Minimum power consumption for drag reduction on a circular cylinder by tangential surface motion

We investigate the effect of a prescribed tangential velocity on the drag force on a circular cylinder in a spanwise uniform cross flow. Using a combination of theoretical and numerical techniques we make an attempt at determining the optimal tangential velocity profiles which will reduce the drag force acting on the cylindrical body while minimizing the net power consumption characterized through a non-dimensional power loss coefficient (C-PL). A striking conclusion of our analysis is that the tangential velocity associated with the potential flow, which completely suppresses the drag force, is not optimal for both small and large, but finite Reynolds number. When inertial effects are negligible (R e << 1), theoretical analysis based on two-dimensional Oseen equations gives us the optimal tangential velocity profile which leads to energetically efficient drag reduction. Furthermore, in the limit of zero Reynolds number (Re -> 0), minimum power loss is achieved for a tangential velocity profile corresponding to a shear-free perfect slip boundary. At finite Re, results from numerical simulations indicate that perfect slip is not optimum and a further reduction in drag can be achieved for reduced power consumption. A gradual increase in the strength of a tangential velocity which involves only the first reflectionally symmetric mode leads to a monotonic reduction in drag and eventual thrust production. Simulations reveal the existence of an optimal strength for which the power consumption attains a minima. At a Reynolds number of 100, minimum value of the power loss coefficient (C-PL = 0.37) is obtained when the maximum in tangential surface velocity is about one and a half times the free stream uniform velocity corresponding to a percentage drag reduction of approximately 77 %; C-PL = 0.42 and 0.50 for perfect slip and potential flow cases, respectively. Our results suggest that potential flow tangential velocity enables energetically efficient propulsion at all Reynolds numbers but optimal drag reduction only for Re -> infinity. The two-dimensional strategy of reducing drag while minimizing net power consumption is shown to be effective in three dimensions via numerical simulation of flow past an infinite circular cylinder at a Reynolds number of 300. Finally a strategy of reducing drag, suitable for practical implementation and amenable to experimental testing, through piecewise constant tangential velocities distributed along the cylinder periphery is proposed and analysed.

Synthesis, characterization and spectroscopic investigation of Cr3+ doped wollastonite nanophosphor

This work explores the preparation of nanocrystalline Cr3+ (1-5 mol%) doped CaSiO3 phosphors by solution combustion process and study of its photoluminescence (PL) behavior. The nanopowders are well characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. PXRD results confirm monoclinic phase upon calcination at 950 degrees C for 3 h. SEM micrographs indicates that the powder is highly porous and agglomerated. The TEM images show the powder to consist of spherical shaped particles of size similar to 30-60 nm. Upon 323 nm excitation, the emission profile of CaSiO3:Cr3+ exhibits a narrow red emission peak at 641 nm due to E-2 -> (4)A(2) transition and broad band at 722 nm due to T-4(2g) -> (4)A(2g). It is observed that PL intensity increases with increase in Cr3+ concentration and highest PL intensity is observed for 3 mol% doped sample. The PL intensity decreases with further increase in Cr3+ doping. This decrease in PL intensity beyond 3 mol% is ascribed to concentration quenching. Racah parameters are calculated to describe the effects of electron-electron repulsion within the crystal lattice. The parameters show 21% reduction in the Racah parameter of free ion and the complex, indicating the moderate nephelauxetic effect in the lattice. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gd1.96-xYxEu0.04O3 (x=0.0, 0.49, 0.98, 1.47, 1.96 mol%) nanophosphors: Propellant combustion synthesis, structural and luminescence studies

Gd1.96-xYxEu0.04O3 (x = 0.0, 0.49, 0.98, 1.47, 1.96 mol%) nanophosphors were synthesized by propellant combustion method at low temperature (400 degrees C). The powder X-ray diffraction patterns of as formed Gd1.96Eu0.04O3 showed monoclinic phase, however with the addition of yttria it transforms from monoclinic to pure cubic phase. The porous nature increases with increase of yttria content. The particle size was estimated from Scherrer's and W-H plots which was found to be in the range 30-40 nm. These results were in well agreement with transmission electron microscopy studies. The optical band gap energies estimated were found to be in the range 5.32-5.49 eV. PL emission was recorded under 305 nm excitation show an intense emission peak at 611 nm along with other emission peaks at 582, 641 nm. These emission peaks were attributed to the transition of D-5(0) —> F-7(J) (J = 0, 1, 2, 3) of Eu3+ ions. It was observed that PL intensity increases with increase of Y content up to x = 0.98 and thereafter intensity decreases. CIE color co-ordinates indicates that at x = 1.47 an intense red bright color can be achieved, which could find a promising application in flat panel displays. The cubic and monoclinic phases show different thermoluminescence glow peak values measured under identical conditions. The response of the cubic phase to the applied dose showed good linearity, negligible fading, and simple glow curve structure than monoclinic phase indicating that suitability of this phosphor in dosimetric applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Species and acoustic diversity of bats in a palaeotropical wet evergreen forest in southern India

The Western Ghats of India is among the top 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. About 43% of the reported 117 bat species in India are found in this region, but few quantitative studies of bat echolocation calls and diversity have been carried out here thus far. A quantitative study of bat diversity was therefore conducted using standard techniques, including mist-netting, acoustical and roost surveys in the wet evergreen forests of Kudremukh National Park in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. A total of 106 bats were caught over 108 sampling nights, representing 17 species, 3 belonging to Megachiroptera and 14 to Microchiroptera. Acoustical and roost surveys added three more species, two from Microchiroptera and one from Megachiroptera. Of these 20 species, 4 belonged to the family Pteropodidae, 10 to Vespertilionidae, 3 to Rhinolophidae, 2 to Megadermatidae and 1 to Hipposideridae. We recorded the echolocation calls of 13 of the 16 microchiropteran species, of which the calls of 4 species (Pipistrellus coromandra, Pipistrellus affinis, Pipistrellus ceylonicus and Harpiocephalus harpia) have been recorded for the first time. Discriminant function analyses of the calls of 11 species provided 91.7% correct classification of individuals to their respective species, indicating that the echolocation calls could be used successfully for non-invasive acoustic surveys and monitoring of bat species in the future.

Evaluating Methods to Predict Streamflow at Ungauged Sites using Regional Flow Duration Curves: A Case Study

Precise information on streamflows is of major importance for planning and monitoring of water resources schemes related to hydro power, water supply, irrigation, flood control, and for maintaining ecosystem. Engineers encounter challenges when streamflow data are either unavailable or inadequate at target locations. To address these challenges, there have been efforts to develop methodologies that facilitate prediction of streamflow at ungauged sites. Conventionally, time intensive and data exhaustive rainfall-runoff models are used to arrive at streamflow at ungauged sites. Most recent studies show improved methods based on regionalization using Flow Duration Curves (FDCs). A FDC is a graphical representation of streamflow variability, which is a plot between streamflow values and their corresponding exceedance probabilities that are determined using a plotting position formula. It provides information on the percentage of time any specified magnitude of streamflow is equaled or exceeded. The present study assesses the effectiveness of two methods to predict streamflow at ungauged sites by application to catchments in Mahanadi river basin, India. The methods considered are (i) Regional flow duration curve method, and (ii) Area Ratio method. The first method involves (a) the development of regression relationships between percentile flows and attributes of catchments in the study area, (b) use of the relationships to construct regional FDC for the ungauged site, and (c) use of a spatial interpolation technique to decode information in FDC to construct streamflow time series for the ungauged site. Area ratio method is conventionally used to transfer streamflow related information from gauged sites to ungauged sites. Attributes that have been considered for the analysis include variables representing hydrology, climatology, topography, land-use/land- cover and soil properties corresponding to catchments in the study area. Effectiveness of the presented methods is assessed using jack knife cross-validation. Conclusions based on the study are presented and discussed. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Comparative study of Eu3+ -activated LnOCl (Ln=La and Gd) phosphors and their Judd-Ofelt analysis

Eu3+-activated layered LnOCl (Ln=La and Gd) phosphors were synthesized by the conventional solid-state method at relatively low temperature (700 degrees C) and shorter duration of 2 h. The structural parameters were refined by the Rietveld refinement analysis and confirmed by the high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Both the compounds were crystallized in the tetragonal structure with space group P4/nmm (No. 129). The homogeneity of the elements were analyzed by TEM mapping and found to be uniformly distributed. The photoluminescence spectra revealed that the intensity of D-5(0)-> F-7(2) transition (619 nm) was more intense in Eu3+-activated GdOCl compared to LaOCl. This was due to the property of Gd3+ ions to act as an intermediate sublattice to facilitate the energy transfer to Eu3+ ions. Intensity parameters and radiative properties such as transition probabilities, radiative lifetime and branching ratio were calculated using the Judd-Ofelt theory. The CIE color coordinates result revealed that the Eu3+-activated GdOCl (0.641, 0.354) phosphor was close to the commercial red phosphors like, Y2O3:Eu3+ (0.645, 0.347), (Y2OS)-S-2:Eu3+ (0.647, 0.343) and National Television System Committee (NTSC) (0.67, 0.33). The results suggest that the present GdOCl:Eu3+ compound acts as a potential candidate for red phosphor materials.

Increasing Critical Sensitivity of the Load/Unload Response Ratio before Large Earthquakes with Identified Stress Acclumulation Pattern

The Load/Unload Response Ratio (LURR) method is proposed for short-to-intermediate-term earthquake prediction [Yin, X.C., Chen, X.Z., Song, Z.P., Yin, C., 1995. A New Approach to Earthquake Prediction — The Load/Unload Response Ratio (LURR) Theory, Pure Appl. Geophys., 145, 701–715]. This method is based on measuring the ratio between Benioff strains released during the time periods of loading and unloading, corresponding to the Coulomb Failure Stress change induced by Earth tides on optimally oriented faults. According to the method, the LURR time series usually climb to an anomalously high peak prior to occurrence of a large earthquake. Previous studies have indicated that the size of critical seismogenic region selected for LURR measurements has great influence on the evaluation of LURR. In this study, we replace the circular region usually adopted in LURR practice with an area within which the tectonic stress change would mostly affect the Coulomb stress on a potential seismogenic fault of a future event. The Coulomb stress change before a hypothetical earthquake is calculated based on a simple back-slip dislocation model of the event. This new algorithm, by combining the LURR method with our choice of identified area with increased Coulomb stress, is devised to improve the sensitivity of LURR to measure criticality of stress accumulation before a large earthquake. Retrospective tests of this algorithm on four large earthquakes occurred in California over the last two decades show remarkable enhancement of the LURR precursory anomalies. For some strong events of lesser magnitudes occurred in the same neighborhoods and during the same time periods, significant anomalies are found if circular areas are used, and are not found if increased Coulomb stress areas are used for LURR data selection. The unique feature of this algorithm may provide stronger constraints on forecasts of the size and location of future large events.

Efectos de la fertilizacion y altura de corte sobre el rendimiento del pasto alemán (Echynochloa polystachya). Puerto Diaz-Juigalpa, Nicaragua 2009-2010

El presente estudio se realizó en la Hacienda Guapinolapa del Sr Duilio Baltodano, localizada en el municipio de Juigalpa, comunidad de Puerto Díaz a una latitud: 11° 57' 54" n y longitud: 85° 30' 39" w y altitud de 59 msnm. El objetivo de esta investigación fue obtener información técnica sobre: altura, cobertura y rendimiento de materia verde y seca, que contribuya a un mejor manejo del pasto Alemán (Echynochloa polystachya). Se utilizó un diseño de parcelas divididas, para un Bloque Completo al Azar (BCA), con 4 tratamientos: T1 (control), T2 (nitrógeno), T3 (nitrógeno-fósforo) y el T4 (nitrógeno-fósforo-potasio). Las dos alturas de cortes fueron: C1=30 cm, C2=40 cm. Los cortes se realizaron con intervalos de 30 días. Con base en la altura, cobertura, materia verde, materia seca, rendimiento de materia verde y materia seca. Las variables fueron sujetas a un análisis de varianza (ANDEVA). La altura del pasto aumentó en relación directa con el tipo de corte y con los meses de corte, siendo el C2 en el T3, en el mes de septiembre el que promedió mayor altura (1.27 m), la cobertura incrementó en relación al mes de corte y tratamiento, siendo el T3 en el mes de mayo el de mayor cobertura (75.32 %). La producción de materia verde aumentó en el T4 en el mes de octubre con 6 293 kg/ha, la producción de materia seca incrementó en el mes de agosto en el T4 con 4 488 kg/ha; los rendimientos de materia verde y materia seca, incrementaron en el mes de octubre en el T4 (7 641.67 kg/ha, 3 438.75 kg/ha, respectivamente).

Efecto de diferentes laminas de riego por goteo y aplicacion fraccionada del nitrogeno, sobre el cultivo del maiz (Zea mays L.) en su rendimiento de chilote

El ensayo se estableció en las áreas Universidad Nacional Agraria, ubicada en el km 12 ½ carretera norte, Managua, en febrero del año dos mil doce, para evaluar efecto de diferentes láminas de riego y momentos de aplicación de 100 kg. ha-1 de nitrógeno, sobre el crecimiento del maíz (Zea mays L.) variedad NB-S, y rendimiento del chilote, a una densidad de 125 000 Ptas. ha-1. Se utilizó un diseño de parcelas divididas en bloques completos al azar (BCA) con cuatro repeticiones, y los factores en estudio fueron los siguientes: Factor A: Laminas de riego por goteo, con 3 niveles: 4.5 lt de agua/m/día, 3.6 lt de agua/m/día y 2.5 lt de agua/m/día. Y el Factor B: Fraccionamiento de la dosis de nitrógeno de 100 kg. ha-1, con 3 niveles: b1 (100 % de la dosis aplicada a los 21 ddg); b2 dosis fraccionada (50% de la dosis aplicada a los 21 ddg y 50 % de la dosis aplicada a los 42 ddg) y b3 dosis completa (100 % de la dosis aplicada a los 42 dds). Las variables de crecimiento evaluadas fueron: altura de planta (cm), diámetro del tallo (cm) y número de hojas por planta; para las variables del rendimiento del chilote y sus principales componentes fueron: altura de la primera y segunda inserción del chilote (cm), diámetro del chilote con y sin bráctea (cm), longitud del chilote con y sin bráctea (cm), peso de 12 chilotes con y sin bráctea (kg), y rendimiento de chilote con bráctea (kg. ha-1). El análisis de varianza (ANDEVA) realizado a todas las mediciones de crecimiento dio significativo para los niveles del Factor A, Factor B y la interacción A x B a los 35 y 48 días después de la germinación. El ANDEVA realizado a las variables del rendimiento y sus principales componentes dio significativas para los niveles del Factor A, Factor B y la interacción A x B a los 60 días después de la germinación. De los nueve tratamientos evaluados, el tratamiento a1 b2 indujo al mayor rendimiento de chilote con una producción de 1,641.33 kg de chilote. ha-1., con un total de costos variables de 3,858.00 C$. ha-1, un beneficio neto de 9,9029.17 C$.ha-1, y una tasa de retorno marginal del 739.11 por ciento.

河网城镇水环境设计流量

河网系统中河流环境容量研究的基本困难除流量、流向复杂多变外,在密布的河流控制断面上缺少长系列流量资料是普遍存在的问题.本文以河网地区典型河段为例,基于对邻近地区水文站的水位系列资料及残缺不全的流量资科进行各种有效的关联分析,解决短时段实测资料水文概率的基础上,提出了通过不同水位概率的历史同水位对应流量的加权平均方法,推算环境设计流量及各支流断面流量分解的工程算法,为水环境容量研究及水资源规划提供参考依据.

Aquecimento global e mudanças climáticas : uma introdução

Aborda eventos climáticos extremos que vêm ocorrendo em todo o mundo nos últimos tempos relacionados com o aquecimento global, causado por atividades antrópicas, em especial, pelo consumo de combustíveis fósseis, bem como pelos desmatamentos e queimadas. É o fenômeno, conhecido como efeito estufa. Faz referência aos relatórios do Painel Intergovernamental sobre Mudança do Clima - IPCC e ao Protocolo de Quioto.