Numerical investigation on a simulation model of floating zone convection

A simulation model with adiabatic condition at the upper rod and constant temperature at the lower rod is studied numerically in this paper. The temperature distribution in a simulation model is closer to the one in the half part of a floating full zone in comparison with the one in a usual floating half zone model with constant temperature at both rods, because the temperature distribution of a floating full zone is symmetric for the middle plane in a microgravity environment. The results of the simulation model show that the temperature profiles and the how patterns are different from those of the usual floating half zone model. Another type of half zone model, with a special non-uniform temperature distribution at the upper rod and constant temperature at the lower rod, has been suggested by recent experiments. The temperature boundary condition of the upper rod has a maximum value in the center and a lower value near the free surface. This modified simulation model is also simulated numerically in the present paper. Copyright (C)1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Effects of Thermocapillary Convection on the Growth Process in Industrial 8-inch Silicon Czochralski Growth

Czochralski (CZ) crystal growth process is a widely used technique in manufacturing of silicon crystals and other semiconductor materials. The ultimate goal of the IC industry is to have the highest quality substrates, which are free of point defect, impurities and micro defect clusters. The scale up of silicon wafer size from 200 mm to 300 mm requires large crucible size and more heat power. Transport phenomena in crystal growth processes are quite complex due to melt and gas flows that may be oscillatory and/or turbulent, coupled convection and radiation, impurities and dopant distributions, unsteady kinetics of the growth process, melt crystal interface dynamics, free surface and meniscus, stoichiometry in the case of compound materials. A global model has been developed to simulate the temperature distribution and melt flow in an 8-inch system. The present program features the fluid convection, magnetohydrodynamics, and radiation models. A multi-zone method is used to divide the Cz system into different zones, e.g., the melt, the crystal and the hot zone. For calculation of temperature distribution, the whole system inside the stainless chamber is considered. For the convective flow, only the melt is considered. The widely used zonal method divides the surface of the radiation enclosure into a number of zones, which has a uniform distribution of temperature, radiative properties and composition. The integro-differential equations for the radiative heat transfer are solved using the matrix inversion technique. The zonal method for radiative heat transfer is used in the growth chamber, which is confined by crystal surface, melt surface, heat shield, and pull chamber. Free surface and crystal/melt interface are tracked using adaptive grid generation. The competition between the thermocapillary convection induced by non-uniform temperature distributions on the free surface and the forced convection by the rotation of the crystal determines the interface shape, dopant distribution, and striation pattern. The temperature gradients on the free surface are influenced by the effects of the thermocapillary force on the free surface and the rotation of the crystal and the crucible.

Effect of coal-over-coal reburn on furnace temperature and heat flux distributions in 1 MW tangentially fired furnace

The furnace temperature and heat flux distributions of 1 MW tangentially fired furnace were studied during coal-over-coal reburn, and the influences of the position of reburn nozzle and reburn fuel fraction on furnace temperature and heat flux distributions were investigated. Compared with the baseline, the flue gas temperature is 70–90 C lower in primary combustion and 130–150 C higher at furnace exit, and the variations of the flue gas temperature distributions along furnace height are slower. The temperature distribution along the width of furnace wall decreases with the increase of the relative furnace height. In the primary combustion zone and the reburn zone, the temperature and heat flux distributions of furnace wall are much non-uniform and asymmetric along the width of furnace wall, those of furnace wall in the burnout zone are relatively uniform, and the temperature non-uniformity coefficients of the primary combustion zone, the reburn zone and the burnout zone are 0.290, 0.100 and 0.031, respectively.

Microscopic Origin of Macroscopic Strength in Granular Media: A Numerical and Analytical Approach

Constitutive modeling in granular materials has historically been based on macroscopic experimental observations that, while being usually effective at predicting the bulk behavior of these type of materials, suffer important limitations when it comes to understanding the physics behind grain-to-grain interactions that induce the material to macroscopically behave in a given way when subjected to certain boundary conditions.

The advent of the discrete element method (DEM) in the late 1970s helped scientists and engineers to gain a deeper insight into some of the most fundamental mechanisms furnishing the grain scale. However, one of the most critical limitations of classical DEM schemes has been their inability to account for complex grain morphologies. Instead, simplified geometries such as discs, spheres, and polyhedra have typically been used. Fortunately, in the last fifteen years, there has been an increasing development of new computational as well as experimental techniques, such as non-uniform rational basis splines (NURBS) and 3D X-ray Computed Tomography (3DXRCT), which are contributing to create new tools that enable the inclusion of complex grain morphologies into DEM schemes.

Yet, as the scientific community is still developing these new tools, there is still a gap in thoroughly understanding the physical relations connecting grain and continuum scales as well as in the development of discrete techniques that can predict the emergent behavior of granular materials without resorting to phenomenology, but rather can directly unravel the micro-mechanical origin of macroscopic behavior.

In order to contribute towards closing the aforementioned gap, we have developed a micro-mechanical analysis of macroscopic peak strength, critical state, and residual strength in two-dimensional non-cohesive granular media, where typical continuum constitutive quantities such as frictional strength and dilation angle are explicitly related to their corresponding grain-scale counterparts (e.g., inter-particle contact forces, fabric, particle displacements, and velocities), providing an across-the-scale basis for better understanding and modeling granular media.

In the same way, we utilize a new DEM scheme (LS-DEM) that takes advantage of a mathematical technique called level set (LS) to enable the inclusion of real grain shapes into a classical discrete element method. After calibrating LS-DEM with respect to real experimental results, we exploit part of its potential to study the dependency of critical state (CS) parameters such as the critical state line (CSL) slope, CSL intercept, and CS friction angle on the grain's morphology, i.e., sphericity, roundness, and regularity.

Finally, we introduce a first computational algorithm to ``clone'' the grain morphologies of a sample of real digital grains. This cloning algorithm allows us to generate an arbitrary number of cloned grains that satisfy the same morphological features (e.g., roundness and aspect ratio) displayed by their real parents and can be included into a DEM simulation of a given mechanical phenomenon. In turn, this will help with the development of discrete techniques that can directly predict the engineering scale behavior of granular media without resorting to phenomenology.

Effects of soil fabric on behaviors of granular soils: Microscopic modeling

The effects of initial soil fabric on behaviors of granular soils are investigated by using Distinct Element Method (DEM) numerical simulation. Soil specimens are represented by an assembly of non-uniform sized spheres with different initial contact normal distributions. Isotropically consolidated triaxial compression loading and extension unloading in both undrained and drained conditions are simulated for vertically- and horizontally-sheared specimens. The numerical simulation results are compared qualitatively with the published experimental data and the effects of initial soil fabric on resulting soil behaviors are discussed, including the effects of specimen reconstitution methods, effects of large preshearing, and anisotropic characteristics in undrained and drained conditions. The effects of initial soil fabric and mode of shearing on the quasi-steady state line are also investigated. The numerical simulation results can systematically explain that the observed experimental behaviors of granular soils are due principally to their conditions of the initial soil fabric. This outcome provides insights into the observed phenomena in microscopic view. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Effect of diets containing various protein and energy levels on some growth parameters, survival and the production of Astacus leptodactylus in different salinities

A factorial experiment was conducted for 60 days to determine of the response of Narrow clawed crayfish Astacus leptodactylus (average weight of 17±2.3 g) to diets containing various protein and energy levels. Nine diets containing three levels of protein (30, 35 and 40 %) and three levels of energy (300,370 and 450 kcal/100g) were formulated and prepared in this trial. Each diet also was used in two levels of salinity include 0 (fresh water) and 12 ppt(Caspian sea water). So this study was conducted with 18 treatments and triplicates random group of 5 crayfish per each 110-litre tank. Weight Gain, Feed conversion ratio (FCR), Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER), Net Protein Utilization (NPU), Daily Food Consumption (DFC), Survival (SVR) and body composition of tail-muscle meat of animal were determined. Comparing the growth parameters in response to interaction between protein, energy and salinity levels demonstrated that all growth parameters have difference between them significantly (p<0.05). Comparing between survival in fresh and Caspian Sea water showed difference significantly. Compare the body composition results indicate the greatest amount of protein absorption in diet number 2(30/370) on fresh water condition. Results from this study indicate that narrow clawed crayfish can be fed a practical diet containing 30% protein and 370 Kcal/100g on non-salinity water which is the optimize CP percentage for their producer’s profits.

Magnetically-actuated artificial cilia for microfluidic propulsion.

In this paper we quantitatively analyse the performance of magnetically-driven artificial cilia for lab-on-a-chip applications. The artificial cilia are fabricated using thin polymer films with embedded magnetic nano-particles and their deformation is studied under different external magnetic fields and flows. A coupled magneto-mechanical solid-fluid model that accurately captures the interaction between the magnetic field, cilia and fluid is used to simulate the cilia motion. The elastic and magnetic properties of the cilia are obtained by fitting the results of the computational model to the experimental data. The performance of the artificial cilia with a non-uniform cross-section is characterised using the numerical model for two channel configurations that are of practical importance: an open-loop and a closed-loop channel. We predict that the flow and pressure head generated by the artificial cilia can be as high as 18 microlitres per minute and 3 mm of water, respectively. We also study the effect of metachronal waves on the flow generated and show that the fluid propelled increases drastically compared to synchronously beating cilia, and is unidirectional. This increase is significant even when the phase difference between adjacent cilia is small. The obtained results provide guidelines for the optimal design of magnetically-driven artificial cilia for microfluidic propulsion.

CdS/CdSe lateral heterostructure nanobelts by a two-step physical vapor transport method.

The two-dimensional heterostructure nanobelts with a central CdSe region and lateral CdS structures are synthesized by a two-step physical vapor transport method. The large growth rate difference between lateral CdS structures on both +/- (0001) sides of the CdSe region is found. The growth anisotropy is discussed in terms of the polar nature of the side +/- (0001) surfaces of CdSe. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals the CdSe central region covered with non-uniform CdS layer/islands. From micro-photoluminescence measurements, a systematic blueshift of emission energy from the central CdSe region in accordance with the increase of lateral CdS growth temperature is observed. This result indicates that the intermixing rate in the CdSe region with CdS increases with the increase of lateral CdS growth temperature. In conventional CdSSe ternary nanostructures, morphology and emission wavelength were correlated parameters. However, the morphology and emission wavelength are independently controllable in the CdS/CdSe lateral heterostructure nanobelts. This structure is attractive for applications in visible optoelectronic devices.

Grazing on toxic and non-toxic Microcystis aeruginosa PCC7820 by Unio douglasiae and Corbicula fluminea

To explore the potential grazing effects of mussels on Microcystis aeruginosa, a common bloom-forming phytoplankton, Unio douglasiae and Corbicula fluminea were fed with Scenedesmus obliquus, toxic and non-toxic strains of Microcystis aeruginosa as single food and as mixtures in the laboratory. When fed with single foods, U. douglasiae has similar clearance rates on the three algae populations, while C. fluminea has significantly lower clearance rate on toxic M. aeruginosa than those on the other two algae populations. When fed with mixture foods, both the mussels show significantly higher clearance rates than on single foods. The clearance rates of U. douglasiae on the different food mixtures are not significantly different, and C. fluminea has a significantly lower clearance rate on the toxic food mixtures than that on non-toxic food mixtures. Although the relative lower clearance rates of C. fluminea on toxic food, we may still deduce that both the mussels can exert grazing pressure on phytoplankton. The deduction is supported by the composition of the excretion products. The excretion products (faeces and pseudofaeces) of both mussels contained mainly S. obliquus. In both mixed-food treatments, the ratios of S. obliquus to M. aeruginosa in the excrete products are significantly higher than those in the foods. Therefore, it can be concluded that both mussels prefer M. aeruginosa to S. obliquus, and can cause grazing pressure on M. aeruginosa.

Spatial resolved temperature measurement based on absorption spectroscopy using a single tunable diode laser

A novel method based on wavelength-multiplexed line-of-sight absorption and profile fitting for non-uniform flow field measurement is reported. A wavelength scanning combing laser temperature and current modulation WMS scheme is used to implement the wavelength-multiplexed-profile fitting method. Second harmonic (2f) signal of eight H2O transitions features near 7,170 cm(-1) are measured in one period using a single tunable diode laser. Spatial resolved temperature distribution upon a CH4/air premixed flat flame burner is obtained. The result validates the feasibility of strategy for non-uniform flow field diagnostics by means of WMS-2f TDLAS.

Mesoscopic simulation of the impregnating process of unidirectional fibrous preform in resin transfer molding

The resin transfer molding has gained popularity in the preparation of fiber-reinforced polymer-matrix composites because of its high efficiency and low pollution. The non-uniform inter-tow and intra-tow flows are regarded as the reason of void formation in RTM. According to the process characteristics, the axisymmetric model was developed to study the interaction between the flow in the inter-tow space and that in the intra-tow space. The flow behavior inside the fiber tows was formulated using Brinkman's equation, while that in the open space around the fiber tows was formulated by Stokes' equation. The volume of fluid (VOF) method was applied to track the flow front, and the effects of filling velocity, resin viscosity, inter-tow dimension and intra-tow permeability on fluid pressure and flow front were analyzed. The results show that the flow front difference between the inter-tow and intra-tow becomes larger with the decrease of intra-tow permeability, as well as the increase of filling velocity and inter-tow dimension.

南海张裂大陆边缘数值模拟研究

The South China Sea (SCS) is one of the largest marginal seas in the western Pacific, which is located at the junction of Eurasian plate, Pacific plate and Indian-Australian plate. It was formed by continent breakup and sea-floor spreading in Cenozoic. The complicated interaction among the three major plates made tectonic movement complex and geological phenomena very rich in this area. The SCS is an ideal place to study the formation and evolution of rifted continental margin and sea-floor spreading since it is old enough to have experienced the major stages of the basin evolution but still young enough to have preserved its original nature. As the demand for energy grows day by day in our country, the deep water region of the northern continental margin in the SCS has become a focus of oil and gas exploration because of its huge hydrocarbon potential. Therefore, to study the rifted continental margin of the SCS not only can improve our understanding of the formation and evolution processes of rifted continental margin, but also can provide theoretical support for hydrocarbon exploration in rifted continental margin. This dissertation mainly includes five topics as follows: (1) Various classic lithosphere stretching models are reviewed, and the continuous non-uniform stretching model is modified to make it suitable for the case where the extension of lithopheric mantle exceeds that of the crust. Then simple/pure shear flexural cantilever model is applied to model the basement geometries of SO49-18 profile in the northern continental margin of the SCS. By fitting the basements obtained by using 2DMove software with modeling results, it is found that the reasonable effective elastic thickness is less than 5km in this region. According to this result, it is assumed that there is weak lower crust in the northern continental margin in the SCS. (2) We research on the methods for stretching factor estimation based on various lithosphere stretching models, and apply the method based on multiple finite rifting model to estimate the stretching factors of several wells and profiles in the northern continental margin of the SCS. (3) We improve one-dimension strain rate inversion method with conjugate gradient method, and apply it to invert the strain rate of several wells in the northern continental margin of the SCS. Two-dimension strain rate forward modeling is carried out, and the modeling results show that effective elastic thickness is a key parameter to control basin’s geometry. (4) We simulate divergent upwelling mantle flow model using finite difference method, and apply this newly developed model to examine the formation mechanism of the northwest and central sub-basin in the SCS. (5) We inverse plate thickness and basal temperature of oceanic lithosphere using sea-floor ages and bathymetries of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic based on varied-parameters plate model, in which the heat conductivity, heat capacity and coefficient of thermal expansion depend on temperature or depth. A new empirical formula is put forward based the inversed parameters, which depicts the relation among sea-floor age, bathymetry and heat flow. Then various similar empirical formulae, including the newly developed one, are applied to examine the sea-floor spread issue in the SCS based on the heat flow and bathymetry data of the abyssal sub-basin.

复杂裂隙岩体统计断裂本构关系与变形参数研究

Rock mass is widely recognized as a kind of geologic body which consists of rock blocks and discontinuities. The deformation and failure of rock mass is not only determined by rock block，but also by discontinuity which is virtually more important. Mutual cutting and combination of discontinuities controlled mechanical property of rock mass. The complex cutting of discontinuities determine the intense anisotropy on mechanical property of rock mass，especially under the effect of ground stress. Engineering practice has show that the brittle failure of hard rock always occurs when its working stress is far lower than the yield strength and compressive strength，the failure always directly related to the fracture propagation of discontinuities. Fracture propagation of discontinuities is the virtue of hard rock’s failure. We can research the rock mass discontinuous mechanical properties precisely by the methods of statistical analysis of discontinuities and Fracture Mechanics. According to Superposition Principle in Fracture Mechanics，A Problem or C Problem could be chosen to research. Problem A mainly calculates the crack-tip stress field and displacement field on internal discontinuities by numerical method. Problem C calculate the crack-tip stress field and displacement field under the assumption of that the mainly rock mass stress field has been known. So the Problem C avoid the complex mutual interference of stress fields of discontinuities，which is called crack system problem in Fracture Mechanics. To solve Problem C, field test on stress field in the rock mass is needed. The linear Superposition of discontinuities strain energies are Scientific and Rational. The difference of Fracture Mechanics between rock mass and other materials can mostly expression as：other materials Fracture Mechanics mostly face the problem A，and can’t avoid multi-crack puzzle, while the Rock mass Fracture Mechanics answer to the Problem C. Problem C can avoid multi-discontinuities mutual interference puzzle via the ground stress test. On the basis of Problem C, Fracture Mechanics could be used conveniently in rock mass. The rock mass statistics fracture constitutive relations, which introduced in this article, are based on the Problem C and the Discontinuity Strain Energy linear superposition. This constitutive relation has several merits: first, it is physical constitutive relation rather than empirical; second, it is very fit to describe the rock mass anisotropy properties; third, it elaborates the exogenous factors such as ground stress. The rock mass statistics fracture constitutive relation is the available approach to answer to the physical, anisotropic and ground stress impacted rock mass problems. This article stand on the foundation of predecessor’s statistics fractures constitutive relation, and improved the discontinuity distributive function. This article had derived the limitation of negative exponential distribution in the course of regression analysis, and advocated to using the two parameter negative exponential distribution for instead. In order to solve the problems of two-dimension stability on engineering key cross-sectional view in rock mass, this article derived the rock mass planar flexibility tensor, and established rock mass two-dimension penetrate statistics fracture constitutive relation on the basis of penetrate fracture mechanics. Based on the crack tip plasticity research production of penetrate fracture, for example the Irwin plasticity equifinality crack, this article established the way to deal with the discontinuity stress singularity and plastic yielding problem at discontinuity tip. The research on deformation parameters is always the high light region of rock mass mechanics field. After the dam foundation excavation of XiaoWan hydroelectric power station, dam foundation rock mass upgrowthed a great deal of unload cracks, rock mass mechanical property gotten intricacy and strong anisotropy. The dam foundation rock mass mostly upgrowthed three group discontinuities： the decantation discontinuity, the steep pitch discontinuity, and the schistosity plane. Most of the discontinuities have got partial unload looseness. In accordance with ground stress field data, the dam foundation stress field greatly non-uniform, which felled under the great impaction of tectonic stress field, self-weight stress field, excavation geometric boundary condition, and excavation, unload. The discontinuity complexity and stress field heterogeneity, created the rock mass mechanical property of dam foundation intricacy and levity. The research on the rock mass mechanics, if not take every respected influencing factor into consideration as best as we can, major errors likely to be created. This article calculated the rock mass elastic modulus that after Xiao Wan hydroelectric power station dam foundation gutter excavation finished. The calculation region covered possession monolith of Xiao Wan concrete double-curvature arch dam. Different monolith were adopted the penetrate fracture statistics constitutive relation or bury fracture statistics constitutive relation selectively. Statistics fracture constitutive relation is fit for the intensity anisotropy and heterogeneity rock mass of Xiao Wan hydroelectric power station dam foundation. This article had contrastive analysis the statistics fracture constitutive relation result with the inclined plane load test actual measurement elastic modulus and RMR method estimated elastic modulus, and find that the three methods elastic modulus have got greatly comparability. So, the statistics fracture constitutive relations are qualified for trust. Generally speaking，this article had finished following works based on predecessors job: “Argumentation the C Problems of superposition principle in Fracture Mechanics, establish two-dimension penetrate statistics fracture constitutive relation of rock mass, argue the negative exponential distribution limitation and improve it, improve of the three-dimension berry statistics fracture constitutive relation of rock mass, discontinuity-tip plastic zone isoeffect calculation, calculate the rock mass elastic modulus on two-dimension cross-sectional view”. The whole research clue of this article inherited from the “statistics rock mass mechanics” of Wu Faquan（1992）.

The effects of short-term acidification on the intertidal macroalgae Palmaria palmate and Saccharina latissima

Ocean acidification, the result of increased dissolution of carbon dioxide (CO2) in seawater, is a leading subject of current research. The effects of acidification on non-calcifying macroalgae are, however, still unclear. The current study reports two 1-month studies using two different macroalgae, the red alga Palmaria palmata (Rhodophyta) and the kelp Saccharina latissima (Phaeophyta), exposed to control (pHNBS = ∼8.04) and increased (pHNBS = ∼7.82) levels of CO2-induced seawater acidification. The impacts of both increased acidification and time of exposure on net primary production (NPP), respiration (R), dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) concentrations, and algal growth have been assessed. In P. palmata, although NPP significantly increased during the testing period, it significantly decreased with acidification, whereas R showed a significant decrease with acidification only. S. latissima significantly increased NPP with acidification but not with time, and significantly increased R with both acidification and time, suggesting a concomitant increase in gross primary production. The DMSP concentrations of both species remained unchanged by either acidification or through time during the experimental period. In contrast, algal growth differed markedly between the two experiments, in that P. palmata showed very little growth throughout the experiment, while S. latissima showed substantial growth during the course of the study, with the latter showing a significant difference between the acidified and control treatments. These two experiments suggest that the study species used here were resistant to a short-term exposure to ocean acidification, with some of the differences seen between species possibly linked to different nutrient concentrations between the experiments.