Continuum percolation of porous media via random packing of overlapping cube-like particles

The pore configuration in porous medium is assumed to be the randomly distributed cube-like particles which can overlap each other in the periodic cubic domain, and the impact of particle characteristics on the percolation property of these cube-like particle packing systems is analyzed.Firstly, by combining the percolation models and finite-size scaling analysis, three numerical parameters(i.e., percolation transition width △L, local percolation threshold ψ_c(L), and correlation length exponent v) for the cube-like particle systems with shape parameter s in[1.0, +∞] are derived successively. Then, based on the relation between the percolation thresholdψ_c in infinite space and the local percolation threshold ψ_c(L), the corresponding ψ_c with s in[1.0, +∞] are further determined. It is shown from the study that the characteristics of cube-like particles have significant influence on the global percolation threshold ψ_c of the particle packing systems. As the parameter s increases from 1.0 to +∞, the percolation threshold ψ_c will go down persistently. When the surface of cube-like particles is cubical and spherical, respectively, the minimum and maximum thresholds ψ_c,min and ψ_c,max are obtained.     

A micromechanical model for effective conductivity in granular electrode structures

Optimization of composition and microstructure is important to enhance performance of solid oxide fuel cells （SOFC） and lithium-ion batteries （LIB）. For this, the porous electrode structures of both SOFC and LIB are modeled as a binary mixture of electronic and ionic conducting particles to estimate effective transport properties. Particle packings of 10000 spherical, binary sized and randomly positioned particles are created numerically and densified considering the different manufacturing processes in SOFC and LIB： the sintering of SOFC electrodes is approximated geometrically, whereas the calendering process and volume change due to intercalation in LIB are modeled physically by a discrete el- ement approach. A combination of a tracking algorithm and a resistor network approach is developed to predict the con- nectivity and effective conductivity for the various densified structures. For SOFC, a systematic study of the influence of morphology on connectivity and conductivity is performed on a large number of assemblies with different compositions and particle size ratios between 1 and 10. In comparison to percolation theory, an enlarged percolation area is found, es- pecially for large size ratios. It is shown that in contrast to former studies the percolation threshold correlates to varying coordination numbers. The effective conductivity shows not only an increase with volume fraction as expected but also with size ratio. For LIB, a general increase of conductivity during the intercalation process was observed in correlation with increasing contact forces. The positive influence of cal- endering on the percolation threshold and the effective conductivity of carbon black is shown. The anisotropy caused by the calendering process does not influence the carbon black phase.     

Effect of particle size distribution on particle based composite anode models

Particle based models of composite anodes are useful tools for exploring the behavior of SOFC systems. As part of our efforts to develop models for understanding fuel cells, we have been building models of Ni-YSZ composite anodes using experimentally measured particle size distributions. The objectives of this study were to characterize the percolation threshold and conductivity of these models in comparison to simpler mono dispersed and biphasic particle size distributions from the literature. We found that the average values for the onset of percolation and the measured conductivity of the models with experimentally measured particle size distributions are similar to those for the simple distributions and the experimentally measured distributions. For all of the configurations evaluated, the onset of percolation in the Nickel phase occurred at a solid fraction of Nickel between 20% and 25%. This corresponded almost exactly to the point at which the coordination number between Nickel phase particles reached 2.2. The significant finding was that the variation in the value for the conductivity, as measured by the standard deviation of the results, was several orders of magnitude higher than for the simpler systems. We explored the validity of our assumptions, specifically the assumption of random particle placement, by building a particle model directly from FIB-SEM data. In this reconstruction, it was clear that the location of particles was not random. Particles of the same type and size had much likelihood of contact higher than would indicated by random location.     

Semi-analytical solution to one-dimensional consolidation in unsaturated soils

In this paper, a series of semi-analytical solutions to one-dimensional consolidation in unsaturated soils are obtained. The air governing equation by Fredlund for unsaturated soils consolidation is simplified. By applying the Laplace transform and the Cayley-Hamilton theorem to the simplified governing equations of water and air, Darcy＇s law, and Fick＇s law, the transfer function between the state vectors at top and at any depth is then constructed. Finally, by the boundary conditions, the excess pore-water pressure, the excess pore-air pressure, and the soil settlement are obtained under several kinds of boundary conditions with the large-area uniform instantaneous loading. By the Crump method, the inverse Laplace transform is performed, and the semi-analytical solutions to the excess pore-water pressure, the excess pore-air pressure, and the soils settlement are obtained in the time domain. In the case of one surface which is permeable to air and water, comparisons between the semi-analytical solutions and the analytical solutions indicate that the semi-analytical solutions are correct. In the case of one surface which is permeable to air but impermeable to water, comparisons between the semi-analytical solutions and the results of the finite difference method are made, indicating that the semi-analytical solution is also correct.     

Analysis of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils based on theory of mixtures I

This paper analyzes a coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils based on the theory of mixtures. Unsaturated soil is considered as a mixture composed of soil skeleton, liquid water, vapor, dry air, and dissolved air. In addition to the mass and momentum conservation equations of each component and the energy conservation equation of the mixture, the system is closed using other 37 constitutive （or restriction） equations. As the change in water chemical potential is identical to the change in vapor chemical potential, a thermodynamic restriction relationship for the phase transition between pore water and pore vapor is formulated, in which the impact of the change in gas pressure on the phase transition is taken into account. Six final govern- ing equations are given in incremental form in terms of six primary variables, i.e., three displacement components of soil skeleton, water pressure, gas pressure, and temperature. The processes involved in the coupled model include thermal expansions of soil skeleton and soil particle, Soret effect, phase transition between water and vapor, air dissolution in pore water, and deformation of soil skeleton.     

ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY BY FLOODING WITH HYDROPHILIC NANOPARTICLES

In this paper, the mechanism of enhanced oil recovery using lipophobic and hydrophilic polysilicon （LHP） nanoparticles ranging in size from 10 to 500 nm for changing the wettability of porous media was analysed theoretically. A one-dimensional two-phase mathematical model considering the migration and adsorption of LHP and wettability change in reservoir rock was proposed, and a simulator was developed to quantitatively predict the changes in relative and effective permeability of the oil and water phases and the oil recovery in sandstone after water driving. Numerical simulations were conducted to study the distribution of the particle concentration, the reduction in porosity and absolute permeability, the LHP volume retention on pore walls and in pore throats along a dimensionless distance, and oil production performance. In conclusion, oil recovery can obviously be improved by flooding with hydrophilic nanometer powders though permeability declines for the retention of nanoparticles in porous media. It is suggested that an LHP concentration ranging from 0.02 to 0.03 is preferable to enhance oil recovery.     

Shocklets in compressible flows

The mechanism of shocklets is studied theoretically and numerically for the stationary fluid, uniform compressible flow, and boundary layer flow. The conditions that trigger shock waves for sound wave, weak discontinuity, and Tollmien-Schlichting （T-S） wave in compressible flows are investigated. The relations between the three types of waves and shocklets are further analyzed and discussed. Different stages of the shocklet formation process are simulated. The results show that the three waves in compressible flows will transfer to shocklets only when the initial disturbance amplitudes are greater than the certain threshold values. In compressible boundary layers, the shocklets evolved from T-S wave exist only in a finite region near the surface instead of the whole wavefront.     

DEM simulation of particle percolation in a packed bed

The phenomenon of spontaneous particle percolation under gravity is investigated by means of the discrete element method. Percolation behaviors such as percolation velocity, residence time distribution and radial dispersion are examined under various conditions. It is shown that the vertical velocity of a percolating particle moving down through a packing of larger particles decreases with increasing the restitution coefficient between particles and diameter ratio of the percolating to packing particles. With the increase of the restitution coefficient, the residence time and radial dispersion of the percolating particles increase. The packing height affects the residence time and radial dispersion. But, the effect can be eliminated in the analysis of the residence time and radial dispersion when they are normalized by the average residence time and the product of the packing height and packing particle diameter, respectively. In addition, the percolation velocity is shown to be related to the vertical acceleration of the percolating particle when an extra constant vertical force is applied. Increasing the feeding rate of percolating particles decreases the dispersion coefficient.     

Bifurcations in penetrative Rayleigh-Be′nard convection in a cylindrical container

The bifurcations of penetrative Rayleigh-B′enard convection in cylindrical containers are studied by the linear stability analysis(LSA) combined with the direct numerical simulation(DNS) method. The working ?uid is cold water near 4?C, where the Prandtl number P r is 11.57, and the aspect ratio(radius/height) of the cylinder ranges from 0.66 to 2. It is found that the critical Rayleigh number increases with the increase in the density inversion parameter θ_m. The relationship between the normalized critical Rayleigh number(Rac(θ_m)/Rac(0)) and θ_m is formulated, which is in good agreement with the stability results within a large range of θ_m. The aspect ratio has a minor effect on Rac(θ_m)/Rac(0). The bifurcation processes based on the axisymmetric solutions are also investigated. The results show that the onset of axisymmetric convection occurs through a trans-critical bifurcation due to the top-bottom symmetry breaking of the present system.Moreover, two kinds of qualitatively different steady axisymmetric solutions are identi?ed.     

Contact Behavior of Worn Bearings with Elastoplastic Functionally Graded Coating Based on Mixed Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication

The dynamic contact behavior of worn bearings with elastoplastic functionally graded coating is studied,and the interacting effect between worn band and functionally graded surface is analyzed.The surface deformation and roughness are included in the film thickness.The mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication combined with point contact model is introduced to analyze the oil pressure in the contact zone.By using the Fourier transform method and Papkovich-Neuber potential function,the displacements and stress fields in the elastoplastic functionally graded coating are obtained.The second-order central difference method is used to solve the Reynolds equation.It is found that the repeated surface interaction can result in the sharp increase in pressure in bearings,and the oil pressure increases with increasing graded index.The entrainment of oil in the inlet and outlet zones becomes more evident if a large graded index is selected.     

Experimental study on the effect of drag reducing polymer on flow patterns and drag reduction in a horizontal oil–water flow

In this study, a HMW anionic co-polymer of 40:60 wt/wt NaAMPS/acrylamide was used as a drag reducing polymer (DRP) for oil–water flow in a horizontal 25.4 mm ID acrylic pipe. The effect of polymer concentration in the master solution and after injection in the main water stream, oil and water velocities, and pipe length on drag reduction (DR) was investigated. The injected polymer had a noticeable effect on flow patterns and their transitions. Stratified and dual continuous flows extended to higher superficial oil velocities while annular flow changed to dual continuous flow. The results showed that as low as 2 ppm polymer concentration was sufficient to create a significant drag reduction across the pipe. DR was found to increase with polymer concentration increased and reached maximum plateau value at around 10 ppm. The results showed that the drag reduction effect tends to increase as superficial water velocity increased and eventually reached a plateau at U_sw of around 1.3 m/s. At U_sw > 1.0 m/s, the drag reduction decreased as U_so increased while at lower water velocities, drag reduction is fluctuating with respect to U_so. A maximum DR of about 60% was achieved at U_so = 0.14 m/s while only 45% was obtained at U_so = 0.52 m/s. The effectiveness of the DRP was found to be independent of the polymer concentration in the master solution and to some extent pipe length. The friction factor correlation proposed by Al-Sarkhi et al. (2011) for horizontal flow of oil–water using DRPs was found to underpredict the present experimental pressure gradient data.     

Experimental investigation on flow asymmetry in solid entrance region of a square circulating fluidized bed

To study the influence of back feeding particles on gas-solid flow in the riser, this paper investigated the flow asymmetry in the solid entrance region of a fluidized bed by particle concentration/velocity measurements in a cold square circulating fluidized beds （CFB）. The pressure drop distribution along the riser and the saturation carrying capacity of gas for Geldart-B type particles were first analyzed. Under the condition of u0 = 4 m/s and Gs = 21 kg/（m^2 s）, the back feeding particles were found to penetrate the lean gas-solid flow near the entrance （rear） wall before reaching the opposite （front） wall, thus leading to a relatively denser region near the front wall in the bottom bed. Higher solid circulation rate （u0 =4 m/s, Gs = 33 kg/（m^2 s）） resulted in a higher particle concentration in the riser. However the back feeding particles with higher momentum increased the asymmetry of the particle concentration/velocity profile in the solid entrance region. Lower air velocity （u0 =3.2 m/s） and Gs =21 kg/（m2 s）, beyond the saturation carrying capacity of gas, induced an S-shaped axial solid distribution with a denser bottom zone. This limited the penetration of the back feeding particles and forced the flnidizing air to flow in the central region, thus leading to a higher solid holdup near the rear wall. Under the conditions of uo = 4 m/s and Gs = 21 kg/（m^2 s）, addition of coarse particles （dp= 1145 μm） into the bed made the radial distribution of solids more symmetrical.     

Influence of single rectangular groove on the flow past a circular cylinder

In the present study, flow control mechanism of single groove on a circular cylinder surface is presented experimentally using Particle image velocimetry (PIV). A square shaped groove is patterned longitudinally on the surface of the cylinder with a diameter of 50 mm. The flow characteristics are studied as a function of angular position of the groove from the forward stagnation point of the cylinder within 0° ≤ θ ≤ 150°. In the current work, instantaneous and time-averaged flow data such as vorticity, ω streamline, Ψ streamwise, u/U_o and transverse, v/U_o velocity components, turbulent kinetic energy, TKE and RMS of streamwise, u_rms and transverse, v_rms velocity components are utilized in order to present the results of quantitative analyses. Furthermore, Strouhal numbers are calculated using Karman vortex shedding frequency, f_k obtained from single point spectral analysis. It is concluded that a critical angular position of the groove, θ = 80° is observed. The flow separation is controlled within 0° ≤ θ < 80°. At θ = 80°, the flow separation starts to occur in the upstream direction. The instability within the shear layer is also induced on grooved side of the cylinder with frequencies different than Karman vortex shedding frequency, f_k.     

A rheological method for selecting nano-kaolin powder as filler in SBR rubber

This paper shows that the stiffness of styrene-butadiene solid rubber with added kaolin powder is related to the yield stress of kaolin dispersion in liquid polybutadiene rubber up to the percolation threshold.For five kinds of kaolin powder,the value of τ spans the range of 100-430Pa,while the corresponding compressive elastic constant of SBR varies from 12 to 21MPa.A relationship between τ° and ΔE*i/E*R is proposed.Critical examination of these data infers that kaolin powder dispersed in solid rubber matrix acts as an additive which decreases the random movement of the polybutadiene chains.Consequently,dispersions of nano-particles in liquid and in solid SBR are considered to be related,thus leading to a rheological method for selecting nano-particles as fillers in solid SBR.     

Study of material agglomeration during nozzle injection of multiviscosity liquid into a fluidized bed reactor by the electric conductance method

Fluidized bed agglomeration is an important and challenging problem for thermal cracking in fluid cokers. A low coker temperature can be problematic because the bitumen is injected into the fluidized bed with a different viscosity, resulting in formation of agglomerates of varying sizes, which slows the cracking reactions. In the present study, the bed material agglomeration process during nozzle injection of multiviscosity liquid was investigated in a fluidized bed operated at different mass ratios of the atomization gas to the liquid jets (GLR = 1%–3.5%) and gas velocities (3.9U_mf and 5.9U_mf) based on a conductance method using a water–sand system to simulate the hot bitumen–coke system at room temperature. During the tests of liquid-jet dispersion throughout the bed, different agglomeration stages are observed at both gas velocities. The critical amount of tert-butanol in the liquid jets that could lead to severe agglomeration of the bed materials (poor fluidization) at GLR = 1% is about 10 wt% at the low fluidizing gas velocity (3.9U_mf) and 18 wt% at the high gas velocity (5.9U_mf). This study provides a new approach for on-line monitoring of bed agglomeration during liquid injection to guarantee perfect contact between the atomized liquid and the bed particles.     

Turbulent boundary layers over sparsely-spaced rod-roughened walls

Direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of spatially developing turbulent boundary layers (TBLs) over sparsely-spaced two-dimensional (2D) rod-roughened walls were performed. The rod elements were periodically arranged along the streamwise direction with pitches of p_x/k = 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128, where p_x is the streamwise spacing of the rods, and k is the roughness height. The Reynolds number based on the momentum thickness was varied from Re_θ = 300–1400, and the height of the roughness element was k = 1.5θ_in, where θ_in is the momentum thickness at the inlet. The characteristics of the TBLs, such as the friction velocity, mean velocity, and Reynolds stresses over the rod-roughened walls, were examined by varying the spacing of the roughness features (8 ⩽ p_x/k ⩽ 128). The outer-layer similarity between the rough and smooth walls was established for the sparsely-distributed rough walls (p_x/k ⩾ 32) based on the profiles of the Reynolds stresses, whereas those are not for p_x/k = 8 and 16. Inspection of the interaction between outer-layer large-scale motions and near-wall small-scale motions using two-point amplitude modulation (AM) covariance showed that modulation effect of large-scale motions on near-wall small-scale motions was strongly disturbed over the rough wall for p_x/k = 8 and 16. For p_x/k ⩾ 32, the flow that passed through the upstream roughness element transitioned to a smooth wall flow between the consecutive rods. The strong influence of the surface roughness in the outer layer for p_x/k = 8 and 16 was attributed to large-scale erupting motions by the surface roughness, creating both upward shift of the near-wall turbulent energy and active energy production in the outer layer with little influence on the near-wall region.     

Chebyshev finite difference approach to modeling the thermoviscosity effect in a power-law liquid film on an unsteady stretching surface

The effect of thermoviscosity (temperature-dependent viscosity) on the heat transfer in a power-law liquid film over an unsteady stretching sheet is investigated. Similarity analysis is used to transform the governing equations for mass, momentum and energy into a system of ordinary differential equations, which contain a thermoviscosity parameter θ_r, unsteadiness parameter S, generalized Prandtl number Pr and power-law index n. The film thickness, the temperature distributions, the local heat transfer rate, and the local skin-friction coefficient were obtained using the Chebyshev finite difference method (ChFD). The results show that thermoviscosity significantly increases the film thickness and the local heat transfer rate while decreasing the local skin-friction coefficient as θ_r → 1. It is found that liquids with a higher power-law index will have a larger film thickness and a higher free-surface temperature, which indicate a lower local heat transfer rate, ?θ′(0).     

Turbulent channel flow of dilute polymeric solutions: Drag reduction scaling and an eddy viscosity model

Direct numerical simulation of viscoelastic turbulent channel flows up to the maximum drag reduction (MDR) limit has been performed. The simulation results in turn have been used to develop relationships between the flow and fluid rheological parameters, i.e. maximum chain extensibility, Reynolds number, Re_τ, and Weissenberg number, We_τ and percent drag reduction (%DR) as well as the slope increment of the mean velocity profile. Moreover, based on the trends observed in the mean velocity profile and the overall momentum balance three different regimes of drag reduction (DR), namely, low drag reduction (LDR; 0 ≤ %DR ≤ 20), high drag reduction (HDR; 20 ≤ %DR ≤ 52) and MDR (52 ≤ %DR ≤ 74) have been identified and mathematical expressions for the eddy viscosity in these regimes are presented. It is found that both in LDR and HDR regimes the eddy viscosity varies with the distance from the channel wall. However, in the MDR regime the ratio of the eddy viscosity to the Newtonian one tends to a very small value around 0.1 within the channel. Based on these expressions a procedure that relies on the DNS predictions of the budgets of momentum and viscoelastic shear stress is developed for evaluating the mean velocity profile.     

Optimization and evaluation of fish oil microcapsules

Fish oil microcapsules were prepared using two natural polysaccharides, alginate and chitosan, as the wall materials. A response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the conditions for fish oil encapsulation efficiency (FOEE). The FOEE was investigated with respect to three key-variables in the RSM: ratio of inner oil phase to aqueous phase (X₁, w/w); concentration of the aqueous phase (X₂, wt%); and ratio of the aqueous phase to outer oil phase (X₃, v/v). The optimal formulation obtained from the RSM model, i.e., 2.7:1 (X₁), 1.6 wt% (X₂), and 11.5:1 (X₃), gave a FOEE of 28%. The model was validated and the fish oil microcapsules prepared under the optimized conditions were characterized in terms of particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, surface morphology, and in vitro release. The average droplet size, PDI, and zeta potential were 915 nm, 0.038, and +5.2 mV, respectively. The fish oil microcapsules were highly uniform microspheres, and had an accumulative release rate of 77.7% in 270 min in a gastrointestinal model, indicating their potential as an alternative carrier for the controlled release of fish oil. In conclusion, formulating optimal microencapsulation conditions by the RSM can be applied to the microencapsulation of various oil-soluble nutrients for food applications.     

Large bending behavior of creased paperboard. I. Experimental investigations

The large bending behavior of a creased paperboard is studied in the range of rotation θ ? [0°, 180°] – new results, apparently not reported previously in literature – with the aim to point out some crucial aspect involved in an adaptive robotic manipulation of the industrial cartons.The loading tests show a great variability of the mechanical behavior, depending dramatically on the crease indentation depth (also for the specimens obtained from the same carton): (a) when the damage induced during the crease formation is relatively small, the bending response is unusually complex: the moment constitutive function, m_L(θ), presents (up to) two peaks followed by unstable branches; (b) for greater indentation, the m_L(θ) is monotone.In the unloading case the response m_U(θ) is always monotone and is practically independent of the formation conditions of the crease. These behaviors can be easily described analytically using (piecewise) third degree splines.In a companion paper, the erection of a typical carton corner with unstable constitutive behavior is fully analyzed to detect the possible criticalities.