The current study examined the transition region of axisymmetric isothermal and buoyant jets of low Reynolds number, directed vertically upwards into a stagnant, unstratified ambient. These flows were examined experimentally ...

The propagation of antiplane waves in an elastic solid containing a random distribution of cracks that are parallel to each other, and oriented at an arbitrary angle relative to the direction of the incident wave, is ...

Nanoindentation is a widely recognized method for characterizing the mechanical properties of thin films and small volumes. This dissertation reports the results of finite element analyses of elastic and elastic-plastic ...

General problems of interest in computational fluid dynamics are investigated by means of optimization. Specifically, in the first part of the dissertation, a method of optimal incremental function approximation is developed ...

This work considers the effect of shear on the thermal conductivity of non-Newtonian fluids. These fluids display a variation of viscosity as a function of shear rate, and this study determines whether the thermal conductivity ...

An overview of two categories of numerical approaches to phase change problems, front tracking and fixed domain methods, is given. A further comparison of several fixed domain methods is made with some benchmark test ...

Beside our arms, it is our hands that help us to perform tasks. At first glance, we seems to move our arms and use our hands naturally. On closer inspection, however, we find that both our arms and hands are redundant ...

This thesis is concerned with the optimal flight trajectories in the presence of a three-dimensional windshear. Both the take-off and abort landing problems are studied. A mathematical model of a three-dimensional windshear ...

A framework for a practical, easy-to-use system which can allow severely handicapped people to control and interact with their home and work environments is presented. Software written for a personal computer allows the ...

A numerical procedure is developed capable of simulating gravity-driven film flows in two-dimensions. The moving boundary problem is handled through the ALE formulation. In the case of turbulent fluid flows, the two-equations ...