Exact solution for the unsteady flow and heat transfer between eccentrically rotating disks

The unsteady heat transfer associated with flow due to eccentrically rotating disks considered by Ramachandra Rao and Kasiviswanathan (1987) is studied via reformulation in terms of cylindrical polar coordinates. The corresponding exact solution of the energy equation is presented when the upper and lower disks are subjected to steady and unsteady temperatures. For an unsteady flow with nonzero mean, the energy equation can be solved by prescribing the temperature on the disk as a sum of steady and oscillatory parts

High Rate Capability of a Dual-Porosity LiFePO4/C Composite

Mesoporous intercalation compounds consisting of two differentdistributions of pores represent a potentially attractive material for high-rate cathodes. A mesoporous LiFePO4/C composite with two sizes of pores is prepared for the first time via a solution-based polymer templating technique. The precursor of the LiFePO4/C composite is heated at different temperatures in the range from 600 to 800 degrees C to study the effect of crystallinity, porosity, and morphology on the electrochemical performance. The composite is found to attain reduction in the surface area, carbon content, and porosity upon increasing temperature. Nonetheless, the composite prepared at 700 degrees C with pore-size distributions of around 4 and 50 nm exhibits a high rate capability and stable capacity retention upon cycling.

Hydration of ions under confinement

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to examine the changes in water density and hydration characteristics of NaCl solutions confined in slit-shaped graphitic pores. Using a structural signature, we define the hydration limit as the salt concentration at which a sharp drop in the hydration number is observed. At small pores (H = 8.0-10 angstrom), confined water does not possess bulk-like features and remains in a layered arrangement between two surfaces. Despite this high degree of confinement, ions are able to form a quasi-2D hydration shell between two surfaces. Our results indicate the strong propensity of ions to form the first hydration shell, even under extremely confined aqueous environments. The hydration of ions is seen to weakly perturb the oxygen density distributions between two surfaces. The hydration number of Na+ reduces to about 4.15 at a pore width of H = 0.8 nm, when compared with the bulk hydration number of 6.25. At larger pore widths, above H = 16 angstrom, where bulk-like water densities are observed in the central regions of the pore, the hydration number is above 6.

The stress in a slowly sheared granular column

We report measurements of the wall stress in a granular material sheared in a cylindrical Couette cell, as a function of the distance from the free surface. Our results shows that when the material is static, all components of the stress saturate to constant values within a short distance from the free surface, in conformity with earlier experiments and theoretical predictions. When the material is sheared by rotating the inner cylinder at a constant rate, the stresses are remarkably altered. The radial normal stress does not saturate, and increases even more rapidly with depth than the linear hydrostatic pressure profile. The axial shear stress changes sign on shearing, and its magnitude increases with depth. These results are discussed in the context of the predictions of the classical and Cosserat plasticity theories.

The high speed water tunnel facility at the Indian Institute of Science

The present article about the high speed water tunnel facility at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, provides a general description of the tunnel circuit, and brief reports on the performance of the facility and some typical results from investigations carried out in it. A unique aspect of the facility is that it has a horizontal resorber in the form of a large cylindrical tank located in the lower leg of the circuit. The facility has been used, among other things, for flow visualization studies, and investigations on marine propeller hydrodynamics and “synthetic cavitation”. The last topic has been primarily developed at the Indian Institute of Science and shows considerable promise for basic work in cavitation inception and noise.

A novel fiber-coated strong base-type anion exchanger with superfast kinetics. Removal and recovery of silver thiosulfate from aqueous solutions

A commercial acrylic fiber with 92% (w/w) acrylonitrile content was partially hydrolyzed converting a fraction of the nitrile (-CN) groups to carboxylic acid (-COOH) groups, to coat the fiber with polyethylenimine (PEI) resin, which was then crosslinked with glutaraldehyde and further quaternized with ethyl chloroacetate to produce a novel strong-base anionic exchanger in the form of fiber. Designated as PAN(QPEI.XG)(Cl-), the fibrous sorbent was compared with a commercial bead-form resin Amberlite IRA-458(Cl-) in respect of sorption capacity, selectivity, and kinetics for removal of silver thiosulfate complexes from aqueous solutions. Though the saturation level of [Ag(S2O3)(2)](3-) on PAN(QPEI.XG)(Cl-) is considerably less than that on IRA-458(Cl-), the gel-coated fibrous sorbent exhibits, as compared to the bead-form sorbent, a significantly higher sorption selectivity for the silver thiosulfate complex in the presence of excess of other anions Such as S2O32-, SO42-, and Cl-, and a remarkably faster rate of both sorption and stripping. The initial uptake of the sorbate by the fibrous sorbent is nearly instantaneous, reaching up to similar to 80% of the saturation capacity within 10 s, as compared to only similar to 12% on the bead-form sorbent. The high initial rate of uptake fits a shell-core kinetic model for sorption on fiber of cylindrical geometry. With 4M HCl, the stripping of the sorbed silver complex from the fibrous sorbent is clean and nearly instantaneous, while, in contrast, a much slower rate of stripping on the bead-form sorbent leads to its fouling due to a slow decomposition of the silver thiosulfate complex in the acidic medium.

Non-carboxylate based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and related aspects

The metal-organic frameworks, in recent years, show a variety of new developments that includes new methods of preparation, post synthesis modifications and novel class of compounds. Though most of the developments happened in the carboxylate based family of compounds, the other related systems are also equally interesting. In this article,we have highlighted some of the developments that have taken place in the family of non-carboxylate metal-organic frameworks. We have also highlighted some of the recent attempts at modifying the surfaces and pores of the MOFs by careful chemical manipulations. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on the Growth of Nb3Sn Superconductor in Cu(Sn)/Nb Diffusion Couple

Nb3Sn growth following the bronze technique, (i.e. by interdiffusion between Cu(Sn) alloy (bronze) and Nb) is one of the important methodologies to produce this superconductor. In this study, we have addressed the confusion over the growth rate of the Nb3Sn phase. Furthermore, a possible explanation for the corrugated layer in the multifilamentary structure is discussed. Kirkendall marker experiments were conducted to study the relative mobilities of the species, which also explained the reason for finding pores in the product phase layer. Based on the parabolic growth constant at different temperatures, the activation energy for the growth is determined. We have further explained the dramatic increase in the growth rate of the prod

Development of twist in an emerging magnetic flux tube by poloidal field accretion

Aims. Following an earlier proposal for the origin of twist in the magnetic fields of solar active regions, we model the penetration of a wrapped up background poloidal field into a toroidal magnetic flux tube rising through the solar convective zone.Methods. The rise of the straight, cylindrical flux tube is followed by numerically solving the induction equation in a comoving Lagrangian frame, while an external poloidal magnetic field is assumed to be radially advected onto the tube with a speed corresponding to the rise velocity.Results. One prediction of our model is the existence of a ring of reverse current helicity on the periphery of active regions. On the other hand, the amplitude of the resulting twist depends sensitively on the assumed structure ( diffuse vs. concentrated/intermittent) of the active region magnetic field right before its emergence, and on the assumed vertical profile of the poloidal field. Nevertheless, in the model with the most plausible choice of assumptions a mean twist comparable to the observations results.Conclusions. Our results indicate that the contribution of this mechanism to the twist can be quite significant, and under favourable circumstances it can potentially account for most of the current helicity observed in active regions.

Generalized Burgers equations and Euler–Painlevé transcendents. III

It was proposed earlier [P. L. Sachdev, K. R. C. Nair, and V. G. Tikekar, J. Math. Phys. 27, 1506 (1986); P. L. Sachdev and K. R. C. Nair, ibid. 28, 977 (1987)] that the Euler–Painlevé equations  y(d2y/dη2)+a(dy/dη)2 +f(η)y(dy/dη)+g(η)y2+b(dy/dη) +c=0 represent generalized Burgers equations (GBE’s) in the same way as Painlevé equations represent the Korteweg–de Vries type of equations. The earlier studies were carried out in the context of GBE’s with damping and those with spherical and cylindrical symmetry. In the present paper, GBE’s with variable coefficients of viscosity and those with inhomogeneous terms are considered for their possible connection to Euler–Painlevé equations. It is found that the Euler–Painlevé equation, which represents the GBE ut+uβux=(δ/2)g(t)uxx, g(t)=(1+t)n, β>0, has solutions, which either decay or oscillate at η=±∞, only when −1

Approximate multipole coefficients of RF ion traps as functions of aperture size

In this study we present approximate analytical expressions for estimating the variation in multipole expansion coefficients as a function of the size of the apertures in the electrodes in axially symmetric (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) ion trap ion traps. Following the approach adopted in our earlier studies which focused on the role of apertures to fields within the traps, here too, the analytical expression we develop is a sum of two terms, A(n,noAperiure), the multipole expansion coefficient for a trap with no apertures and A(n,dueToAperture), the multipole expansion coefficient contributed by the aperture. A(n,noAperture) has been obtained numerically and A(n,dueToAperture) is obtained from the n th derivative of the potential within the trap. The expressions derived have been tested on two 3D geometries and two 2D geometries. These include the quadrupole ion trap (QIT) and the cylindrical ion trap (CIT) for 3D geometries and the linear ion trap (LIT) and the rectilinear ion trap (RIT) for the 2D geometries. Multipole expansion coefficients A(2) to A(12), estimated by our analytical expressions, were compared with the values obtained numerically (using the boundary element method) for aperture sizes varying up to 50% of the trap dimension. In all the plots presented, it is observed that our analytical expression for the variation of multipole expansion coefficients versus aperture size closely follows the trend of the numerical evaluations for the range of aperture sizes considered. The maximum relative percentage errors, which provide an estimate of the deviation of our values from those obtained numerically for each multipole expansion coefficient, are seen to be largely in the range of 10-15%. The leading multipole expansion coefficient, A(2), however, is seen to be estimated very well by our expressions, with most values being within 1% of the numerically determined values, with larger deviations seen for the QIT and the LIT for large aperture sizes. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and Studies of Pb0.76Ca0.24TiO3 Nanoparticles Derived by Sol-Gel

Pb0.76Ca0.24TiO3 (PCT24) nanoparticles were synthesized by modified sal gel method and characterized by a number of experimental techniques such as X-ray diffraction, TGA-DTA, FTIR and transmission electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) investigations demonstrated that the postannealed (650 degrees C for 1 h) PCT24 nanoparticles have tetragonal perovskite crystal structure. TEM have been employed to characterize the morphology, structure and composition of the as prepared nanoparticles. Dielectric results indicates the evidence for relaxor type behavior while observed leaky ferroelectric loops may be because of the defects such as grain boundaries and the pores in the sample as the sample was not heated at higher temperature, to retain the nanosize dimension of the particles.

Numerical estimation of hotspot temperatures in electrodes subjected to pulsed electron beam heating in vacuum

A numerical solution for the transient temperature distribution in a cylindrical disc heated on its top surface by a circular source is presented. A finite difference form of the governing equations is solved by the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) time marching scheme. This solution has direct applications in analyzing transient electron beam heating of target materials as encountered in the prebreakdown current enhancement and consequent breakdown in high voltage vacuum gaps stressed by alternating and pulsed voltages. The solution provides an estimate of the temperature for pulsed electron beam heating and the size of thermally activated microparticles originating from anode hot spots. The calculated results for a typical 45kV (a.c.) electron beam of radius 2.5 micron indicate that the temperature of such spots can reach melting point and could give rise to microparticles which could initiate breakdown.

The Single Langmuir Probe under Orbital-Limited Conditions in a Low-Density Collisional Plasma

The cylindrical Langmuir probe under orbital-limited conditions was used to determine the charge density in a low-density collisional plasma. The Langmuir's theory was applied to both electron and ion saturation currents in their respective accelerating regions. Present study indicates that the length of the probe significantly affects the probe characteristics. A probe of suitable length under orbital-limited conditions may be useful under the experimental conditions where the radius of the probe is much smaller than the Debye lengt.

Structure of a cyclic water tetramer in a nucleotide crystal host and a hypothetical model for water cluster growth

Structure of a cyclic water tetramer in channels (pores) formed by self-assembly of N6-methyl-5'-AMP center dot Na-2 molecules is described and a hypothetical model is proposed for growth of water clusters. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.