Asymptotic Behavior of Structures Made of Straight Rods

This paper is devoted to describe the deformations and the elastic energy for structures made of straight rods of thickness 2δ when δ tends to 0. This analysis relies on the decomposition of the large deformation of a single rod introduced in Blanchard and Griso (Anal. Appl. 7(1):21–71, 2009) and on the extension of this technique to a multi-structure. We characterize the asymptotic behavior of the infimum of the total elastic energy as the minimum of a limit functional for an energy of order δ ^β (2<β≤4).     

A Hierarchy of Plate Models Derived from Nonlinear Elasticity by Gamma-Convergence

We derive a hierarchy of plate models from three-dimensional nonlinear elasticity by Γ-convergence. What distinguishes the different limit models is the scaling of the elastic energy per unit volume ∼h^β, where h is the thickness of the plate. This is in turn related to the strength of the applied force ∼h^α. Membrane theory, derived earlier by Le Dret and Raoult, corresponds to α=β=0, nonlinear bending theory to α=β=2, von Kármán theory to α=3, β=4 and linearized vK theory to α>3. Intermediate values of α lead to certain theories with constraints. A key ingredient in the proof is a generalization to higher derivatives of our rigidity result [29] which states that for maps v:(0,1)³→ℝ³, the L² distance of ∇v from a single rotation is bounded by a multiple of the L² distance from the set SO(3) of all rotations.     

Existence of Singular Self-Similar Solutions of the Three-Dimensional Euler Equations in a Bounded Domain

A self-similar solution of the three-dimensional (3d) incompressible Euler equations is defined byu(x,t) =U(y)/t*-t) ^{α, y = x/(t* ~ t)β,α,β>} 0, whereU(y) satisfiesζU + βy. ΔU + U. VU + VP = 0,divU = 0. For α = β = 1/2, which is the limiting case of Leray’s self-similar Navier—Stokes equations, we prove the existence of(U,P) ε H³(Ω,R³ X R) in a smooth bounded domain Ω, with the inflow boundary data of non-zero vorticity. This implies the possibility that solutions of the Euler equations blow up at a timet = t*, t* < +∞.     

Localized Thickening of a Compressed Elastic Band

An infinite elastic band is compressed along its unbounded direction, giving rise to a continuous family of homogeneous configurations that is parameterized by the compression rate β < 1 (β = 1 when there is no compression). It is assumed that, for some critical value β ₀, the compression force as a function of β has a strict local extremum and that the linearized equation around the corresponding homogeneous configuration is strongly elliptic. Under these conditions, there are nearby localized deformations that are asymptotically homogeneous. When the compression force reaches a strict local maximum at β ₀, they describe localized thickening and they occur for values of β slightly smaller than β ₀. Since the material is supposed to be hyperelastic, homogeneous and isotropic, the localized deformations are not due to localized imperfections. The method follows the one developed by A. Mielke for an elastic band under traction: interpretation of the nonlinear elliptic system as an infinite dimensional dynamical system in which the unbounded direction plays the role of time, its reduction to a center manifold and the existence of a homoclinic solution to the reduced finite dimensional problem in [A. Mielke, Hamiltonian and Lagrangian fiows on center manifolds, Lecture Notes in Mathematics 1489. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 1991]. The main difference lies in the fact that Agmon's condition does not hold anymore and therefore the linearized problem cannot be analyzed as in Mielke's work.     

Invertibility and Non-Invertibility in Thin Elastic Structures

The nonlinear elastic energy of a thin film of thickness h is given by a functional E ^h . Friesecke, James and Müller derived the Γ-limits, as h → 0, of the functionals h ^−α E ^h for α ≧ 3. In this article we study the invertibility properties of almost minimizers of these functionals, and more generally of sequences with equiintegrable energy density. We show that they are invertible almost everywhere away from a thin boundary layer near the film surface. Moreover, we obtain an upper bound for the width of this layer and a uniform upper bound on the diameter of preimages. We construct examples showing that these bounds are sharp. In particular, for all α ≧ 3 there exist Lipschitz continuous low energy deformations which are not locally invertible.     

A lower bound for a variational model for pattern formation in shape-memory alloys

The Kohn-Müller model for the formation of domain patterns in martensitic shape-memory alloys consists in minimizing the sum of elastic, surface and boundary energy in a simplified scalar setting, with a nonconvex constraint representing the presence of different variants. Precisely, one minimizes

A continuum mechanical theory for turbulence: a generalized Navier–Stokes-<Emphasis Type="Italic">α</Emphasis> equation with boundary conditions

We develop a continuum-mechanical formulation and generalization of the Navier–Stokes-α equation based on a recently developed framework for fluid-dynamical theories involving higher-order gradient dependencies. Our flow equation involves two length scales α and β. The first of these enters the theory through the specific free-energy α ²|D|², where D is the symmetric part of the gradient of the filtered velocity, and contributes a dispersive term to the flow equation. The remaining scale is associated with a dissipative hyperstress which depends linearly on the gradient of the filtered vorticity and which contributes a viscous term, with coefficient proportional to β ², to the flow equation. In contrast to Lagrangian averaging, our formulation delivers boundary conditions and a complete structure based on thermodynamics applied to an isothermal system. For a fixed surface without slip, the standard no-slip condition is augmented by a wall-eddy condition involving another length scale ℓ characteristic of eddies shed at the boundary and referred to as the wall-eddy length. As an application, we consider the classical problem of turbulent flow in a plane, rectangular channel of gap 2h with fixed, impermeable, slip-free walls and make comparisons with results obtained from direct numerical simulations. We find that α/β ~ Re ^0.470 and ℓ/h ~ Re ^−0.772, where Re is the Reynolds number. The first result, which arises as a consequence of identifying the specific free-energy with the specific turbulent kinetic energy, indicates that the choice β = α required to reduce our flow equation to the Navier–Stokes-α equation is likely to be problematic. The second result evinces the classical scaling relation η/L ~ Re ^−3/4 for the ratio of the Kolmogorov microscale η to the integral length scale L.      

A Note on Non-Uniformly Elliptic Stokes-Type Systems in Two Variables

We consider the regularity of weak solutions of a Stokes-type system of partial differential equations in 2D, which describes the stationary and also slow flow of an incompressible fluid. Here the nonlinear differential operator related to the stress tensor is generated by a potential H(ε) = h(|ε|) acting on symmetric (2 × 2)-matrices, where h is a N-function of rather general type leading to a non-uniformly elliptic problem.     

Lower Bound for the Energy of Bloch Walls in Micromagnetics

We study a two-dimensional nonconvex and nonlocal energy in micromagnetics defined over S ²-valued vector fields. This energy depends on two small parameters, β and e{\varepsilon} , penalizing the divergence of the vector field and its vertical component, respectively. Our objective is to analyze the asymptotic regime b << e << 1{\beta \ll \varepsilon \ll 1} through the method of Γ-convergence. Finite energy configurations tend to become divergence-free and in-plane in the magnetic sample except in some small regions of typical width e{\varepsilon} (called Bloch walls) where the magnetization connects two directions on S ². We are interested in quantifying the limit energy of the transition layers in terms of the jump size between these directions. For one-dimensional transition layers, we show by Γ-convergence analysis that the exact line density of the energy is quadratic in the jump size. We expect the same behaviour for the two-dimensional model. In order to prove that, we investigate the concept of entropies. In the prototype case of a periodic strip, we establish a quadratic lower bound for the energy with a non-optimal constant. Then we introduce and study a special class of Lipschitz entropies and obtain lower bounds coinciding with the one-dimensional Γ-limit in some particular cases. Finally, we show that entropies are not appropriate in general for proving the expected sharp lower bound.     

Influence of elastic material compressibility on parameters of an expanding spherical stress wave

We investigated the influence of elastic material compressibility on parameters of an expanding spherical stress wave. The material compressibility is represented by Poisson’s ratio, ν, in this paper. The stress wave is generated by a pressure produced inside a spherical cavity surrounded by the isotropic elastic material. The analytical closed form formulae determining the dynamic state of the mechanical parameters (displacement, particle velocity, strains, stresses, and material density) in the material have been derived. These formulae were obtained for surge pressure p(t) = p ₀ = const inside the cavity. From analysis of these formulae, it is shown that the Poisson’s ratio substantially influences the course of material parameters in space and time. All parameters intensively decrease in space together with an increase of the Lagrangian coordinate, r. On the contrary, these parameters oscillate versus time around their static values. These oscillations decay in the course of time. We can mark out two ranges of parameter ν values in which vibrations of the parameters are “damped” at a different rate. Thus, Poisson’s ratio in the range below about 0.4 causes intense decay of parameter oscillations. On the other hand in the range 0.4 < ν < 0.5, i.e. in quasi-incompressible materials, the “damping” of parameter vibrations is very low. In the limiting case when ν = 0.5, i.e. in the incompressible material, “damping” vanishes, and the parameters harmonically oscillate around their static values. The abnormal behaviour of the material occurs in the range 0.4 < ν < 0.5. In this case, an insignificant increase of Poisson’s ratio causes a considerable increase of the parameter vibration amplitude and decrease of vibration “damping”.      

Yield stress of structured fluids measured by squeeze flow

Various structured fluids were placed between the parallel circular plates of a squeeze-flow rheometer and squeezed by a force F until the fluid thickness h was stationary. Fluid thickness down to a few microns could be measured. Most fluids showed two kinds of dependence of f on h according to an experimentally-determined thickness h ^*. If h > h ^* then F varied in proportion to h ⁻¹ as predicted by Scott (1931) for a fluid with a shear yield stress τ₀. The magnitude of τ₀ from squeeze-flow data in this region was compared with the yield stress measured by the vane method. For some fluids τ₀ measured by squeeze flow was less than the vane yield stress, suggesting that the yield stress of fluid in contact with the plates was less than the bulk yield stress. If h < h ^* then F varied approximately as h ^−5/2 and the squeeze-flow data in this region analysed with Scott's relationship gave a yield stress which increased as the fluid thickness decreased. This previously unreported effect may result from unconnected regions of large yield stress in the fluid of size similar to h ^* which are not sensed by the vane and which become effective in squeeze flow only when h < h ^*. Received: 13 December 1999/Accepted: 4 January 2000     

The Regularity of Optimal Irrigation Patterns

A branched structure is observable in draining and irrigation systems, in electric power supply systems, and in natural objects like blood vessels, the river basins or the trees. Recent approaches of these networks derive their branched structure from an energy functional whose essential feature is to favor wide routes. Given a flow s in a river, a road, a tube or a wire, the transportation cost per unit length is supposed in these models to be proportional to s ^α with 0 < α < 1. The aim of this paper is to prove the regularity of paths (rivers, branches,...) when the irrigated measure is the Lebesgue density on a smooth open set and the irrigating measure is a single source. In that case we prove that all branches of optimal irrigation trees satisfy an elliptic equation and that their curvature is a bounded measure. In consequence all branching points in the network have a tangent cone made of a finite number of segments, and all other points have a tangent. An explicit counterexample disproves these regularity properties for non-Lebesgue irrigated measures.     

Oscillating flow in a 2-D diffuser

Separating oscillating flows in an internal, adverse pressure gradient geometry are studied experimentally. Simultaneous velocity and pressure measurements demonstrate that the minor losses associated with oscillating flow in an adverse pressure gradient geometry can be smaller or larger than those for steady flow. Separation is found to begin high in the diffuser and propagate downward. The flow is able to remain attached further into the diffuser with larger Reynolds numbers, small displacement amplitudes, and smaller diffuser angles. The extent of separation grows with L ₀/h. The minor losses grow with increasing displacement amplitude in the measured range 10 < L ₀/h < 40. Losses decrease with increasing Re _δ in the measured range of 380 < Re _δ < 740. It is found that the losses increase with increasing diffuser angle over the measured range of 12° < θ < 30°. The nondimensional acoustic power dissipation increases with Reynolds number in the measured range and decreases with displacement amplitude.     

Existence of the minimal positive solution of some nonlinear elliptic systems when the nonlinearity is the sum of a sublinear and a superlinear term

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Secondary flow patterns and mixing in laminar pulsating flow through a curved pipe

Mixing by secondary flow is studied by particle image velocimetry (PIV) in a developing laminar pulsating flow through a circular curved pipe. The pipe curvature ratio is η = r ₀/r _c  = 0.09, and the curvature angle is 90°. Different secondary flow patterns are formed during an oscillation period due to competition among the centrifugal, inertial, and viscous forces. These different secondary-flow structures lead to different transverse-mixing schemes in the flow. Here, transverse mixing enhancement is investigated by imposing different pulsating conditions (Dean number, velocity ratio, and frequency parameter); favorable pulsating conditions for mixing are introduced. To obviate light-refraction effects during PIV measurements, a T-shaped structure is installed downstream of the curved pipe. Experiments are carried out for the Reynolds numbers range 420 ≤ Re_st ≤ 1,000 (Dean numbers 126.6 ≤ Dn ≤ 301.5) corresponding to non-oscillating flow, velocity component ratios 1 ≤ (β = U _max,osc/U _m,st) ≤ 4 (the ratio of velocity amplitude of oscillations to the mean velocity without oscillations), and frequency parameters 8.37 < (α = r ₀(ω/ν)^0.5) < 24.5, where α² is the ratio of viscous diffusion time over the pipe radius to the characteristic oscillation time. The variations in cross-sectional average values of absolute axial vorticity (|ζ|) and transverse strain rate (|ε|) are analyzed in order to quantify mixing. The effects of each parameter (Re_st, β, and α) on transverse mixing are discussed by comparing the dimensionless vorticities (|ζ _P |/|ζ _S |) and dimensionless transverse strain rates (|ε _P |/|ε _S |) during a complete oscillation period.     

Flow of power-law fluids over a moving wedge surface with wall mass injection

The boundary layer problem of a power-law fluid flow with fluid injection on a wedge whose surface is moving with a constant velocity in the opposite direction to that of the uniform mainstream is analyzed. The free stream velocity, the injection velocity at the surface, moving velocity of the wedge surface, the wedge angle and the power law index of non-Newtonian fluid are assumed variables. The fourth order Runge–Kutta method modified by Gill is used to solve the non-dimensional boundary layer equations for non-Newtonian flow field. Without fluid injection, for every angle of wedge β, a limiting value for velocity ratio λ _cr (velocity of the wedge surface/velocity of the uniform flow) is found for each power-law index n. The value of λ _cr increases with the increasing wedge angle β. The value of wedge angle also restricts the physical characteristics of the fluid to be used. The effects of the different parameters on velocity profile and on skin friction are studied and the drag reduction is discussed. In case of C = 2.5 and velocity ratio λ = 0.2 for wedge angle β = 0.5 with the fluid with power law-index n = 0.5, 48.8% drag reduction is obtained.     

Squeeze flow between plane and spherical surfaces

Experiments are described in which a constant force F squeezed a fluid, either between two parallel circular plates, or between a plate and convex spherical lens. Newtonian fluids obeyed the relation of Stefan (1874) for plates, and the relation of Adams et al. (1994) for plate and lens. The non-Newtonian yield stress fluids Brylcreem, Laponite and Sephadex were squeezed between plates of various diameter D to attain a stationary separation h. Only for separations greater than h ^* (which depended on the fluid) did Brylcreem and Laponite obey the relation F/D ³ ∝ h ⁻¹ of Scott (1931) and give a yield stress in agreement with the vane method. For Sephadex the dependence of F/D ³ on h disagreed with Scott's relation, but varied as h ^−5/2 for h > 0.6 mm and h ^−3/2 for h < 0.6 mm. On rotating one plate in its plane the yield stress fluids at a fixed F suffered a marked decrease of h. This, and the existence of h ^*, are discussed in terms of the soft glassy material model of Sollich et al. (1997) and Sollich (1998). Brylcreem and Laponite were squeezed between a plate and lenses of various curvature and their yield stress obtained using the relation of Adams et al. (1994) was compared with measurements by plate-plate squeeze-flow and vane methods. Received: 12 April 2000 Accepted: 26 October 2000     

Analyticity and Decay Estimates of the Navier–Stokes Equations in Critical Besov Spaces

In this paper, we establish analyticity of the Navier–Stokes equations with small data in critical Besov spaces . The main method is Gevrey estimates, the choice of which is motivated by the work of Foias and Temam (Contemp Math 208:151–180, 1997). We show that mild solutions are Gevrey regular, that is, the energy bound holds in , globally in time for p < ∞. We extend these results for the intricate limiting case p = ∞ in a suitably designed E _∞ space. As a consequence of analyticity, we obtain decay estimates of weak solutions in Besov spaces. Finally, we provide a regularity criterion in Besov spaces.     

The flip side of buckling

Buckling of slender structures under compressive loading is a failure of infinitesimal stability due to a confluence of two factors: the energy density non-convexity and the smallness of Korn’s constant. The problem has been well understood only for bodies with simple geometries when the slenderness parameter is well defined. In this paper, we present the first rigorous analysis of buckling for bodies with complex geometry. By limiting our analysis to the “near-flip” instability, we address the universal features of the buckling phenomenon that depend on neither the shape of the domain nor the degree of constitutive nonlinearity of the elastic material.      

Drag characteristics of longitudinal and transverse riblets at low dimensionless spacings

A surface grooved with microscopic riblets aligned parallel to the flow is an effective means to reduce the turbulent skin friction up to 10% compared to a smooth surface. The maximum drag reduction is found for a dimensionless rib spacing s ⁺ in the range of 15–17. For s ⁺ < 10, a linear behaviour of the drag reduction curve is predicted by viscous theory. This linear slope of the drag reduction curve is in contradiction to Schlichting’s postulation of a hydraulically smooth behaviour of small-scale roughness in a turbulent flow. This regime of evanescent dimensionless rib spacings is investigated experimentally by direct wall shear stress measurements in a fully developed channel flow. Additionally, a numerical calculation of the viscous flow over riblets was carried out to predict the drag reducing behaviour. The experimental results show a linear drag reducing behaviour down to s ⁺ = 0.3, which is in good agreement with the numerical results of the viscous simulation. The postulation of Schlichting’s hydraulically smooth regime of a rough surface was not confirmed, neither for a riblet surface nor for a surface geometry with grooves oriented perpendicular to the flow. In the latter case, the drag increases as a quadratic function of the roughness height.