration and base shear and deformation of the structure and NSD assembly can be reduced by more than 20% for moderate ground motions and the collapse of structure can be prevented for severe ground motions. Simulation studies have been carried on an inelastic multistoried shear building to demonstrate the effectiveness of placing NSDs and dampers at multiple locations along the height of the building; referred to as “distributed isolation”. The results reported in this study have demonstrated that by placing a NSD in a particular story the superstructure above that story can be isolated from the effects of ground motion. Since the NSDs in the bottom floors will undergo large deformations, a generalized scheme to incorporate NSDs with different force deformation behavior in each storey is proposed. The properties of NSD are varied to minimize the localized inter-story deformation and distribute it evenly along the height of the building. Additionally, two semi-active approaches have also been proposed to improve the performance of NSD in yielding structures and also adapt to varying structure properties in real time. The second component of this thesis deals with development of a novel device to control the response of structural system using adaptive length pendulum smart tuned mass damper (ALP-STMD). A mechanism to achieve the variable pendulum length is developed using shape memory alloy wire actuator. ALP-STMD acts as a vibration absorber and since the length is tuned to match the instantaneous frequency, using a STFT algorithm, all the vibrations pertaining to the dominant frequency are absorbed. ALP-STMD is capable of absorbing all the energy pertaining to the tuned-frequency of the system; the performance is experimentally verified for forced vibration (stationary and non-stationary) and free vibration. The third component of this thesis covers the development of an adaptive control algorithm to compensate hysteresis in hysteretic systems. Hysteretic system with variable stiffness hysteresis is represented as a quasi-linear parameter varying (LPV) system and a gain scheduled controller is designed for the quasi-LPV system using linear matrix inequalities approach. Designed controller is scheduled based on two parameters: linear time-varying stiffness (slow varying parameter) and the stiffness of friction hysteresis (fast varying parameter). The effectiveness of the proposed controller is demonstrated through numerical studies by comparing the proposed controller with fixed robust H∞ controller. Superior tracking performance of the LPV-GS over the robust H∞ controller in different displacement ranges and various stiffness switching cases is clearly evident from the results presented in this thesis. The LPV-GS controller is capable of adapting to the parameter changes and is effective over the entire range of parameter variations.

The study’s purpose is to find out how important cultural competence is for the guidance of people with multicultural backgrounds. I also want to illustrate that what is seen as normal in one culture may mean something different in another culture. The study will also in some extent explore culture clashes and its problems in the guidance context. The method used in the study is qualitative and the five respondents were all practicing Muslims. The theoretical point in the study is the constructivist. The thesis shows that the individuals compromise with their religious beliefs in order to meet their daily needs. A conclusion is that cultural competence is necessary, but also that the counselors approach proved to be of significant importance. / Undersökningens syfte var att ta reda på hur viktig kulturell kompetens är i vägledning av personer med multikulturell bakgrund. Jag vill även belysa att vad som ses som normalt i en kultur kan betyda något helt annat i en annan. Undersökningen går även in på kulturkrockar och dess problematik i samband med vägledning. Metoden som använts i undersökningen är kvalitativ, och de fem respondenter som intervjuades var alla praktiserande muslimer. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i undersökningen är den konstruktivistiska. Undersökningen visar att individerna på olika sätt kompromissar för att få deras vardag att gå ihop med sin religiösa trosuppfattning. En slutsats som drogs är att kulturell kompetens till viss del är nödvändig, dock är det vägledarens förhållningssätt som är avgörande för om det blir ett lyckat möte.

Abstract Small-scale cultivation methods are a necessity for the development of new biotechnological processes. The most common method for submerged microbial cultivation is a shake flask used with a batch operation protocol. Well plate cultivation formats have also increased their importance, due to the need to utilize high-throughput cultivations for efficient product development. However, batch cultivation is often not the optimal method for obtaining high cell densities and good product quality, due to unlimited microbial growth. The aim of this dissertation was to improve small-scale microbial cultivations for microbial growth and product formation. Hydrolytic enzymes were utilized to relieve nutrient limitation by hydrolysis of proteins in lactic acid bacteria cultures to improve lactic acid production from dairy side products. Hydrolytic enzymes were also utilized in the enzymatic release of glucose from starch to create a fed-batch-like cultivation system applicable on small scale. The wireless sensor system developed was applied in shake flask cultivations to monitor oxygen and pH levels. Enzymatic polymer processing was applicable for small-scale cultivations. Lactic acid production by Lactobacillus salivarius ssp. salicinius was enhanced four-fold when the proteins were hydrolyzed either by proteases or by proteolytic microbes. The fed-batch-mimicking controlled glucose feeding and growth control were obtained by means of the simultaneous enzymatic hydrolysis of starch-polymer during cultivation. Controlled growth, higher cell densities, decreased side product formation and increased amount of soluble protein product were obtained in Escherichia coli cultivations. When this method was applied to the cultivation and recombinant protein production of the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris, higher cell densities and higher amounts of active protein were obtained. The glucose concentration remained low enough to avoid the substrate repression of the alcohol oxidase promoter. The fed-batch method is suitable for high-throughput cultivations since the method can be utilized in well plate formats without external feeding devices. The method can be utilized in the development of new biotechnological products, especially when the production system is sensitive to growth conditions, and growth control is preferred. / Tiivistelmä Pienen mittakaavan mikrobikasvatusmenetelmiä tarvitaan kehitettäessä uusia bioteknologisia prosesseja. Tavallisin menetelmä mikrobien liuoksessa tapahtuvaan kasvatukseen on panostyyppisesti tehtävä sekoituspullokasvatus. Kuoppalevykasvatukset ovat myös tulleet entistä tärkeämmiksi, koska tuotekehityksen tehostamiseksi on tarvetta käyttää high-throughput-menetelmiä. Tavoiteltaessa korkeita mikrobisolutiheyksiä ja tuotteen hyvää laatua, panostyyppinen kasvatus ei ole usein paras vaihtoehto, johtuen mikrobien rajoittamattomasta kasvusta. Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli parantaa mikrobien kasvua ja tuotteen muodostusta pienen mittakaavan kasvatuksissa. Meijeriteollisuuden sivutuotteiden proteiineja pilkottiin entsyymien avulla, jotta maitohappobakteerit pystyivät hyödyntämään proteiinit tehokkaammin ja tuottamaan enemmän maitohappoa. Hydrolyyttisiä entsyymejä hyödynnettiin myös glukoosin vapauttamiseen tärkkelyksestä, jolloin saatiin luotua pieneen mittakaavaan sopiva panossyöttötyyppinen kasvatusmenetelmä. Työn aikana kehitettyä langatonta mittausjärjestelmää hyödynnettiin sekoituspullokasvatuksissa happipitoisuuden ja pH:n seurantaan. Entsymaattinen polymeerien käsittely oli soveltuva menetelmä pienen mittakaavan kasvatuksiin. Maitohapon tuotto Lactobacillus salivarius ssp. salicinius -mikrobilla nelinkertaistui, kun ravinneproteiinit pilkottiin joko proteaasien tai proteolyyttisten mikrobien avulla. Panossyöttömenetelmää muistuttava hallittu glukoosin syöttö ja mikrobin kasvun hallinta saavutettiin pilkkomalla tärkkelystä glukoosiksi kasvatuksen aikana. Escherichia coli kasvatuksissa saavutettiin hallittu solumäärän kasvu, korkeammat solutiheydet, vähentynyt sivutuotteiden muodostus ja suurempi liukoisen tuoteproteiinin määrä. Tätä menetelmää sovellettiin myös vierasproteiinin tuottoon metylotrofisella Pichia pastoris -hiivalla, jolloin saavutettiin korkeammat solutiheydet ja suurempi aktiivisen tuoteproteiinin määrä. Glukoosin määrä kasvatusliuoksessa pysyi riittävän alhaisena, jotta se ei repressoinut hiivan alkoholioksidaasi-promoottoria. Panossyöttömenetelmä on sopiva high-throughput-mikrobikasvatuksiin, koska sitä voidaan käyttää kuoppalevyillä ilman syöttölaitteita. Menetelmää voidaan hyödyntää uusien bioteknisten tuotteiden kehittämisessä erityisesti silloin, kun tuottoisäntä on herkkä kasvuolosuhteiden suhteen ja mikrobin kasvua halutaan hallita.

Cette thèse traite de l’étude des contraintes induites par le transport de marchandises. Les systèmes d’emballage reposent sur une multitude de fonctionnalités : transporter, protéger, informer,etc… Leur dimensionnement est un paramètre important quant à la protection d’un produit. Lors des transports, les marchandises sont soumises à un important panel de contraintes physiques. Ces contraintes vont engendrer des dégâts et de l’usure. Cette usure peut être étudiée en décomposant les signaux accélérométriques en cycles de contraintes afin d’observer leur l'influence. Ce travail de thèse vise, dans un premier temps à estimer les dommages par fatigue provoqués par un transport particulier sur un système d’emballage donné. Dans ce cas, l'extraction de cycles de contraintes n'est pas appropriée (l'enregistrement continu des longs transports est matériellement difficile). Cette estimation est donc réalisée à partir des densités spectrales de puissance (PSD) et du calcul de leurs moments spectraux, des différentes phases de transport. Dans un second temps, ce travail consiste à réaliser en laboratoire des tests induisant un dommage par fatigue similaire aux transports réels, mais réalisés sur une durée beaucoup plus courte. La méthode de réduction de temps de test repose ici sur les expressions de calcul du dommage afin de déterminer un facteur multiplicateur de PSD réelle afin d’obtenir une PSD de test reproduisant le dommage du transport réel dans un temps plus court. Pour ce faire, ce facteur prend en compte le comportement mécanique de vieillissement des systèmes testés. / This thesis is focused on studies of the goods transport induced stresses. Packaging systems are composed of a multitude of functionalities: to transport, to protect, to inform, etc. Their development is an important parameter referring to the goods protection. During transports, goods endure an important panel of mechanical stress. This stress induces damages par fatigue. This damage by fatigue can be studied in decomposing the acceleration signal into stress cycles. This decomposition permits to observe the influence of each stress cycle. This thesis work, in a first step, consists in estimating the damage by fatigue generated during a particular transportation on a given packaging. In this case, stress cycle extraction is not appropriated (continuous record of long transportation is difficult point of view devices). This estimation is realized from the power spectral densities (PSD) and the calculation of the spectral moments of transport phases. The second aim of this work is to develop a simulation protocol inducing the same damage rate on packaging as the actual transportation, in a shorter time. The test time compression method is here based on the damages estimation expression. The aim consists in determining a PSD multiplicative factor to generate a PSD of test witch induce the same damage as the actual transport in a shorter duration. This test time compression take into account the mechanical behavior of damage accumulation for a particular system.

Plants produce a variety of secondary metabolites, e.g. to defend themselves against herbivores or to attract pollinating insects. Plant cell biotechnology offers excellent opportunities in order to use such secondary plant metabolites to produce goods with consistent quality and quantity throughout the year, and therefore to act independently from biotic and abiotic environmental factors. This article presents results of an extensive study of plant cell in vitro cultivation in a modern shake flask system with non-invasive online respiration activity monitoring unit. Comprehensive screening experiments confirm the successful transfer of a model culture (sunflower suspension) into the shake flask monitoring device and the suitability of this respiration activity monitoring unit as qualified tool for screening of plant in vitro cultures (sunflower and sage suspension). The authors demonstrate deviations between online and offline data due to varying water evaporation from different culture flask types. The influence of evaporation on growth-specific parameters thereby rises with increasing cultivation time. Furthermore, possibilities to minimize the impact of evaporation, either by adjusting the inlet air moisture or by measuring the evaporation in combination with an appropriate correction of the measured growth values, are shown.

Plants produce a variety of secondary metabolites, e.g. to defend themselves against herbivores or to attract pollinating insects. Plant cell biotechnology offers excellent opportunities in order to use such secondary plant metabolites to produce goods with consistent quality and quantity throughout the year, and therefore to act independently from biotic and abiotic environmental factors. This article presents results of an extensive study of plant cell in vitro cultivation in a modern shake flask system with non-invasive online respiration activity monitoring unit. Comprehensive screening experiments confirm the successful transfer of a model culture (sunflower suspension) into the shake flask monitoring device and the suitability of this respiration activity monitoring unit as qualified tool for screening of plant in vitro cultures (sunflower and sage suspension). The authors demonstrate deviations between online and offline data due to varying water evaporation from different culture flask types. The influence of evaporation on growth-specific parameters thereby rises with increasing cultivation time. Furthermore, possibilities to minimize the impact of evaporation, either by adjusting the inlet air moisture or by measuring the evaporation in combination with an appropriate correction of the measured growth values, are shown.

Perfluorinated compounds are organic compounds in which all hydrogen atoms in a carbon chain are substituted with fluorine atoms. These compounds are highly stable, persistent and bioaccumulative. They are purely anthropogenic compounds contained in biota and abiota. Partition coefficient between n-octanol and water is the essential toxicological parameter of a compound. This parameter helps us to assess behaviour of compound in the environment as well as in the living organisms. The shake flask method and the RP-HPLC method were employed to measure the Kow of nine perfluorinated acids. Using the shake flask method, the surface activity of compounds and the acid dissociation caused false results of the measurement. But behaviour of these compounds in the environment can be assess. Accurate and precise results were measured by the RP-HPLC method using an acetate buffer. Log Kow of perfluoro- carboxylic acids, with the carbon chain length of 5-14, were found out, their final value ranging between 1.66 and 5.10. Log Kow of acid with 12 carbons was estimated based on the linear regression of dependence of log Kow on the number of carbons. There were significant differences in the results obtained by various software. Thus, the results cannot be considered relevant. These software are not suitable for...

<p>Moving boundary problems such as solidification, crack propagation, multi-body contact or shape optimal design represent an important class of engineering problems. Common to these problems are one or more moving interfaces or boundaries. One of the main challenges associated with boundary evolution is the difficulty that arises when the topology of the geometry changes. Other geometric issues such as distance to the boundary, projected point on the boundary and intersection between surfaces are also important and need to be efficiently solved. In general, the present thesis is concerned with the geometric arrangement and behavioral analysis of evolving parametric boundaries immersed in a domain. </p> <p>The first problem addressed in this thesis is the packing of ellipsoidal fillers in a regular domain and to estimate their effective physical behavior. Particle packing problem arises when one generates simulated microstructures of particulate composites. Such particulate composites used as thermal interface materials (TIMs) motivates this work. The collision detection and distance calculation between ellipsoids is much more difficult than other regular shapes such as spheres or polyhedra.  While many existing methods address the spherical packing problems, few appear to achieve volume loading exceeding 60%. The packing of ellipsoidal particles is even more difficult than that of spherical particles due to the need to detect contact between the particles. In this thesis, an efficient and robust ultra-packing algorithm termed Modified Drop-Fall-Shake is developed. The algorithm is used to simulate the real mixing process when manufacturing TIMs with hundreds of thousands ellipsoidal particles. The effective thermal conductivity of the particulate system is evaluated using an algorithm based on Random Network Model. </p> <p><br></p> <p>In problems where general free-form parametric surfaces (as opposed to the ellipsoidal fillers) need to be evolved inside a regular domain, the geometric distance from a point in the domain to the boundary is necessary to determine the influence of the moving boundary on the underlying domain approximation. Furthermore, during analysis, since the driving force behind interface evolution depends on locally computed curvatures and normals, it is ideal if the parametric entity is not approximated as piecewise-linear. To address this challenge,  an algebraic procedure is presented here to find the level sets of rational parametric surfaces commonly utilized by commercial CAD systems. The developed technique utilizes the resultant theory to construct implicit forms of parametric Bezier patches, level sets of which are termed algebraic level sets (ALS). Boolean compositions of the algebraic level sets are carried out using the theory of R-functions. The algebraic level sets and their gradients at a given point on the domain can also be used to project the point onto the immersed boundary. Beginning with a first-order algorithm, sequentially refined procedures culminating in a second-order projection algorithm are described for NURBS curves and surfaces. Examples are presented to illustrate the efficiency and robustness of the developed method. More importantly, the method is shown to be robust and able to generate valid solutions even for curves and surfaces with high local curvature or G₀ continuity---problems where the Newton--Raphson method fails due to discontinuity in the projected points or because the numerical iterations fail to converge to a solution, respectively. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Next, ALS is also extended for boundary representation (B-rep) models that are popularly used in CAD systems for modeling solids. B-rep model generally contains multiple NURBS patches due to the trimming feature used to construct such models, and as a result are not ``watertight" or mathematically compatible at patch edges. A time consuming geometry clean-up procedure is needed to preprocess geometry prior to finite element mesh generation using a B-rep model, which can take up to 70% of total analysis time according to literature. To avoid the need to clean up geometry and directly provide link between CAD and CAE integration,  signed algebraic level sets using novel inner/outer bounding box strategy is proposed for point classification of B-rep model. Several geometric examples are demonstrated, showing that this technique naturally models single patch NURBS geometry as well, and can deal with multiple patches involving planar trimming feature and Boolean operation. During the investigation of algebraic level sets, a complex self-intersection problem is also reported, especially for three-dimensional surface. The self-intersection may occur within an interval of interest during implicitization of a curve or surface since the implicitized curve or surface is not trimmed and extends to infinity. Although there is no robust and universal solution the problem, two potential solutions are provided and discussed in this thesis.</p> <p><br></p> <p>In order to improve the computational efficiency of analysis in immersed boundary problems, an efficient local refinement technique for both mesh and quadrature  using the kd-tree data structure is further proposed. The kd-tree sub-division is theoretically proved to be more efficient against traditional quad-/oct-tree subdivision methods. In addition, an efficient local refinement strategy based on signed algebraic level sets is proposed to divide the cells. The efficiency of kd-tree based mesh refinement and adaptive quadrature is later shown through numerical examples comparing with oct-tree subdivision, revealing significant reduction of degrees of freedom and quadrature points.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Towards analysis of moving boundaries problems, an explicit interface tracking method termed enriched isogeometric analysis (EIGA) is adopted in this thesis. EIGA utilizes NURBS shape function for both geometry representation and field approximation. The behavior field is modeled by a weighted blending of the underlying domain approximation and enriching field, allowing high order continuity naturally. Since interface is explicitly represented, EIGA provides direct geometric information such as normals and curvatures. In addition, the blending procedure ensures strong enforced boundary conditions. An important moving boundary problem, namely, reaction-diffusion problem, is investigated using EIGA. In reaction-diffusion problems, the phase interfaces evolve due to chemical reaction and diffusion under multi-physics driven forces, such as mechanical, electrical, thermal, etc. Typical failure phenomenon due to reaction-diffusion problems include void formation and intermetallic compound (IMC) growth. EIGA is applied to study factors and behavior patterns in these failure phenomenon, including void size, current direction, current density, etc. A full joint simulation is also conducted to study the degradation of solder joint under thermal aging and electromigration. </p>

Immediate occupancy and functionality of critical facilities including hospitals, emergency operations centers, communications centers, and police and fire stations is of utmost importance immediately after a damaging earthquake, as they must continue to provide fundamental health, emergency, and security services in the aftermath of an extreme event. Although recent earthquakes have proven the acceptable performance of the structural system in such buildings, when designed according to recent seismic design codes, in many cases damage to the nonstructural components and systems was the main cause of disruption in their functionality. Seismic isolation is proven to be an effective technique to protect building structures from damaging earthquakes. It has been the method of choice for critical facilities, including hospitals in Japan and the United States in recent years. Seismic isolation appears to be an ideal solution for protecting the nonstructural components as well. While this claim was made three decades ago, the supporting research for freestanding (unanchored) equipment and contents (EC) is fairly new. With the focus on freestanding EC, this study investigates the seismic performance of sliding and wheel/caster-supported EC in fixed-base and base-isolated buildings. The study adopts a comparative approach to provide a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using each structural system. The seismic response of sliding EC is investigated analytically in the first part of the thesis, while the response of EC supported on wheels/casters is examined through shake table experiments on two pieces of hospital equipment. The study finds base isolation to be generally effective in reducing seismic demands on freestanding EC, but it also exposes certain situations where isolation in fact increases demands on EC. Increasing the frictional resistance for sliding EC or locking the wheel/casters in the case of wheel/caster-supported EC is highly recommended for EC in base-isolated buildings to prevent excessive displacement demands. Furthermore, the study suggests several design probability functions that can be used by practicing engineers to estimate the peak seismic demands on sliding and wheel/caster-supported EC in fixed-base and base-isolated buildings. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)