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Now showing items 421-430 of 451
Exploring heat transfer at the atomistic level for thermal energy conversion and management
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014)
Heat transfer at the scales of atoms plays an important role in many applications such as thermoelectric energy conversion and thermal management of microelectronic devices. While nanoengineering offers unique opportunities ...
Observation and manipulation of the wave nature of phonon thermal transport through superlattices
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015)
As the scale of electronic, photonic, and energy harvesting devices has shrunk, the importance of understanding nanoscale thermal transport has grown. In this thesis, we investigate thermal transport through superlattices ...
Impact of fuel and oxidizer composition on premixed flame stabilization in turbulent swirling flows : dynamics and scaling
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016)
The world relies on fossil fuels as its main energy source (86.7% in 1973, 81.7% in 2012). Several factors including the abundance of resources and the existing infrastructure suggest that this is likely to continue in the ...
Shape change for global vorticity shedding and added mass energy recovery
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016)
To develop super-maneuverable underwater vehicles, one must consider how to quickly and efficiently transfer momentum between the solid body and its surrounding fluid. This thesis explores the efficient transfer of momentum ...
Understanding of weak turbulence of capillary waves
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)
First developed by Zakharov, Weak Turbulence Theory (WTT) aims at describing the steady-state statistical property of an ensemble of waves in weakly nonlinear interactions. In the wavenumber k domain, the WTT steady-state ...
Design principles of multi-axis, large magnitude force sensors based on stress fields for use in human and robotic locomotion
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018)
Our ability to purposefully move across varied terrain requires us to have knowledge of the interactions our feet have with the external environment. However, existing sensing methods are inadequate to address the many ...
Mechanics of swellable elastomeric seals
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018)
This thesis investigates the mechanics of swellable elastomeric seals for the purpose of hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas applications. The first component of the thesis is the development of a laboratory-scale apparatus ...
Anderson localization of thermal phonons : anomalous heat conduction in disordered superlattices
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)
In semiconductor devices, thermal energy is carried by phonons, the quantized excitation of atomic vibrations. These phonons scatter with impurities, electrons, grain boundaries, and other phonons. At a sufficiently large ...
Improving solar thermal receiver performance via spectral and directional selectivity
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)
Adoption of renewable energy technologies has accelerated rapidly in recent years due to growing energy demand and concerns over climate change. Among renewable energy sources, solar energy conversion systems are particularly ...
Organic fouling of desalination membranes
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)
Energy-ecient desalination and water reuse are necessary to ensure universal access to clean water. Reverse osmosis (RO) is the most ecient desalination process for almost any water source, but it is susceptible to membrane ...