各向同性与各向异性介质中地震波旅行时正演模拟与反演成像

By seismic tomography, interesting results have been achieved not only in the research of the geosphere with a large scale but also in the exploration of resources and projects with a small scale since 80'. Compared with traditional inversion methods, seismic tomography can offer more and detailed information about subsurface and has been being paid attention by more and more geophysicists. Since inversion based on forward modeling, we have studied and improved the methods to calculate seismic traveltimes and raypaths in isotropic and anisotropic media, and applied the improved forward methods to traveltime tomography. There are three main kinds of methods to calculate seismic traveltime field and its ray path distribution, which are ray-tracing theory, eikonal equation by the finite-difference and minimum traveltime tree algorithm. In ray tracing, five methods are introduced in the paper, including analytic ray tracing, ray shooting, ray bending, grid ray tracing and rectangle grid ray perturbation with three points. Finite-difference solution of eikonal equation is very efficient in calculation of seismic first-break, but is awkward in calculation of reflection traveltimes. We have put forward a idea to calculate traveltimes of reflected waves using a combining way of eikonal equation method and other one in order to improve its capability of dealing with reflection waves. The minimum traveltime tree algorithm has been studied with emphases. Three improved algorithms are put forward on the basis of basic algorithm of the minimum traveltime tree. The first improved algorithm is called raypath tracing backward minimum traveltime algorithm, in which not only wavelets from the current source but also wavelets from upper source points are all calculated. The algorithm can obviously improve the speed of calculating traveltimes and raypaths in layered or blocked homogeneous media and keep good accuracy. The second improved algorithm is raypath key point minimum traveltime algorithm in which traveltimes and raypaths are calculated with a view of key points of raypaths (key points of raypths mean the pivotal points which determine raypaths). The raypath key point method is developed on the basis of the first improved algorithm, and has better applicability. For example, it is very efficient even for inhomogeneous media. Another improved algorithm, double grid minimum traveltime tree algorithm, bases upon raypath key point scheme, in which a model is divided with two kinds of grids so that the unnecessary calculation can be left out. Violent undulation of curved interface often results in the phenomenon that there are no reflection points on some parts of interfaces where there should be. One efficacious scheme that curved interfaces are divided into segments, and these segments are treated respectively is presented to solve the problem. In addition, the approximation to interfaces with discrete grids leads to large errors in calculation of traveltimes and raypaths. Noting the point, we have thought a new method to remove the negative effect of mesh and to improve calculation accuracy by correcting the traveltimes with a little of additional calculation, and obtained better results.

小波域地震资料的处理方法（WSSP）研究

The modeling formula based on seismic wavelet can well simulate zero - phase wavelet and hybrid-phase wavelet, and approximate maximal - phase and minimal - phase wavelet in a certain sense. The modeling wavelet can be used as wavelet function after suitable modification item added to meet some conditions. On the basis of the modified Morlet wavelet, the derivative wavelet function has been derived. As a basic wavelet, it can be sued for high resolution frequency - division processing and instantaneous feature extraction, in acoordance with the signal expanding characters in time and scale domains by each wavelet structured. Finally, an application example proves the effectiveness and reasonability of the method. Based on the analysis of SVD (Singular Value Decomposition) filter, by taking wavelet as basic wavelet and combining SVD filter and wavelet transform, a new de - noising method, which is Based on multi - dimension and multi-space de - noising method, is proposed. The implementation of this method is discussed the detail. Theoretical analysis and modeling show that the method has strong capacity of de - noising and keeping attributes of effective wave. It is a good tool for de - noising when the S/N ratio is poor. To give prominence to high frequency information of reflection event of important layer and to take account of other frequency information under processing seismic data, it is difficult for deconvolution filter to realize this goal. A filter from Fourier Transform has some problems for realizing the goal. In this paper, a new method is put forward, that is a method of processing seismic data in frequency division from wavelet transform and reconstruction. In ordinary seismic processing methods for resolution improvement, deconvolution operator has poor part characteristics, thus influencing the operator frequency. In wavelet transform, wavelet function has very good part characteristics. Frequency - division data processing in wavelet transform also brings quite good high resolution data, but it needs more time than deconvolution method does. On the basis of frequency - division processing method in wavelet domain, a new technique is put forward, which involves 1) designing filter operators equivalent to deconvolution operator in time and frequency domains in wavelet transform, 2) obtaining derivative wavelet function that is suitable to high - resolution seismic data processing, and 3) processing high resolution seismic data by deconvolution method in time domain. In the method of producing some instantaneous characteristic signals by using Hilbert transform, Hilbert transform is very sensitive to high - frequency random noise. As a result, even though there exist weak high - frequency noises in seismic signals, the obtained instantaneous characteristics of seismic signals may be still submerged by the noises. One method for having instantaneous characteristics of seismic signals in wavelet domain is put forward, which obtains directly the instantaneous characteristics of seismic signals by taking the characteristics of both the real part (real signals, namely seismic signals) and the imaginary part (the Hilbert transfom of real signals) of wavelet transform. The method has the functions of frequency division and noise removal. What is more, the weak wave whose frequency is lower than that of high - frequency random noise is retained in the obtained instantaneous characteristics of seismic signals, and the weak wave may be seen in instantaneous characteristic sections (such as instantaneous frequency, instantaneous phase and instantaneous amplitude). Impedance inversion is one of tools in the description of oil reservoir. one of methods in impedance inversion is Generalized Linear Inversion. This method has higher precision of inversion. But, this method is sensitive to noise of seismic data, so that error results are got. The description of oil reservoir in researching important geological layer, in order to give prominence to geological characteristics of the important layer, not only high frequency impedance to research thin sand layer, but other frequency impedance are needed. It is difficult for some impedance inversion method to realize the goal. Wavelet transform is very good in denoising and processing in frequency division. Therefore, in the paper, a method of impedance inversion is put forward based on wavelet transform, that is impedance inversion in frequency division from wavelet transform and reconstruction. in this paper, based on wavelet transform, methods of time - frequency analysis is given. Fanally, methods above are in application on real oil field - Sansan oil field.

弱各向异性介质中传播的地震波及其速度重建

We begin our studies to make the best of information of seismic data and carry out the description of cracks parameters by extracting anisotropic information. The researching contents are: (1) velocity and polarization anomaly of seismic wave (qP and qSV wave) in weak anisotropic media; (2) reflection seismic synthetic record in anisotropic media; (3) multiple scattering induced by cracks; (4) anisotropic structure inversion and velocity reconstruction with VSP (Vertical Seismic Profile) data; (5) multi-parameters analysis of anisotropy in time-domain and depth-domain. Then we obtain results as follows: (1) We achieve approximate relation of qP and qSV wave's velocity and polarization property in weak anisotropic media. At the same time, we calculate anisotropic velocity factors and polarization anomaly of several typical sedimentary rocks. The results show there are different anisotropic velocity factors and polarization anomaly in different rocks. It is one of the primary theoretical foundation which is expected to identify lithology; (2) We calculate reflection seismic synthetic record with theoretical model; (3) We simulate scattering induced by cracks with Boundary Element Method. Numerical studies show that in the presence of cracks; spatial and scale-length distributions are important and cannot be ignored in modeling cracked solids; (4) From traveltimes information of VSP data, we study the velocity parameter inversion of seismic wave under isotropic and anisotropic models, and its result indicate that the inversion imaging under anisotropic model will not destroy the original features of isotropic model, but it will bring on some bigger error if we adopt the method of isotropic model for anisotropic model data. Further more, basing on the study we develop the CDP mapping technology of reflecting structure under isotropic and anisotropic models, and we process real data as a trial of the methods; (5) We study the problem of initial model reconstruction of anisotropic parameters structure represented by Anderson parameter in depth domain for surface data.

用宽频带远震体波波形研究中国及邻近地区地壳构造及地质意义初探

The theory and approach of the broadband teleseismic body waveform inversion are expatiated in this paper, and the defining the crust structure's methods are developed. Based on the teleseismic P-wave data, the theoretic image of the P-wave radical component is calculated via the convolution of the teleseismic P-wave vertical component and the transform function, and thereby a P-wavefrom inversion method is built. The applied results show the approach effective, stable and its resolution high. The exact and reliable teleseismic P waveforms recorded by CDSN and IRIS and its geodynamics are utilized to obtain China and its vicinage lithospheric transfer functions, this region ithospheric structure is inverted through the inversion of reliable transfer functions, the new knowledge about the deep structure of China and its vicinage is obtained, and the reliable seismological evidence is provided to reveal the geodynamic evolution processes and set up the continental collisional theory. The major studies are as follows: Two important methods to study crustal and upper mantle structure -- body wave travel-time inversion and waveform modeling are reviewed systematically. Based on ray theory, travel-time inversion is characterized by simplicity, crustal and upper mantle velocity model can be obtained by using 1-D travel-time inversion preliminary, which introduces the reference model for studying focal location, focal mechanism, and fine structure of crustal and upper mantle. The large-scale lateral inhomogeneity of crustal and upper mantle can be obtained by three-dimensional t ravel-time seismic tomography. Based on elastic dynamics, through the fitting between theoretical seismogram and observed seismogram, waveform modeling can interpret the detail waveform and further uncover one-dimensional fine structure and lateral variation of crustal and upper mantle, especially the media characteristics of singular zones of ray. Whatever travel-time inversion and waveform modeling is supposed under certain approximate conditions, with respective advantages and disadvantages, and provide convincing structure information for elucidating physical and chemical features and geodynamic processes of crustal and upper mantle. Because the direct wave, surface wave, and refraction wave have lower resolution in investigating seismic velocity transitional zone, which is inadequate to study seismic discontinuities. On the contrary, both the converse and reflected wave, which sample the discontinuities directly, must be carefully picked up from seismogram to constrain the velocity transitional zones. Not only can the converse wave and reflected wave study the crustal structure, but also investigate the upper mantle discontinuities. There are a number of global and regional seismic discontinuities in the crustal and upper mantle, which plays a significant role in understanding physical and chemical properties and geodynamic processes of crustal and upper mantle. The broadband teleseismic P waveform inversion is studied particularly. The teleseismic P waveforms contain a lot of information related to source time function, near-source structure, propagation effect through the mantle, receiver structure, and instrument response, receiver function is isolated form teleseismic P waveform through the vector rotation of horizontal components into ray direction and the deconvolution of vertical component from the radial and tangential components of ground motion, the resulting time series is dominated by local receiver structure effect, and is hardly irrelevant to source and deep mantle effects. Receiver function is horizontal response, which eliminate multiple P wave reflection and retain direct wave and P-S converted waves, and is sensitive to the vertical variation of S wave velocity. Velocity structure beneath a seismic station has different response to radial and vertical component of an accident teleseismic P wave. To avoid the limits caused by a simplified assumption on the vertical response, the receiver function method is mended. In the frequency domain, the transfer function is showed by the ratio of radical response and vertical response of the media to P wave. In the time domain, the radial synthetic waveform can be obtained by the convolution of the transfer function with the vertical wave. In order to overcome the numerical instability, generalized reflection and transmission coefficient matrix method is applied to calculate the synthetic waveform so that all multi-reflection and phase conversion response can be included. A new inversion method, VFSA-LM method, is used in this study, which successfully combines very fast simulated annealing method (VFSA) with damped least square inversion method (LM). Synthetic waveform inversion test confirms its effectiveness and efficiency. Broadband teleseismic P waveform inversion is applied in lithospheric velocity study of China and its vicinage. According to the data of high quality CDSN and IRIS, we obtained an outline map showing the distribution of Asian continental crustal thickness. Based on these results gained, the features of distribution of the crustal thickness and outline of crustal structure under the Asian continent have been analyzed and studied. Finally, this paper advances the principal characteristics of the Asian continental crust. There exist four vast areas of relatively minor variations in the crustal thickness, namely, northern, eastern southern and central areas of Asian crust. As a byproduct, the earthquake location is discussed, Which is a basic issue in seismology. Because of the strong trade-off between the assumed initial time and focal depth and the nonlinear of the inversion problems, this issue is not settled at all. Aimed at the problem, a new earthquake location method named SAMS method is presented, In which, the objective function is the absolute value of the remnants of travel times together with the arrival times and use the Fast Simulated Annealing method is used to inverse. Applied in the Chi-Chi event relocation of Taiwan occurred on Sep 21, 2000, the results show that the SAMS method not only can reduce the effects of the trade-off between the initial time and focal depth, but can get better stability and resolving power. At the end of the paper, the inverse Q filtering method for compensating attenuation and frequency dispersion used in the seismic section of depth domain is discussed. According to the forward and inverse results of synthesized seismic records, our Q filtrating operator of the depth domain is consistent with the seismic laws in the absorbing media, which not only considers the effect of the media absorbing of the waves, but also fits the deformation laws, namely the frequency dispersion of the body wave. Two post stacked profiles about 60KM, a neritic area of China processed, the result shows that after the forward Q filtering of the depth domain, the wide of the wavelet of the middle and deep layers is compressed, the resolution and signal noise ratio are enhanced, and the primary sharp and energy distribution of the profile are retained.

利用分频与反演提高地震资料信噪比与分辨率方法研究

This thesis mainly talks about the wavelet transfrom and the frequency division method. It describes the frequency division processing on prestack or post-stack seismic data and application of inversion noise attenuation, frequency division residual static correction and high resolution data in reservoir inversion. This thesis not only describes the frequency division and inversion in theory, but also proves it by model calculation. All the methods are integrated together. The actual data processing demonstrates the applying results. This thesis analyzes the differences and limitation between t-x prediction filter and f-x prediction filter noise attenuation from wavelet transform theory. It considers that we can do the frequency division attenuation process of noise and signal by wavelet frequency division theory according to the differences of noise and signal in phase, amplitude and frequency. By comparison with the f-x coherence noise, removal method, it approves the effects and practicability of frequency division in coherence and random noise isolation. In order to solve the side effects in non-noise area, we: take the area constraint method and only apply the frequency division processing in the noise area. So it can solve the problem of low frequency loss in non-noise area. The residual moveout differences in seismic data processing have a great effect on stack image and resolutions. Different frequency components have different residual moveout differences. The frequency division residual static correction realizes the frequency division and the calculation of residual correction magnitude. It also solves the problems of different residual correction magnitude in different frequency and protects the high frequency information in data. By actual data processing, we can get good results in phase residual moveout differences elimination of pre-stack data, stack image quality and improvement of data resolution. This thesis analyses the characters of the random noises and its descriptions in time domain and frequency domain. Furthermore it gives the inversion prediction solution methods and realizes the frequency division inversion attenuation of the random noise. By the analysis of results of the actual data processing, we show that the noise removed by inversion has its own advantages. By analyzing parameter's about resolution and technology of high resolution data processing, this thesis describes the relations between frequency domain and resolution, parameters about resolution and methods to increase resolution. It also gives the processing flows of the high resolution data; the effect and influence of reservoir inversion caused by high resolution data. Finally it proves the accuracy and precision of the reservoir inversion results. The research results of this thesis reveal that frequency division noise attenuation, frequency residual correction and inversion noise attenuation are effective methods to increase the SNR and resolution of seismic data.

单（多）井抽灌对浅部地温场的影响研究

The technique of energy extraction using groundwater source heat pumps, as a sustainable way of low-grade thermal energy utilization, has widely been used since mid-1990's. Based on the basic theories of groundwater flow and heat transfer and by employing two analytic models, the relationship of the thermal breakthrough time for a production well with the effect factors involved is analyzed and the impact of heat transfer by means of conduction and convection, under different groundwater velocity conditions, on geo-temperature field is discussed.A mathematical model, coupling the equations for groundwater flow with those for heat transfer, was developed. The impact of energy mining using a single well system of supplying and returning water on geo-temperature field under different hydrogeological conditions, well structures, withdraw-and-reinjection rates, and natural groundwater flow velocities was quantitatively simulated using the finite difference simulator HST3D. Theoretical analyses of the simulated results were also made. The simulated results of the single well system indicate that neither the permeability nor the porosity of a homogeneous aquifer has significant effect on the temperature of the production segment provided that the production and injection capability of each well in the aquifers involved can meet the designed value. If there exists a lower permeable interlayer, compared with the main aquifer, between the production and injection segments, the temperature changes of the production segment will decrease. The thicker the interlayer and the lower the interlayer permeability, the longer the thermal breakthrough time of the production segment and the smaller the temperature changes of the production segment. According to the above modeling, it can also be found that with the increase of the aquifer thickness, the distance between the production and injection screens, and/or the regional groundwater flow velocity, and/or the decrease of the production-and-reinjection rate, the temperature changes of the production segment decline. For an aquifer of a constant thickness, continuously increase the screen lengths of production and injection segments may lead to the decrease of the distance between the production and injection screens, and the temperature changes of the production segment will increase, consequently.According to the simulation results of the single well system, the parameters, that can cause significant influence on heat transfer as well as geo-temperature field, were chosen for doublet system simulation. It is indicated that the temperature changes of the pumping well will decrease as the aquifer thickness, the distance between the well pair and/or the screen lengths of the doublet increase. In the case of a low permeable interlayer embedding in the main aquifer, if the screens of the pumping and the injection wells are installed respectively below and above the interlayer, the temperature changes of the pumping well will be smaller than that without the interlay. The lower the permeability of the interlayer, the smaller the temperature changes. The simulation results also indicate that the lower the pumping-and-reinjection rate, the greater the temperature changes of the pumping well. It can also be found that if the producer and the injector are chosen reasonably, the temperature changes of the pumping well will decline as the regional groundwater flow velocity increases. Compared with the case that the groundwater flow direction is perpendicular to the well pair, if the regional flow is directed from the pumping well to the injection well, the temperature changes of the pumping well is relatively smaller.Based on the above simulation study, a case history was conducted using the data from an operating system in Beijing. By means of the conceptual model and the mathematical model, a 3-D simulation model was developed and the hydrogeological parameters and the thermal properties were calibrated. The calibrated model was used to predict the evolution of the geo-temperature field for the next five years. The simulation results indicate that the calibrated model can represent the hydrogeological conditions and the nature of the aquifers. It can also be found that the temperature fronts in high permeable aquifers move very fast and the radiuses of temperature influence are large. Comparatively, the temperature changes in clay layers are smaller and there is an obvious lag of the temperature changes. According to the current energy mining load, the temperature of the pumping wells will increase by 0.7°C at the end of the next five years. The above case study may provide reliable base for the scientific management of the operating system studied.

The Coupled Depth/Slope Approach to Surface Reconstruction

Reconstructing a surface from sparse sensory data is a well known problem in computer vision. Early vision modules typically supply sparse depth, orientation and discontinuity information. The surface reconstruction module incorporates these sparse and possibly conflicting measurements of a surface into a consistent, dense depth map. The coupled depth/slope model developed here provides a novel computational solution to the surface reconstruction problem. This method explicitly computes dense slope representation as well as dense depth representations. This marked change from previous surface reconstruction algorithms allows a natural integration of orientation constraints into the surface description, a feature not easily incorporated into earlier algorithms. In addition, the coupled depth/ slope model generalizes to allow for varying amounts of smoothness at different locations on the surface. This computational model helps conceptualize the problem and leads to two possible implementations- analog and digital. The model can be implemented as an electrical or biological analog network since the only computations required at each locally connected node are averages, additions and subtractions. A parallel digital algorithm can be derived by using finite difference approximations. The resulting system of coupled equations can be solved iteratively on a mesh-pf-processors computer, such as the Connection Machine. Furthermore, concurrent multi-grid methods are designed to speed the convergence of this digital algorithm.

Fully developed laminar flow and heat transfer in smooth trapezoidal microchannel

Numerical analysis of fully developed laminar slip flow and heat transfer in trapezoidal micro-channels has been studied with uniform wall heat flux boundary conditions. Through coordinate transformation, the governing equations are transformed from physical plane to computational domain, and the resulting equations are solved by a finite-difference scheme. The influences of velocity slip and temperature jump on friction coefficient and Nusselt number are investigated in detail. The calculation also shows that the aspect ratio and base angle have significant effect on flow and heat transfer in trapezoidal micro-channel. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Time-dependent wavepacket approach to the influence of intense fields on the population of molecular excited states

The influence of laser-field parameters, such as intensity and pulse width, on the population of molecular excited state is investigated by using the time-dependent wavepacket method. For a two-state system in intense laser fields, the populations in the upper and lower states are given by the wavefunctions obtained by solving the Schrodinger equation through split-operator scheme. The calculation shows that both the laser intensity and the pulse width have a strong effect on the population in molecular excited state, and that as the common feature of light-matter interaction (LMI), the periodic changing of the population with the evolution time in each state can be interpreted by Rabi oscillation and area-theorem. The results illustrate that by controlling these two parameters, the needed population in excited state of interest can be obtained, which provides the foundation of light manipulation of molecular processes. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

APPLICATION OF THE KHOKHLOV-ZABOLOTSKAYA-KUZNETSOV EQUATION TO MODELING HIGH-INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND BEAMS

High-intensity focused ultrasound is a form of therapeutic ultrasound which uses high amplitude acoustic waves to heat and ablate tissue. HIFU employs acoustic amplitudes that are high enough that nonlinear propagation effects are important in the evolution of the sound field. A common model for HIFU beams is the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation which accounts for nonlinearity, diffraction, and absorption. The KZK equation models diffraction using the parabolic or paraxial approximation. Many HIFU sources have an aperture diameter similar to the focal length and the paraxial approximation may not be appropriate. Here, results obtained using the “Texas code,” a time-domain numerical solution to the KZK equation, were used to assess when the KZK equation can be employed. In a linear water case comparison with the O’Neil solution, the KZK equation accurately predicts the pressure field in the focal region. The KZK equation was also compared to simulations of the exact fluid dynamics equations (no paraxial approximation). The exact equations were solved using the Fourier-Continuation (FC) method to approximate derivatives in the equations. Results have been obtained for a focused HIFU source in tissue. For a low focusing gain transducer (focal length 50λ and radius 10λ), the KZK and FC models showed excellent agreement, however, as the source radius was increased to 30λ, discrepancies started to appear. Modeling was extended to the case of tissue with the appropriate power law using a relaxation model. The relaxation model resulted in a higher peak pressure and a shift in the location of the peak pressure, highlighting the importance of employing the correct attenuation model. Simulations from the code that were compared to experimental data in water showed good agreement through the focal plane.

PROPAGATION OF SONIC BOOMS THROUGH A REAL, STRATIFIED ATMOSPHERE

Sonic boom propagation in a quiet) stratified) lossy atmosphere is the subject of this dissertation. Two questions are considered in detail: (1) Does waveform freezing occur? (2) Are sonic booms shocks in steady state? Both assumptions have been invoked in the past to predict sonic boom waveforms at the ground. A very general form of the Burgers equation is derived and used as the model for the problem. The derivation begins with the basic conservation equations. The effects of nonlinearity) attenuation and dispersion due to multiple relaxations) viscosity) and heat conduction) geometrical spreading) and stratification of the medium are included. When the absorption and dispersion terms are neglected) an analytical solution is available. The analytical solution is used to answer the first question. Geometrical spreading and stratification of the medium are found to slow down the nonlinear distortion of finite-amplitude waves. In certain cases the distortion reaches an absolute limit) a phenomenon called waveform freezing. Judging by the maturity of the distortion mechanism, sonic booms generated by aircraft at 18 km altitude are not frozen when they reach the ground. On the other hand, judging by the approach of the waveform to its asymptotic shape, N waves generated by aircraft at 18 km altitude are frozen when they reach the ground. To answer the second question we solve the full Burgers equation and for this purpose develop a new computer code, THOR. The code is based on an algorithm by Lee and Hamilton (J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 906-917, 1995) and has the novel feature that all its calculations are done in the time domain, including absorption and dispersion. Results from the code compare very well with analytical solutions. In a NASA exercise to compare sonic boom computer programs, THOR gave results that agree well with those of other participants and ran faster. We show that sonic booms are not steady state waves because they travel through a varying medium, suffer spreading, and fail to approximate step shocks closely enough. Although developed to predict sonic boom propagation, THOR can solve other problems for which the extended Burgers equation is a good propagation model.

Bridge-vehicle interaction for structural health monitoring: potentials, applications, and limitations

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is an integral part of infrastructure maintenance and management systems due to socio-economic, safety and security reasons. The behaviour of a structure under vibration depends on structure characteristics. The change of structure characteristics may suggest the change in system behaviour due to the presence of damage(s) within. Therefore the consistent, output signal guided, and system dependable markers would be convenient tool for the online monitoring, the maintenance, rehabilitation strategies, and optimized decision making policies as required by the engineers, owners, managers, and the users from both safety and serviceability aspects. SHM has a very significant advantage over traditional investigations where tangible and intangible costs of a very high degree are often incurred due to the disruption of service. Additionally, SHM through bridge-vehicle interaction opens up opportunities for continuous tracking of the condition of the structure. Research in this area is still in initial stage and is extremely promising. This PhD focuses on using bridge-vehicle interaction response for SHM of damaged or deteriorating bridges to monitor or assess them under operating conditions. In the present study, a number of damage detection markers have been investigated and proposed in order to identify the existence, location, and the extent of an open crack in the structure. The theoretical and experimental investigation has been conducted on Single Degree of Freedom linear system, simply supported beams. The novel Delay Vector Variance (DVV) methodology has been employed for characterization of structural behaviour by time-domain response analysis. Also, the analysis of responses of actual bridges using DVV method has been for the first time employed for this kind of investigation.

Design of digital differentiators

A digital differentiator simply involves the derivation of an input signal. This work includes the presentation of first-degree and second-degree differentiators, which are designed as both infinite-impulse-response (IIR) filters and finite-impulse-response (FIR) filters. The proposed differentiators have low-pass magnitude response characteristics, thereby rejecting noise frequencies higher than the cut-off frequency. Both steady-state frequency-domain characteristics and Time-domain analyses are given for the proposed differentiators. It is shown that the proposed differentiators perform well when compared to previously proposed filters. When considering the time-domain characteristics of the differentiators, the processing of quantized signals proved especially enlightening, in terms of the filtering effects of the proposed differentiators. The coefficients of the proposed differentiators are obtained using an optimization algorithm, while the optimization objectives include magnitude and phase response. The low-pass characteristic of the proposed differentiators is achieved by minimizing the filter variance. The low-pass differentiators designed show the steep roll-off, as well as having highly accurate magnitude response in the pass-band. While having a history of over three hundred years, the design of fractional differentiator has become a ‘hot topic’ in recent decades. One challenging problem in this area is that there are many different definitions to describe the fractional model, such as the Riemann-Liouville and Caputo definitions. Through use of a feedback structure, based on the Riemann-Liouville definition. It is shown that the performance of the fractional differentiator can be improved in both the frequency-domain and time-domain. Two applications based on the proposed differentiators are described in the thesis. Specifically, the first of these involves the application of second degree differentiators in the estimation of the frequency components of a power system. The second example concerns for an image processing, edge detection application.

Feasibility of combined wind-wave energy platforms

The European Union has set out an ambitious 20% target for renewable energy use by 2020. It is expected that this will be met mainly by wind energy. Looking towards 2050, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of 80-95% are to be sought. Given the issues securing this target in the transport and agriculture sectors, it may only be possible to achieve this target if the power sector is carbon neutral well in advance of 2050. This has permitted the vast expansion of offshore renewables, wind, wave and tidal energy. Offshore wind has undergone rapid development in recent years however faces significant challenges up to 2020 to ensure commercial viability without the need for government subsidies. Wave energy is still in the very early stages of development so as yet there has been no commercial roll out. As both of these technologies are to face similar challenges in ensuring they are a viable alternative power generation method to fossil fuels, capitalising on the synergies is potentially a significant cost saving initiative. The advent of hybrid solutions in a variety of configurations is the subject of this thesis. A singular wind-wave energy platform embodies all the attributes of a hybrid system, including sharing space, transmission infrastructure, O&M activities and a platform/foundation. This configuration is the subject of this thesis, and it is found that an OWC Array platform with multi-MegaWatt wind turbines is a technically feasible, and potentially an economically feasible solution in the long term. Methods of design and analysis adopted in this thesis include numerical and physical modelling of power performance, structural analysis, fabrication cost modelling, simplified project economic modelling and time domain reliability modelling of a 210MW hybrid farm. The application of these design and analysis methods has resulted in a hybrid solution capable of producing energy at a cost between €0.22/kWh and €0.31/kWh depending on the source of funding for the project. Further optimisation through detailed design is expected to lower this further. This thesis develops new and existing methods of design and analysis of wind and wave energy devices. This streamlines the process of early stage development, while adhering to the widely adopted Concept Development Protocol, to develop a technically and economically feasible, combined wind-wave energy hybrid solution.

Time-dependent transport through molecular junctions.

We investigate transport properties of molecular junctions under two types of bias--a short time pulse or an ac bias--by combining a solution for Green's functions in the time domain with electronic structure information coming from ab initio density functional calculations. We find that the short time response depends on lead structure, bias voltage, and barrier heights both at the molecule-lead contacts and within molecules. Under a low frequency ac bias, the electron flow either tracks or leads the bias signal (resistive or capacitive response) depending on whether the junction is perfectly conducting or not. For high frequency, the current lags the bias signal due to the kinetic inductance. The transition frequency is an intrinsic property of the junctions.