Effect of Microtopography, Slope Length and Gradient, and Vegetative Cover on Overland Flow Through Simulation

Overland flow on a hillslope is significantly influenced by its microtopography, slope length and gradient, and vegetative cover. A 1D kinematic wave model in conjunction with a revised form of the Green-Ampt infiltration equation was employed to evaluate the effect of these surface conditions. The effect of these conditions was treated through the resistance parameter in the kinematic wave model. The resistance in this paper was considered to be made up of grain resistance, form resistance, and wave resistance. It was found that irregular slopes with microtopography eroded more easily than did regular slopes. The effect of the slope gradient on flow velocity and flow shear stress could be negative or positive. With increasing slope gradient, the flow velocity and shear stress first increased to a peak value, then decreased again, suggesting that there exists a critical slope gradient for flow velocity and shear stress. The vegetative cover was found to protect soil from erosion primarily by enhancing erosion-resisting capacity rather than by decreasing the eroding capability of overland flow.

A New Version of Smoothed Point Method to Simulate Linear Elastic Wave Propagation

By using the kernel function of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and modification of statistical volumes of the boundary points and their kernel functions, a new version of smoothed point method is established for simulating elastic waves in solid. With the simplicity of SPH kept, the method is easy to handle stress boundary conditions, especially for the transmitting boundary condition. A result improving by de-convolution is also proposed to achieve high accuracy under a relatively large smooth length. A numerical example is given and compared favorably with the analytical solution.

Improved Analysis Method for Wave-Induced Pipeline Stability on Sandy Seabed

The existing Det Norske Veritas DNV Recommended Practice RP E305 for pipeline on-bottom stability is mainly based on the pipe–soil interaction model reported by Wagner et al. in 1987, and the wake model reported by Lambrakos et al. in 1987, to calculate the soil resistance and the hydrodynamic forces upon pipeline, respectively. Unlike the methods in the DNV Practice, in this paper, an improved analysis method is proposed for the on-bottom stability of a submarine pipeline, which is based on the relationships between Um/ gD 0.5 and Ws / D2 for various restraint conditions obtained by the hydrodynamic loading experiments, taking into account the coupling effects between wave, pipeline, and sandy seabed. The analysis procedure is illustrated with a detailed flow chart. A comparison is made between the submerged weights of pipeline predicted with the DNV Practice and those with the new method. The proposed analysis method may provide a helpful tool for the engineering practice of pipeline on-bottom stability design.

MEASUREMENT OF SOLID SLURRY FLOW VIA CORRELATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FLOW METER, ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE TOMOGRAPHY AND MECHANISTIC MODELLING

The study presented here was carried out to obtain the actual solids flow rate by the combination of electrical resistance tomography and electromagnetic flow meter. A new in-situ measurement method based on measurements of the Electromagnetic Flow Meters (EFM) and Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) to study the flow rates of individual phases in a vertical flow was proposed. The study was based on laboratory experiments that were carried out with a 50 mm vertical flow rig for a number of sand concentrations and different mixture velocities. A range of sand slurries with median particle size from 212 mu m to 355 mu m was tested. The solid concentration by volume covered was 5% and 15%, and the corresponding density of 5% was 1078 kg/m(3) and of 15% was 1238 kg/m(3). The flow velocity was between 1.5 m/s and 3.0 m/s. A total of 6 experimental tests were conducted. The equivalent liquid model was adopted to validate in-situ volumetric solids fraction and calculate the slip velocity. The results show that the ERT technique can be used in conjunction with an electromagnetic flow meter as a way of measurement of slurry flow rate in a vertical pipe flow. However it should be emphasized that the EFM results must be treated with reservation when the flow pattern at the EFM mounting position is a non-homogenous flow. The flow rate obtained by the EFM should be corrected considering the slip velocity and the flow pattern.

Design of high-efficiency diffraction gratings based on rigorous coupled-wave analysis for 800nm wavelength

We report on the design of a high diffraction efficiency multi-layer dielectric grating with wide incident angle and broad bandwidth for 800 nm. The optimized grating can achieve > 95% diffraction efficiency in the first order at an incident angle of 5 degrees from Littrow and a wavelength from 770nm to 830 nm, with peak diffraction efficiency of > 99.5% at 800 nm. The electric field distribution of the optimized multi-layer dielectric grating within the gratings ridge is 1.3 times enhancement of the incidence light, which presents potential high laser resistance ability. Because of its high-efficiency, wide incident, broad bandwidth and potential high resistance ability, the multi-layer dielectric grating should have practical application in Ti:sapphire laser systems.

Continuous-wave operation of GaN based multi-quantum-well laser diode at room temperature

Room-temperature operation of cw GaN based multi-quantum-well laser diodes (LDs) is demonstrated. The LD structure is grown on a sapphire (0001) substrate by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. A 2.5 mu m x 800 mu m ridge waveguide structure is fabricated. The electrical and optical characteristics of the laser diode under direct current injection at room temperature are investigated. The threshold current and voltage of the LD under cw operation are 110mA and 10.5V, respectively. Thermal induced series resistance decrease and emission wavelength red-shift are observed as the injection current is increased. The full width at half maximum for the parallel and perpendicular far field pattern (FFP) are 12 degrees and 32 degrees, respectively.

Room-Temperature Continuous-Wave Operation of InGaN-Based Blue-Violet Laser Diodes with a Lifetime of 15.6 Hours

We report our recent progress of investigations on InGaN-based blue-violet laser diodes (LDs). The room-temperature (RT) cw operation lifetime of LDs has extended to longer than 15.6 h. The LD structure was grown on a c-plane free-standing (FS) GaN substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The typical threshold current and voltage of LD under RT cw operation are 78 mA and 6.8 V, respectively. The experimental analysis of degradation of LD performances suggests that after aging treatment, the increase of series resistance and threshold current can be mainly attributed to the deterioration of p-type ohmic contact and the decrease of internal quantum efficiency of multiple quantum well (MQW), respectively.

Influence of laser-glazing on hot corrosion resistance of yttria-stabilized zirconia TBC in molten salt mixture of V2O5 and Na2SO4

Plasma-sprayed 8YSZ (zirconia stabilized with 8 wt% yttria)/NiCoCrAlYTa thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were laser-glazed using a continuous-wave CO2 laser. Open pores within the coating surface were eliminated and an external densified layer was generated by laser-glazing. The hot corrosion resistances of the plasma-sprayed and laser-glazed coatings were investigated. The two specimens were exposed for the same period of 100 h at 900 degrees C to a salt mixture of vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4). Serious crack and spallation occurred in the as-sprayed coating, while the as-glazed coating exhibited good hot corrosion behavior and consequently achieved a prolonged lifetime. The results showed that the as-sprayed 8YSZ coating achieved remarkably improved hot corrosion resistance by laser-glazing.

Numerical Analysis of a Dual Polarization Mode-Locked Laser with a Quarter Wave Plate

Dynamical behaviors and frequency characteristics of an active mode-locked laser with a quarter wave plate (QWP) are numerically studied by using a set pf vectorial laser equation. Like a polarization self-modulated laser, a frequency shift of half the cavity mode spacing exists between the eigen-modes in the two neutral axes of QWP. Within the active medium, the symmetric gain and cavity structure maintain the pulse's circular polarization with left-hand and right-hand in turn for each round trip. Once the left-hand or right-hand circularly polarized pulse passes through QWP, its polarization is linear and the polarized direction is in one of the directions of i45o with respect to the neutral axes of QWP. The output components in the directions of i45" from the mirror close to QWP are all linearly polarized with a period of twice the round-trip time.

Microstructure and wear resistance of in situ TiCp composite coating by laser cladding

A new in situ method was realized by one step laser cladding to produce Ni-base alloy composite coating reinforced by in situ reacted and gradiently distributed TiCp particles. The submicron TiCp particles were formed and uniformly distributed because of the in situ reaction and trapping effect under the rapid solidification condition. And, TiCp particles were of gradient distribution on a macro scale and their volume fraction increased from 1.86% at the layer/substrate interface to a maximum 38.4% at the surface of the layer. Furthermore, the in situ generated TiCp/gamma-Ni interfaces were free from deleterious surface reactions. Additionally, the clad coating also revealed a high microhardness of gradient variation with the layer depth and the superior abrasive wear resistance.

Temperature measurement of reflected shock wave by using chemical indicator

This report describes a new method for measuring the temperature of the gas behind the reflected shock wave in shock tube, corresponding to the reservoir temperature of a shock tunnel, based on the chemical reaction of small amount of CF4 premixed in the test gas. The final product C2F4 is used as the temperature indicator, which is sampled and detected by a gas chromatography in the experiment. The detected concentration of C2F4 is correlated to the temperature of the reflected shock wave with the initial pressure P-1 and test time tau as parameters in the temperature range 3 300 K < T < 5 600 K, pressure range 5 kPa < P1 <12 kPa and tau similar or equal to 0.4 ms.

Wave Propagation Analysis in a Pressure-Wave-Refrigerator

Pressure wave refrigerators (PWR) refrigerate the gas through periodical expansion waves. Due to its simple structure and robustness, PWR may have many potential applications if the efficiency becomes competitive with existing alternative devices. In order to improve the efficiency, the characteristics of wave propagation in a PWR are studied by experiment, numerical simulation and theoretical analysis. Based on the experimental results and numerical simulation, a simplified model is suggested, which includes the assumptions of flux-equilibrium and conservation of the free energy. This allows the independent analysis of the operation parameters and design specifics. Furthermore, the optimum operation condition can be deduced. Some considerations to improve the PWR efficiency are also given.

Elasticity, stability, and ideal strength of beta-SiC in plane-wave-based ab initio calculations

On the basis of the pseudopotential plane-wave method and the local-density-functional theory, this paper studies energetics, stress-strain relation, stability, and ideal strength of beta-SiC under various loading modes, where uniform uniaxial extension and tension and biaxial proportional extension are considered along directions [001] and [111]. The lattice constant, elastic constants, and moduli of equilibrium state are calculated and the results agree well with the experimental data. As the four SI-C bonds along directions [111], [(1) over bar 11], [11(1) over bar] and [111] are not the same under the loading along [111], internal relaxation and the corresponding internal displacements must be considered. We find that, at the beginning of loading, the effect of internal displacement through the shuffle and glide plane diminishes the difference among the four Si-C bonds lengths, but will increase the difference at the subsequent loading, which will result in a crack nucleated on the {111} shuffle plane and a subsequently cleavage fracture. Thus the corresponding theoretical strength is 50.8 GPa, which agrees well with the recent experiment value, 53.4 GPa. However, with the loading along [001], internal relaxation is not important for tetragonal symmetry. Elastic constants during the uniaxial tension along [001] are calculated. Based on the stability analysis with stiffness coefficients, we find that the spinodal and Born instabilities are triggered almost at the same strain, which agrees with the previous molecular-dynamics simulation. During biaxial proportional extension, stress and strength vary proportionally with the biaxial loading ratio at the same longitudinal strain.

Capillary Effect on Vertically Excited Surface Wave in Circular Cylindrical Vessel

In a vertically oscillating circular cylindrical container, singular perturbation theory of two-time scale expansions was developed in inviscid fluids to investigate the motion of single free surface standing wave including the effect of surface tension.

Application of Electrical Resistance Tomography System to Monitor Gas/Liquid Two-Phase Flow in a Horizontal Pipe

The Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) technique possesses great potential in monitoring widely exiting industrial two/multi-phase flow. For vertical pipe flow and inclined pipe flow, some application studies with exciting results have been reported, but there is rarely a paper regarding the application of ERT to horizontal gas/liquid pipe flow. This paper addresses this issue and proposes a smart method, Liquid Level Detection method, to conventional ERT system. The enhanced ERT system using the new method can monitor horizontal pipe flow effectively and its application is no longer restricted by the flow conditions. Some experimental results from monitoring an air/water slug pipe flow are presented.