Optimization of cold and warm workability in stainless steel type AISI 316L using instability maps

The deformation characteristics of stainless steel type AISI 316L under compression in the temperature range 20 to 600 degrees C and strain rate range 0.001 to 100 s(-1) have been studied with a view to characterizing the flow instabilities occurring in the microstructure. At temperatures lower than 100 degrees C and strain rates higher than 0.1 s(-1), 316L stainless steel exhibits flow localization whereas dynamic strain aging (DSA) occurs at intermediate temperatures and below 1 s(-1). To avoid the above flow instabilities, cold working should be carried out at strain rates less than 0.1 s(-1). Warm working of stainless steel type AISI 316L may be done in the temperature and strain rate regime of: 300 to 400 degrees C and 0.001 s(-1) 300 to 450 degrees C and 0.01 s(-1): 450 to 600 degrees C and 0.1 s(-1); 500 degrees C and 1 s(-1) since these regions are free from flow instabilities like DSA and flow localization. The continuum criterion, developed on the basis of the principles of maximum rate of entropy production and separability of the dissipation function, predicts accurately all the above instability features.

Instability, intermittency, and multiscaling in discrete growth models of kinetic roughening

We show by numerical simulations that discretized versions of commonly studied continuum nonlinear growth equations (such as the Kardar-Parisi-Zhangequation and the Lai-Das Sarma-Villain equation) and related atomistic models of epitaxial growth have a generic instability in which isolated pillars (or grooves) on an otherwise flat interface grow in time when their height (or depth) exceeds a critical value. Depending on the details of the model, the instability found in the discretized version may or may not be present in the truly continuum growth equation, indicating that the behavior of discretized nonlinear growth equations may be very different from that of their continuum counterparts. This instability can be controlled either by the introduction of higher-order nonlinear terms with appropriate coefficients or by restricting the growth of pillars (or grooves) by other means. A number of such ''controlled instability'' models are studied by simulation. For appropriate choice of the parameters used for controlling the instability, these models exhibit intermittent behavior, characterized by multiexponent scaling of height fluctuations, over the time interval during which the instability is active. The behavior found in this regime is very similar to the ''turbulent'' behavior observed in recent simulations of several one- and two-dimensional atomistic models of epitaxial growth.

Instability map for cold and warm working of as-cast 304 stainless steel

The deformation characteristics of as-cast 304 stainless steel under compression in the temperature range 20-600 degrees C and strain rate range 0.001-100 s(-1) have been studied with a view to characterizing the flow instabilities occurring in the microstructure. Ar strain rates of less than 0.05 s(-1), as-cast 304 stainless steel exhibits flow localization in the temperature range 20-600 degrees C, whereas dynamic strain ageing occurs at intermediate temperatures and below 5 s(-1). At room temperatures and strain rates of less than 0.05 s(-1), martensite formation is observed. To avoid the above microstructural instabilities warm working should be carried out at strain rates greater than 10 s(-1) in the temperature range 400-600 degrees C and cold working could be done in the range of about 0.05-0.8 s(-1). The continuum criterion developed on the basis of the principles of maximum rate of entropy production and separability of the dissipation function, predicts accurately all of the above instability features. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.

Structural instability of the charge ordered compound Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 under a magnetic field

We report an anomalous magnetostriction behavior of the charge ordered compound Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3. We have found that the applied magnetic field not only gives rise to a large negative magnetoresistance but also produces a huge positive magnetovolume effect. This unusual effect is explained considering that the applied magnetic field induces a structural transition at which the volume drastically increases. This effect is also seen in the anisotropic magnetostriction which shows clear anomalies at the field induced transition.

Phase diagram of a two-species lattice model with a linear instability

We discuss the properties of a one-dimensional lattice model of a driven system with two species of particles in which the mobility of one species depends on the density of the other. This model was introduced by Lahiri and Ramaswamy (Phys. Rev. Lett., 79, 1150 (1997)) in the context of sedimenting colloidal crystals, and its continuum version was shown to exhibit an instability arising from linear gradient couplings. In this paper we review recent progress in understanding the full phase diagram of the model. There are three phases. In the first, the steady state can be determined exactly along a representative locus using the condition of detailed balance. The system shows phase separation of an exceptionally robust sort, termed strong phase separation, which survives at all temperatures. The second phase arises in the threshold case where the first species evolves independently of the second, but the fluctuations of the first influence the evolution of the second, as in the passive scalar problem. The second species then shows phase separation of a delicate sort, in which long-range order coexists with fluctuations which do not damp down in the large-size limit. This fluctuation-dominated phase ordering is associated with power law decays in cluster size distributions and a breakdown of the Porod law. The third phase is one with a uniform overall density, and along a representative locus the steady state is shown to have product measure form. Density fluctuations are transported by two kinematic waves, each involving both species and coupled at the nonlinear level. Their dissipation properties are governed by the symmetries of these couplings, which depend on the overall densities. In the most interesting case,, the dissipation of the two modes is characterized by different critical exponents, despite the nonlinear coupling.

Thermal instability in a three-dimensional rigid container with prescribed heat flux at lower boundary

The Bénard–Marangoni convection is studied in a three-dimensional container with thermally insulated lateral walls and prescribed heat flux at lower boundary. The upper surface of the incompressible, viscous fluid is assumed to be flat with temperature dependent surface tension. A Galerkin–Tau method with odd and even trial functions satisfying all the essential boundary conditions except the natural boundary conditions at the free surface has been used to solve the problem. The critical Marangoni and Rayleigh numbers are determined for the onset of steady convection as a function of aspect ratios x0 and y0 for the cases of Bénard–Marangoni, pure Marangoni and pure Bénard convections. It is observed that critical parameters are decreasing with an increase in aspect ratios. The flow structures corresponding to the values of the critical parameters are presented in all the cases. It is observed that the critical parameters are higher for case with heat flux prescribed than those corresponding to the case with prescribed temperature. The critical Marangoni number for pure Marangoni convection is higher than critical Rayleigh number corresponding to pure Bénard convection for a given aspect ratio whereas the reverse was observed for two-dimensional infinite layer.

A dynamical instability due to fluid–wall coupling lowers the transition Reynolds number in the flow through a flexible tube

A flow-induced instability in a tube with flexible walls is studied experimentally. Tubes of diameter 0.8 and 1.2 mm are cast in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer gels, and the catalyst concentration in these gels is varied to obtain shear modulus in the range 17–550 kPa. A pressure drop between the inlet and outlet of the tube is used to drive fluid flow, and the friction factor $f$ is measured as a function of the Reynolds number $Re$. From these measurements, it is found that the laminar flow becomes unstable, and there is a transition to a more complicated flow profile, for Reynolds numbers as low as 500 for the softest gels used here. The nature of the $f$–$Re$ curves is also qualitatively different from that in the flow past rigid tubes; in contrast to the discontinuous increase in the friction factor at transition in a rigid tube, it is found that there is a continuous increase in the friction factor from the laminar value of $16\ensuremath{/} Re$ in a flexible tube. The onset of transition is also detected by a dye-stream method, where a stream of dye is injected into the centre of the tube. It is found that there is a continuous increase of the amplitude of perturbations at the onset of transition in a flexible tube, in contrast to the abrupt disruption of the dye stream at transition in a rigid tube. There are oscillations in the wall of the tube at the onset of transition, which is detected from the laser scattering off the walls of the tube. This indicates that the coupling between the fluid stresses and the elastic stresses in the wall results in an instability of the laminar flow.

Landslide Susceptible Locations in Western Ghats: Prediction through openModeller

Many shallow landslides are triggered by heavy rainfall on hill slopes resulting in enormous casualties and huge economic losses in mountainous regions. Hill slope failure usually occurs as soil resistance deteriorates in the presence of the acting stress developed due to a number of reasons such as increased soil moisture content, change in land use causing slope instability, etc. Landslides triggered by rainfall can possibly be foreseen in real time by jointly using rainfall intensity-duration and information related to land surface susceptibility. Terrain analysis applications using spatial data such as aspect, slope, flow direction, compound topographic index, etc. along with information derived from remotely sensed data such as land cover / land use maps permit us to quantify and characterise the physical processes governing the landslide occurrence phenomenon. In this work, the probable landslide prone areas are predicted using two different algorithms – GARP (Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) in a free and open source software package - openModeller. Several environmental layers such as aspect, digital elevation data, flow accumulation, flow direction, slope, land cover, compound topographic index, and precipitation data were used in modelling. A comparison of the simulated outputs, validated by overlaying the actual landslide occurrence points showed 92% accuracy with GARP and 96% accuracy with SVM in predicting landslide prone areas considering precipitation in the wettest month whereas 91% and 94% accuracy were obtained from GARP and SVM considering precipitation in the wettest quarter of the year.

Secondary Perturbation Effects in Keplerian Accretion Disks: Elliptical Instability

Origin of turbulence in cold accretion disks, particularly in 3D, which is expected to be hydrodynamic but not magnetohydrodynamic, is a big puzzle. While the flow must exhibit some turbulence in support of the transfer of mass inward and angular momentum outward, according to the linear perturbation theory it should always be stable. We demonstrate that the 3D secondary disturbance to the primarily perturbed disk which exhibits elliptical vortices into the system solves the problem. This result is essentially applicable to the outer region of accretion disks in active galactic nuclei where the gas is significantly cold and neutral in charge and the magnetic Reynolds number is smaller than 10^4.

Interaction anisotropy and shear instability of aspirin polymorphs established by nanoindentation

Nanoindentation is applied to the two polymorphs of aspirin to examine and differentiate their interaction anisotropy and shear instability. Aspirin provides an excellent test system for the technique because: (i) polymorphs I and II exhibit structural similarity in two dimensions, thereby facilitating clear examination of the differences in mechanical response in relation to well-defined differences between the two crystal structures; (ii) single crystals of the metastable polymorph II have only recently become accessible; (iii) shear instability has been proposed for II. Different elastic moduli and hardness values determined for the two polymorphs are correlated with their crystal structures, and the interpretation is supported by measured thermal expansion coefficients. The stress-induced transformation of the metastable polymorph II to the stable polymorph I can be brought about rapidly by mechanical milling, and proceeds via a slip mechanism. This work establishes that nanoindentation provides ``signature'' responses for the two aspirin polymorphs, despite their very similar crystal structures. It also demonstrates the value of the technique to quantify stability relationships and phase transformations in molecular crystals, enabling a deeper understanding of polymorphism in the context of crystal engineering.

Spatio-temporal landscape modelling for natural hazard vulnerability analysis in select watersheds of Central Western Ghats

Natural hazards such as landslides are triggered by numerous factors such as ground movements, rock falls, slope failure, debris flows, slope instability, etc. Changes in slope stability happen due to human intervention, anthropogenic activities, change in soil structure, loss or absence of vegetation (changes in land cover), etc. Loss of vegetation happens when the forest is fragmented due to anthropogenic activities. Hence land cover mapping with forest fragmentation can provide vital information for visualising the regions that require immediate attention from slope stability aspects. The main objective of this paper is to understand the rate of change in forest landscape from 1973 to 2004 through multi-sensor remote sensing data analysis. The forest fragmentation index presented here is based on temporal land use information and forest fragmentation model, in which the forest pixels are classified as patch, transitional, edge, perforated, and interior, that give a measure of forest continuity. The analysis carried out for five prominent watersheds of Uttara Kannada district– Aganashini, Bedthi, Kali, Sharavathi and Venkatpura revealed that interior forest is continuously decreasing while patch, transitional, edge and perforated forest show increasing trend. The effect of forest fragmentation on landslide occurrence was visualised by overlaying the landslide occurrence points on classified image and forest fragmentation map. The increasing patch and transitional forest on hill slopes are the areas prone to landslides, evident from the field verification, indicating that deforestation is a major triggering factor for landslides. This emphasises the need for immediate conservation measures for sustainable management of the landscape. Quantifying and describing land use - land cover change and fragmentation is crucial for assessing the effect of land management policies and environmental protection decisions.

Thermal instability and the feedback regulation of hot haloes in clusters, groups and galaxies

We present global multidimensional numerical simulations of the plasma that pervades the dark matter haloes of clusters, groups and massive galaxies (the intracluster medium; ICM). Observations of clusters and groups imply that such haloes are roughly in global thermal equilibrium, with heating balancing cooling when averaged over sufficiently long time- and length-scales; the ICM is, however, very likely to be locally thermally unstable. Using simple observationally motivated heating prescriptions, we show that local thermal instability (TI) can produce a multiphase medium with similar to 104 K cold filaments condensing out of the hot ICM only when the ratio of the TI time-scale in the hot plasma (tTI) to the free-fall time-scale (tff) satisfies tTI/tff? 10. This criterion quantitatively explains why cold gas and star formation are preferentially observed in low-entropy clusters and groups. In addition, the interplay among heating, cooling and TI reduces the net cooling rate and the mass accretion rate at small radii by factors of similar to 100 relative to cooling-flow models. This dramatic reduction is in line with observations. The feedback efficiency required to prevent a cooling flow is similar to 10-3 for clusters and decreases for lower mass haloes; supernova heating may be energetically sufficient to balance cooling in galactic haloes. We further argue that the ICM self-adjusts so that tTI/tff? 10 at all radii. When this criterion is not satisfied, cold filaments condense out of the hot phase and reduce the density of the ICM. These cold filaments can power the black hole and/or stellar feedback required for global thermal balance, which drives tTI/tff? 10. In comparison to clusters, groups have central cores with lower densities and larger radii. This can account for the deviations from self-similarity in the X-ray luminositytemperature () relation. The high-velocity clouds observed in the Galactic halo can be due to local TI producing multiphase gas close to the virial radius if the density of the hot plasma in the Galactic halo is >rsim 10-5 cm-3 at large radii.

LOCAL TWO-DIMENSIONAL PARTICLE-IN-CELL SIMULATIONS OF THE COLLISIONLESS MAGNETOROTATIONAL INSTABILITY

The magnetorotational instability (MRI) is a crucial mechanism of angular momentum transport in a variety of astrophysical accretion disks. In systems accreting at well below the Eddington rate, such as the central black hole in the Milky Way (Sgr A*), the plasma in the disk is essentially collisionless. We present a nonlinear study of the collisionless MRI using first-principles particle-in-cell plasma simulations. We focus on local two-dimensional (axisymmetric) simulations, deferring more realistic three-dimensional simulations to future work. For simulations with net vertical magnetic flux, the MRI continuously amplifies the magnetic field, B, until the Alfven velocity, v(A), is comparable to the speed of light, c (independent of the initial value of v(A)/c). This is consistent with the lack of saturation of MRI channel modes in analogous axisymmetric MHD simulations. The amplification of the magnetic field by the MRI generates a significant pressure anisotropy in the plasma (with the pressure perpendicular to B being larger than the parallel pressure). We find that this pressure anisotropy in turn excites mirror modes and that the volume-averaged pressure anisotropy remains near the threshold for mirror mode excitation. Particle energization is due to both reconnection and viscous heating associated with the pressure anisotropy. Reconnection produces a distinctive power-law component in the energy distribution function of the particles, indicating the likelihood of non-thermal ion and electron acceleration in collisionless accretion disks. This has important implications for interpreting the observed emission-from the radio to the gamma-rays-of systems such as Sgr A*.

Projecting low-dimensional chaos from spatiotemporal dynamics in a model for plastic instability

We investigate the possibility of projecting low-dimensional chaos from spatiotemporal dynamics of a model for a kind of plastic instability observed under constant strain rate deformation conditions. We first discuss the relationship between the spatiotemporal patterns of the model reflected in the nature of dislocation bands and the nature of stress serrations. We show that at low applied strain rates, there is a one-to-one correspondence with the randomly nucleated isolated bursts of mobile dislocation density and the stress drops. We then show that the model equations are spatiotemporally chaotic by demonstrating the number of positive Lyapunov exponents and Lyapunov dimension scale with the system size at low and high strain rates. Using a modified algorithm for calculating correlation dimension density, we show that the stress-strain signals at low applied strain rates corresponding to spatially uncorrelated dislocation bands exhibit features of low-dimensional chaos. This is made quantitative by demonstrating that the model equations can be approximately reduced to space-independent model equations for the average dislocation densities, which is known to be low-dimensionally chaotic. However, the scaling regime for the correlation dimension shrinks with increasing applied strain rate due to increasing propensity for propagation of the dislocation bands.

Stochastically driven instability in rotating shear flows

The origin of hydrodynamic turbulence in rotating shear flows is investigated, with particular emphasis on the flows whose angular velocity decreases but whose specific angular momentum increases with the increasing radial coordinate. Such flows are Rayleigh stable, but must be turbulent in order to explain the observed data. Such a mismatch between the linear theory and the observations/experiments is more severe when any hydromagnetic/magnetohydrodynamic instability and then the corresponding turbulence therein is ruled out. This work explores the effect of stochastic noise on such hydrodynamic flows. We essentially concentrate on a small section of such a flow, which is nothing but a plane shear flow supplemented by the Coriolis effect. This also mimics a small section of an astrophysical accretion disc. It is found that such stochastically driven flows exhibit large temporal and spatial correlations of perturbation velocities and hence large energy dissipations of perturbation, which presumably generate the instability. A range of angular velocity (Omega) profiles of the background flow, starting from that of a constant specific angular momentum (lambda = Omega r(2); r being the radial coordinate) to a constant circular velocity (v(phi) = Omega r), is explored. However, all the background angular velocities exhibit identical growth and roughness exponents of their perturbations, revealing a unique universality class for the stochastically forced hydrodynamics of rotating shear flows. This work, to the best of our knowledge, is the first attempt to understand the origin of instability and turbulence in three-dimensional Rayleigh stable rotating shear flows by introducing additive noise to the underlying linearized governing equations. This has important implications to resolve the turbulence problem in astrophysical hydrodynamic flows such as accretion discs.