A Numerical study of fluid flow in peristaltic pumps and polymeric elastic pipes

This thesis work deals with a mathematical description of flow in polymeric pipe and in a specific peristaltic pump. This study involves fluid-structure interaction analysis in presence of complex-turbulent flows treated in an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) framework. The flow simulations are performed in COMSOL 4.4, as 2D axial symmetric model, and ABAQUS 6.14.1, as 3D model with symmetric boundary conditions. In COMSOL, the fluid and structure problems are coupled by monolithic algorithm, while ABAQUS code links ABAQUS CFD and ABAQUS Standard solvers with single block-iterative partitioned algorithm. For the turbulent features of the flow, the fluid model in both codes is described by RNG k-ϵ. The structural model is described, on the basis of the pipe material, by Elastic models or Hyperelastic Neo-Hookean models with Rayleigh damping properties. In order to describe the pulsatile fluid flow after the pumping process, the available data are often defective for the fluid problem. Engineering measurements are normally able to provide average pressure or velocity at a cross-section. This problem has been analyzed by McDonald's and Womersley's work for average pressure at fixed cross section by Fourier analysis since '50, while nowadays sophisticated techniques including Finite Elements and Finite Volumes exist to study the flow. Finally, we set up peristaltic pipe simulations in ABAQUS code, by using the same model previously tested for the fl uid and the structure.

Analysis of Crankshaft Using Multibody Dynamics

Työn tavoitteena oli löytää tarkka menetelmä kampiakselin vaurioitumisriskin laskentaan vertailemalla eri laskentamenetelmiä. Lopuksi suoritettiin simulointi monikappalejärjestelmälle käyttäen elastisia malleja todellisista rakenteista. Simulointiohjelmana käytettiin AVL:n kehittämää Excite:ia.

Hygro-elasto-plastic behavior of planar orthotropic material

The mechanical and hygroscopic properties of paper and board are factors affecting the whole lifecycle of a product, including paper/board quality, production, converting, and material and energy savings. The progress of shrinkage profiles, loose edges of web, baggy web causing wrinkling and misregistration in printing are examples of factors affecting runnability and end product quality in the drying section and converting processes, where paper or board is treated as a moving web. The structural properties and internal stresses or plastic strain differences built up during production also cause the end-product defects related to distortion of the shape of the product such as sheet or box. The objective of this work was to construct a model capable of capturing the characteristic behavior of hygroscopic orthotropic material under moisture change, during different external in-plane stretch or stress conditions. Two independent experimental models were constructed: the elasto-plastic material model and the hygroexpansivity-shrinkage model. Both describe the structural properties of the sheet with a fiber orientation probability distribution, and both are functions of the dry solids content and fiber orientation anisotropy index. The anisotropy index, introduced in this work, simplifies the procedure of determining the constitutive parameters of the material model and the hygroexpansion coefficients in different in-plane directions of the orthotropic sheet. The mathematically consistent elasto-plastic material model and the dry solids content dependent hygroexpansivity have been constructed over the entire range from wet to dry. The presented elastoplastic and hygroexpansivity-shrinkage models can be used in an analytical approach to estimate the plastic strain and shrinkage in simple one-dimensional cases. For studies of the combined and more complicated effects of hygro-elasto-plastic behavior, both models were implemented in a finite element program for a numerical solution. The finite element approach also offered possibilities for studying different structural variations of orthotropic planar material, as well as local buckling behavior and internal stress situations of the sheet or web generated by local strain differences. A comparison of the simulation examples presented in this work to results published earlier confirms that the hygro-elasto-plastic model provides at least qualitatively reasonable estimates. The application potential of the hygro-elasto-plastic model is versatile, including several phenomena and defects appearing in the drying, converting and end-use conditions of the paper or board webs and products, or in other corresponding complex planar materials.

Multibody models for examination of touchdown bearing systems

Increased rotational speed brings many advantages to an electric motor. One of the benefits is that when the desired power is generated at increased rotational speed, the torque demanded from the rotor decreases linearly, and as a consequence, a motor of smaller size can be used. Using a rotor with high rotational speed in a system with mechanical bearings can, however, create undesirable vibrations, and therefore active magnetic bearings (AMBs) are often considered a good option for the main bearings, as the rotor then has no mechanical contact with other parts of the system but levitates on the magnetic forces. On the other hand, such systems can experience overloading or a sudden shutdown of the electrical system, whereupon the magnetic field becomes extinct, and as a result of rotor delevitation, mechanical contact occurs. To manage such nonstandard operations, AMB-systems require mechanical touchdown bearings with an oversized bore diameter. The need for touchdown bearings seems to be one of the barriers preventing greater adoption of AMB technology, because in the event of an uncontrolled touchdown, failure may occur, for example, in the bearing’s cage or balls, or in the rotor. This dissertation consists of two parts: First, touchdown bearing misalignment in the contact event is studied. It is found that misalignment increases the likelihood of a potentially damaging whirling motion of the rotor. A model for analysis of the stresses occurring in the rotor is proposed. In the studies of misalignment and stresses, a flexible rotor using a finite element approach is applied. Simplified models of cageless and caged bearings are used for the description of touchdown bearings. The results indicate that an increase in misalignment can have a direct influence on the bending and shear stresses occurring in the rotor during the contact event. Thus, it was concluded that analysis of stresses arising in the contact event is essential to guarantee appropriate system dimensioning for possible contact events with misaligned touchdown bearings. One of the conclusions drawn from the first part of the study is that knowledge of the forces affecting the balls and cage of the touchdown bearings can enable a more reliable estimation of the service life of the bearing. Therefore, the second part of the dissertation investigates the forces occurring in the cage and balls of touchdown bearings and introduces two detailed models of touchdown bearings in which all bearing parts are modelled as independent bodies. Two multibody-based two-dimensional models of touchdown bearings are introduced for dynamic analysis of the contact event. All parts of the bearings are modelled with geometrical surfaces, and the bodies interact with each other through elastic contact forces. To assist in identification of the forces affecting the balls and cage in the contact event, the first model describes a touchdown bearing without a cage, and the second model describes a touchdown bearing with a cage. The introduced models are compared with the simplified models used in the first part of the dissertation through parametric study. Damages to the rotor, cage and balls are some of the main reasons for failures of AMB-systems. The stresses in the rotor in the contact event are defined in this work. Furthermore, the forces affecting key bodies of the bearings, cage and balls can be studied using the models of touchdown bearings introduced in this dissertation. Knowledge obtained from the introduced models is valuable since it can enable an optimum structure for a rotor and touchdown bearings to be designed.

Elongation behaviour of elastic stitch types in household sewing machines: stretch-stitches versus serger overlock stitces

Lectio praecursoria

Long-term fertilizer field trials: comparison of three mathematical response models

Selostus: Lannoituksen pitkäaikaiset kenttäkokeet: kolmen matemaattisen mallin vertailu

Generalizing sample tree information with semiparametric and parametric models

Summary

Predicting the growth response to thinning for Scots pine stands using individual-tree growth models

Summary

The application of agricultural land rating and crop models to CO2 and climate change issues in Northern regions : the Mackenzie Basin case study

Selostus: Viljelyvyöhykkeiden ja kasvumallien soveltaminen ilmastonmuutoksen tutkimisessa: Mackenzien jokialue, Kanada

Individual-tree basal area growth models for scots pine, pubescent birch and Norway spruce on drained peatlands in Finland

Summary