A possible alternative to the FENE dumbbell model of dilute polymer solutions

The dumbbell model of dilute polymer solutions is simple and successful, and its FENE version has progressively become a paradigm. In some transient extensional flows however, an increased dissipation was observed which could not be understood within the FENE model. This prompted us to look for a new dumbbell-like model in which the finite extensibility of the polymer is taken more thoroughly into account, i.e. not only through the Warner potential. The main lines of this alternative model are presented.     

Shock tube kinetics in homogeneous and heterogeneous reaction systems

The shock tube used as a high-temperature wave reactor has dominated high-temperature kinetics for more than 45 years. The nearly instantaneous heating to high temperatures, the accessible wide temperature and pressure ranges, and the diffusion-free reaction conditions are the main advantages of this technique for measuring rate co-efficients at high temperatures. In this paper some applications of the shock tube technique for kinetic studies in homogeneous and heterogeneous reaction systems will be discussed. The examples to be presented were obtained in the author's laboratory. They include thermally and photolytically induced chemical reactions, which were studied by applying different optical absorption techniques.An abridged version of this paper was presented as Paul Vieille Memoiral Lecture at the 20th International Symposium on Shock Waves, CALTECH, Pasadena 1995.     

Derivatives and Rates of the Stretch and Rotation Tensors

General expressions for the derivatives and rates of the stretch and rotation tensors with respect to the deformation gradient are derived. They are both specialized to some of the formulas already available in the literature and used to derive some new ones, in three and two dimensions. Essential ingredients of the treatment are basic elements of differential calculus for tensor valued functions of tensors and recently derived results on the solution of the tensor equation A X + XA= H in the unknown X. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Dynamical Spectrum in Random Dynamical Systems

Dynamical spectrum is a concept in terms of exponential dichotomy. The theory of dynamical spectrum, due to Sacker and Sell, plays important roles in many fields of dynamical systems and differential equations. Noticing its significance and importance, we study in this paper the theory of dynamical spectrum for some general random dynamical systems. More precisely, after introducing a random version of the concept of exponential dichotomy, by using some methods and techniques from dynamical systems and ergodic theory, under some general integrability conditions, we establish the dynamical spectral decomposition theorem in framework of random dynamical systems, which can be regarded as a random version of the deterministic dynamical systems due to Sacker and Sell. In our result, the dynamical spectral intervals and the corresponding spectral subbundles will be given.     

On a variational principle of Hashin and Shtrikman

In this paper a simple derivation of a new version of the variational principle of Hashin and Shtrikman is given. It appears possible to dispense with some subsidiary conditions which in the original principle had to be imposed on the class of functions considered in the variational process. However, through the use of the new principle the possibility of obtaining a pair of two sided bounds is lost and this has to be compensated by invoking one of the complementary principles which are formulated in the sequel.     

Nonlinear dynamics of oriented elastic solids

Based on a continuum model for oriented elastic solids the set of nonlinear dispersive equations derived in Part I of this work allows one to investigate the nonlinear wave propagation of the soliton type. The equations govern the coupled rotation-displacement motions in connection with the linear elastic behavior and large-amplitude rotations of the director field. In the one-dimensional version of the equations and for two simple configurations an exhaustive study of solitons is presented. We show that the transverse and/or longitudinal elastic displacements are coupled to the rotational motion so that solitons, jointly in the rotation of the director and the elastic deformations, are exhibited. These solitons are solutions of a system of linear wave equations for the elastic displacements which are nonlinearly coupled to a sine-Gordon equation for the rotational motion. For each configuration, the solutions are numerically illustrated and the energy of the solitions is calculated. Finally, some applications of the continuum model and the related nonlinear dynamics to several physical situations are given and additional more complex problems are also evoked by way of conclusion.     

Mathematical foundation of a new complexity measure

For many continuous bio-medieal signals with both strong nonlinearity and non-stationarity, two criterions were proposed for their complexity estimation ： （1） Only a short data set is enough for robust estimation; （2） No over-coarse graining preproeessing, such as transferring the original signal into a binary time series, is needed. Co complexity measure proposed by us previously is one of such measures. However, it lacks the solid mathematical foundation and thus its use is limited. A modified version of this measure is proposed, and some important properties are proved rigorously. According to these properties, this measure can be considered as an index of randomness of time series in some senses, and thus also a quantitative index of complexity under the meaning of randomness finding complexity. Compared with other similar measures, this measure seems more suitable for estimating a large quantity of complexity measures for a given task, such as studying the dynamic variation of such measures in sliding windows of a long process, owing to its fast speed for estimation.     

SOME FURTHER GENERALIZATIONS OF KY FAN’S MINIMAX INEQUALITY AND ITS APPLICATIONS TO VARIATIONAL INEQUALITIES

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of generalized KKM mapping andto obtain some general version of the famous KKM theorem and Ky Fan’s minimaxinequality.As applications,we utilize the results presented in this paper to study the saddlepoint problem and the existence problem of solutions for a class of quasi-variationalinequalities.The results obtained in this paper extend and improve some recent results of[1-6].     

On the explosion of linearly distributed charge with curvilinear shape on the ground surface

We use the momentum version proposed by M. A. Lavrent'yev [1, 2] to treat the two-dimensional problem of the explosion of a linearly distributed charge of curvilinear shape on the ground surface. The problem of the explosion of a straight charge was solved for the first time in [2] in this version. The ground is assumed to be an ideal incompressible liquid at velocities exceeding some critical velocity which remains constant along the crater; beyond this boundary, the medium is fixed. The potential of the velocity is assumed to be constant on the charge and vanishing on the ground surface.     

On Modelling Periodic Motion with Turbulence Closures

In periodic flows near walls transport effects may be considerably larger than in a steady turbulent boundary layer. The question explored in this contribution is, therefore, whether providing separate transport equations for each of the Reynolds stresses consequently leads to a better modelling of a periodic flow's evolution than an eddy viscosity scheme whose constitutive equation is inherently linked to the generation and dissipation terms being in balance (local equilibrium). Our conclusion is that, while a stress-transport scheme is indeed better equipped to reproduce the phenomena, it does not consistently out-perform the EVM over the range of flows studied. In some cases it is suggested that more attention must be paid to modelling diffusive transport in order to secure the benefits of second-moment closure. To illustrate sensitivity to diffusive transport, two different diffusion models are tested, one of which leads to different effective transport coefficients in each stress component. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A new three-dimensional Hoek-Brown strength criterion

The Hoek-Brown(HB) strength criterion has been widely applied to the estimation of strength of intact rock and rock mass,while evolving ever since.However,negligence of the effect of the intermediate principal stress still remains in the criterion’s latest version.At the same time,several three-dimensional(3D) HB strength,which can takes into account the influence of the intermediate principal stress,have already been proposed,among which the 3D HB criterion proposed by Zhang and Zhu seems to be the most reasonable one.However,the Zhang 3D HB criterion may have problems with some stress path close to triaxial extension state because of the non-convexity characteristic of its failure surface.In this paper,a new 3D HB strength criterion is presented based on a generalized form of the HB criterion,which also considers the effect of the intermediate principal stress and inherits all the merits of the original version of the HB criterion.In addition,this new criterion can remedy to some extent the shortcomings observed in the Zhang 3D HB criterion.Polyaxial tests for five different rocks from published literatures are used for evaluating this new criterion and comparing it with the Zhang 3D HB criterion.The results show that this new criterion may over-predict or underpredict the polyaxial strength of rocks but the errors are relatively small,and similar results are also found for the Zhang 3D HB criterion,which one is better depends on the type of the rock under estimation.     

Dimensions of attractors for discretizations for Navier-Stokes equations

In this paper, we discretize the 2-D incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with the periodic boundary condition by the finite difference method. We prove that with a shift for discretization, the global solutions exist. After proving some discrete Sobolev inequalities in the sense of finite differences, we prove the existence of the global attractors of the discretized system, and we estimate the upper bounds for the Hausdorff and the fractal dimensions of the attractors. These bounds are indepent of the mesh sizes and are considerably close to those of the continuous version.     

An Elementary Proof of the Fundamental Property of a Perfect Gas

A sharpened version of an important property of perfect gases proved by Monleón Pradas & Pedregal[1] is proved here by exploiting fully the fact that every perfect gas has an entropy function. In this manner, the more advanced machinery of weak convergence employed in the earlier version is avoided, and a more elementary and accessible proof emerges. (Accepted March 10, 1997)     

Elastic Fields for Point and Partial Line Loading in Transversely Isotropic Linear Elasticity

In this paper some fundamental concentrated loading solutions are derived for a transversely isotropic full space. As a starting point the potential function representation for the elastic field is re-examined in light of a recent result derived by the author. It is shown that expressions for two of the stress components need to be modified from what is given in some of the existing literature. The use of these new expressions is first demonstrated by considering two point loading cases. Subsequent analysis integrates these two point force solutions over finite line segments to obtain solutions for various cases of partial line loading. The ramifications of the two modified stress equations on the partial line loading solutions are also discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Stability Criterion for Two-Fluid Interfaces and Applications

We derive a new stability criterion for two-fluid interfaces that ensures the existence of “stable” local solutions that do not break down too fast due to Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities. It can be seen both as a two-fluid generalization of the Rayleigh–Taylor criterion and as a nonlinear version of the Kelvin stability condition. We show that gravity can control the inertial effects of the shear up to frequencies that are high enough for the surface tension to play a relevant role. This explains why surface tension is a necessary condition for well-posedness while the (low frequency) main dynamics of interfacial waves are unaffected by it. In order to derive a practical version of this criterion, we work with a nondimensionalized version of the equations and allow for the possibility of various asymptotic regimes, such as the shallow water limit. This limit being singular, we have to derive a new symbolic analysis of the Dirichlet–Neumann operator that includes an infinitely smoothing “tail” accounting for the contribution of the bottom. We then validate our criterion by comparison with experimental data in two important settings: air–water interfaces and internal waves. The good agreement we observe allows us to discuss the scenario of wave breaking and the behavior of water-brine interfaces, and to propose a formula for the maximal amplitude of interfacial waves. We also show how to rigorously justify two-fluid asymptotic models used for applications and how to relate some of their properties to Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities.     

On the feasibility of heat-exchange processes in uninsulated equipment

Strictly speaking, the common two-fluid heat exchanger is a special version of a three-fluid exchanger because the environment also participates in the energy exchange. In a number of situations this effect is significant and leads to either reduced or increased area requirements, depending on the purpose of the exchange operation. With certain combinations of the system parameters it is even impossible to achieve an envisaged temperature change. For some typical flow arrangements these combinations are established in an analytic form so that one can rapidly assess the feasibility of a desired process without actually performing the rather tedious design calculations.     

Laboratory-scale blast wave phenomena – optical diagnostics and applications

Laboratory-scale experiments with explosive charges in the milligram range are a useful tool to investigate basic blast wave phenomena and to replicate, to some extent, large-scale explosions. This paper reviews and discusses the optical diagnostics that can be applied in these experiments and outlines how these techniques can be used to obtain new information about the propagation and interaction of blast waves. Performance criteria for the required instrumentation are established. Several examples illustrate the potential and the limitations of this approach to blast wave research. PACS 47.40.Nm; 52.35.Tc; 42.40.Kw An abridged version of this paper was presented at the First International Symposium on Interdisciplinary Shock Wave Research in Sendai, Japan, from March 22 to 24, 2004.     

Bending of Euler–Bernoulli nanobeams based on the strain-driven and stress-driven nonlocal integral models: a numerical approach

Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory is extensively employed for the analysis of nanostructures because it is able to capture nanoscale effects. Previous studies have revealed that using the differential form of the strain-driven version of this theory leads to paradoxical results in some cases, such as bending analysis of cantilevers, and recourse must be made to the integral version. In this article, a novel numerical approach is developed for the bending analysis of Euler–Bernoulli nanobeams in the context of strain- and stress-driven integral nonlocal models. This numerical approach is proposed for the direct solution to bypass the difficulties related to converting the integral governing equation into a differential equation. First, the governing equation is derived based on both strain-driven and stress-driven nonlocal models by means of the minimum total potential energy. Also, in each case, the governing equation is obtained in both strong and weak forms. To solve numerically the derived equations, matrix differential and integral operators are constructed based upon the finite difference technique and trapezoidal integration rule. It is shown that the proposed numerical approach can be efficiently applied to the strain-driven nonlocal model with the aim of resolving the mentioned paradoxes. Also, it is able to solve the problem based on the strain-driven model without inconsistencies of the application of this model that are reported in the literature.     

Linear and nonlinear dynamics of reciprocating engines

In the first part of this study, dynamic models of single- and multi-cylinder reciprocating machines are presented, which may involve torsional flexibility in the crankshaft. These models take into account the dependence of the engine moment of inertia on the crankshaft rotation. In addition, both the driving and the resisting moments are expressed as functions of the crankshaft motion. This leads to dynamic models with equations of motion appearing in a strongly nonlinear form. Initially, an approximate analytical solution is presented for a linearized version of the equations of motion, by applying a suitable asymptotic method. This provides valuable insight into some aspects of the system dynamics. In the second part, numerical results are presented for linear and nonlinear engine models by applying appropriate methodologies, leading to direct determination of complete branches of steady-state response. These results illustrate the effect of the system parameters on its dynamics. Finally, some results are also presented in an effort to investigate the effect of engine misfire.     

A quantitative laser sheet image processing method for the study of the coherent structure of a circular jet flow

A quantitative two-dimensional digital image processing technique is successfully developed to enhance qualitative flow visualization and to obtain quantitative results. The technique is applied to study some less known properties of the coherent structural interaction and evolution mechanism of a low Reynolds number circular jet flow under high level acoustic excitation. Before processing the quantitative data, many inherent errors and uncertainties of the instruments and the system are first discussed and corrected. In this research, the uniformity and the traceability of the flow marker are carefully tested, and the distortion of the imaging system and the fan-shape of the laser sheet are calibrated. Through the image processing technique, the spreading of the jet, the trajectory and the convective velocity of the vortex can be analyzed rapidly and simultaneously. By analyzing the constant jet fluid concentration contour, the mechanism of vortex roll-up and entrainment, which has been ambiguous by traditional pointwise measurements, are more solidly confirmed. Also, the detailed tearing process of the vortex and the evolution mechanism of partial pairing, which can not be clearly detected in the conventional flow visualization pictures, are made clearly visible and carefully delineated.A version of this paper was presented at the 11th Symp. on Turbulence, University of Missouri-Rolla, 17–19 Oct. 1988