Transition to Chaos in the Floating Half Zone Convection

The transition process from steady convection to chaos is experimentally studied in thermocapillary convections of floating half zone. The onset of temperature oscillations in the liquid bridge of floating half zone and further transitions of the temporal convective behaviour are detected by measuring the temperature in the liquid bridge. The fast Fourier transform reveals the frequency and amplitude characteristics of the flow transition. The experimental results indicate the existence of a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations that culminate in chaos. The measured Feigenbaum numbers are delta(2) = 4.69 and delta(4) = 4.6, which are comparable with the theoretical asymptotic value delta = 4.669.

Ocean Waves Propagating over a Porous Seabed: Residual and Oscillatory Mechanisms

Two mechanisms for the wave-induced pore pressures in a porous seabed, i.e. oscillatory and residual excess pore pressures, have been observed in laboratory experiments and field measurements. Most previous investigations have focused on one of the mechanisms individually. In this paper, an analytical solution for the wave-induced residual pore pressure, which is not available yet, is derived, and compared with the existing experimental data. With the new solution, a parametric analysis is performed to clarify the applicable ranges of two mechanisms. Then, a simplified approximation for the prediction of wave-induced liquefaction potential is proposed for engineering practice.

Theoretical investigation of epitaxial deformation and the hcp-bcc transition of alkali metals

The deformation of alkali metals K, Rb, and Cs under epitaxial deformation is studied via the ab initio pseudopotential plane wave method using the local-density approximation. Under loading from the stable fee phase, metastable stares along directions [001], [111], and [201] are identified. One metastable state, presented at direction [201], has a very low symmetry in contrast to the planes [001] and [201]. Our results show that the softening direction and sequences of growth is significantly affected by the existence of the metastable states and magnitude of the energy barrier. The resulting softening sequences from soft to hard are [201], [110], [001], and [111] under biaxial compression and [001], [111], [201], and [110] under biaxial tension. An orthorhombic deformation path is used to investigate the fact, that the structure of the alkali films K and Cs evolve from the quasihexagonal structure into the (110)-oriented bcc structure, observed by experiments.

Two Bifurcation Transition Processes in Floating Half Zone Convection of Larger Prandtl Number Fluid

Processes of the onset oscillation in the thermocapillaxy convection under the Earth's gravity are investigated by the numerical simulation and experiments in a floating half zone of large Prandtl number with different volume ratio. Both computational and experimental results show that the steady and axisymmetric convection turns to the oscillatory convection of m=1 for the slender liquid bridge, and to the oscillatory convection before a steady and 3D asymmetric state for the case of a fat liquid bridge. It implies that, there are two critical Marangoni numbers related, respectively, to these two bifurcation transitions for the fat liquid bridge. The computational results agree with the results of ground-based experiments.

海流-管道-海床之间动力相互作用的量纲分析及实验模拟装置研制=Dimensional Analysis and Experimental Apparatus on Interaction between Ocean Current-Pipeline and Seabed

海底管道涡激振动和管道周围海床冲刷是海流--管道--海床之间复杂的动力耦合问题.文章应用量纲分析方法对海流、管道与海床之间的动力耦合作用进行了分析,确定了在实验模拟中应遵循的相似准则.在此基础上,研制了一套能模拟海流、海床与海底管道之间相互作用的实验模拟装置.初步实验结果表明文中研制的实验模拟装置能够模拟典型海洋环境下海底管道的涡激振动和管道周围海床冲刷等问题.

Damage Localization, Sensitivity of Energy Release and the Catastrophe Transition

Large earthquakes can be viewed as catastrophic ruptures in the earth’s crust. There are two common features prior to the catastrophe transition in heterogeneous media. One is damage localization and the other is critical sensitivity; both of which are related to a cascade of damage coalescence. In this paper, in an attempt to reveal the physics underlying the catastrophe transition, analytic analysis based on mean-field approximation of a heterogeneous medium as well as numerical simulations using a network model are presented. Both the emergence of damage localization and the sensitivity of energy release are examined to explore the inherent statistical precursors prior to the eventual catastrophic rupture. Emergence of damage localization, as predicted by the mean-field analysis, is consistent with observations of the evolution of damage patterns. It is confirmed that precursors can be extracted from the time-series of energy release according to its sensitivity to increasing crustal stress. As a major result, present research indicates that the catastrophe transition and the critical point hypothesis (CPH) of earthquakes are interrelated. The results suggest there may be two cross-checking precursors of large earthquakes: damage localization and critical sensitivity.

Glass Transition and Thermal Stability of Hard Magnetic Bulk NdAlFeCo Metallic Glass

Glass transition and thermal stability of bulk Nd60Al10Fe20Co10 metallic glass were investigated by means of dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The glass transition temperature, not revealed by DSC, is alternatively determined by DMTA via storage modulus E' and loss modulus E" measurement to be 498 K at a heating rate of 0.167 K s (-1). The calculated reduced glass transition temperature (T-g/T-m) is 0.63. The large value of T-g/T-m of this alloy is consistent with its good glass-forming ability. The crystallization process of the metallic glass is concluded as follows: amorphous --> amorphous + metastable FeNdAl phase --> amorphous + primary delta-FeNdAl phase --> primary delta-phase + eutectic delta-phase + Nd3Al + Nd3Co. The appearance of hard magnetism in this alloy is ascribed to the presence of amorphous phase with highly relaxed structure. The hard magnetism disappeared after the eutectic crystallization of the amorphous phase. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Direct Numerical Simulation Of Hypersonic Boundary-Layer Transition Over A Blunt Cone

Direct numerical simulation of transition How over a blunt cone with a freestream Mach number of 6, Reynolds number of 10,000 based on the nose radius, and a 1-deg angle of attack is performed by using a seventh-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory scheme for the convection terms of the Navier-Stokes equations, together with an eighth-order central finite difference scheme for the viscous terms. The wall blow-and-suction perturbations, including random perturbation and multifrequency perturbation, are used to trigger the transition. The maximum amplitude of the wall-normal velocity disturbance is set to 1% of the freestream velocity. The obtained transition locations on the cone surface agree well with each other far both cases. Transition onset is located at about 500 times the nose radius in the leeward section and 750 times the nose radius in the windward section. The frequency spectrum of velocity and pressure fluctuations at different streamwise locations are analyzed and compared with the linear stability theory. The second-mode disturbance wave is deemed to be the dominating disturbance because the growth rate of the second mode is much higher than the first mode. The reason why transition in the leeward section occurs earlier than that in the windward section is analyzed. It is not because of higher local growth rate of disturbance waves in the leeward section, but because the growth start location of the dominating second-mode wave in the leeward section is much earlier than that in the windward section.

Ductile To Brittle Transition In Dynamic Fracture Of Brittle Bulk Metallic Glass

We report an unusual transition from a locally ductile to a pure brittle fracture in the dynamic fracture of brittle Mg65Cu20Gd10 bulk metallic glass. The fractographic evolution from a dimple structure to a periodic corrugation pattern and then to the mirror zone along the crack propagation direction during the dynamic fracture process is discussed within the framework of the meniscus instability of the fracture process zone. This work might provide an important clue in understanding of the energy dissipation mechanism for dynamic crack propagation in brittle glassy materials. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Features of the supercritical transition in the wake of a circular cylinder

The features of the wake behind a uniform circular cylinder at Re = 200, which is just beyond the critical Reynolds number of 3-D transition, are investigated in detail by direct numerical simulations by solving 3-D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations using mixed spectral-spectral-element method. The high-order splitting algorithm based on the mixed stiffly stable scheme is employed in the time discretization. Due to the nonlinear evolution of the secondary instability of the wake, the spanwise modes with different wavelengths emerge. The spanwise characteristic length determines the transition features and global properties of the wake. The existence of the spanwise phase difference of the primary vortices shedding is confirmed by Fourier analysis of the time series of the spanwise vorticity and attributed. to the dominant spanwise mode. The spatial energy distributions of various modes and the velocity profiles in the near wake are obtained. The numerical results indicate that the near wake is in 3-D quasi-periodic laminar state with transitional behaviors at this supercritical Reynolds number.

Numerical exploration of new features on three-dimensional transition of a cylinder wake

The three-dimensional transition of the wake flow behind a circular cylinder is studied in detail by direct numerical simulations using 3D incompressible N-S equations for Reynolds number ranging from 200 to 300. New features and vortex dynamics of the 3D transition of the wake are found and investigated. At Re = 200, the flow pattern is characterized by mode A instability. However, the spanwise characteristic length of the cylinder determines the transition features. Particularly for the specific spanwise characteristic length linear stable mode may dominate the wake in place of mode A and determine the spanwise phase difference of the primary vortices shedding. At Re = 250 and 300 it is found that the streamwise vortices evolve into a new type of mode - "dual vortex pair mode" downstream. The streamwise vortex structures switch among mode A, mode B and dual vortex pair mode from near wake to downstream wake. At Re = 250, an independent low frequency f(m) in addition to the vortex shedding frequency f(s) is identified. Frequency coupling between f(m) and f(s) occurs. These result in the irregularity of the temporal signals and become a key feature in the transition of the wake. Based on the formation analysis of the streamwise vorticity in the vicinity of cylinder, it is suggested that mode A is caused by the emergence of the spanwise velocity due to three dimensionality of the incoming flow past the cylinder. Energy distribution on various wave numbers and the frequency variation in the wake are also described.

Ocean currents-induced pipeline lateral stability on sandy seabed

Unlike previous mechanical actuator loading methods, in this study, a hydrodynamic loading method was employed in a flow flume for simulating ocean currents induced submarine pipeline stability on a sandy seabed. It has been observed that, in the process of pipeline losing lateral stability in currents, there usually exist three characteristic times: (1) onset of sand scour; (2) slight lateral displacement of pipeline; and (3) breakout of pipeline. An empirical linear relationship is established between the dimensionless submerged weight of pipeline and Froude number for describing pipeline lateral stability in currents, in which the current-pipe-soil coupling effects are reflected. Scale effects are examined with the method of "modeling of models," and the sand particle size effects on pipeline stability are also discussed. Moreover, the pipeline stability in currents is compared with that in waves, which indicates that the pipeline laid directly upon the sandy seabed is more laterally stable in currents than in waves.

Transition waves and nonlinear interactions in the near wake of a circular cylinder

Transition waves and interactions between two kinds of instability-vortex shedding and transition wave in the near wake of a circular cylinder in the Reynolds number range 3 000-10 000 are studied by a domain decomposition hybrid numerical method. Based on high resolution power spectral analyses for velocity new results on the Reynolds-number dependence of the transition wave frequency, i.e. f(t)/f(s) similar to Re-0.87 are obtained. The new predictions are in good agreement with the experimental results of Wei and Smith but different from Braza's prediction and some early experimental results f(t)/f(s) similar to Re-0.5 given by Bloor et nl. The multi-interactions between two kinds of vortex are clearly visualized numerically. The strong nonlinear interactions between the two independent frequencies (f(t), f(s)) leading to spectra broadening to form the coupling mf(s) +/- nf(t) are predicted and analyzed numerically, and the characteristics of the transition are described. Longitudinal variations of the transition wave and its coupling are reported. Detailed mechanism of the flow transition in the near wake before occurrence of the three-dimensional evolution is provided.

Transition of oscillatory floating half zone convection from Earth's gravity to microgravity

Oscillatory features of floating half zone convection were experimentally studied by using the drop shaft facility of Japan Microgravity Center which supported microgravity period of 10 s. Coordinated measurements including free surface deformation and oscillation, temperature and flow pattern in both 1-g and micro-g environment were obtained. The oscillatory frequency and amplitude in micro-g condition were lower and larger than the ones in l-g condition, respectively. The results gave, at first time, the oscillatory features such as free surface wave in micro-g, coordinated measurements of more than two physical quantities in the micro-g, and transition of thermocapillary oscillatory convection from I-g to micro-g.