Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Numerical modellng'

2013 - 2014
The subject of this thesis is the analysis and development of new numerical methods for Ordinary Di erential Equations (ODEs). This studies are motivated by the fundamental role that ODEs play in applied mathematics and applied sciences in general. In particular, as is well known, ODEs are successfully used to describe phenomena evolving in time, but it is often very di cult or even impossible to nd a solution in closed form, since a general formula for the exact solution has never been found, apart from special cases. The most important cases in the applications are systems of ODEs, whose exact solution is even harder to nd; then the role played by numerical integrators for ODEs is fundamental to many applied scientists. It is probably impossible to count all the scienti c papers that made use of numerical integrators during the last century and this is enough to recognize the importance of them in the progress of modern science. Moreover, in modern research, models keep getting more complicated, in order to catch more and more peculiarities of the physical systems they describe, thus it is crucial to keep improving numerical integrator's e ciency and accuracy. The rst, simpler and most famous numerical integrator was introduced by Euler in 1768 and it is nowadays still used very often in many situations, especially in educational settings because of its immediacy, but also in the practical integration of simple and well-behaved systems of ODEs. Since that time, many mathematicians and applied scientists devoted their time to the research of new and more e cient methods (in terms of accuracy and computational cost). The development of numerical integrators followed both the scienti c interests and the technological progress of the ages during whom they were developed. In XIX century, when most of the calculations were executed by hand or at most with mechanical calculators, Adams and Bashfort introduced the rst linear multistep methods (1855) and the rst Runge- Kutta methods appeared (1895-1905) due to the early works of Carl Runge and Martin Kutta. Both multistep and Runge-Kutta methods generated an incredible amount of research and of great results, providing a great understanding of them and making them very reliable in the numerical integration of a large number of practical problems. It was only with the advent of the rst electronic computers that the computational cost started to be a less crucial problem and the research e orts started to move towards the development of problem-oriented methods. It is probably possible to say that the rst class of problems that needed an ad-hoc numerical treatment was that of sti problems. These problems require highly stable numerical integrators (see Section ??) or, in the worst cases, a reformulation of the problem itself. Crucial contributions to the theory of numerical integrators for ODEs were given in the XX century by J.C. Butcher, who developed a theory of order for Runge-Kutta methods based on rooted trees and introduced the family of General Linear Methods together with K. Burrage, that uni ed all the known families of methods for rst order ODEs under a single formulation. General Linear Methods are multistagemultivalue methods that combine the characteristics of Runge-Kutta and Linear Multistep integrators... [edited by Author]
XIII n.s.

The main objective of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive numerical tool for the three-dimensional simulation of sedimentary basins. We have used a volume averaging technique to obtain a couple of basin-scale mathematical models. We have used some innovative numerical techniques to deal with such models. A multi-fluid implicit tracking technique is developed and integrated with a Stokes solver that is robust with respect to the variations of the coefficients. The movement of the basin boundaries and the evolution of the faults are treated with an Ale and a Finite Volume scheme respectively. Also some mesh refinement methods are used to guarantee a sufficient accuracy. The numerical experiments show a good qualitative agreement with the measured geometry of the sedimentary layers. (Pubblicata - vedi http://hdl.handle.net/2434/148441)

This thesis focuses on solutions of reactive transport problems in porous media. The principle mechanisms of flow and reactive mass transport in porous media are investigated. Global implicit approach (GIA), where transport and reaction are fully coupled, and sequential noniterative approach (SNIA) are implemented into the software OpenGeoSys (OGS6) to couple chemical reaction and mass transport. The reduction scheme proposed by Kräutle is used in GIA to reduce the number of coupled nonlinear differential equations. The reduction scheme takes linear combinations within mobile species and immobile species and effectively separates the reaction-independent linear differential equations from coupled nonlinear ones (i.e. reducing the number of primary variables in the nonlinear system). A chemical solver is implemented using semi-smooth Newton iteration which employs complementarity condition to solve for equilibrium mineral reactions. The results of three benchmarks are used for code verification. Based on the solutions of these benchmarks, it is shown that GIA with the reduction scheme is faster (ca. 6.7 times) than SNIA in simulating homogeneous equilibrium reactions and (ca. 24 times) in simulating kinetic reaction. In simulating heterogeneous equilibrium mineral reactions, SNIA outperforms GIA with the reduction scheme by 4.7 times
Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die numerische Berechnung reaktiver Transportprobleme in porösen Medien. Es werden prinzipielle Mechanismen von Fluidströmung und reaktive Stofftransport in porösen Medien untersucht. Um chemische Reaktionen und Stofftransport zu koppeln, wurden die Ansätze Global Implicit Approach (GIA) sowie Sequential Non-Iterative Approach (SNIA) in die Software OpenGeoSys (OGS6) implementiert. Das von Kräutle vorgeschlagene Reduzierungsschema wird in GIA verwendet, um die Anzahl der gekoppelten nichtlinearen Differentialgleichungen zu reduzieren. Das Reduzierungsschema verwendet Linearkombinationen von mobilen und immobile Spezies und trennt die reaktionsunabhngigen linearen Differentialgleichungen von den gekoppelten nichtlinearen Gleichungen (dh Verringerung der Anzahl der Primärvariablen des nicht-linearen Gleichungssystems). Um die Gleichgewichtsreaktionen der Mineralien zu berechnen, wurde ein chemischer Gleichungslaser auf Basis von ”semi-smooth Newton-Iterations” implementiert. Ergebnisse von drei Benchmarks wurden zur Code-Verifikation verwendet. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Simulation homogener Equilibriumreaktionen mit GIA 6,7 mal schneller und bei kinetischen Reaktionen 24 mal schneller als SNIA sind. Bei Simulationen heterogener Equilibriumreaktionen ist SNIA 4,7 mal schneller als der GIA Ansatz

One of the most conspicuous problems in space physics for the last decades has been to theoretically describe how the large parallel electric fields on auroral field lines can be generated. There is strong observational evidence of such electric fields, and stationary theory supports the need for electric fields accelerating electrons to the ionosphere where they generate auroras. However, dynamic models have not been able to reproduce these electric fields. This thesis sheds some light on this incompatibility and shows that the missing ingredient in previous dynamic models is a correct description of the electron temperature. As the electrons accelerate towards the ionosphere, their velocity along the magnetic field line will increase. In the converging magnetic field lines, the mirror force will convert much of the parallel velocity into perpendicular velocity. The result of the acceleration and mirroring will be a velocity distribution with a significantly higher temperature in the auroral acceleration region than above. The enhanced temperature corresponds to strong electron pressure gradients that balance the parallel electric fields. Thus, in regions with electron acceleration along converging magnetic field lines, the electron temperature increase is a fundamental process and must be included in any model that aims to describe the build up of parallel electric fields. The development of such a model has been hampered by the difficulty to describe the temperature variation. This thesis shows that a local equation of state cannot be used, but the electron temperature variations must be descibed as a nonlocal response to the state of the auroral flux tube. The nonlocal response can be accomplished by the particle-fluid model presented in this thesis. This new dynamic model is a combination of a fluid model and a Particle-In-Cell (PIC) model and results in large parallel electric fields consistent with in-situ observations.

This thesis provides a synthetic understanding and an extensive analysis on megathrust earthquake generated tsunamis, with emphasis on the application of numerical modeling. In the present thesis, the tsunami characteristics are first depicted as a special hydrodynamic phenomenon. Further, a detailed literature review on the recent developments in tsunami numerical modeling techniques and on their applications is presented. A common approach in modeling the generation, propagation and inundation of tsunamis is discussed and used in the thesis. Based on the assumption of a vertical displacement of ocean water that is analogous to the ocean bottom displacement during a submarine earthquake, and the use of a non-dispersive long-wave model to simulate its physical transformation as it radiates outward from the source region. A general analysis of the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26th, 2004 is provided; and tsunami generation and propagation is conducted for this tsunami, as well as for tsunamis occurring in the Arabian Sea and Northwest Pacific Ocean, near the coast of the Vancouver Island. The analyses are based on geological and seismological parameters collected by the author. In this paper the author uses the collected bathymetry and earthquake information, plus tide gauge records and field survey results, and focuses on the theoretical assumptions, validation and limitation of the existing numerical models. Numerical simulations are performed using MIRONE, a tsunami modelling software developed based on the nonlinear shallow water theory. Through numerical modeling of three tsunami scenarios, e.g. December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, November 28, 1945 Arabian Sea Tsunami and the potential Cascadia Tsunami, a vivid overview of the tsunami features is provided as discussed. Generally, the results fairly agree with the observed data. The GEOWARE software is used to compute the tsunami travel time necessary to calibrate the results from MIRONE, using different numerical techniques. Several sensitivity analyses are conducted so that one can understand how oceanic topography affects tsunami wave propagation, determine how smoothing the topography affects the simulated tsunami travel time, and interpret the tsunami wave-height patterns as seen in the model simulations. The model can predict reasonably the tsunami behaviour, and are thus useful for tsunami warning system (tsunami mitigation and preparedness); and coastal population and industry can prepare for such possible catastrophic events.

Until recently, research has been scarce in the field of physical modelling of dam breaching. Over the past few years, teams from the University of Ottawa, Canada, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, and HR Wallingford, United Kingdom have worked on several physical models to help determine how various dam breaching characteristics vary due to changes in dam geometry and geotechnical properties. The purpose of this project is to use these new experimental data sets to compare and validate the applicability range of two existing pieces of software, MIKE11-DB and BREACH developed by the Danish Hydraulic Institute and National Weather Service, respectively. Several breaching characteristics such as the outflow hydrograph, peak flow, lag time, breaching time, breach width, and water level are considered in the present study. A sensitivity analysis is also performed on the model’s main input parameters and their sensitivity and performance is ranked accordingly.

This thesis reports onreview and research work carried out on the numerical analysis of elastomers. The two numerical techniques investigated for this purpose are the finite and boundary element methods. The finite element method is studied so that existing theory is used to develop a finite element code both to review the finite element method as applied to the stress analysis of elastomers and to provide a comparison of results and numerical approach with the boundary element method. The research work supported on in this thesis covers the application of the boundary element method to the stress analysis of elastomers. To this end a simplified regularization approach is discussed for the removal of strong and hypersingularities generated in the system on non-linear boundary integral equations. The necessary programming details for the implementation of the boundary element method are discussed based on the code developed for this research. Both the finite and boundary element codes developed for this research use the Mooney-Rivlin material model as the strain energy based constitutive stress strain function. For validation purposes four test cases are investigated. These are the uni-axial patch test, pressurized thick wall cylinder, centrifugal loading of a rotating disk and the J-Integral evaluation for a centrally cracked plate. For the patch test and pressurized cylinder, both plane stress and strain have been investigated. For the centrifugal loading and centrally cracked plate test cases only plane stress has been investigated. For each test case the equivalent results for an equivalent FEM program mesh have been presented. The test results included in this thesis prove that the FE and BE derivations detailed in this work are correct. Specifically the simplified domain integral singular and hyper-singular regularization approach was shown to lead to accurate results for the test cases detailed. Various algorithm findings specific to the BEM implementation of the theory are also discussed.

Lors d’un glissement sismique, l’énergie libérée par la décharge élastique des blocs de terre adjacente peut être séparée en trois parties principales : L’énergie qui est rayonnée à la surface de la terre (_ 5% du budget énergétique total), l’énergie de fracture pour la création de nouvelles surfaces de faille et enfin, l’énergie dissipée à l’intérieur d’une région de la faille, d’épaisseur finie, que l’on appelle le “fault gouge ". Cette région accumule la majorité du glissement sismique. Estimer correctement la largeur de fault gouge est d’une importance capitale pour calculer l’énergie dissipée pendant le séisme, le comportement frictionnel de la faille et les conditions de nucléation de la faille sous la forme d’un glissement sismique ou asismique.Dans cette thèse, approches différentes de régularisation ont été explorées pour l’estimation de la largeur de localisation de la zone de glissement principal de la faille pendant le glissement cosmique. Celles-ci comprennent l’application de la viscosité et des couplages multiphasiques dans le continuum classique de Cauchy, et l’introduction d’un continuum micromorphe de Cosserat du premier ordre. Tout d’abord, nous nous concentrons sur le rôle de la régularisation visqueuse dans le contexte des analyses dynamiques, en tant que méthode de régularisation de la localisation des déformations. Nous étudions le cas dynamique d’un continuum de Cauchy classique adoucissant à la déformation et durcissant à la vitesse de déformation. En appliquant l’analyse de stabilité de Lyapunov, nous montrons que l’introduction de la viscosité est incapable d’empêcher la localisation de la déformation sur un plan mathématique et la dépendance de du maillage des éléments finis.Nous effectuons des analyses non linéaires en utilisant le continuum de Cosserat dans le cas de grands déplacements par glissement sismique de fault gouge par rapport à sa largeur. Le continuum de Cosserat nous permet de rendre compte de l’énergie dissipée pendant un séisme et du rôle de la microstructure dans l’évolution de la friction de la faille. Nous nous concentrons sur l’influence de la vitesse de glissement sismique sur le mécanisme d’assidument frictionnel de la pressurisation thermique. Nous remarquons que l’influence des conditions aux limites dans la diffusion du fluide interstitiel à l’intérieur de fault gouge, conduit à une reprise du frottement après l’affaiblissement initial. De plus, un mode de localisation de déformation en mouvement est présent pendant le cisaillement de la couche, introduisant des oscillations dans la réponse du frottement. Ces oscillations augmentent le contenu spectral du séisme. L’introduction de la viscosité dans le mode ci-dessus, conduit à un comportement de "rate and state" sans l’introduction d’une variable interne. Nos conclusions sur le rôle de la pressurisation thermique pendant le cisaillement de fault gouge sont en accord qualitatif avec les nouveaux résultats expérimentaux disponibles. Enfin, sur la base des résultats numériques, nous étudions les hypothèses du modèle actuel de glissement sur un plan mathématique proposent à la littérature. Le rôle des conditions aux limites et du mode de localisation des déformations dans l’évolution du frottement de la faille pendant le glissement sismique. Le cas d’un domaine délimité et d’un mode de localisation de la déformation en mouvement est examiné dans le contexte d’un glissement sur un plan mathématique sous pressurisation thermique. Nos résultats étoffent le modèle original dans un contexte plus général
During coseismic slip, the energy released by the elastic unloading of the adjacent earth blocks can be separated in three main parts: The energy that is radiated to the earth’s surface (_ 5% of the whole energy budget), the fracture energy for the creation of new fault surfaces and finally, the energy dissipated inside a region of the fault, with finite thickness, which is called the fault gauge. This region accumulates the majority of the seismic slip. Estimating correctly the width of the fault gauge is of paramount importance in calculating the energy dissipated during the earthquake, the fault’s frictional response, and the conditions for nucleation of the fault in the form of seismic or aseismic slip.In this thesis different regularization approaches were explored for the estimation of the localization width of the fault’s principal slip zone during coseismic slip. These include the application of viscosity and multiphysical couplings in the classical Cauchy continuum, and the introduction of a first order micromorphic Cosserat continuum. First, we focus on the role of viscous regularization in the context of dynamical analyses, as a method for regularizing strain localization. We study the dynamic case for a strain softening strain-rate hardening classical Cauchy continuum, and by applying the Lyapunov stability analysis we show that introduction of viscosity is unable to prevent strain localization on a mathematical plane and mesh dependence.We perform fully non linear analyses using the Cosserat continuum under large seismic slip displacements of the fault gouge in comparison to its width. Cosserat continuum provides us with a proper account of the energy dissipated during an earthquake and the role of the microstructure in the evolution of the fault’s friction. We focus on the influence of the seismic slip velocity to the weakening mechanism of thermal pressurization. We notice that the influence of the boundary conditions in the diffusion of the pore fluid inside the fault gouge, leads to frictional strength regain after initial weakening. Furthermore, a traveling strain localization mode is present during shearing of the layer introducing oscillations in the frictional response. Such oscillations increase the spectral content of the earthquake. Introduction of viscosity in the above mode, leads to a rate and state behavior without the introduction of a specific internal state variable. Our conclusions about the role of thermal pressurization during shearing of the fault gouge, agree qualitatively with newly available experimental results.Finally, based on the numerical findings we investigate the assumptions of the current model of a slip on a mathematical plane, in particular the role of the boundary conditions and strain localization mode in the evolution of the fault’s friction during coseismic slip. The case of a bounded domain and a traveling strain localization mode are examined in the context of slip on a mathematical plane under thermal pressurization. Our results expand the original model in a more general context

In the processing industries particulate materials are often in the form of powders which themselves are agglomerations of much smaller sized particles. During powder processing operations agglomerate degradation occurs primarily as a result of collisions between agglomerates and between agglomerates and the process equipment. Due to the small size of the agglomerates and the very short duration of the collisions it is currently not possible to obtain sufficiently detailed quantitative information from real experiments to provide a sound theoretically based strategy for designing particles to prevent or guarantee breakage. However, with the aid of computer simulated experiments, the micro-examination of these short duration dynamic events is made possible. This thesis presents the results of computer simulated experiments on a 2D monodisperse agglomerate in which the algorithms used to model the particle-particle interactions have been derived from contact mechanics theories and, necessarily, incorporate contact adhesion. A detailed description of the theoretical background is included in the thesis. The results of the agglomerate impact simulations show three types of behaviour depending on whether the initial impact velocity is high, moderate or low. It is demonstrated that high velocity impacts produce extensive plastic deformation which leads to subsequent shattering of the agglomerate. At moderate impact velocities semi-brittle fracture is observed and there is a threshold velocity below which the agglomerate bounces off the wall with little or no visible damage. The micromechanical processes controlling these different types of behaviour are discussed and illustrated by computer graphics. Further work is reported to demonstrate the effect of impact velocity and bond strength on the damage produced. Empirical relationships between impact velocity, bond strength and damage are presented and their relevance to attrition and comminution is discussed. The particle size distribution curves resulting from the agglomerate impacts are also provided. Computer simulated diametrical compression tests on the same agglomerate have also been carried out. Simulations were performed for different platen velocities and different bond strengths. The results show that high platen velocities produce extensive plastic deformation and crushing. Low platen velocities produce semi-brittle failure in which cracks propagate from the platens inwards towards the centre of the agglomerate. The results are compared with the results of the agglomerate impact tests in terms of work input, applied velocity and damage produced.

In this project, a numerical model describing the reaction mechanism and the mass and energy transport in wood pyrolysis is studied. The applicability of the model in predicting actual biomass pyrolysis assessed by comparing the model to TGA experimental measurements. The comparison to experiments is done in relation to the mass loss characteristics of chips of varying sizes. The mass loss is of interest as it is a variable necessary in the coupling of reactor and particle models. Three reaction models were simulated and results compared to experimental data, namely, the reaction model developed by Park et al. [Combustion and Flame 157 (2010) 481-494], a simple multicomponent parallel reaction model, and a competitive reaction model. The model of Park et al. did not fit with the experimental data as it underestimates the char yield. The parallel reaction model, which is based on hemicellulose and cellulose decomposition to char and volatiles, also did not agree with the experiments even when fitting the parameters to the data. The downward trend of char yield with increasing temperature suggests there exists competition between the volatiles and char in wood pyrolysis. The proposed competitive reaction model which consists of a hemicellulose reaction to volatiles and a cellulose reaction to volatiles and char is in good agreement with the experimental data. The mass loss characteristics in the experimental temperature range is fairly predicted within reasonable accuracy.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2008.
Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

The current work aims to make a numerical model for an engineering design of anindustrial cyclone gasifier called as the Hortlax plant with capacity of providing 2.4 (MWth)of district heating as well as 1.3 (MW) of electricity. The model is needed to be able not onlyto predict the gasifier flow field with a suitable accuracy but also to investigate a largenumber of design alternatives with limited computer resources.The time-dependent single-phase flow field in a cyclone at first was simulated by usingseveral popular turbulence models including standard k-epsilon and SST models withcurvature correction, SSG-RSM and LES Smagorinsky models. The goal was to find the mostappropriate turbulence modeling as a foundation for the further works. Averaged andfluctuating parts of the simulated velocity component profiles from different turbulencemodels were compared with each other and the LDA measurements from literature.Comparison showed that the SSG-RSM can be the best alternative for the future simulations.An isothermal time-dependent Eulerian-Lagrangian particle modeling was implemented asthe second step for simulating particle-laden cold flow in the Hortlax gasifier. The impacts ofparticle-to-gas coupling on the pressure and velocity of the flow and particles motion insidethe gasifier were studied. The model could reasonably predict the particle tracking aspresented in the experimental results from the literature. High temperature of the gas flowinside the gasifier had quite important effects on the reduction of swirl and turbulenceintensity especially in the core region, pressure and particle behaviors. However, the presenceof solid particles did not influence the swirl intensity and turbulence significantly.The Hortlax gasifier was moreover experimentally studied in order to optimize thegasification plant efficiency, and understand the effect of operating. The air stoichiometricratio was varied to find the optimal condition for the plant. Moreover, the gasification processwas modeled using adiabatic thermodynamic equilibrium to see how far the process is fromequilibrium condition. Five different commercially available fuels were also studied usingequilibrium calculations. It was found that the gasifier is needed to work under the processtemperature of 1000 °C and stoichiometric ratio of 0.3, since at higher temperature the ash ismelted that is seriously avoided in the cyclone gasifier. Accordingly, the amount of undesiredmethane in the produced gas is quite high and the gasification efficiency is relatively lowaround 56%. Although the process does not reach equilibrium, it was seen thatthermodynamic equilibrium could compare the fuels performance almost close to theexperiments.

Předkládaná práce je zaměřena na numerické modelování spalování tuhých paliv na roštu metodami výpočtové dynamiky tekutin (CFD). Jelikož výsledky CFD simulací roštového spalování závisí na kvalitě vstupních dat, která zahrnují i údaje o teplotě, hmotnostním toku a chemickém složení spalin vystupujících z lože, pozornost je věnována především procesům, probíhajícím v loži během spalování na roštu. Velká část práce je věnována vývoji spolehlivého modelu spalování v sypaných ložích, jelikož může napomoci zkvalitnit výsledky simulací i rozšířit znalosti principů spalování tuhých paliv v sypaných ložích. V rámci práce byl vyvinut jednorozměrný nestacionární model spalování v experimentálním reaktoru a implementován do počítačového programu GRATECAL 1.3 včetně grafického uživatelského rozhraní. Zvláštní důraz byl kladen na konzervativnost modelu. Proto byla vyvinuta metoda pro kontrolu hmotnostní a energetické bilance systému a následně aplikována v řadě studií, v rámci nichž byly odhaleny některé chyby týkající se definic zdrojových členů, které byly převzaty z literatury a opraveny. Pomocí modelu byla provedena analýza šíření čela sušení a reakce hoření koksu po výšce lože pšeničné slámy. Na základě výsledků těchto analýz bylo doporučeno zahrnout i modelování změny porozity částic paliva, aby šířka reakční zóny byla predikována korektně v případě, že je uvažována změna porozity celého lože. Rovněž vyvinutá bilanční metoda byla použita k analýze vlivu kritérií konvergence na hmotnostní a energetickou nerovnováhu simulovaného systému. Bylo zjištěno, že škálovaná rezidua rovnic všech veličin by měla poklesnout aspoň na hodnotu $10^{-6}$, aby bylo dosaženo nízké hmotnostní a energetické nerovnováhy a tudíž uspokojivě přesných výsledků ze simulací v loži. Druhá část práce je věnována vývoji a implementaci knihovny uživatelem definovaných funkcí pro komerční CFD nástroj ANSYS FLUENT, které slouží k propojení modelu lože s modelem komory reálné spalovací jednotky, aby byla umožněna dynamická změna okrajových podmínek na vstupu do komory v závislosti na výstupech ze simulací v loži. Vytvořené rozhraní pro propojení těchto dvou modelů je dostatečně obecné pro aplikaci na širokou škálu modelů roštových kotlů. Popsané výsledky přispívají k lepšímu porozumění numerickému modelování spalování na roštu, a to zejména ve fázi sestavování numerického modelu a nastavení parametrů řešiče pro kontrolu konvergence.

Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Flamelet Modellierung für die Verbrennung von Kohlenstaub. Dabei liegt der Fokus sowohl auf der detaillierten Betrachtung der Gasphasenchemie als auch auf der Interaktion der Kohle mit der Gasphase. Ziel der Arbeit ist die Entwicklung einer Methode für die Simulation großtechnischer Kohlestaubfeuerungen. Die energetische Umsetzung von Kohle läuft in drei wesentlichen Schritten ab: Verdampfung der Feuchtigkeit, Ausgasung der Kohle (Pyrolyse) und schließlich der Koksabbrand. Da die Struktur der Kohle als fossiler Brennstoff hoch komplex ist, existieren viele prädiktive, rechenaufwändige Modelle zur Beschreibung dieser Prozesse [1–4]. Diese Modelle können nicht direkt in numerischen Strömungssimulationen genutzt werden, dienen aber zur Kalibrierung einfacherer kinetischer Modelle. Diese in der Arbeit angewendete Prozedur wird in [5] beschrieben. Zur detaillierten Beschreibung des Abbaus der entstehenden höheren Kohlenwasserstoffe werden in der Simulation große Reaktionsmechanismen benötigt. Die Benutzung solcher Mechanismen ist mit großen Rechenzeiten verbunden und daher bleibt deren Anwendbarkeit auf einfache Anwendungsfälle beschränkt. Der Vorteil der Flamelet Modellierung besteht darin, dass unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen der komplette thermo-chemische Zustand, bestehend aus Temperatur, Druck und Zusammensetzung, mit nur wenigen charakterisierenden Kontrollvariablen abgebildet werden kann. Durch Vorgabe und Variation der Kontrollvariablen können diese Zustände mittels kanonischer Flammenkonfigurationen vorberechnet und in sogenannten Flamelettabellen abgespeichert werden. Für das klassische Flamelet / Fortschrittsvariablen Modell [6] wird der thermo-chemische Zustand über Mischungsbruch und Fortschrittsvariablen parametriert, dabei bestimmt der Mischungsbruch den Anteil an Brenn- stoff im Gemisch und die Fortschrittsvariable den Fortschritt der chemischen Reaktion. Die Kontrollvariablen werden in der numerischen Simulation transportiert, an Stelle der Energie- und Speziesgleichungen. Dies stellt für große Mechanismen eine dramatische Reduktion der zu lösenden Gleichungen dar. Der thermo-chemische Zustand ergibt sich per Look-up aus den Flamelettabellen. Im Zuge der Verbrennung trockener Kohle werden zwei Brennstoffe durch Pyrolyse und Koksabbrand freigesetzt. Für die Flamelet Modellierung bedeutet dies entsprechend je einen Mischungsbruch für Pyrolysegas und Produkte aus dem Koksabbrand. Neben der Fortschrittsvariablen wird ebenfalls die Enthalpie der Gasphase als Kontrollvariable benötigt aufgrund des intensiven Wärmeaustauschs zwischen Kohle und Gasphase. In der Arbeit erfolgt die Vorstellung der benötigten Transportgleichungen sowie die Beschreibung verschiedener Methoden zur Integration nicht-adiabater Zustände in Flamelettabellen. Dabei unterscheiden sich die vorgestellten Tabellierungstrategien hauptsächlich in der betrachteten Verbrennungsart. IV Erfolgt die Mischung von Brennstoff und Oxidationsmittel erst in der untersuchten Flammenkonfiguration, spricht man von Diffusionsflammenstrukturen; sind beide schon gemischt, so entstehen Vormischflammenstrukturen. Die Detektion solcher Strukturen erfolgt in der Arbeit anhand einer Flammenstrukturanalyse mittels Flammenmarker. Die prinzipielle Übertragbarkeit des Flamelet / Fortschrittsvariablen Modells auf turbulente Kohlestaubfeuerung wurde von Watanabe [7] gezeigt, jedoch ist die Bewertung der eingesetzten Flamelet Modellierung in Grobstruktursimulationen nicht ohne weiteres möglich. Deshalb werden zur Verifizierung der entwickelten Tabellierungstrategie in der Arbeit einfache Flammenkonfigurationen betrachtet, die es erlauben, direkte Chemielösungen mit den Lösungen der tabellierten Chemie zu vergleichen. Für den entsprechenden Vergleich erfolgt die Vorstellung zweier Analysen. Bei der a priori Analyse wird der thermo-chemische Zustand der detaillierten Lösung mit dem tabellierten Zustand verglichen. Für den Look-up werden dabei die Kontrollvariablen der direkten Chemiesimulation benutzt. Die a posteriori Analyse ist der Vergleich einer voll gekoppelten Rechnung unter Benutzung der Tabellierungstrategie mit der zugehörigen detaillierten Rechnung. Die erste untersuchte Konfiguration stellt eine Gegenstromanordnung mit vorgewärmter Luft und Kohlebeladung dar. Die Hauptergebnisse dieser rein numerischen Studie wurden bereits veröffentlicht [8] und es konnte die erfolgreiche Applikation der vorgestellten Tabellierungstrategie in dieser Anordnung für Tabellen basierend auf Diffusionflammenstrukturen gezeigt werden. Für die Validierung der detaillierten Rechnungen erfolgt die Nutzung experimenteller Daten [9, 10] für magere Methan-Sauerstoff-Stickstoff Mischungen in Staupunktströmungen. Es zeigt sich, dass diese Konfigurationen stark von den vorgemischten Gasflammen dominiert werden und somit Tabellen basierend auf Vormischflammenstrukturen einzusetzen sind. Die entwickelte Tabellierungsmethode ist in der Lage, auch diese Flammenstrukturen abzubilden. Abschließend wird numerisch eine Parametervariation hinsichtlich Einlassgeschwindigkeit und Kohlebeladung vorgestellt, um die Robustheit und breite Anwendbarkeit der entwickelten Tabellierungstrategie aufzuzeigen. Zusammenfassend konnte mittels Flammenstrukturanalyse für jede vorgestellte Konfiguration der zu verwendende Typ der Tabelle bestimmt werden. In den untersuchten Konfigurationen führte deren Anwendung zu einer guten Übereinstimmung mit den detaillierten Rechnungen. Damit legt diese Arbeit den Grundstein für weiterführende Betrachtung zur Simulation großtechnischer Kohlestaubfeuerungen.

Pourquoi une goutte d’eau a tendance à prendre la forme d’une sphère ? Pourquoi reste-t-elle accrochée sur sa feuille lors de la rosée du matin ? Pourquoi, au contraire, ruisselle-t-elle jusque sur le sol ? Toutes ces questions en apparence simplistes font appel à des phénomènes microscopiques très complexes dont la nature physique est encore aujourd’hui sujet à débat. Leur compréhension est cependant un enjeu majeur dans de nombreux cas d'application industrielle. C’est notamment le cas en aéronautique où après le passage d’un aéronef au travers d’un nuage ou après une opération de dégivrage, un film mince se forme sur l’aile. L’évolution de la surface mouillée par ce film, comme lors de sa transition en ruisselets sous l’effet du cisaillement de l’air, ainsi que son éventuel regel un peu plus loin en dehors des zones de protection, n’est pas prise en compte dans les outils de simulations des dégivreurs thermiques ; ou alors de manière rudimentaire via des corrélations empiriques. Cependant, cette accrétion de givre se doit d’être contrôlée pour des raisons de sécurité et de performances aérodynamiques. C’est pourquoi, il est nécessaire d’améliorer les outils existant en développant de nouveaux modèles capables de prendre en compte l'influence des forces capillaires à l’échelle macroscopique, notamment au niveau de la ligne triple, pour pouvoir prédire la dynamique d’un film cisaillé.L’objectif général de cette étude est donc le développement d’un modèle adapté à la simulation à grande échelle d’écoulement de film mince partiellement mouillant.Dans cette optique, une approche basée sur un système d'équations de type Saint-Venant a été adoptée. Cependant, ce système sous sa forme classique ne permet pas la simulation de films minces avec effet de mouillage partiel. Une solution pour prendre en compte ces effets est d'ajouter une force macroscopique concentrée à la ligne de contact. Cette force singulière permet ainsi de vérifier localement la loi macroscopique de Young-Dupré. La difficulté de cette approche est alors de localiser la force uniquement à la ligne triple. Contrairement aux modèles rencontrés dans la littérature qui se basent tous sur l’utilisation d’un paramètre ajustable, permettant de faire la distinction entre zone sèche et zone mouillée, nous proposons ici une approche avec transport d’une fonction couleur. Cette fonction, définie comme égale à un dans les zones mouillées et nulle dans les zones sèches, présente l'intérêt d'avoir un gradient identiquement nul, sauf à la ligne triple, permettant de localiser la force de ligne de contact.L'introduction de cette fonction couleur oblige à reformuler en partie le système d'équations de Saint-Venant afin de tenir compte de cette nouvelle fonction dans l'expression des différents termes de forces agissant sur le film. Pour justifier le choix de cette nouvelle formulation, une méthode basée sur une formulation eulérienne du principe de Hamilton a été utilisée. Cette méthode permet d’obtenir une équation de quantité de mouvement compatible avec la conservation de l'énergie du système étudié avec comme unique point de départ une expression de la densité d'énergie du système en fonction des variables utilisées.Ce nouveau système d’équations, en plus d’être complètement affranchi d’un paramètre de calibration, présente l’avantage d’être complètement hyperbolique dans le cas où les effets de courbure ne sont pas pris en compte. Cela a permis le développement d’un solveur de Riemann de type HLLC pour résoudre numériquement ce système d’équations. Afin de tester la robustesse des modèles physiques et numériques, un ensemble de cas de vérification et de validation a été mis en place.Enfin, les termes de courbure ont été pris en compte dans le schéma numérique final permettant d’étendre considérablement le champ d’application de ce nouveau modèle avec fonction couleur. Ainsi des problèmes où les effets capillaires sont prédominants ont pu être simulés
Why does a drop of water tend to form a sphere? Why does it cling to its leaf in the morning dew? On the contrary, why does it flow down towards the ground? All these seemingly simplistic questions involve highly complex microscopic phenomena whose physical nature is still the subject of debate. However, understanding them is a major challenge in many industrial applications. This is particularly true in aeronautics, where a thin film forms on the wings after the aircraft has passed through a cloud or after a defreezing operation. The evolution of the wetted surface by this film, like its transition into rivulets under the effect of air shear, as well as its eventual refreezing a little further outside the protection zones, is not taken into account in thermal defrost simulation tools; or only in a rudimentary way via empirical correlations. However, this ice accretion must be controlled for safety reasons and aerodynamic performance. This is why it is necessary to improve existing tools by developing new models capable of considering the influence of capillary forces on a macroscopic scale, specifically at the contact line level, in order to be able to predict the dynamics of a sheared film.The overall objective of this study is therefore to develop a suitable model for large-scale simulation of partially wetting thin film flow.To answer this objective, an approach based on a Shallow-water equations was adopted. However, this system in its classical form does not allow the simulation of thin films with partial wetting effects. One solution to consider these effects is to add a macroscopic force concentrated to the contact line. This singular force enables the macroscopic Young-Dupré law to be verified locally. The issue with this approach is to localize the force at the contact line only. Unlike other models in the literature, which are all based on the use of an adjustable parameter allowing the distinction between dry and wet zones, we offer here an approach involving the transport of a color function. This function, defined as equal to one in wet zones and zero in dry zones, has the advantage of having an identically zero gradient, except at the contact line, enabling the contact line force to be localized.The introduction of this color function needs a partial reformulation of the Shallow-water equations, in order to integrate this new function in the expression of the various force terms acting on the film. In order to justify the choice of this new formulation, a method based on an eulerian formulation of Hamilton's principle was used. This method helps to obtain a momentum equation compatible with the conservation of energy of the system under study, with the only starting point being an expression of the system's energy density as a function of the variables used.This new system of equations, in addition to being completely calibration parameter free, has the advantage of being entirely hyperbolic in the case where curvature effects are not taken into account. This has helped us to develop an HLLC-type Riemann solver to solve this equation system numerically. In order to test out the robustness of the physical and numerical models, a set of verification and validation cases was set up.Finally, curvature terms were considered in the final numerical scheme, considerably extending the scope of application of this new color function model. In this way, problems where capillary effects are predominant could be simulated

Soft materials have a wide range of applications, which include the production of masks for nano–lithography, the separation of membranes with nano–pores, and the preparation of nano–size structures for electronic devices. Self–organization in soft matter is a primary mechanism for the formation of structure. Block copolymers are long chain molecules composed of several different polymer blocks covalently bonded into a single macromolecule, which belong to an important class of soft materials which can self–assemble into different nano–structures due to their natural ability to microphase separate. Experimental and theoretical studies of block copolymers are quite challenging and, without computer simulations, it is difficult and problematic to analyse modern experiments. The Cell Dynamics Simulation (CDS) technique is a fast and accurate computational technique, which has been used to investigate block copolymers. The stability has been analysed by making use of different discrete Laplacian operators using well–chosen time steps in CDS. This analysis offers stability conditions for phase–field, based on the Cahn–Hilliard Cook (CHC) equations of which CDS is the finite difference approximation. To overcome grid related artefacts (discretization errors) in the computational grid, the study has been done for employing an isotropic Laplacian operator in the CDS framework. Several 2D and 3D discrete Laplacians have been quantitatively compared for their isotropy. The novel 2D 9–point BV(D2Q9) isotropic stencil operators have been derived from the B.A.C. van Vlimmeren method and their isotropy measure has been determined optimally better than other exiting 2D 9–point discrete Laplacian operators. Overall, the stencils in 9–point family Laplacians in 2D and the 19–point stencil operators in 3D have been found to be optimal in terms of isotropy and time step stability. Considerable implementation of Laplacians with good isotropy has played an important role in achieving a proper structure factor in modelling methods of block copolymers. The novel models have been developed by implementing CDS via more stable implicit methods, including backward Euler, Crank–Nicolson (CN) and Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) methods. The CN scheme were implemented for both one order and two order parameter systems in CDS and successful results were obtained compared to forward Euler method. Due to the implementation of implicit methods, the CDS has achieved second–order accuracy both in time and space and it has become stronger, robust and more stable technique for simulation of the phase–separation phenomena in soft materials.

Flameless combustion can be adopted as a low-emission combustion regime in the aviation sector, which is one of the biggest contributors to NOx emissions and is expected to grow in the near future. Nevertheless, several issues must be solved before any practical applications. Effective design procedure must deal with either combustion or heat transfer phenomena occurring at extremely low—temperature conditions. To this aim, experimental and numerical analyses focused on the characterization of fuel/oxidant behaviour are strongly needed and represent an essential step for further development. Besides, the complexity of the analysed technological system requires advanced tools for the definition of the chemical kinetics, for the burner designs and more in general for the definition of aviation equipment design. In this light, the thesis has been addressed to the study of flameless combustion mechanisms within a combustion chamber prototype developed in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft. In particular, the temperature and species concentration fields have been analysed. The CFD tool which will be used is Ansys Fluent together with two detailed reaction mechanisms (KIBO and RDM19).

Granular materials are multi-particle systems involved in many industrial process and everyday life. The mechanical behavior of granular media such as sand, coffee beans, planetary rings and powders are current challenging tasks. In the last years, these systems have been widely examined experimentally, analytically and numerically, and they continue producing relevant and unexpected results. Despite the fact that granular media are often composed of grains with anisotropic shapes like rice, lentils or pills, most experimental and theoretical studies have concerned spherical particles. The aim of this thesis has been to examine numerically the behavior of granular media composted by spherical and non-spherical particles. Our numerical implementations have permitted the description of the macroscopic properties of mechanically stable granular assemblies, which have been experimentally examined in a framework of the projects "Estabilidad y dinámica de medios granulares anisótropos" (FIS2008- 06034-C02-02) University of Girona and "Interacciones entre partículas y emergencia de propiedades macroscópicas en medios granulares" (FIS2008-06034-C02-01) University of Navarra
Els materials granulars són sistemes de moltes partícules implicats en diversos processos industrials i en la nostra vida quotidiana. El comportament mecànic de conjunts granulars, com la sorra, grans de cafè, anells o pols planetàries, representa actualment un repte per a la ciència. En els últims anys aquests sistemes s’han estudiat àmpliament de forma experimental, analítica i numèrica. De totes maneres, avui dia es continuen obtenint resultats rellevants, i en moltes ocasions, inesperats. Malgrat el fet que els materials granulars sovint estan compostos per grans amb forma anisotròpica, com l’arròs, les llenties o les píndoles, la majoria dels estudis experimentals i teòrics se centren en partícules esfèriques. L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi ha estat analitzar numèricament el comportament dels mitjans granulars compostos per partícules esfèriques i no esfèriques. Els mètodes numèrics implementats han permès la descripció de les propietats macroscòpiques de piles i columnes granulars, que s’han estudiat experimentalment en el marc dels projectes "Estabilidad y dinámica de medios granulares anisótropos" (FIS2008-06034-C02- 02) de la Universitat de Girona i "Interacciones entre partículas y emergencia de propiedades macroscópicas en medios granulares" (FIS2008-06034-C02- 01) de la Universitat de Navarra

La tesis se centra en el desarrollo de técnicas numéricas específicas para la resolución de problemas de mecánica de sólidos, tomando como referencia aquellos que involucran geomateriales (suelos, rocas, materiales granulares,...). Concretamente, se tratan los siguientes puntos: 1) formulaciones Arbitrariamente Lagrangianas Eulerianas (ALE) para problemas con grandes desplazamientos del contorno; 2) métodos de resolución para problemas no lineales en el campo de la mecánica de sólidos y 3) modelización del comportamiento mecánico de materiales granulares mediante leyes constitutivas elastoplásticas.
Las principales aportaciones de la tesis son: el desarrollo de una formulación ALE para modelos hyperelastoplásticos y el cálculo de operadores tangentes para distintas leyes constitutivas y esquemas de integración temporal no triviales (uso de esquemas de derivación numérica, técnicas de subincrementación y modelos elastoplásticos con endurecimiento y/o reblandecimiento dependientes del trabajo plástico o la densidad). Se presentan diversas aplicaciones que muestran las principales características de los desarrollos presentados (análisis del ensayo del molinete para arcillas blandas, del ensayo triaxial para arenas, de la rotura bajo una cimentación, del proceso de estricción de una barra metálica circular y de un proceso de estampación en frío), dedicando una especial atención a los aspectos computacionales de la resolución de dichos problemas. Por último, se dedica un capítulo específico a la modelización y la simulación numérica de procesos de compactación fría de polvos metálicos y cerámicos.
Numerical modelling of problems involving geomaterials (i.e. soils, rocks, concrete and ceramics) has been an area of active research over the past few decades. This fact is probably due to three main causes: the increasing interest of predicting the material behaviour in practical engineering situations, the great change of computer capabilities and resources, and the growing interaction between computational mechanics, applied mathematics and different engineering fields (concrete, soil mechanics...). This thesis fits within this last multidisciplinary approach. Based on constitutive modelling and applied mathematics and using both languages the numerical simulation of some complex geomechanical problems has been studied.

The state of the art regarding experiments, constitutive modelling, and numerical simulations involving geomaterials is very extensive. The thesis focuses in three of the most important and actual ongoing research topics within this framework: 1) the treatment of large boundary displacements by means of Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulations; 2) the numerical solution of highly nonlinear systems of equations in solid mechanics; and 3) the constitutive modelling of the nonlinear mechanical behaviour of granular materials. The three topics have been analysed and different contributions for each one of them have been developed. Moreover, some of the new developments have been applied to the numerical modelling of cold compaction processes of powders. The process consists in transforming a loose powder into a compacted sample through a large volume reduction. This problem has been chosen as a reference application of the thesis because it involves large boundary displacements, finite deformations and highly nonlinear material behaviour. Therefore, it is a challenging geomechanical problem from a numerical modelling point of view.

The most relevant contributions of the thesis are the following: 1) with respect to the treatment of large boundary displacements: quasistatic and dynamic analyses of the vane test for soft materials using a fluid-based ALE formulation and different non-newtonian constitutive laws, and the development of a solid-based ALE formulation for finite strain hyperelastic-plastic models, with applications to isochoric and non-isochoric cases; 2) referent to the solution of nonlinear systems of equations in solid mechanics: the use of simple and robust numerical differentiation schemes for the computation of tangent operators, including examples with several non-trivial elastoplastic constitutive laws, and the development of consistent tangent operators for different substepping time-integration rules, with the application to an adaptive time-integration scheme; and 3) in the field of constitutive modelling of granular materials: the efficient numerical modelling of different problems involving elastoplastic models, including work hardening-softening models for small strain problems and density-dependent hyperelastic-plastic models in a large strain context, and robust and accurate simulations of several powder compaction processes, with detailed analysis of spatial density distributions and verification of the mass conservation principle.

This research is dedicated to make a foreseeing of the future state of the Kizildere Geothermal Field in order to suggest acceptable solutions to the current problems. The non-isothermal mechanism of the geothermal field is simulated for the pressure and temperature variables. For this purpose, a finite element model (696 four-nodal elements with 750 nodes) of the field is formulated by considering the geological conditions and the present wells already drilled in the area. Then the model is calibrated to the field for the natural state by using appropriate physical properties, boundary and initial conditions. Comparison of the simulated and the observed pressures and temperatures has emphasized a very successful calibration study. After the calibration, response of the field to the production and injection for the period of 1984-2006 has been simulated by applying a history matching study. History matching runs have yielded very good correlations between the observed and the computed values of the pressure and temperature variables. The calibrated and history matched model has been applied to the field to simulate the future performance of the field for different production and injection scenarios. In the first scenario the field is simulated for the next 10-year production period keeping the on-going production conditions. Then, the influence of the production of two new wells has been investigated in two different scenarios. In the forth scenario, the effect of injection from one of the production wells has been simulated.

The aim of this study is to construct a numerical reservoir model for Balç
ova geothermal field, which is located in the izmir bay area of the Aegean coast. A commercial numerical simulation program, TOUGH2 was utilized with a graphical interface, PETRASIM to model the Balç
ova geothermal field. Natural state modeling of the field was carried out based on the conceptual model of the field, then history matching of production &ndash
injection practices of the field was established for the period of 1996 &ndash
2008. The final stage of modeling was the future performance prediction of the field by using three different Scenarios. In Scenario-1, production and injection rates in year 2008 were repeated for 20 years. In Scenario-2, production and injection rates in year 2008 were repeated for the first 3 years, then they were increased at every 3 years. In Scenario-3, a new well (BT-1) that is assumed to be drilled to 1000 m depth is added for injecting some portion of water that was injected through BD-8 well. In that scenario, similar to Scenario-2, production and injection rates in year 2008 were repeated during the first 3 years, and then the rates of these wells (except the new well) were increased every three years. Analysis of the results indicated that in Scenario-2, compared to Scenario-1, both the temperatures of deep wells located at the eastern portion of the field (BD-6, BD-2, BD-14, BD-9, BD-11, BD-12) and the temperatures of deep wells located at the western portion (BD-4, BD-15, BD-7, BD-5) decreased more. In Scenario-3, compared to Scenario-1, the deep wells located at the eastern side experienced less temperature drops while the deep wells located at the western side experienced higher temperature drops. Such temperature differences were not encountered in shallow wells. No significant changes in bottom hole pressures of deep wells occurred in all three scenarios. On the other hand, shallow wells, especially B-10 and B-5, responded to Scenario-2 and Scenario-3 as decrease in bottom hole pressures.

The purpose of this study is to examine the geothermal potential, sustainability, and reinjection possibility of Edremit geothermal field. In order to investigate this, a numerical model consisting of a hot and cold water aquifer system is established. A two dimensional cross sectional model is set to simulate this geothermal system. Different pressure and temperature values are applied to the nodes at the boundaries to perform a steady state calibration which minimizes the computed results and observed values obtained from the near well logs. After the calibration, three alternative scenarios are proposed and the response of the pressure and temperature to these conditions is evaluated. At first the water is pumped from the wells of Yagci, Derman, Entur and ED-3 seperately at a mass rate of 5 kg/s and energy rate of 4.182 x 105 J/s. Then, in scenario 2 the water is pumped at the same rate from all the wells mentioned in the first scenario together. For the third scenario another well is opened to the geothermal system and 80% of the pumped water (temperature being 200C) is injected to the system from the wells while all the wells mentioned are working. The results of these scenarios are utilized to evaluate the reservoir in terms of its response to different production and reinjection conditions. Interpretation of the reservoir response in view of the pressure and temperature declines emphasize that such a simulation study can be applied to assess potential and sustainability of the geothermal systems.

The principle purpose of this research is to resolve the mode of failure of the Heather Hill landslide, one of several well defined failures in the Beaver Valley, Glacier National Park, British Columbia. Field work led to the preliminary conclusion that some type of toppling process contributed to the failure. A literature review of toppling revealed that large scale topples have never been quantitatively assessed, and that currently used analytical techniques are not adequate. Consideration of alternative numerical techniques resulted in the distinct element method being selected as the best technique for modelling toppling. The Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC) was purchased and its suitability demonstrated by reevaluating examples of toppling analysis reported in the literature, and evaluating a large scale engineered slope at Brenda mine where toppling is known to occur. UDEC is used to examine and classify the mode of failure of the Heather Hill slide. This research leads to very important general conclusions on toppling and specific conclusions relating to the Heather Hill landslide: UDEC is suitable for modelling all types of topples. The program can be used to back analyze rock mass strength parameters and determine the shape and location of the final failure surface in flexural toppling. A quantitative assessment with UDEC confirms that the base of failure in flexural toppling may be planar or curvilinear, and that pore pressures significantly affect stability. The Heather Hill landslide failed by flexural toppling limiting to a curvilinear failure surface, and the slope immediately north of the Heather Hill landslide is deformed by flexural toppling. The locations of landslides in the Beaver Valley correspond with the occurrence of foliated pelitic rocks in the lower slopes and the boundary between these rocks and stronger grits is the up slope limit. The kinematic test of toppling potential is violated by the Heather Hill landslide. This test is shown to only apply to small scale drained slopes.
Science, Faculty of
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
Graduate

District heating is today, in Sweden, the most common method used for heating buildings in cities. More than half of all the buildings, both commercial and residential, are heated using district heating. The load on the district heating networks are affected by, among other things, the time of the day and different external conditions, such as temperature differences. One has to be able to simulate the heat and pressure losses in the network in order to deliver the amount of heat demanded by the customers. Expansions of district heating networks and disrupted pipes also demand good simulations of the networks. To cope with this, energy companies use simulation software. These software need to contain numerical methods that provide accurate and stable results and at the same time be fast and efficient. At the moment there are available software packages that works but these have some limitations. Among other things you may need to divide the whole network into smaller loops or try to guess how the distribution of pressure and flow in the network looks like. The development in recent years makes it possible to use better and more efficient algorithms for these types of problems. The purpose of this report is therefore to introduce a better and more efficient method than that used in the current situation. This work is the first step in order to replace a current method used in a simulation software provided by Vitec energy. Therefore, we will in this report, stick to computing pressure and flow in the network. The method we will introduce in this report is called the gradient method and it is based on the Newton Raphson method. Unlike with older methods like Hardy Cross which is a relaxation method, you do not have to divide the network into loops. Instead you create a matrix representation of the network that is used in the computations. The idea is also that you should not need to make good initial guesses to get the method to converge quickly. We performed a number of test simulations in order to examine how the method performs. We tested how different initial guesses and how different sizes of the networks affected the number of iterations. The results shows that the model is capable of solving large networks within a reasonable number of iterations. The results also show that the initial guesses have little impact on the number of iterations. Changing the initial guess on the pressure does not affect the number at all but it turns out that changing the initial guess on the flow can affect the number of iterations a little, but not much.

Headphone design is facilitated by modelling and has traditionally been carried out using lumped parameters, which are efficient but limited to low frequencies. In this investigation a wave based approach is taken using finite elements to introduce a headphone modelling tool which has the capability to predict high frequency harmonic components in the acoustic field. The development of these increased bandwidth headphone modelling capabilities is carried out over 3 discrete design phases involving 2D axisymmetric and 3D models with the key components being the porous cushion, the headphone driver and the geometric profile of the pinna. The cushion is represented using a well established 6 parameter porous material model as an equivalent fluid which is a convenient approach for a finite element implementation. Characterisation of porous materials using such an approach generally involves an expensive and time consuming measurement regime; this investigation has shown that multi-dimensional optimisation gives an adequate representation without need for this. Simulations using the finite element model headphone model are compared against measurements taken on a HATS mannequin and show good agreement up to 10 kHz, a significant improvement in bandwidth over previous publications. An investigative survey was carried out using these software tools of various headphone dimensional parameters, including a representation of pinna variation which, significantly, shows wide variations in frequency responses at high frequency. If used as an indication of inter-subject variation it suggests the ability to model accurately to a high frequency may only have limited benefits for headphones intended for many different wearers.

The understanding of the masticatory apparatus including its functional and structural relationship with other components of the cranium increasingly requires an interdisciplinary approach. Recently, "traditional biological sciences" such as anatomy, comparative biology, anthropology and evolution have increasingly meshed with elements from other domains, such as mechanical engineering and material sciences, which has resulted in new and exciting paradigms to be explored. This is particularly true in the field of craniofacial biomechanics yet there are still many unexplored issues and numerous questions that remain unanswered. Numerical modelling in general and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in particular, represent a numerical experimental procedure to generate such information. Originally derived from the field of structural engineering, FEA has steadily permeated its way into craniofacial biomechanics and has proven itself as a most useful scientific tool. The present study introduces an engineering-based workframe for applying FEA to craniofacial biomechanical research in a comprehensive manner to cover the entire analytical spectrum, from developing questions to providing their solutions. The study is composed of two major experimental parts addressing both the linear elastic and the non-linear behaviour of some biomaterials encountered in the craniofacial arena. In the first part I analysed mandibular biomechanics using linear elastic models while in the second part I used nonlinear discrete models to determine the optimal elastic properties of the cervical restorative materials. Modern humans have a number of anatomical features that set us apart from our ancestors. Amongst these perhaps the most striking is the emergence of a protruding chin, otherwise absent in other archaic humans and hominids. While it has been shown that the chin has its embryological origins in the postnatal remodelling of bone in the area around the mandibular symphysis which produces the midline keel in the form of an inverted �T� the functional significance of this novel evolutionary feature is still obscure. It is accepted that the mandible is optimally designed for resisting masticatory stress, whereby optimal is seen as maximual strength at the lowest biological cost. Here, I tested the currently most accepted theory, namely that the chin provides mechanical resistance to the mandible during mastication. In other words, I tested the hypothesis that a chinned mandible would be stiffer and hence experience lower strains when compared to a non-chinned counterpart under identical loadings. My functional analysis consisted firstly of three simple models which reproduce a simian shelf, a flat and a chinned symphysis, loaded using two unidirectional loadcases (torsion and wishboning) to represent a distortion similar to that which occurs in the mandible during mastication. Secondly, I developed complex geometrical models which incorporated the cortical bone, medullary bone and teeth. The models were then analysed using the same loadcases as those used for the first theoretical models. Additionally, I incorporated the coronal bending and also a coupled loadcase which simulated the complex deformation of the mandible during biting. The aim here was to test the hypothesis that the presence of a chin changed the strain pattern in the mastication-loaded mandible. The results were then interpreted using Frost�s mechanostat theory which relates in a more precise manner the mechanical loading environment to the adaptive response of the bone. My results showed that the calculated strain values for both the chinned and flat mandibles were within the normal bone maintenance levels of the mechanostat during molar biting. In other words, variation in bone strain magnitude across the mandible, which should differ between the chinned and the non-chinned mandibles if the hypothetical mechanical role of the chin is true, is similar in both forms. I concluded that the development of the human chin is thus unrelated to the functional demands placed upon it by mastication. I suggested a new functional demand associated with pronounced tongue activity during speech. I hypothesise that it is the resistance to stresses induced by strong, repetitive contractions of the tongue and perioral musculature during, phonation that shaped the modern human chin. I tested my hypothesis by loading the symphyseal region with two principal nonmasticatory, muscle systems; firstly, the tongue and secondly the peri-oral muscular curtain, anterior to the symphysis. My results suggested that the flat, non-chinned symphysis when subjected to speech-related genioglossal movements will undergo adaptive changes which would result in an optimised (chinned) shape, such as that found in the modern human symphysis. These results thus offer a new foundation to an old hypothesis and a solution to the longstanding controversy over the origin of the human chin. I conclude that forces generated by speech rather than those generated by mastication, shaped the chin in anatomically modern humans. Prompted by an earlier observation I further investigated the apparent cross-over distribution of strains on the mandibular corpora during mastication. In doing so, I tested the hypothesis that this cross-over may be linked with another particular anatomical feature of the mandible that of the postcanine cortical asymmetry, which appears to be stereotypical among anthropoids. The results of my study hence suggest that strain patterns within the human mandible are more complex than previously thought. Not only do strains differ between lingual and buccal aspects of working and non-working sides, but they also differ within these areas (i.e. from alveolus to corpus, to lower border regions). I conclude that postcanine cortical asymmetry may be a retained evolutionary trait rather than the result of masticatory biomechanics. In the second section of the thesis I introduced a different analysis regime which allows the prediction of fracture initiation and propagation. In this part I analysed the mechanics underlying the failure of the restorations placed in non-carious cervical lesions and suggested changes in the material properties of the restorations used to treat them. Non-carious cervical lesions (NCCL) include those entities characterised by the cervical loss of hard dental tissue that occurs in the absence of any carious process. To distinguish between lesions that occur due to excessive occlusal load and other non-carious cervical lesion (i.e. erosion and abrasion) the clinical term "abfraction" has been adopted. Although a common clinical issue, failure of restoration placed in these lesions has not been subjected to a rigorous biomechanical analysis. To determine which of the material�s parameters should be changed and to what extent, I employed a combined numerical approach. Here I introduced a novel approach in simulating the cracking of restorative materials and tooth tissues which is based on a simpler material formulation and can be used in an advanced nonlinear numerical analysis. The material model I used allows automatic crack insertion and growth and also uniquely accounts for the microdamage which precedes the instalment of macroscopic cracks. The first step was to balance the factors that may affect failure employing a linear analysis with a stress-based approach to failure. Here, the aim was to investigate the influence of lesion shape and depth as well as the direction of occlusal loading on the mechanical response of the cervical glass-ionomer cements restoration in a lower first premolar. This analysis showed that the direction of loading was the major contributor to the failure of the restoration. The next step was to apply this fracture model to the restorations of the NCCL in order to verify if the material is able to accurately simulate the location and type of mechanical failure. The data for this problem, i.e. the geometry and the loadcase were derived from the conclusions of linear analysis, that is I chose the "worst case scenario" as the upper boundary of material endurance. My results showed that under the action of para-functional loadings the GIC failed on the cervical margin. I also showed that prior to fracture the restorative material undergoes strain softening, which in turn introduces damage and weakens the materials involved. After successfully testing the proposed model, the final step was to determine which material properties and restorative techniques would be most reliable under given biomechanical conditions. The present work relied on the hypothesis that a more flexible material would partially buffer the local stress concentration and hence reduce the likelihood of mechanical failure of the restoration. My study, a first of its kind, proposes a radical approach to address the problems of material improvement, namely: numerical-based material optimisation engineering. That is, I aimed to identify the "most favourable" selection of elastic modulus or E value for the restorative material, which will allow it to survive under the unfavourable occlusal loading conditions that may prevail. Two filling techniques were considered; firstly a single bulk material, namely glass-ionomer (GIC) and secondly a layered technique. The latter consisted of a layer of GIC supporting a composite bulk restorative. I chose two thicknesses for the GIC layer, 50 and 150 microns. My results showed that the restorative materials currently used in cervical non-carious lesions are largely unsuitable in terms of resistance to fracture of the restoration mostly because of their relative high stiffness irrespective of the filling technique. The best results are obtained for a bulk filling with a 1GPa elastic modulus material case in which the tensile stresses are about 50% of the failure limit. This approach in determining the mechanical properties of the restorative is novel and unique so far in the dental literature. The direct benefit of this study was the improvement of the restorative material, as it can be engineered to withstand the conditions identified as major cause of failure. This is consonant with the call for new materials better tailored for some specific needs.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2007.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 94 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-94).

Pressure tests on wood have been conducted to determine its properties. The resultswere not as expected, and it is therefore difficult to obtain the parameters of thewood. This project examines how a specific defect in the wood sample affects theresult.The pressure test is simulated with numerical modeling. In the numerical model thecube’s top side is non-parallel with the bottom side, it is in other words somewhattilted.The results from the model agreed with the findings from some pressure tests. Withthose we can easily calculate the wood's properties. For other pressure tests, otherfactors might need to be examined before we can draw any conclusions.
Tryckprover på trä har utförts för att ta reda dess egenskaper. Resultaten blev intevad som förväntades, och det blir därför svårt att få fram träets egenskaper. Dettaprojekt undersöker hur en viss defekt i träprovet påverkar resultatet.Tryckprovet simuleras med numerisk modellering. I modellen är kubens toppsida inteparallell med bottensidan, den är med andra ord något sned.Resultatet från modellen stämde med resultat från vissa tryckprover. Då kan man fåfram träets egenskaper. För andra tryckprover kan andra faktorer behöva undersökasinnan man kan dra några slutsatser.

The spillway of Sarpfossen hydropower plant has been studied numerically and experimentally. The physical model was built in the Vassdragslaboratoriet at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU. The model consists of the Sarpfossen dam and the river Glomma upstream of the dam. On the spillway crest are three gates installed - two flap gates and a sector gate. In addtion is further upstream of the dam a bridge for cars and trains. Two of the bridge piers are fixed in the water and has an influence in the flow pattern. The model was run with a certain discharge and the velocities in the river were measured with a Flow Meter and VectrinoVelocimeter. Besides of the velocity measurements the water levels between bridge and dam were measured. These measurements were conducted to investigate the occuring wave phenomena, shock wave. The simulations were carried out by a commercial program, STAR-CCM+. The results from the simulation have been verified by the measurements from the model. Simulation were performed to replicate the flow phenomenas in the physical model and to find out how well STAR-CCM+ is suited to cope the complex flow structures. Three simulations were performed - two for the velocity distribution and one for the water level measurements with generated shock waves. The results of the simulations show quite good correlations. The velocity measurements show satisfying results. The shock wave could also be replicated quite well and the results are quite promising. Future studies are recommended to get more experience with simulating complex free-surface flows. Especially simulations of shock wave are not very frequent and well tested and should be included in further studies.