An exploration of students’ perceptions and attitudes towards creativity in engineering education

This study used a mixed methods approach to develop a broad and deep understanding of students’ perceptions towards creativity in engineering education. Studies have shown that students’ attitudes can have an impact on their motivation to engage in creative behavior. Using an ex-post facto independent factorial design, attitudes of value towards creativity, time for creativity, and creativity stereotypes were measured and compared across gender, year of study, engineering discipline, preference for open-ended problem solving, and confidence in creative abilities. Participants were undergraduate engineering students at Queen’s University from all years of study. A qualitative phenomenological methodology was adopted to study students’ understandings and experiences with engineering creativity. Eleven students participated in oneon- one interviews that provided depth and insight into how students experience and define engineering creativity, and the survey included open-ended items developed using the 10 Maxims of Creativity in Education as a guiding framework. The findings from the survey suggested that students had high value for creativity, however students in fourth year or higher had less value than those in other years. Those with preference for open-ended problem solving and high confidence valued creative more than their counterparts. Students who preferred open-ended problem solving and students with high confidence reported that time was less of a hindrance to their creativity. Males identified more with creativity stereotypes than females, however overall they were both low. Open-ended survey and interview results indicated that students felt they experienced creativity in engineering design activities. Engineering creativity definitions had two elements: creative action and creative characteristic. Creative actions were associated with designing, and creative characteristics were predominantly associated with novelty. Other barriers that emerged from the qualitative analysis were lack of opportunity, lack of assessment, and discomfort with creativity. It was concluded that a universal definition is required to establish clear and aligned understandings of engineering creativity. Instructors may want to consider demonstrating value by assessing creativity and establishing clear criteria in design projects. It is recommended that students be given more opportunities for practice through design activities and that they be introduced to design and creative thinking concepts early in their engineering education.

Wind Shear, Gust, and Yaw-Induced Dynamic Stall on Wind-Turbine Blades

This study examined the effect of a spanwise angle of attack gradient on the growth and stability of a dynamic stall vortex in a rotating system. It was found that a spanwise angle of attack gradient induces a corresponding spanwise vorticity gradient, which, in combination with spanwise flow, results in a redistribution of circulation along the blade. Specifically, when modelling the angle of attack gradient experienced by a wind turbine at the 30% span position during a gust event, the spanwise vorticity gradient was aligned such that circulation was transported from areas of high circulation to areas of low circulation, increasing the local dynamic stall vortex growth rate, which corresponds to an increase in the lift coefficient, and a decrease in the local vortex stability at this point. Reversing the relative alignment of the spanwise vorticity gradient and spanwise flow results in circulation transport from areas of low circulation generation to areas of high circulation generation, acting to reduce local circulation and stabilise the vortex. This circulation redistribution behaviour describes a mechanism by which the fluctuating loads on a wind turbine are magnified, which is detrimental to turbine lifetime and performance. Therefore, an understanding of this phenomenon has the potential to facilitate optimised wind turbine design.

DEVELOPMENT OF A MECHANISM AND PROCESS TO CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCE SPHERICAL, TORREFIED BIOMASS PELLETS

A recently developed novel biomass fuel pellet, the Q’ Pellet, offers significant improvements over conventional white pellets, with characteristics comparable to those of coal. The Q’ Pellet was initially created at bench scale using a proprietary die and punch design, in which the biomass was torrefied in-situ¬ and then compressed. To bring the benefits of the Q’ Pellet to a commercial level, it must be capable of being produced in a continuous process at a competitive cost. A prototype machine was previously constructed in a first effort to assess continuous processing of the Q’ Pellet. The prototype torrefied biomass in a separate, ex-situ reactor and transported it into a rotary compression stage. Upon evaluation, parts of the prototype were found to be unsuccessful and required a redesign of the material transport method as well as the compression mechanism. A process was developed in which material was torrefied ex-situ and extruded in a pre-compression stage. The extruded biomass overcame multiple handling issues that had been experienced with un-densified biomass, facilitating efficient material transport. Biomass was extruded directly into a novel re-designed pelletizing die, which incorporated a removable cap, ejection pin and a die spring to accommodate a repeatable continuous process. Although after several uses the die required manual intervention due to minor design and manufacturing quality limitations, the system clearly demonstrated the capability of producing the Q’ Pellet in a continuous process. Q’ Pellets produced by the pre-compression method and pelletized in the re-designed die had an average dry basis gross calorific value of 22.04 MJ/kg, pellet durability index of 99.86% and dried to 6.2% of its initial mass following 24 hours submerged in water. This compares well with literature results of 21.29 MJ/kg, 100% pellet durability index and <5% mass increase in a water submersion test. These results indicate that the methods developed herein are capable of producing Q’ Pellets in a continuous process with fuel properties competitive with coal.

SCAPHOID AND LUNATE CARPAL MECHANICS OVER THE SPECTRUM OF HEALTHY FUNCTION

When ligaments within the wrist are damaged, the resulting loss in range of motion and grip strength can lead to reduced earning potential and restricted ability to perform important activities of daily living. Left untreated, ligament injuries ultimately lead to arthritis and chronic pain. Surgical repair can mitigate these issues but current procedures are often non-anatomic and unable to completely restore the wrist’s complex network of ligaments. An inability to quantitatively assess wrist function clinically, both before and after surgery, limits the ability to assess the response to clinical intervention. Previous work has shown that bones within the wrist move in a similar pattern across people, but these patterns remain challenging to predict and model. In an effort to quantify and further develop the understanding of normal carpal mechanics, we performed two studies using 3D in vivo carpal bone motion analysis techniques. For the first study, we measured wrist laxity and performed CT scans of the wrist to evaluate 3D carpal bone positions. We found that through mid-range radial-ulnar deviation range of motion the scaphoid and lunate primarily flexed and extended; however, there was a significant relationship between wrist laxity and row-column behaviour. We also found that there was a significant relationship between scaphoid flexion and active radial deviation range of motion. For the second study, an analysis was performed on a publicly available database. We evaluated scapholunate relative motion over a full range of wrist positions, and found that there was a significant amount of variation in the location and orientation of the rotation axis between the two bones. Together the findings from the two studies illustrate the complexity and subject specificity of normal carpal mechanics, and should provide insights that can guide the development of anatomical wrist ligament repair surgeries that restore normal function.

THE DESIGN OF A POWER SYSTEM FOR A WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK FOR LONG-TERM OPERATION

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have shown wide applicability to many fields including monitoring of environmental, civil, and industrial settings. WSNs however are resource constrained by many competing factors that span their hardware, software, and networking. One of the central resource constrains is the charge consumption of WSN nodes. With finite energy supplies, low charge consumption is needed to ensure long lifetimes and success of WSNs. This thesis details the design of a power system to support long-term operation of WSNs. The power system’s development occurs in parallel with a custom WSN from the Queen’s MEMS Lab (QML-WSN), with the goal of supporting a 1+ year lifetime without sacrificing functionality. The final power system design utilizes a TPS62740 DC-DC converter with AA alkaline batteries to efficiently supply the nodes while providing battery monitoring functionality and an expansion slot for future development. Testing tools for measuring current draw and charge consumption were created along with analysis and processing software. Through their use charge consumption of the power system was drastically lowered and issues in QML-WSN were identified and resolved including the proper shutdown of accelerometers, and incorrect microcontroller unit (MCU) power pin connection. Controlled current profiling revealed unexpected behaviour of nodes and detailed current-voltage relationships. These relationships were utilized with a lifetime projection model to estimate a lifetime between 521-551 days, depending on the mode of operation. The power system and QML-WSN were tested over a long term trial lasting 272+ days in an industrial testbed to monitor an air compressor pump. Environmental factors were found to influence the behaviour of nodes leading to increased charge consumption, while a node in an office setting was still operating at the conclusion of the trail. This agrees with the lifetime projection and gives a strong indication that a 1+ year lifetime is achievable. Additionally, a light-weight charge consumption model was developed which allows charge consumption information of nodes in a distributed WSN to be monitored. This model was tested in a laboratory setting demonstrating +95% accuracy for high packet reception rate WSNs across varying data rates, battery supply capacities, and runtimes up to full battery depletion.

MIMU sensors for joint kinematic estimation: anatomical landmarking and frame correction

The ability to capture human motion allows researchers to evaluate an individual’s gait. Gait can be measured in different ways, from camera-based systems to Magnetic and Inertial Measurement Units (MIMU). The former uses cameras to track positional information of photo-reflective markers, while the latter uses accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers to measure segment orientation. Both systems can be used to measure joint kinematics, but the results vary because of their differences in anatomical calibrations. The objective of this thesis was to study potential solutions for reducing joint angle discrepancies between MIMU and camera-based systems. The first study worked to correct the anatomical frame differences between MIMU and camera-based systems via the joint angles of both systems. This study looked at full lower body correction versus correcting a single joint. Single joint correction showed slightly better alignment of both systems, but does not take into account that body segments are generally affected by more than one joint. The second study explores the possibility of anatomical landmarking using a single camera and a pointer apparatus. Results showed anatomical landmark position could be determined using a single camera, as the anatomical landmarks found from this study and a camera-based system showed similar results. This thesis worked on providing a novel way for obtaining anatomical landmarks with a single point-and-shoot camera, as well aligning anatomical frames between MIMUs and camera-based systems using joint angles.

Experimental and RANS-CFD Study of Nacelle Drag

The drag on a nacelle model was investigated experimentally and computationally to provide guidance and insight into the capabilities of RANS-based CFD. The research goal was to determine whether industry constrained CFD could participate in the aerodynamic design of nacelle bodies. Grid refinement level, turbulence model and near wall treatment settings, to predict drag to the highest accuracy, were key deliverables. Cold flow low-speed wind tunnel experiments were conducted at a Reynolds number of 6∙〖10〗^5, 293 K and a Mach number of 0.1. Total drag force was measured by a six-component force balance. Detailed wake analysis, using a seven-hole pressure probe traverse, allowed for drag decomposition via the far-field method. Drag decomposition was performed through a range of angles of attack between 0o and 45o. Both methods agreed on total drag within their respective uncertainties. Reversed flow at the measurement plane and saturation of the load cell caused discrepancies at high angles of attack. A parallel CFD study was conducted using commercial software, ICEM 15.0 and FLUENT 15.0. Simulating a similar nacelle geometry operating under inlet boundary conditions obtained through wind tunnel characterization allowed for direct comparisons with experiment. It was determined that the Realizable k-ϵ was best suited for drag prediction of this geometry. This model predicted the axial momentum loss and secondary flow in the wake, as well as the integrated surface forces, within experimental error up to 20o angle of attack. SST k-ω required additional surface grid resolution on the nacelle suction side, resulting in 15% more elements, due to separation point prediction sensitivity. It was further recommended to apply enhanced wall treatment to more accurately capture the viscous drag and separated flow structures. Overall, total drag was predicted within 5% at 0o angle of attack and 10% at 20o, each within experimental uncertainty. What is more, the form and induced drag predicted by CFD and measured by the wake traverse shared good agreement. Which indicated CFD captured the key flow features accurately despite simplification of the nacelle interior geometry.

THE MICROSTRUCTURES OF ZR-EXCEL ALLOY: EFFECTS OF HEAVY ION IRRADIATION, PLASTIC DEFORMATION, THERMAL TREATMENT AND IN-SITU HEATING

Zr-Excel alloy (Zr-3.5Sn-0.8Nb-0.8Mo) is a dual phase (α + β) alloy in the as-received pressure tube condition. It has been proposed to be the pressure tube candidate material for the Generation-IV CANDU-Supercritical Water Reactor (CANDU-SCWR). In this dissertation, the effects of heavy ion irradiation, deformation and heat treatment on the microstructures of the alloy were investigated to enable us to have a better understanding of the potential in-reactor performance of this alloy. In-situ heavy ion (1 MeV) irradiation was performed to study the nucleation and evolution of dislocation loops in both α- and β-Zr. Small and dense type dislocation loops form under irradiation between 80 and 450 °C. The number density tends to saturate at ~ 0.1 dpa. Compared with the α-Zr, the defect yield is much lower in β-Zr. The stabilities of the metastable phases (β-Zr and ω-Zr) and the thermal-dynamically equilibrium phase, fcc Zr(Mo, Nb)2, under irradiation were also studied at different temperatures. Chemi-STEM elemental mapping was carried out to study the elemental redistribution caused by irradiation. The stability of these phases and the elemental redistribution are strongly dependent on irradiation temperature. In-situ time-of-flight neutron diffraction tensile and compressive tests were carried out at different temperatures to monitor lattice strain evolutions of individual grain families during these tests. The β-Zr is the strengthening phase in this alloy in the as-received plate material. Load is transferred to the β-Zr after yielding of the α-Zr grains. The temperature dependence of static strain aging and the yielding sequence of the individual grain families were discussed. Strong tensile/compressive asymmetry was observed in the {0002} grain family at room temperature. The microstructures of the sample deformed at 400 °C and the samples only subjected to heat treatment at the same temperature were characterized with TEM. Concentration of β phase stabilizers in the β grain and the morphology of β grain have significant effect on the stability of β- and ω-Zr under thermal treatment. Applied stress/strain enhances the decomposition of isothermal ω phase but suppresses α precipitation inside the β grains at high temperature. An α → ω/ZrO phase transformation was observed in the thin foils of Zr-Excel alloy and pure Zr during in-situ heating at 700 °C in TEM.

Yielding Behaviour of Electron Beam Lithography and Focused Ion Beam Made Nanocrystalline Micro/Nanopillars

Electron beam lithography (EBL) and focused ion beam (FIB) methods were developed in house to fabricate nanocrystalline nickel micro/nanopillars so to compare the effect of fabrication on plastic yielding. EBL was used to fabricate 3 μm and 5 μm thick poly-methyl methacrylate patterned substrates in which nickel pillars were grown by electroplating with height to diameter aspect ratios from 2:1 to 5:1. FIB milling was used to reduce larger grown pillars to sizes similar to EBL grown pillars. X-ray diffraction, electron back-scatter diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and FIB imaging were used to characterize the nickel pillars. The measured grain size of the pillars was 91±23 nm, with strong <110> and weaker <111> and <110> crystallographic texture in the growth. Load-controlled compression tests were conducted using a MicroMaterials nano-indenter equipped with a 10 μm flat punch at constant rates from 0.0015 to 0.03 mN/s on EBL grown pillars, and 0.0015 and 0.015 mN/s on FIB-milled pillars. The measured Young’s modulus ranged from 55 to 350 GPa for all pillars, agreeing with values in the literature. EBL grown pillars exhibited stochastic strain-bursts at slow loading rates, attributed to local micro yield events, followed by work hardening. Sharp yield points were also observed and attributed to the gold seed layer de-bonding between the nickel pillar and substrate due to the shear stress associated with end effects that arise from the substrate constraint. The onset of yield ranged from 108 to 1800 MPa, which is greater than bulk nickel, but within values given in the literature. FIB-milled pillars demonstrated stochastic yield behaviour at all loading rates tested, yielding between 320 and 625 MPa. Deformation was apparent at FIB-milled pillar tops, where the smallest cross-sectional area was measured, but still exhibited superior yield strength to bulk nickel. The gallium damage at the outer surface of the pillars likely aids in dislocation nucleation and plasticity, leading to lower yield strengths than for the EBL pillars. Thermal drift, substrate effects, and noise due to vibrations within the indenter system contributed to variance and inconsistency in the data.

Investigation of Performance Enhancements for a Liquid-Desiccant Solar Air-Conditioner

Thermally driven liquid-desiccant air-conditioners (LDAC) are a proven but still developing technology. LDACs can use a solar thermal system to reduce the operational cost and environmental impact of the system by reducing the amount of fuel (e.g. natural gas, propane, etc.) used to drive the system. LDACs also have a key benefit of being able to store energy in the form of concentrated desiccant storage. TRNSYS simulations were used to evaluate several different methods of improving the thermal and electrical coefficients of performance (COPt and COPe) and the solar fraction (SF) of a LDAC. The study analyzed a typical June to August cooling season in Toronto, Ontario. Utilizing properly sized, high-efficiency pumps increased the COPe to 3.67, an improvement of 55%. A new design, featuring a heat recovery ventilator on the scavenging-airstream and an energy recovery ventilator on the process-airstream, increased the COPt to 0.58, an improvement of 32%. This also improved the SF slightly to 54%, an increase of 8%. A new TRNSYS TYPE was created to model a stratified desiccant storage tank. Different volumes of desiccant were tested with a range of solar array system sizes. The largest storage tank coupled with the largest solar thermal array showed improvements of 64% in SF, increasing the value to 82%. The COPe was also improved by 17% and the COPt by 9%. When combining the heat recovery systems and the desiccant storage systems, the simulation results showed a 78% increase in COPe and 30% increase in COPt. A 77% improvement in SF and a 17% increase in total cooling rate were also predicted by the simulation. The total thermal energy consumed was 10% lower and the electrical consumption was 34% lower. The amount of non-renewable energy needed from the natural gas boiler was 77% lower. Comparisons were also made between LDACs and vapour-compression (VC) systems. Dependent on set-up, LDACs provided higher latent cooling rates and reduced electrical power consumption. Negatively, a thermal input was required for the LDAC systems but not for the VC systems.

MRI Registration for Human Hip Kinematics

Measurement of joint kinematics can provide knowledge to help improve joint prosthesis design, as well as identify joint motion patterns that may lead to joint degeneration or injury. More investigation into how the hip translates in live human subjects during high amplitude motions is needed. This work presents a design of a non-invasive method using the registration between images from conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and open MRI to calculate three dimensional hip joint kinematics. The method was tested on a single healthy subject in three different poses. MRI protocols for the conventional gantry, high-resolution MRI and the open gantry, lowresolution MRI were developed. The scan time for the low-resolution protocol was just under 6 minutes. High-resolution meshes and low resolution contours were derived from segmentation of the high-resolution and low-resolution images, respectively. Low-resolution contours described the poses as scanned, whereas the meshes described the bones’ geometries. The meshes and contours were registered to each other, and joint kinematics were calculated. The segmentation and registration were performed for both cortical and sub-cortical bone surfaces. A repeatability study was performed by comparing the kinematic results derived from three users’ segmentations of the sub-cortical bone surfaces from a low-resolution scan. The root mean squared error of all registrations was below 1.92mm. The maximum range between segmenters in translation magnitude was 0.95mm, and the maximum deviation from the average of all orientations was 1.27◦. This work demonstrated that this method for non-invasive measurement of hip kinematics is promising for measuring high-range-of-motion hip motions in vivo.

TILTED COLUMNAR THIN FILM COATINGS WITH ANISOTROPIC LIGHT SCATTERING PROPERTIES FOR SOLAR ENERGY APPLICATIONS

The main goal of this thesis is to show the versatility of glancing angle deposition (GLAD) thin films in applications. This research is first focused on studying the effect of select deposition variables in GLAD thin films and secondly, to demonstrate the flexibility of GLAD films to be incorporated in two different applications: (1) as a reflective coating in low-level concentration photovoltaic systems, and (2) as an anode structure in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). A particular type of microstructure composed of tilted micro-columns of titanium is fabricated by GLAD. The microstructures form elongated and fan-like tilted micro-columns that demonstrate anisotropic scattering. The thin films texture changes from fiber texture to tilted fiber texture by increasing the vapor incidence angle. At very large deposition angles, biaxial texture forms. The morphology of the thin films deposited under extreme shadowing condition and at high temperature (below recrystallization zone) shows a porous and inclined micro-columnar morphology, resulting from the dominance of shadowing over adatom surface diffusion. The anisotropic scattering behavior of the tilted Ti thin film coatings is quantified by bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) measurements and is found to be consistent with reflectance from the microstructure acting as an array of inclined micro-mirrors that redirect the incident light in a non-specular reflection. A silver-coating of the surface of the tilted-Ti micro-columns is performed to enhance the total reflectance of the Ti-thin films while keeping the anisotropic scattering behavior. By using such coating is as a booster reflector in a laboratory-scale low-level concentration photovoltaic system, the short-circuit current of the reference silicon solar cell by 25%. Finally, based on the scattering properties of the tilted microcolumnar microstructure, its scattering effect is studied as a part of titanium dioxide microstructure for the anode in DSSCs. GLAD-fabricated TiO2 microstructures for the anode in a DSSC, consisting of vertical micro-columns, and combined vertical topped with tilted micro-columns are compared. The solar cell with the two-part microstructure shows the highest monochromatic incident photon to current efficiency with 20% improvement compared to the vertical microstructure, and the efficiency of the cell increases from 1.5% to 2% due to employing the scattering layer.

Multivariate Techniques in Biomechanical Analysis

This work outlines the theoretical advantages of multivariate methods in biomechanical data, validates the proposed methods and outlines new clinical findings relating to knee osteoarthritis that were made possible by this approach. New techniques were based on existing multivariate approaches, Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) and validated using existing data sets. The new techniques developed, PCA-PLS-LDA (Principal Component Analysis – Partial Least Squares – Linear Discriminant Analysis), PCA-PLS-MLR (Principal Component Analysis – Partial Least Squares –Multiple Linear Regression) and Waveform Similarity (based on NMF) were developed to address the challenging characteristics of biomechanical data, variability and correlation. As a result, these new structure-seeking technique revealed new clinical findings. The first new clinical finding relates to the relationship between pain, radiographic severity and mechanics. Simultaneous analysis of pain and radiographic severity outcomes, a first in biomechanics, revealed that the knee adduction moment’s relationship to radiographic features is mediated by pain in subjects with moderate osteoarthritis. The second clinical finding was quantifying the importance of neuromuscular patterns in brace effectiveness for patients with knee osteoarthritis. I found that brace effectiveness was more related to the patient’s unbraced neuromuscular patterns than it was to mechanics, and that these neuromuscular patterns were more complicated than simply increased overall muscle activity, as previously thought.

Improved Accuracy in Optical Motion Capture Measurements Leads to Increased Sensitivity to Kinematic Changes

Clinical optical motion capture allows us to obtain kinematic and kinetic outcome measures that aid clinicians in diagnosing and treating different pathologies affecting healthy gait. The long term aim for gait centres is for subject-specific analyses that can predict, prevent, or reverse the effects of pathologies through gait retraining. To track the body, anatomical segment coordinate systems are commonly created by applying markers to the surface of the skin over specific, bony anatomy that is manually palpated. The location and placement of these markers is subjective and precision errors of up to 25mm have been reported [1]. Additionally, the selection of which anatomical landmarks to use in segment models can result in large angular differences; for example angular differences in the trunk can range up to 53o for the same motion depending on marker placement [2]. These errors can result in erroneous kinematic outcomes that either diminish or increase the apparent effects of a treatment or pathology compared to healthy data. Our goal was to improve the accuracy and precision of optical motion capture outcome measures. This thesis describes two separate studies. In the first study we aimed to establish an approach that would allow us to independently quantify the error among trunk models. Using this approach we determined if there was a best model to accurately track trunk motion. In the second study we designed a device to improve precision for test, re-test protocols that would also reduce the set-up time for motion capture experiments. Our method to compare a kinematically derived centre of mass velocity to one that was derived kinetically was successful in quantifying error among trunk models. Our findings indicate that models that use lateral shoulder markers as well as limit the translational degrees of freedom of the trunk through shared pelvic markers result in the least amount of error for the tasks we studied. We also successfully reduced intra- and inter-operator anatomical marker placement errors using a marker alignment device. The improved accuracy and precision resulting from the methods established in this thesis may lead to increased sensitivity to changes in kinematics, and ultimately result in more consistent treatment outcomes.

Heat Transfer in an Airfoil Shaped Strut

The heat transfer from a hot primary flow stream passing over the outside of an airfoil shaped strut to a cool secondary flow stream passing through the inside of that strut was studied experimentally and numerically. The results showed that the heat transfer on the inside of the strut could be reliably modeled as a developing flow and described using a power law model. The heat transfer on the outside of the strut was complicated by flow separation and stall on the suction side of the strut at high angles of attack. This separation was quite sensitive to the condition of the turbulence in the flow passing over the strut, with the size of the separated wake changing significantly as the mean magnitude and levels of anisotropy were varied. The point of first stall moved by as much as 15% of the chord, while average heat transfer levels changed by 2-5% as the inlet condition was varied. This dependence on inlet conditions meant that comparisons between experiment and steady RANS based CFD were quite poor. Differences between the CFD and experiment were attributed to anisotropic and unsteady effects. The coupling between the two flows was shown to be quite low - that is to say, heat transfer coefficients on both the inner and outer surfaces of the strut were relatively unaffected by the temperature of the strut, and it was possible to predict the temperature on the strut surface quite reliably using heat transfer data from decoupled tests, especially for CFD simulations.