Contra-rotating propellers

Thesis (Nav. E. and S.M. in Mechanical Engineering)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-89).Improvement of the propulsive efficiency of ships has always been one of the main objectives for naval architects and marine engineers. Contra-Rotating propellers (CRP) are propulsor configurations offering higher efficiency compared to conventional single propellers by recovering the rotational energy in the propeller slipstream. The application of this type of propulsive device to modern ships becomes even more attractive, considering the recent developments in electric propulsion and the increased emphasis on fuel economy. Propeller design codes are therefore expected to include CRP design capabilities. This thesis describes two methods for designing CRP in the context of lifting-line theory, along with a procedure for predicting the cavitation performance of conventional propellers and CRP. All of the above methods have been implemented numerically and integrated into a computer program developed in MATLAB®. Comparisons of numerical predictions of efficiency between single and contra-rotating propellers, which confirm the superiority of the latter are presented. Physical insight into the increased efficiency of CRP is also obtained by presenting results for the velocity fields induced by these propulsor configurations. In addition, the predicted cavitation patterns, observed on conventional and contra-rotating propellers operating in uniform and non-uniform wakes, show the advantage of CRP with respect to the occurrence of cavitation.Dimitrios Laskos.Nav.E.and S.M.in Mechanical Engineerin

Aggressive saliency-aware point cloud compression

The increasing demand for accurate representations of 3D scenes, combined with immersive technologies has led point clouds to extensive popularity. However, quality point clouds require a large amount of data and therefore the need for compression methods is imperative. In this paper, we present a novel, geometry-based, end-to-end compression scheme, that combines information on the geometrical features of the point cloud and the user's position, achieving remarkable results for aggressive compression schemes demanding very small bit rates. After separating visible and non-visible points, four saliency maps are calculated, utilizing the point cloud's geometry and distance from the user, the visibility information, and the user's focus point. A combination of these maps results in a final saliency map, indicating the overall significance of each point and therefore quantizing different regions with a different number of bits during the encoding process. The decoder reconstructs the point cloud making use of delta coordinates and solving a sparse linear system. Evaluation studies and comparisons with the geometry-based point cloud compression (G-PCC) algorithm by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), carried out for a variety of point clouds, demonstrate that the proposed method achieves significantly better results for small bit rates

On the Establishment of Climatic Zones in Europe with Regard to the Energy Performance of Buildings

Nowadays, subjects such as eco-design requirements, product rating or code compliance with regard to energy efficiency are expanding towards a pan-European level. This leads to the necessity of defining zones within the European region, which share common climatic characteristics and will further facilitate the quick estimation of building energy performance. Towards this direction stands the current paper; it presents an approach for defining climatic zones in Europe on the basis of the amount of heating and cooling degree days. It is applied for the climate classification of selected European cities and is compared with the conventional scheme based solely on heating degree days. Since the approach is orientated mainly towards the assessment of building energy performance, its outcomes are evaluated with regard to the actual heating and cooling energy needs of a reference building unit with office use located in representative cities of the proposed climatic zones and facing the four cardinal orientations. The classification of climatic zones on the basis of both heating and cooling degree days leads to more realistic results, since nowadays cooling needs form a substantial part of the energy balance of the building, especially in the Mediterranean regions

Numerical Investigation of the Three-Dimensional Flow around a Surface-Mounted Rib and the Onset of Unsteadiness

The incompressible laminar isothermal flow of a Newtonian fluid at steady state around a surface-mounted rib is studied in a three-dimensional (3D) numerical experiment. The dimensionless Navier–Stokes equations are solved numerically using the Galerkin finite element method for Reynolds numbers 1 to 800. The expansion ratio of the problem is 1:9.6, while the aspect ratio is 1:20. The transition from the steady to the unsteady state and the identification of the critical Reynolds number are investigated in this paper. Numerical results of the skin-friction lines at the bottom and streamlines throughout the computational field are presented. A comparison between the 2D and 3D flow is made to show the effect of the walls on the flow, which reaches the plane of symmetry and affects the flow there; hence, also affecting the stability of the flow. It is concluded that the flow is three-dimensional even for a Reynolds number equal to 10. The critical Reynolds number is 600, and the steady-state equations can be used for any calculations up to this value

A Longitudinal Study of Alterations of Hippocampal Volumes and Serum BDNF Levels in Association to Atypical Antipsychotics in a Sample of First-Episode Patients with Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is associated with structural and functional abnormalities of the hippocampus, which have been suggested to play an important role in the formation and emergence of schizophrenia syndrome. Patients with schizophrenia exhibit significant bilateral hippocampal volume reduction and progressive hippocampal volume decrease in first-episode patients with schizophrenia has been shown in many neuroimaging studies. Dysfunction of the neurotrophic system has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The initiation of antipsychotic medication alters the levels of serum Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels. However it is unclear whether treatment with antipsychotics is associated with alterations of hippocampal volume and BDNF levels.In the present longitudinal study we investigated the association between serum BDNF levels and hippocampal volumes in a sample of fourteen first-episode drug-naïve patients with schizophrenia (FEP). MRI scans, BDNF and clinical measurements were performed twice: at baseline before the initiation of antipsychotic treatment and 8 months later, while the patients were receiving monotherapy with second generation antipsychotics (SGAs).We found that left hippocampal volume was decreased (corrected left HV [t = 2.977, df = 13, p = .011] at follow-up; We also found that the higher the BDNF levels change the higher were the differences of corrected left hippocampus after 8 months of treatment with atypical antipsychotics (Pearson r = 0.597, p = 0.024).The association of BDNF with hippocampal volume alterations in schizophrenia merits further investigation and replication in larger longitudinal studies

Demographic, clinical and neuroimaging characteristics of the study participants.

<p>Marital status (married/unmarried), professional status (employed/unemployed), PANSS = Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, DUP = duration of untreated psychosis, Ser BDNF = serum brain derived neurotrophic factor, HV = hippocampal volume.</p

Differences in corrected left hippocampus and BDNF level change.

<p>Pearson r = 0.597, p = 0.024. Bootstrap: Sampling method single- Bias = −0.37, Std. Error = 0.214, 95% Confidence interval 0.021 to 0.863.</p

All patients were treated with SGAs.

<p>All patients were treated with SGAs.</p