Mapping forces in 3D elastic assembly of grains

Our understanding of the elasticity and rheology of disordered materials, such as granular piles, foams, emulsions or dense suspensions relies on improving experimental tools to characterize their behaviour at the particle scale. While 2D observations are now routinely carried out in laboratories, 3D measurements remain a challenge. In this paper, we use a simple model system, a packing of soft elastic spheres, to illustrate the capability of X-ray microtomography to characterise the internal structure and local behaviour of granular systems. Image analysis techniques can resolve grain positions, shapes and contact areas; this is used to investigate the material's microstructure and its evolution upon strain. In addition to morphological measurements, we develop a technique to quantify contact forces and estimate the internal stress tensor. As will be illustrated in this paper, this opens the door to a broad array of static and dynamical measurements in 3D disordered systems

NUMERICAL STUDY OF THE 3D FLOWFIELD IN A TRANSONIC COMPRESSOR ROTOR WITH A MODELLING OF THE TIP CLEARANCE FLOW.

This paper describes a computer code aimed at solving the equations of three dimensional viscous compressible flow in turbomachine geometries. The code is applied to the study of the flowfield in a transonic axial compressor rotor at design speed at both maximum flow and towards stall. The predicted flowfield is compared with the laser measurements and the performance of the code discussed. In addition the discussion highlights the change in the predicted endwall and tip clearance flows as the rotor operating point is moved towards stall.

Analytical model for the 3D-RESURF effect

This paper presents an analytical model for the determination of the basic breakdown properties of three-dimensional (3D)-RESURF/CoolMOS/super junction type structures. To account for the two-dimensional (2D) effect of the 3D-RESURF action, 2D models of the electric field distribution are developed. Based on these, expressions are derived for the breakdown voltage as a function of doping concentration and physical dimensions. In addition to cases where the drift regions are fully depleted, the model developed is also applicable to situations involving drift regions which are almost depleted. Accuracy of the analytical approach is verified by comparison with numerical results obtained from the MEDICI device simulator.

Experimental investigation of 3D shock / boundary layer interaction control in transonic flows

A novel supersonic wind tunnel setup is proposed to enable the investigation of control on a normal shock wave. Previous experimental arrangements were found to suffer from shock instability. Wind tunnel tests with and without control have confirmed the capability of the new setup to stabilise a shock structure at a target position without changing the nature of the shock wave / boundary layer interaction flow at M∞ = 1.3 and M ∞ = 1.5. Flow visualisation and pressure measurements with the new setup have revealed detailed characteristics of shock wave / boundary layer interactions and a λ-shock structure as well as benefits of control in total drag reduction in the presence of 3D bump control.

An accelerated 3D Navier-Stokes solver for flows in turbomachines

A new three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver for flows in turbomachines has been developed. The new solver is based on the latest version of the Denton codes, but has been implemented to run on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) instead of the traditional Central Processing Unit (CPU). The change in processor enables an order-of-magnitude reduction in run-time due to the higher performance of the GPU. Scaling results for a 16 node GPU cluster are also presented, showing almost linear scaling for typical turbomachinery cases. For validation purposes, a test case consisting of a three-stage turbine with complete hub and casing leakage paths is described. Good agreement is obtained with previously published experimental results. The simulation runs in less than 10 minutes on a cluster with four GPUs. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.

3D multi-car tracking based on monocular video

We propose a system that can reliably track multiple cars in congested traffic environments. Our system's key basis is the implementation of a sequential Monte Carlo algorithm, which introduces robustness against problems arising due to the proximity between vehicles. By directly modelling occlusions and collisions between cars we obtain promising results on an urban traffic dataset. Extensions to this initial framework are also suggested. © 2010 IEEE.

3D FE Analyses of Buried Pipeline with Elbows Subjected to Lateral Loading

This study investigates the interaction between soil and pipeline in sand subjected to lateral ground displacements with emphasis on the peak force exerted to a bended elbow-pipe. A series of three-dimensional (3D) finite-element (FE) analyses were performed in both opening and closing modes of the elbow section for different initial pipe bending angles. To model the mechanical behavior of sands, two soil models were adopted: Mohr-Coulomb and Nor-Sand soil model. Investigations also included the effects of pipe embedment depth and soil density. Results show that the opening mode exhibits higher ultimate forces and greater localized deformations than the closing mode. Nondimensional charts that account for pipeline location, bending angle, and soil density are developed. Soil-spring pipeline analyses of an elbow-pipe were performed using modified F-δ soil-spring models based on the 3D FE results and were compared to the findings of conventional spring model analyses using the standard two-dimensional soil-spring model. Results show that the pipe strain does not change in the closing mode case. However, in the opening mode case, the pipe strain computed by the modified analysis is larger than that by the conventional analysis and the difference is more pronounced when the pipe stiffness is stiffer. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Mapping forces in a 3D elastic assembly of grains

Our understanding of the elasticity and rheology of disordered materials, such as granular piles, foams, emulsions or dense suspensions relies on improving experimental tools to characterise their behaviour at the particle scale. While 2D observations are now routinely carried out in laboratories, 3D measurements remain a challenge. In this paper, we use a simple model system, a packing of soft elastic spheres, to illustrate the capability of X-ray microtomography to characterise the internal structure and local behaviour of granular systems. Image analysis techniques can resolve grain positions, shapes and contact areas; this is used to investigate the materials microstructure and its evolution upon strain. In addition to morphological measurements, we develop a technique to quantify contact forces and estimate the internal stress tensor. As will be illustrated in this paper, this opens the door to a broad array of static and dynamical measurements in 3D disordered systems. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Face-based Selection of Corners in 3D Substructuring

In most recent substructuring methods, a fundamental role is played by the coarse space. For some of these methods (e.g. BDDC and FETI-DP), its definition relies on a 'minimal' set of coarse nodes (sometimes called corners) which assures invertibility of local subdomain problems and also of the global coarse problem. This basic set is typically enhanced by enforcing continuity of functions at some generalized degrees of freedom, such as average values on edges or faces of subdomains. We revisit existing algorithms for selection of corners. The main contribution of this paper consists of proposing a new heuristic algorithm for this purpose. Considering faces as the basic building blocks of the interface, inherent parallelism, and better robustness with respect to disconnected subdomains are among features of the new technique. The advantages of the presented algorithm in comparison to some earlier approaches are demonstrated on three engineering problems of structural analysis solved by the BDDC method.

Modal liquid crystal devices in optical tweezing: 3D control and oscillating potential wells

We investigate the use of liquid crystal (LC) adaptive optics elements to provide full 3 dimensional particle control in an optical tweezer. These devices are suitable for single controllable traps, and so are less versatile than many of the competing technologies which can be used to control multiple particles. However, they have the advantages of simplicity and light efficiency. Furthermore, compared to binary holographic optical traps they have increased positional accuracy. The transmissive LC devices could be retro-fitted to an existing microscope system. An adaptive modal LC lens is used to vary the z-focal position over a range of up to 100 μm and an adaptive LC beam-steering device is used to deflect the beam (and trapped particle) in the x-y plane within an available radius of 10 μm. Furthermore, by modifying the polarisation of the incident light, these LC components also offer the opportunity for the creation of dual optical traps of controllable depth and separation. © 2006 Optical Society of America.