Combination of HHO and Mesh refining/Coarsening Strategies for Efficient Flow Solvers in Fractured Rocks

International audienc

Recent changes in seasonal variations of climate within the range of northern caribou populations

The Arctic is one region where it is expected that the impacts of a globally changing climate will be readily observed. We present results that indicate that climate derivatives of potential significance to caribou changed during the past 50 years. Many temperature derivatives reflect the increasing overall temperature in the Arctic such as decreases in the number of days with low temperatures, increases in the number of days with thaw, and days with extremely warm temperatures. Other derivatives reflect changes in the precipitation regime such as days with heavy precipitation and number of days when rain fell on snow. Our results indicate that specific caribou herds from across the Arctic were subjected to different variations of these derivatives in different seasons in the recent past. Examination of temperature and precipitation at finer time-steps than annual or monthly means, shows that climatic variations in the region are neither consistent through the seasons nor across space. Decadal changes in seasonal patterns of temperature and precipitation are shown for selected herds. A process for assessing caribou-focused climate derivatives is proposed

Random access test as an identifier of nonclassicality*

Random access codes are an intriguing class of communication tasks that reveal an operational and quantitative difference between classical and quantum information processing. We formulate a natural generalization of random access codes and call them random access tests, defined for any finite collection of measurements in an arbitrary finite dimensional general probabilistic theory. These tests can be used to examine collective properties of collections of measurements. We show that the violation of a classical bound in a random access test is a signature of either measurement incompatibility or super information storability. The polygon theories are exhaustively analyzed and a critical difference between even and odd polygon theories is revealed.Comment: Minor corrections; submitted versio

Solving flow in large scale discrete fracture networks with the hybrid high-order (HHO) method

International audienc

Random access test as an identifier of nonclassicality*

Random access codes (RACs) are an intriguing class of communication tasks that reveal an operational and quantitative difference between classical and quantum information processing. We formulate a natural generalization of RACs and call them random access tests (RATs), defined for any finite collection of measurements in an arbitrary finite dimensional general probabilistic theory. These tests can be used to examine collective properties of collections of measurements. We show that the violation of a classical bound in a RAT is a signature of either measurement incompatibility or super information storability. The polygon theories are exhaustively analysed and a critical difference between even and odd polygon theories is revealed

Performance Enhancement in Bulk Thermoelectric Materials.

Thermoelectric energy conversion has great potential for both power generation and cooling; however, commercialization is currently limited by low energy conversion efficiency. This work explores several new methods to enhance performance in bulk thermoelectric materials. Theoretical calculations predict that Sn dopants create resonant energy levels in the valence band of the skutterudite CoSb3. This offers a potential means to improve thermoelectric power factor in p-type CoSb3, as such “bumps” in the electronic density of states have been shown to enhance the Seebeck coefficient without deteriorating electrical conductivity. Experimental and theoretical analysis in this work, however, shows that while Sn dopants improve thermoelectric efficiency in CoSb3 by reducing thermal conductivity, their solubility limit is insufficient to move the Fermi energy deep enough into the valence band to reach the resonant levels and thereby improve power factor. Incorporation of an additional p-type dopant (Fe) was studied as a means to move the Fermi energy further, but pinning by the heavy d-band in Fe was found to prevent access to the resonant levels. However, energy upshift of this band was found to provide an unrelated benefit for thermoelectric performance, as heavy holes contribute to a relatively high thermopower even at large carrier concentrations; the power factor was enhanced from 15 μWcm-1K-2 for Yb0.3FeCo3Sb12 to 25 μWcm-1K-2 for Yb0.8Fe3CoSb12. The engineering of secondary phases was also explored as a means to improve energy efficiency in bulk thermoelectric materials. In particular, a novel strategy for controlling carrier concentration was devised whereby different temperature dependences for the Fermi energy in the matrix and secondary phase enable optimization of matrix carrier concentration over a wide range of temperatures. An enhanced average power factor was demonstrated experimentally in GeTe-CuInTe2 composites. Finally, the influence of carrier band dispersion order was studied analytically and numerically to determine whether transport in higher order bands could lead to improvement in thermoelectric power factor. It was shown that higher-order band dispersion contributions to carrier transport could be beneficial under certain conditions due to enhancements arising from the energy dependence of the product of carrier mobility and density of states.PHDMechanical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135915/1/huisi_1.pd

Development of Software to Predict Road Information using Map Data

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. Engenharia de Controle e Automação.This report is the result of the work done as final project of the course of Control and Automation Engineering, in the main plant of Adam Opel AG in Rüsselsheim, Germany. Adam Opel is a company that belongs to General Motors (GM) and always stood out in the European market for their innovation and influence. In addition, Opel appears in other continents by providing projects for other companies in the GM group. During the period of 6 months, the author has worked in the sector of Advanced Engineering and was involved in a new project, but that has long been discussed in the industry. With technological advances of automobiles, is clear the intention of the companies in the automotive sector to increase the comfort and safety of driver and passengers. Within this context, the project can be summarized in accessing and processing data from highways found on virtual maps to use in an application for smartphones with the goal of assisting the driver with and without the use of pre-determined routes. This assistance takes the form of predicting indicators, for example, intersections, traffic lights and speed limits - the last one being the focus of the work - to anticipate driver behavior. With prior knowledge of the necessity about taking action, the driver is able to avoid and reduce the number of accidents, reduce fuel consumption and extend the useful life of some vehicle components. For this, it was required at the beginning a study about the operation of virtual maps involving from the providers to the ease of work. Everything was discussed with some employees of the department who had prior knowledge. Furthermore, the choice of the tool and work platform was much debated, since the time to conclusion of activities was essential for both, the author and the company, although been a long-term project. At first, it was thought to use General Motors System Development Kit (GMSDK), which is the development kit for the new embedded platform in GM cars. 8 Because it is a new tool, was discarded at this stage of the macro-project. It was decided therefore to develop the application for smartphones with Android operational system. It was implemented in JAVA language with the Android System Development Kit (AndroidSDK) using the Eclipse tool, chosen for its easy understanding. Another decision topic was the issue about which map to use. The choice was the OpenStreetMap (OSM), an Open Source map with online and offline versions, which has a considerable range of data for the approach that would be given by the author. It was used a code base that composes the existing application OsmAnd, that is also Open Source. The biggest difficulty arose when working without the use of a given route, since it becomes difficult to predict the indicators when there are several options of choosing routes. Taking into account these factors, the report presents the steps of project development, as well as its theoretical fundamentals. The experimental tests, with the implementation of the algorithm needed, are also described. The validation was done by people in the department who are part of the project.Este relatório é resultado do trabalho realizado como projeto final de curso do curso de Engenharia de Controle e Automação na empresa Adam Opel AG na planta principal da empresa em Rüsselsheim, na Alemanha. A Adam Opel é uma empresa que pertence ao grupo General Motors (GM) e sempre se destacou no mercado europeu por sua influência e inovação. Além disso, a Opel aparece em outros continentes através do fornecimento de projetos para outras empresas do grupo GM. Durante o período de 6 meses, o autor trabalho no setor de Engenharia Avançada e esteve envolvido em um projeto novo, mas que há muito é discutido no setor. Com os avanços cada vez maiores das tecnologias relacionadas a automóveis fica claro o intuito das empresas do setor automotivo em aumentar o conforto e a segurança de motorista e passageiros. Dentro deste contexto, o projeto pode ser resumido no acesso e tratamento de dados de autoestradas encontrados em mapas virtuais para o uso em um aplicativo para smartphones com o objetivo de auxiliar o motorista, com e sem o uso de rotas pré-determinadas. Este auxílio se dá na forma de predição de indicadores, como, por exemplo, cruzamentos, semáforos e limites de velocidade – este último sendo o foco do trabalho – para antecipar o comportamento do motorista. Com o conhecimento prévio da necessidade da tomada de ação, o motorista consegue a seu favor a redução do número de acidentes, a redução do consumo de combustível e a durabilidade prolongada de alguns componentes do veículo. Para isso foi necessário no início um estudo sobre o funcionamento de mapas virtuais envolvendo desde os provedores até a facilidade de trabalho. Tudo foi discutido com alguns funcionários do departamento que possuíam conhecimento prévio. Além disso, a escolha da ferramenta e plataforma de trabalho foi muito debatida, uma vez que o tempo de realização das atividades era fundamental, tanto para o autor quanto para a empresa apesar de ser um projeto de longa duração. 6 Em um primeiro momento pensou-se em usar o General Motors System Development Kit (GMSDK), que é o kit de desenvolvimento para a nova plataforma embarcada nos automóveis da GM. Por se tratar de uma ferramenta nova esta foi descartada nesta etapa do projeto macro. Decidiu-se assim, desenvolver o projeto para smartphones com sistema operacional Android e para isso foi utilizada a linguagem JAVA e o Android System Development Kit (AndroidSDK) usando a ferramenta Eclipse, escolhida por sua fácil compreensão. Outro tópico de decisão foi a questão de qual mapa utilizar. A escolha foi pelo OpenStreet Map (OSM), um mapa Open Source que se encontra online e offline, e que possui uma gama de dados considerável para a abordagem que seria dada pelo autor. Foi utilizado como base um código já existente que integra o aplicativo OsmAnd, que também é Open Source. A grande dificuldade surgiu quando se trabalhou sem o uso de rota determinada, uma vez que se torna complicado prever os indicadores quando existem várias opções de escolha de vias. Levando em conta estes fatores, o relatório apresenta os passos do desenvolvimento do projeto, bem como o seu embasamento teórico. São apresentados também os testes experimentais juntamente com a implementação dos algoritmos necessários. A validação foi feita por pessoas do departamento que fazem parte do projeto macro e que acompanharam o desenvolvimento

Hairy brushes in computer-generated images

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1986.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCHBibliography: p. 68-69.by Steve Strassman.M.S