Experimental Evidence of Critical Sensitivity in Catastrophe

The paper presents an experimental study on critical sensitivity in rocks. Critical sensitivity means that the response of a system to external controlling variable may become significantly sensitive as the system approaches its catastrophic rupture point. It is found that the sensitivities measured by responses on three scales (sample scale, locally macroscopic scales and mesoscopic scale) display increase prior to catastrophic transition point. These experimental results do support the concept that critical sensitivity might be a common precursory feature of catastrophe. Furthermore, our previous theoretical model is extended to explore the fluctuations in critical sensitivity in the rock tests.

Experimental Study of Pipeline Stability on Sandy Seabed under the Influence of Ocean Currents

Ocean-current-induced pipeline stability on sandy seabed was simulated physically in a flow flume. The process of pipeline losing onbottom stability in currents was recorded and analyzed. Experimental data show that, for a pipeline directly laid on sandy seabed, there exists a linear relationship between the dimensionless submerged weight of pipeline and Froude number, in which the current-pipe-soil coupling effects are reflected. The sand-particle size effects on pipeline onbottom stability are further discussed. The new established empirical relationship may provide a guide for the engineering practice of current-induced on-bottom stability design of a submarine pipeline.

Experimental Study the Flow Pattern in Thermal Capillary Convection

In the present research work, the thermal capillary convection has been investigated and measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. There is one liquid layer in a rectangular cavity with different temperature’s sidewalls. The cavity is 52mm,42mm,20mm, 4mm in height of the silicon oil liquid layer. A sidewall of the cavity is heated by electro-thermal film, another sidewall is cooled by the semiconductor cooling sheet. The velocity field and the stream lines in cross section in liquid layer have been obtained at different temperature difference. The present experiment demonstrates that the pattern of the convection mainly relates with temperature difference.

An Experimental Study of Kerosene Combustion in a Supersonic Model Combustor Using Effervescent Atomization

Investigation of kerosene combustion in a Mach 2.5 flow was carried out using a model supersonic combustor with cross-section area of 51 mm?70 mm, with special emphases on the characterization of effervescent atomization and the flameholdering mechanism using different integrated fuel injector/flameholder cavity modules. Direct photography, Schlieren imaging, and Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of OH were utilized to examine the cavity characteristics and spray structure, with and without gas barbotage. Schlieren images illustrate the effectiveness of gas barbotage in facilitating atomization and the importance of secondary atomization when kerosene sprays interacting with a supersonic crossflow. OH-PLIF images further substantiate our previous finding that there exists a local high temperature radical pool within the cavity flameholder and this radical pool plays a crucial role in promoting kerosene combustion in a supersonic combustor. The present results also demonstrate that the cavity characteristics can be different in non-reacting and reacting supersonic flows. As such, the conventional definition of cavity characteristics based on non-reacting flows needs to be revised.

Experimental Study on Subcooled Pool Boiling in Microgravity Utilizing

Experimental Observation on Surface Wave Phenomena in Thermal Capillary Convection

An optical diagnostic system consisting of the Michelson interferometer with the image processor has been developed for studying of the surface wave in the thermal capillary convection in a rectangular cavity. In this paper, the capillary convection, surface deformation and surface wave due to the different temperature between the two sidewalls have been investigated. The cavity is 52mm?42mm in horizontal cross section and 4mm in height. The temperature difference is increased gradually and flow in liquid layer will change from steady convection to unstable convection. The optical interference method measures the surface deformation and the surface wave of the convection. The deformation of the interference fringes, which produced by the meeting of the reflected light from the liquid surface and the reference light has been captured, and the surface deformation appears when the steady convection is developed. The surface deformation is enhanced with the increasing of the temperature difference, and then several knaggy peeks in the interference fringes appear and move from the heated side to the cooled side, it demonstrates that the surface wave is existed. The surface deformation, the wavelength, the frequency, and the wave amplitude of the surface wave have been calculated.

EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL STUDY OF BINARY DROPLET HEAD-ON COLLISIONS IN MEMS

The experimental and theoretical investigations into the head-on collision between a landing droplet with another one resting on the PDMS substrate were addressed in this talk. The colliding process of the two droplets was recorded with highspeed camera. Four different responses after collision were observed in our experiments: complete rebound, coalescence, partial rebound with conglutination, and coalescence accompanied by conglutination. The contact time between the two colliding droplets was found to be in the range of 10-20 milliseconds. For the complete bouncing case, Hertz contact model was applied to estimate the contact time of the binary head-on colliding droplets with both the droplets considered as elastic bodies. The estimated contact time was in good agreement with the experimental result.

Experimental Study on Flow Induced Vibration of a Cylinder with Two Degrees of Freedom Near a Rigid Wall

The flow-induced vibration of a cylinder with two degrees of freedom near a rigid wall under the action of steady flow is investigated experimentally. The vibration amplitude and frequency of the cylinder and the vortex shedding frequency at the wake flow region of the cylinder are measured. The influence of gap-to-diameter ratio upon the amplitude response is analyzed. The experimental results indicate that when the reduced velocity (Vr) is in the range of 1.2 < Vr < 2.6, only streamwise vibration with small amplitude occurs, whose frequency is quite close to its natural frequency in the still water. When the reduced velocity Vr > 3.4, both the streamwise and transverse vibrations of the cylinder occur. In this range, the amplitudes of transverse vibration are much larger than those of streamwise vibrations, and the amplitudes of the streamwise vibration also get larger than those at the range of 1.2 < Vr < 2.6. At the range of Vr > 3.4, the frequency of streamwise vibration undergoes a jump at certain values of Vr, at which the streamwise vibrating frequency is twice as much as the transverse one. However, when the streamwise vibration does not experience a jump, its frequency is the same as that of the transverse vibration. The maximum values of second streamwise and transverse vibration amplitudes increase with increasing gap-to-diameter ratios.

Experimental investigation of Very-High-Cycle Fatigue behavior for a structural steel

Very-High-Cycle Fatigue (VHCF) test for a medium carbon structural steel (40Cr) has been performed and a stepwise S-N curve was obtained by employing cantilever-type rotary bending fatigue machine with hourglass shape specimen. The S-N curve was well explained as a combination of curves for surface-induced fracture and interior inclusion-induced fracture with fish-eye patterns. The morphology of the fish-eye pattern was illustrated in order to clarify subsurface crack initiation and propagation behavior.