Influence of the thickness ratio of air layer to liquid layer on the onset of Benard-Marangoni convection

An experimental investigation of the onset of Benard-Marangoni convection has been performed in a liquid layer of rectangular configuration. The critical temperature difference was measured via the detections of both temperature field pattern (IR-imaging) on the free surface and fluid convection (PIV) in the liquid layer. The critical temperature difference or the critical Marangoni number was given. The experiments were performed for a fixed depth of air layer and a changeable depth of the liquid layer, and then the influence of the thickness ratio of the air layer to liquid layer on the Marangoni instability was studied.

Characters of Surface Deformation and Surface Wave in Thermal Capillary Convection

In the field of fluid mechanics, free surface phenomena is one of the most important physical processes. In the present research work, the surface deformation and surface wave caused by temperature difference of sidewalls in a rectangular cavity have been investigated. The horizontal cross-section of the container is 52 mmx42 mm, and there is a silicon oil layer of height 3.5 mm in the experimental cavity. Temperature difference between the two side walls of the cavity is increased gradually, and the flow on the liquid layer will develop from stable convection to un-stable convection. An optical diagnostic system consisting of a modified Michelson interferometer and image processor has been developed for study of the surface deformation and surface wave of thermal capillary convection. The Fourier transformation method is used to interferometer fringe analysis. The quantitative results of surface deformation and surface wave have been calculated from a serial of the interference fringe patterns.The characters of surface deformation and surface wave have been obtained. They are related with temperature gradient and surface tension. Surface deformation is fluctuant with time, which shows the character of surface wave. The cycle period of the wave is 4.8 s, and the amplitudes are from 0 to 0.55 mu m. The phase of the wave near the cool side of the cavity is opposite and correlative to that near the hot side. The present experiment proves that the surface wave of thermal capillary convection exists on liquid free surface, and it is wrapped in surface deformation.

The Optical Methods on Measuring Surface Deformation and Surface Wave in The Thermal Capillary Convection

An optical diagnostic system consisting of the Michelson interferometer with the image processor has been developed for the study of the kinetics of the thermal capillary convection. The capillary convection, surface deformation, surface wave and the velocity field in a rectangular cavity with different temperature's sidewalls have been investigated by optical interference method and PIV technique. In order to calculate the surface deformation from the interference fringe, Fourier transformation is used to grating analysis. The quantitative results of the surface deformation and surface wave have been calculated from the interference fringe pattern.

Experimental Study on Benard-Marangoni Convection by PIV and TCL

An experimental investigation of Benard-Marangoni convection has been performed in double immiscible liquid layers of rectangular configuration. The two kinds of liquid are 10cst silicon oil and FC-70 respectively. The velocity fields in the vertical cross-section are obtained by PIV. Flow patterns and/or temperature distributions on the horizontal interface are displayed by using thermal color liquid crystal (TLC), and the velocity distributions on the interface were also obtained with the help of the serial particle image of TCL. The evolution processes of convection are observed in the differential thickness ratio of two liquid layers, and the convection styles are discussed.

Numerical Investigation on Laser Transformation Hardening with Different Temporal Pulse Shapes

A 3-D numerical model for pulsed laser transformation hardening (LTH) is developed using the finite element method. In this model, laser spatial and temporal intensity distribution, temperature-dependent thermophysical properties of material, and multi-phase transformations are considered. The influence of laser temporal pulse shape on connectivity of hardened zone, maximum surface temperature of material and hardening depth is numerically investigated at different pulse energy levels. Results indicate that these hardening parameters are strongly dependent on the temporal pulse shape. For the rectangular temporal pulse shape, the temperature field obtained from this model is in excellent agreement with analytical solution, and the predicted hardening depth is favorably compared with experimental one. It should be pointed out that appropriate temporal pulse shape should be selected according to pulse energy level in order to achieve desirable hardening quality under certain laser spatial intensity distribution.

Analysis of two-dimensional finite solids with microcracks

A general method is presented for solving the plane elasticity problem of finite plates with multiple microcracks. The method directly accounts for the interactions between different microcracks and the effect of outer boundary of a finite plate. Analysis is based on a superposition scheme and series expansions of the complex potentials. By using the traction-free conditions on each crack surface and resultant forces relations along outer boundary, a set of governing equations is formulated. The governing equations are solved numerically on the basis of a boundary collocation procedure. The effective Young's moduli for randomly oriented cracks and parallel cracks are evaluated for rectangular plates with microcracks. The numerical results are compared with those from various micromechanics models and experimental data. These results show that the present method provides a direct and efficient approach to deal with finite solids containing multiple microcracks.

Experimental Study of Surface Deformation and Flow Pattern on Buoyant-Thermocapillary Convection

Free surface deformation is one of the most important physical phenomena in fluids with free surface. In the present paper, convection and surface deformation caused by thermocapillary effect in a rectangular cavity were investigated. In ground experiments, the convection was also affected by gravity. The cavity has a horizontal cross section of 52mm×42mm and the thikkness of the liquid layer is 4mm. Temperature difference between two sides of the liquid layer was increased gradually, and the flow in liquid layer will develop from steady to unstable convection. An optical diagnostic system consisting of a revised Michelson interferometer with image processor was developed to study fluid surface deformation in convection, and the displacements of free surface oscillation were determined. PIV technique was adopted to observe the evolution of flow pattern, and the velocity fields were obtained quantitatively. The present experiments demonstrate that surface deformation is quite distinct in buoyant-thermocapillary convection. in order to understand the mechanism of buoyant-thermocapillary convection, not only the hydrothermal wave instability but also the surface wave instability should be discussed.

Prediction of structural dynamic plastic shear failure by Johnson's damage number

It is proved that Johnson's damage number is the sole similarity parameter for dynamic plastic shear failure of structures loaded impulsively, therefore, dynamic plastic shear failure can be understood when damage number reaches a critical value. It is suggested that the damage number be generally used to predict the dynamic plastic shear failure of structures under various kinds of dynamic loads (impulsive loading, rectangular pressure pulse, exponential pressure pulse, etc.,). One of the advantages for using the damage number to predict such kind of failure is that it is conveniently used for dissimilar material modeling.

Pressure and thermal effects on elastic properties of single crystal alpha-Al2O3 from Monte-Carlo simulation

A rectangular structural unit cell of a-Al2O3 is generated from its hexagonal one. For the rectangular structural crystal with a simple interatomic potential [Matsui, Mineral Mag. 58A, 571 (1994)], the relations of lattice constants to homogeneous pressure and temperature are calculated by using Monte-Carlo method at temperature 298K and 0 GPa, respectively. Both numerical results agree with experimental ones fairly well. By comparing pair distribution function, the crystal structure of a-Al2O3 has no phase transition in the range of systematic parameters. Based on the potential model, pressure dependence of isothermal bulk moduli is predicted. Under variation of general strains, which include of external and internal strains, elastic constants of a-Al2O3 in the different homogeneous load are determined. Along with increase of pressure, axial elastic constants increase appreciably, but nonaxial elastic constants are slowly changed.

The Interaction Between Shock Waves and Solid Spheres Arrays in a Shock Tube

When a shock wave interacts with a group of solid spheres, non-linear aerodynamic behaviors come into effect. The complicated wave reflections such as the Mach reflection occur in. the wave propagation process. The wave interactions with vortices behind each sphere's wake cause fluctuation in the pressure profiles of shock waves. This paper reports an experimental study for the aerodynamic processes involved in the interaction between shock waves and solid spheres. A schlieren photography was applied to visualize the various shock waves passing through solid spheres. Pressure measurements were performed along different downstream positions. The experiments were conducted in both rectangular and circular shock tubes. The data with respect to the effect of the sphere array, size, interval distance, incident Mach number, etc., on the shock wave attenuation were obtained.

Two-Phase Flow In Fuel Cells In Short-Term Microgravity Condition

A visual observation of liquid-gas two-phase flow in anode channels of a direct methanol proton exchange membrane fuel cells in microgravity has been carried out in a drop tower. The anode flow bed consisted of 2 manifolds and 11 parallel straight channels. The length, width and depth of single channel with rectangular cross section was 48.0 mm, 2.5 mm and 2.0 mm, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the size of bubbles in microgravity condition is bigger than that in normal gravity. The longer the time, the bigger the bubbles. The velocity of bubbles rising is slower than that in normal gravity because buoyancy lift is very weak in microgravity. The flow pattern in anode channels could change from bubbly flow in normal gravity to slug flow in microgravity. The gas slugs blocked supply of reactants from channels to anode catalyst layer through gas diffusion layer. When the weakened mass transfer causes concentration polarization, the output performance of fuel cells declines.

Experimental Investigation Of Thermocapillary Convection In A Liquid Layer With Evaporating Interface

Thermocapillary convection coupling with the evaporation effect of evaporating liquids is studied experimentally. This study focused on an evaporation liquid layer in a rectangular cavity subjected to a horizontal temperature gradient when the top evaporating surface is open to air, while most previous works only studied pure thermocapillary convection without evaporation. Two liquids with different evaporating rates are used to study the coupling of evaporation and thermocapillary convection, and the interfacial temperature profiles for different temperature gradients are measured. The experimental results indicate evidently the influence of evaporation effect on the thermocapillary convection and interfacial temperature profiles. The steady multicellular flow and the oscillatory multicellular flow in the evaporation liquid layer are observed by using the particle-image-velocimetry method.

Tensionless Contact Of A Finite Beam Resting On Reissner Foundation

A more generalized model of a beam resting on a tensionless Reissner foundation is presented. Compared with the Winkler foundation model, the Reissner foundation model is a much improved one. In the Winkler foundation model, there is no shear stress inside the foundation layer and the foundation is assumed to consist of closely spaced, independent springs. The presence of shear stress inside Reissner foundation makes the springs no longer independent and the foundation to deform as a whole. Mathematically, the governing equation of a beam on Reissner foundation is sixth order differential equation compared with fourth order of Winkler one. Because of this order change of the governing equation, new boundary conditions are needed and related discussion is presented. The presence of the shear stress inside the tensionless Reissner foundation together with the unknown feature of contact area/length makes the problem much more difficult than that of Winkler foundation. In the model presented here, the effects of beam dimension, gap distance, loading asymmetry and foundation shear stress on the contact length are all incorporated and studied. As the beam length increases, the results of a finite beam with zero gap distance converge asymptotically to those obtained by the previous model for an infinitely long beam. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental Study On Liquid Free Surface In Buoyant-Thermocapillary Convection

We investigate the surface deformations of buoyant-thermocapillary convection in a rectangular cavity clue to gravity and temperature gradient between the two sidewalls. The cavity is 52mm x 42mm in horizontal cross section, the thickness of liquid layer h is changed from 2.5mm to 6.5mm. Surface deformations of h = 3.5mm and 6.0mm are discussed and compared. Temperature difference is increased gradually, and the flow in the liquid layer will change from stable convection to unstable convection. Two kinds of optical diagnostic system with image processor are developed for study of the kinetics of buoyant-thermocapillary convection, they give out the information of liquid free surface. The quantitative results are calculated by Fourier transform and correlation analysis, respectively. With the increasing temperature gradient, surface deformations calculated are more declining. It is interesting phenomenon that the inclining directions of the convections in thin and thick liquid layers are different. For a thin layer, the convection is mainly controlled by thermocapillary effect. However, for a thick layer, the convection is mainly controlled by buoyancy effect. The surface deformation theoretically analysed is consistent with our experimental results. The present experiment proves that surface deformation is related to temperature gradient and thickness of the liquid layer. In other words, surface deformation lies on capillary convection and buoyancy convection.

Vortex dynamics in the studies of looping in tropical cyclone tracks

This paper proposes criteria for predicting the tendency of looping in tropical cyclone tracks using the approach of vortex dynamics. We model the asymmetric structure of a cyclone by a system of vortex patches. The evolution of such system of vortices is simulated by the method of contour dynamics. A new set of exact analytic formulas for contour dynamics calculations is derived, which is shown to be more computationally effective. Based on point-vortex models, we derive analytic formulas for the criteria of looping in a cyclone track. From numerical experiments, the simulated trajectories obtained from the point-vortex system and vortex patch system agree quite well. Hence, the looping criteria obtained from the point-vortex system can be applied by forecasters to stay alert for tendency of looping in a cyclone track. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed criteria, the trajectory of Typhoon Yancy (9012), whose field data are available from ''TCM-90'', is simulated. The case study shows that the asymmetric structure similar to the pattern of a beta gyre is responsible for its recurvature when Yancy landed Fujian Province, China on 20 August 1990.