Unified multiphase modeling for evolving,acoustically coupled systems consisting of acoustic,elastic, poroelastic media and septa

This paper presents a new modeling technique that can represent acoustically coupled systems in a unified manner. The proposed unified multiphase (UMP) modeling technique uses Biot’s equations that are originally derived for poroelastic media to represent not only poroelastic media but also non-poroelastic ones ranging from acoustic and elastic media to septa. To recover the original vibro-acoustic behaviors of non-poroelastic media, material parameters of a base poroelastic medium are adjusted depending on the target media. The real virtue of this UMP technique is that interface coupling conditions between any media can be automatically satisfied, so no medium-dependent interface condition needs to be imposed explicitly. Thereby, the proposed technique can effectively model any acoustically coupled system having locally varying medium phases and evolving interfaces. A typical situation can occur in an iterative design process. Because the proposed UMP modeling technique needs theoretical justifications for further development, this work is mainly focused on how the technique recovers the governing equations of non-poroelastic media and expresses their interface conditions. We also address how to describe various boundary conditions of the media in the technique. Some numerical studies are carried out to demonstrate the validity of the proposed modeling technique.     

Nonlinear dynamics of the interface between continuous media with different densities

By reducing the hydrodynamic flow in the volume occupied by one or two fluids with different densities to the dynamics of the free surface or interface, equations describing their evolution are derived. These equations make it possible to study the essentially nonlinear stages of instability of free surfaces or interfaces in simple mathematical terms. It is shown that a perturbation of the free surface, however small, causes the formation and separation of a drop for a finite time. Accordingly, a perturbation, however small, of the interface between media with different densities results in the formation and subsequent separation of a large-scale vortex of the heavier fluid. Theoretical results agree qualitatively and quantitatively with experiments performed in [1, 2].     

A Solvable Model of Interface Depinning in Random Media

We study the mean-field version of a model proposed by Leschhorn to describe the depinning transition of interfaces in random media. We show that evolution equations for the distribution of forces felt by the interface sites can be written directly for an infinite system. For a flat distribution of random local forces the value of the depinning threshold can be obtained exactly. In the case of parallel dynamics (all unstable sites move simultaneously), due to the discrete character of the interface heights allowed in the model, the motion of the center of mass is non-uniform in time in the moving phase close to the threshold, and the mean interface velocity vanishes with a square-root singularity.     

Three-dimensional matched interface and boundary (MIB) method for treating geometric singularities

This paper reports the three-dimensional (3D) generalization of our previous 2D higher-order matched interface and boundary (MIB) method for solving elliptic equations with discontinuous coefficients and non-smooth interfaces. New MIB algorithms that make use of two sets of interface jump conditions are proposed to remove the critical acute angle constraint of our earlier MIB scheme for treating interfaces with sharp geometric singularities, such as sharp edges, sharp wedges and sharp tips. The resulting 3D MIB schemes are of second-order accuracy for arbitrarily complex interfaces with sharp geometric singularities, of fourth-order accuracy for complex interfaces with moderate geometric singularities, and of sixth-order accuracy for curved smooth interfaces. A systematical procedure is introduced to make the MIB matrix optimally symmetric and banded by appropriately choosing auxiliary grid points. Consequently, the new MIB linear algebraic equations can be solved with fewer number of iterations. The proposed MIB method makes use of Cartesian grids, standard finite difference schemes, lowest order interface jump conditions and fictitious values. The interface jump conditions are enforced at each intersecting point of the interface and mesh lines to overcome the staircase phenomena in finite difference approximation. While a pair of fictitious values are determined along a mesh at a time, an iterative procedure is proposed to determine all the required fictitious values for higher-order schemes by repeatedly using the lowest order jump conditions. A variety of MIB techniques are developed to overcome geometric constraints. The essential strategy of the MIB method is to locally reduce a 2D or a 3D interface problem into 1D-like ones. The proposed MIB method is extensively validated in terms of the order of accuracy, the speed of convergence, the number of iterations and CPU time. Numerical experiments are carried out to complex interfaces, including the molecular surfaces of a protein, a missile interface, and van der Waals surfaces of intersecting spheres.     

An interface capturing method for the simulation of multi-phase compressible flows

A novel finite-volume interface (contact) capturing method is presented for simulation of multi-component compressible flows with high density ratios and strong shocks. In addition, the materials on the two sides of interfaces can have significantly different equations of state. Material boundaries are identified through an interface function, which is solved in concert with the governing equations on the same mesh. For long simulations, the method relies on an interface compression technique that constrains the thickness of the diffused interface to a few grid cells throughout the simulation. This is done in the spirit of shock-capturing schemes, for which numerical dissipation effectively preserves a sharp but mesh-representable shock profile. For contact capturing, the formulation is modified so that interface representations remain sharp like captured shocks, countering their tendency to diffuse via the same numerical diffusion needed for shock-capturing. Special techniques for accurate and robust computation of interface normals and derivatives of the interface function are developed. The interface compression method is coupled to a shock-capturing compressible flow solver in a way that avoids the spurious oscillations that typically develop at material boundaries. Convergence to weak solutions of the governing equations is proved for the new contact capturing approach. Comparisons with exact Riemann problems for model one-dimensional multi-material flows show that the interface compression technique is accurate. The method employs Cartesian product stencils and, therefore, there is no inherent obstacles in multiple dimensions. Examples of two- and three-dimensional flows are also presented, including a demonstration with significantly disparate equations of state: a shock induced collapse of three-dimensional van der Waal’s bubbles (air) in a stiffened equation of state liquid (water) adjacent to a Mie-Grüneisen equation of state wall (copper).     

Self-segregation of competitive chaotic populations

The dynamical behavior of species competing for a common resource is studied with a reaction-diffusion system based on cubic autocatalysis. Randomly seeded populations self-segregate to form a complex network of domains separated by distinct interfaces. For chaotic populations in one-dimensional media, the interfaces exhibit irregular motions on long time scales. In two-dimensional media, the interface motions are governed by curvature-induced drift.     

Rayleigh-Taylor instability of multi-fluid layers in cylindrical geometry

Rayleigh-Taylor instability of three fluid layers with two interfaces in cylindrical geometry is investigated analytically.The growth rates and the amplitudes of perturbation on the two interfaces are obtained. The feedback factor from outer to inner interface is larger than that from inner to outer interface under the same conditions. The growth rate on the initially unstable interface is larger than the corresponding result in planar geometry for low mode perturbation. The two interfaces are decoupled for a larger mode number perturbation. The dependencies of the amplitudes of perturbation on different initial conditions are analyzed. The negative feedback effect from initially stable interface to another unstable interface is observed. In the limit of infinity inner radius and finite shell thickness, the results in planar geometry are recovered.     

Numerical modeling of transient two-dimensional viscoelastic waves

This paper deals with the numerical modeling of transient mechanical waves in linear viscoelastic solids. Dissipation mechanisms are described using the generalized Zener model. No time convolutions are required thanks to the introduction of memory variables that satisfy local-in-time differential equations. By appropriately choosing the relaxation parameters, it is possible to accurately describe a large range of materials, such as solids with constant quality factors. The evolution equations satisfied by the velocity, the stress, and the memory variables are written in the form of a first-order system of PDEs with a source term. This system is solved by splitting it into two parts: the propagative part is discretized explicitly, using a fourth-order ADER scheme on a Cartesian grid, and the diffusive part is then solved exactly. Jump conditions along the interfaces are discretized by applying an immersed interface method. Numerical experiments of wave propagation in viscoelastic and fluid media show the efficiency of this numerical modeling for dealing with challenging problems, such as multiple scattering configurations.     

Interface coupling effects of weakly nonlinear Rayleigh–Taylor instability with double interfaces

Taking the Rayleigh–Taylor instability with double interfaces as the research object,the interface coupling effects in the weakly nonlinear regime are studied numerically.The variation of Atwood numbers on the two interfaces and the variation of the thickness between them are taken into consideration.It is shown that,when the Atwood number on the lower interface is small,the amplitude of perturbation growth on the lower interface is positively related with the Atwood number on the upper interface.However,it is negatively related when the Atwood number on the lower interface is large.The above phenomenon is quantitatively studied using an analytical formula and the underlying physical mechanism is presented.     

Femtosecond laser ablation profile near an interface: Analysis based on the correlation with superficial properties of individual materials

Femtosecond laser ablation of materials is turning to be an important tool for micromachining as well as for selective removal of biological tissues. In a great number of applications, laser ablation has to process through interfaces separating media of different properties. The investigation of the ablation behavior within materials and passing through interfaces is the main aim of this study. Especially, the analysis of the discontinuity in the ablation profile close to interfaces between distinct materials can reveal some of the phenomena involved in the formation of an ablated microcavity geometry. We have used a method that correlates the ablation cross sectional area with the local laser intensity. The effective intensity ablation properties were obtained from surface ablation data of distinct materials. The application of this method allows the prediction of the occurrence of a size discontinuity in the ablation geometry at the interface of distinct media, a fact which becomes important when planning applications in different media.     

Localization in the model of contacting media with specific nonlinearity and interface interaction

In this paper, we consider the new model of nonlinear contacting media based on nonlinear Schrodinger equation with point potential and term, which is depended stepwise on field amplitude. Such a model theoretically describes a change in properties of the boundary regions along the interface between a Kerr-type crystal with cubic nonlinearity and a nonlinear medium characterized by abruptly change in dielectric constant depending on field amplitude. The short-range local interaction between wave and interface is taken into account by point potential in nonlinear Schrodinger equation. We obtain two new types of localized states characterized by composite structure consisting of three parts of the field distributions. We find exact and approximate solutions of dispersion equations. We described new properties of the spectrum of localized states arising as a result of the interaction of the wave with the interface and the presence of threshold field of the switching between the medium constants. All results are obtained in an analytical form. The proposed theory can be used to describe the propagation features of intense light beams localized along media interfaces in nonlinear optics, and to describe Bose-Einstein condensates with cubic nonlinearity.     

An immersed interface method for Stokes flows with fixed/moving interfaces and rigid boundaries

We present an immersed interface method for solving the incompressible steady Stokes equations involving fixed/moving interfaces and rigid boundaries (irregular domains). The fixed/moving interfaces and rigid boundaries are represented by a number of Lagrangian control points. In order to enforce the prescribed velocity at the rigid boundaries, singular forces are applied on the fluid at these boundaries. The strength of singular forces at the rigid boundary is determined by solving a small system of equations. For the deformable interfaces, the forces that the interface exerts on the fluid are calculated from the configuration (position) of the deformed interface. The jumps in the pressure and the jumps in the derivatives of both pressure and velocity are related to the forces at the fixed/moving interfaces and rigid boundaries. These forces are interpolated using cubic splines and applied to the fluid through the jump conditions. The positions of the deformable interfaces are updated implicitly using a quasi-Newton method (BFGS) within each time step. In the proposed method, the Stokes equations are discretized via the finite difference method on a staggered Cartesian grid with the incorporation of jump contributions and solved by the conjugate gradient Uzawa-type method. Numerical results demonstrate the accuracy and ability of the proposed method to simulate incompressible Stokes flows with fixed/moving interfaces on irregular domains.     

Bulk heterogeneous plane waves propagation through viscoelastic plates and stratified media with large values of frequency domain

This paper introduces the bulk heterogeneous waves concept into the well known Thomson-Haskell method for computing transmission/reflection coefficients through stratified media. If one of the layers is absorbing, bulk heterogeneous waves are generated at interfaces with other layers and the generalized Snell's laws for heterogeneous modes have to be used. This method was reported to be unstable for large values of frequency domain (FD), the product of the frequency and the medium thickness. The new expression for the matrix transfer between interfaces given in this paper is tested with large values of FD, without showing instability. Large values of FD imply significant effects of attenuation, which is frequency dependent. One particular effect is the interface transmission of modes beyond the limit angle if it is defined with the homogeneous waves concept. This is shown with acquired and simulated waveforms, after transmission through an epoxy layer. Waveforms transmitted by adhesive joints are also presented.     

Revisit to the THINC scheme: A simple algebraic VOF algorithm

This short note presents an improved multi-dimensional algebraic VOF method to capture moving interfaces. The interface jump in the THINC (tangent of hyperbola for INterface capturing) scheme is adaptively scaled to a proper thickness according to the interface orientation. The numerical accuracy in computing multi-dimensional moving interfaces is significantly improved. Without any geometrical reconstruction, the proposed method is extremely simple and easy to use, and its numerical accuracy is superior to other existing methods of its kind and comparable to the conventional PLIC (piecewise linear interface calculation) type VOF schemes.     

不同组分厚度比的LaMnO3/SrTiO3异质界面电子结构和磁性的第一性原理研究

基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算, 研究了(LaMnO₃)_n/(SrTiO₃)_m(LMO/STO)异质界面的离子弛豫、电子结构和磁性质. 研究表明, 不同组分厚度比及界面类型时, 离子弛豫程度各不相同, 并且界面处的电子性质受此影响较大. 对于n型界面, 当LMO的厚度达到6个单胞层后, 电子会从LMO转移到STO, 转移的电子占据界面层Ti原子的3d电子轨道, 界面处出现二维电子气. 对于n型界面(LMO)_n/(STO)₂, 随着LMO厚度数n的增加, 由离子弛豫造成的结构畸变减小, 而界面处Ti原子周围电子的态密度和自旋极化却增大, 表明高厚度比的n型界面有利于产生高迁移率的二维电子气和自旋极化. 而对于p型(LMO)₂/(STO)₈界面, 在STO一侧基本没有结构畸变, 界面处无电子转移和自旋极化现象. 通过计算平均静电势发现n型和p型界面处的势差大小相差2 eV, 解释了p型界面不容易发生电荷转移的原因.     

Ultrasonic wave propagation across a thin nonlinear anisotropic layer between two half-spaces

Boundary conditions and perturbation theory are combined to create a set of equations which, when solved, yield the reflected and transmitted wave forms in the case of a thin layer of material that is perfectly bonded between two isotropic half-spaces. The set of perturbed boundary conditions is created by first using the fully bonded boundary conditions at each of the two interfaces between the thin layer and the half-spaces. Then, by restricting the layer's thickness to be much smaller than an acoustic wavelength, perturbation theory can be used on these two sets of boundary equations, producing a set of equations which effectively treat the thin layer as a single interface via a perturbation term. With this set of equations, the full range of incident and polar angles can be considered, with results general enough to use with a layer that is anisotropic, nonlinear, or both anisotropic and nonlinear. Finally the validity of these equations is discussed, comparing the computer simulation results of this theory to results from standard methods, and looking at cases where the results (or various properties of the results) are known or can be predicted.     

MIB method for elliptic equations with multi-material interfaces

Elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs) are widely used to model real-world problems. Due to the heterogeneous characteristics of many naturally occurring materials and man-made structures, devices, and equipments, one frequently needs to solve elliptic PDEs with discontinuous coefficients and singular sources. The development of high-order elliptic interface schemes has been an active research field for decades. However, challenges remain in the construction of high-order schemes and particularly, for nonsmooth interfaces, i.e., interfaces with geometric singularities. The challenge of geometric singularities is amplified when they are originated from two or more material interfaces joining together or crossing each other. High-order methods for elliptic equations with multi-material interfaces have not been reported in the literature to our knowledge. The present work develops matched interface and boundary (MIB) method based schemes for solving two-dimensional (2D) elliptic PDEs with geometric singularities of multi-material interfaces. A number of new MIB schemes are constructed to account for all possible topological variations due to two-material interfaces. The geometric singularities of three-material interfaces are significantly more difficult to handle. Three new MIB schemes are designed to handle a variety of geometric situations and topological variations, although not all of them. The performance of the proposed new MIB schemes is validated by numerical experiments with a wide range of coefficient contrasts, geometric singularities, and solution types. Extensive numerical studies confirm the designed second order accuracy of the MIB method for multi-material interfaces, including a case where the derivative of the solution diverges.     

Finite element modeling of reverberation and transmission loss in shallow water waveguides with rough boundaries

A finite element model for the reverberation and propagation in a shallow water waveguide with a sandy bottom was calculated for five different environments at a center frequency of 250 Hz. The various environments included a rough water/sediment interface, a rough air/water interface, roughness at both interfaces and downward and upward refracting sound speed profiles with roughness at both interfaces. When compared to other models of reverberation such as ray theory, coupled modes, and parabolic equations, finite elements predicted higher levels of reverberation. At early times, this is due to the "fathometer" return, energy that is normally incident on the boundaries at zero range. At later times, the increased reverberation was due to high angle scattering paths between the two interfaces. Differences in reverberation levels among the environments indicated that scattered energy from the air/water interface is transmitted into the bottom at steep angles. This led to a large decrease in reverberation for a rough air/water interface relative to a rough water/sediment interface. Sound speed profile effects on reverberation were minimal at this frequency range. Calculations of the scintillation index of the different environments indicated that most of the reverberation was relatively Rayleigh-like with heavier tailed distributions at longer ranges.     

Metal-induced gap states at well defined alkali-halide/metal interfaces

In order to search for states specific to insulator/metal interfaces, we have studied epitaxially grown interfaces with element-selective near edge x-ray absorption fine structure. An extra peak is observed below the bulk edge onset for LiCl films on Cu and Ag substrates. The nature of chemical bonds as probed by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy remains unchanged, so we regard this as evidence for metal-induced gap states (MIGS) formed by the proximity to a metal, rather than local bonds at the interface. The dependence on the film thickness shows that the MIGS are as thin as one monolayer. An ab initio electronic structure calculation supports the existence of the MIGS that are strongly localized at the interface.