Micro-Fracture Toughness in a Nanoceramic Composite

Micro-fracture toughness in one nanoceramic composite, Al_2O_3/SiC_{nano}, is measured by Nanoindentation tests. Microscopy is adopted to probe that all nanoindentations are local at Al_2O_3, matrix component of the current composite and measure length of radial micro-cracks at corriers of nanoindentation. The measured fracture toughness at the shallow indentation is higher than those at deeper ones. Relations between micro-toughness and peak loads as well as peak depths are discussed. And an analysis to the energy consumed during the indentation and fracture toughness explained that, the lower fracture toughness measured in the deeper impression probably resulted from its fracture modes yielded by higher load and larger depth.

Burst Detection in Turbulent Channel Flows Based on Large Eddy Simulation Databases

Reliable turbulent channel flow databases at several Reynolds numbers have been established by large eddy simulation (LES), with two of them validated by comparing with typical direct numerical simulation (DNS) results. Furthermore, the statistics, such as velocity profile, turbulent intensities and shear stress, were obtained as well as the temporal and spatial structure of turbulent bursts. Based on the LES databases available, the conditional sampling methods are used to detect the structures of burst events. A method to deterimine the grouping parameter from the probability distribution function (pdf) curve of the time separation between ejection events is proposed to avoid the errors in detected results. And thus, the dependence of average burst period on thresholds is considerably weakened. Meanwhile, the average burst-to-bed area ratios are detected. It is found that the Reynolds number exhibits little effect on the burst period and burst-to-bed area ratio.

Thermal Properties Measurement of Micro-Electromechanical System Sensors by Digital Moire Method

The thermal properties of a micro-electromechanical system sensor were analysed by a novel digital moire method. A double-layer micro-cantilever sensor (60 mu m long, 10 mu m width and 2 mu dm thick) was prepared by focused ion beam milling. A grating with frequency of 5000 lines mm- I was etched on the cantilever. The sensor was placed into a scanning electron microscope system with a high temperature device. The observation and recording of the thermal deformation of the grating were realised in real-time as the temperature rose from room temperature to 300 degrees C at intervals of 50 degrees C. Digital moire was generated by interference of the deformed grating and a digital virtual grating. The thermal properties including strain distribution of the sensor and the linear expansion coefficient of polysilicon were accurately measured by the phase-shifted moire patterns.

Micro-shock waves generated inside a fluid jet impinging on plane wall

An Nd:glass laser pulse (18 ns, 1.38 J) is focused in a tiny area of about 100-mum diam under ambient conditions to produce micro-shock waves. The laser is focused above a planar surface with a typical standoff distance of about 4 mm, The laser energy is focused inside a supersonic circular jet of carbon dioxide gas produced by a nozzle with internal diameter of 2.9 mm and external diameter of 8 mm, Nominal value of the Mach number of the jet is around 2 with the corresponding pressure ratio of 7.5 (stagnation pressure/static pressure at the exit of the nozzle), The interaction process of the micro-shock wave generated inside the supersonic jet with the plane wall is investigated using double-pulse holographic interferometry. A strong surface vortex field with subsequent generation of a side jet propagating outward along the plane wail is observed. The interaction of the micro-shock wave with the cellular structure of the supersonic jet does not seem to influence the near surface features of the flowfield. The development of the coherent structures near the nozzle exit due to the upstream propagation of pressure waves seems to be affected by the outward propagating micro-shock wave. Mach reflection is observed when the micro-shock wave interacts with the plane wall at a standoff distance of 4 mm, The Mach stem is slightly deflected, indicating strong boundary-layer and viscous effects near the wall. The interaction process is also simulated numerically using an axisymmetric transient laminar Navier-Stokes solver. Qualitative agreement between experimental and numerical results is good.

Monte-Carlo simulation of surface crack growth rate for offshore structural steel E36-Z35

The Monte- Carlo method is used to simulate the surface fatigue crack growth rate for offshore structural steel E36-Z35, and to determine the distributions and relevance of the parameters in the Paris equation. By this method, the time and cost of fatigue crack propagation testing can be reduced. The application of the method is demonstrated by use of four sets of fatigue crack propagation data for offshore structural steel E36-Z35. A comparison of the test data with the theoretical prediction for surface crack growth rate shows the application of the simulation method to the fatigue crack propagation tests is successful.

Two-dimensional simulation of an electron cyclotron resonance plasma source with self-consistent power deposition

Using a refined two-dimensional hybrid-model with self-consistent microwave absorption, we have investigated the change of plasma parameters such as plasma density and ionization rate with the operating conditions. The dependence of the ion current density and ion energy and angle distribution function at the substrate surface vs. the radial position, pressure and microwave power were discussed. Results of our simulation can be compared qualitatively with many experimental measurements.

Intensity Distribution Design for Laser-Induced Thermal Loading Based on Numerical Simulation

To accomplish laser-induced thermal loading simulation tests for pistons,the Gaussian beam was modulated into multi-circular beam with specific intensity distribution.A reverse method was proposed to design the intensity distribution for the laser-induced thermal loading based on finite element(FE) analysis.Firstly,the FE model is improved by alternating parameters of boundary conditions and thermal-physical properties of piston material in a reasonable range,therefore it can simulate the experimental resul...

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Peeling a DNA Molecule on Substrate

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to study adhesion and peeling of a short fragment of single strand DNA (ssDNA) molecule from a graphite surface. The critical peel-off force is found to depend on both the peeling angle and the elasticity of ssDNA. For the short ssDNA strand under investigation, we show that the simulation results can be explained by a continuum model of an adhesive elastic band on substrate. The analysis suggests that it is often the peak value, rather than the mean value, of adhesion energy which determines the peeling of a nanoscale material.

Numerical simulation of an adaptive optics system with laser propagation in the atmosphere

A comprehensive model of laser propagation in the atmosphere with a complete adaptive optics (AO) system for phase compensation is presented, and a corresponding computer program is compiled. A direct wave-front gradient control method is used to reconstruct the wave-front phase. With the long-exposure Strehl ratio as the evaluation parameter, a numerical simulation of an AO system in a stationary state with the atmospheric propagation of a laser beam was conducted. It was found that for certain conditions the phase screen that describes turbulence in the atmosphere might not be isotropic. Numerical experiments show that the computational results in imaging of lenses by means of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) method agree well with those computed by means of an integration method. However, the computer time required for the FFT method is 1 order of magnitude less than that of the integration method. Phase tailoring of the calculated phase is presented as a means to solve the problem that variance of the calculated residual phase does not correspond to the correction effectiveness of an AO system. It is found for the first time to our knowledge that for a constant delay time of an AO system, when the lateral wind speed exceeds a threshold, the compensation effectiveness of an AO system is better than that of complete phase conjugation. This finding indicates that the better compensation capability of an AO system does not mean better correction effectiveness. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America.

Experimental study and simulation principles of an oil-gas multiphase transportation system

Presented is an experimental study on the performance of an oil-gas multiphase transportation system, especially on the multiphase flow patterns, multiphase pumping and multiphase metering of the system. A dynamic simulation analysis is conducted to deduce simulation parameters of the system and similarity criteria under simplified conditions are obtained. The reliability and feasibility of two-phase flow experiment with oil and natural gas simulated by water and air are discussed by using the similarity criteria.

A Generalized Soft-Sphere for Monte Carlo Simulation

A new collision model, called the generalized soft-sphere (GSS) model, is introduced. It has the same total cross section as the generalized hard-sphere model [Phys. Fluids A 5, 738 (1993)], whereas the deflection angle is calculated by the soft-sphere scattering model [Phys. Fluids A 3, 2459 (1991)]. In virtue of a two-term formula given to fit the numerical solutions of the collision integrals for the Lennard-Jones (6-12) potential and for the Stockmayer potential, the parameters involved in the GSS model are determined explicitly that may fully reproduce the transport coefficients under these potentials. Coefficients of viscosity, self-diffusion and diffusion for both polar and nonpolar molecules given by the GSS model and experiment are in excellent agreement over a wide range of temperature from low to high.

Rossby Vortex Simulation on a Paraboloidal Coordinate System Using the Lattice Boltzmann Method

In this paper, we apply our compressible lattice Boltzmann model to a rotating parabolic coordinate system to simulate Rossby vortices emerging in a layer of shallow water flowing zonally in a rotating paraboloidal vessel. By introducing a scaling factor, nonuniform curvilinear mesh can be mapped to a flat uniform mesh and then normal lattice Boltzmann method works. Since the mass per unit area on the two-dimensional (2D) surface varies with the thickness of the water layer, the 2D flow seems to be "compressible" and our compressible model is applied. Simulation solutions meet with the experimental observations qualitatively. Based on this research, quantitative solutions and many natural phenomena simulations in planetary atmospheres, oceans, and magnetized plasma, such as the famous Jovian Giant Red Spot, the Galactic Spiral-vortex, the Gulf Stream, and the Kuroshio Current, etc,, can be expected.

Effect of Rock Mass Structure and Block Size on the Slope Stability-Physical Modeling and Discrete Element Simulation

This paper studies the stability of jointed rock slopes by using our improved three-dimensional discrete element methods (DEM) and physical modeling. Results show that the DEM can simulate all failure modes of rock slopes with different joint configurations. The stress in each rock block is not homogeneous and blocks rotate in failure development. Failure modes depend on the configuration of joints. Toppling failure is observed for the slope with straight joints and sliding failure is observed for the slope with staged joints. The DEM results are also compared with those of limit equilibrium method (LEM). Without considering the joints in rock masses, the LEM predicts much higher factor of safety than physical modeling and DEM. The failure mode and factor of safety predicted by the DEM are in good agreement with laboratory tests for any jointed rock slope.

Numerical Simulation of Nox Formation in Coal Combustion with Inlet Natural Gas Burning

A full two-fluid model of reacting gas-particle flows and coal combustion is used to simulate coal combustion with and without inlet natural gas added in the inlet. The simulation results for the case without natural gas burning is in fair agreement with the experimental results reported in references. The simulation results of different natural gas adding positions indicate that the natural gas burning can form lean oxygen combustion enviroment at the combustor inlet region and the NOz concentration is reduced. The same result can be obtained from chemical equilibrium analysis.