GPU‐accelerated direct numerical simulations of decaying compressible turbulence employing a GKM‐based solver

Gas Kinetic Method‐based flow solvers have become popular in recent years owing to their robustness in simulating high Mach number compressible flows. We evaluate the performance of the newly developed analytical gas kinetic method (AGKM) by Xuan et al. in performing direct numerical simulation of canonical compressible turbulent flow on graphical processing unit (GPU)s. We find that for a range of turbulent Mach numbers, AGKM results shows excellent agreement with high order accurate results obtained with traditional Navier–Stokes solvers in terms of key turbulence statistics. Further, AGKM is found to be more efficient as compared with the traditional gas kinetic method for GPU implementation. We present a brief overview of the optimizations performed on NVIDIA K20 GPU and show that GPU optimizations boost the speedup up‐to 40x as compared with single core CPU computations. Hence, AGKM can be used as an efficient method for performing fast and accurate direct numerical simulations of compressible turbulent flows on simple GPU‐based workstations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reinvestigation of the ν2 + 2ν3 subband in the overtone icosad of 12CH4 using cavity ring-down (CRD) spectroscopy of a supersonic jet expansion

We report a detailed reinvestigation of the ν₂?+?2ν₃ combination band of methane ¹²CH₄ centred at (7510.3378?±?0.003)?cm^?1 ((225.154263?±?0.0001)?THz) within the icosad of the overtone absorption. A new experimental setup is described, allowing us to carry out cw-laser cavity ring-down spectroscopy (cw-CRDS) at instrumental resolution in the MHz range in seeded supersonic jet expansions down to rotational temperature of 7?K compared to previous cw-CRDS measurements in our group achieving about 50?K in expansions of neat CH₄. We provide a careful re-analysis on the basis of our new experimental results for the Q and R branch transitions including data obtained between about 7 and 300?K under various conditions. We resolve previously observed discrepancies of assignments and are able to present a definitive assignment for lines involving angular momentum quantum numbers up to J?=?4. The analysis of relative intensities in spectra taken at rotational and effective translational temperatures between about 50?K and less than 10?K indicate conservation of nuclear spin symmetry upon supersonic jet expansion, in agreement with previous results using other techniques and covering other spectral ranges.     

Dynamics of plasma channel in a parallel-plate plasma gun

Lumped parameter models for describing dynamics of the plasma channel in a parallel-plate plasma gun are compared with the experimental results obtained from two plasma guns with different rail geometries. Comparison between the experiments and the numerical calculations reveals that the lumped parameter models can be utilized to describe the dynamic motion of the plasma channel quite well. Parametric study shows that minimizing the line inductance and increasing the charging voltage on a capacitor as well as minimizing the gas injection time for reducing the mass of the plasma channel are the key factors to increase the flow velocity of the plasma jet ejected from the plasma gun.     

An efficient low‐dissipative WENO filter scheme

This paper presents a simple and efficient procedure developed for tracing discontinuities in flow fields. Numerical experiments are carried out to test the new sensor coupled with the associated nonlinear WENO dissipation filter developed to suppress the numerical dissipation. The tests show that, for a problem containing shocks and vortices, the implementation of the new sensor and an optimized WENO scheme can obtain a stable and highly resolved solution. The numerical experiments demonstrated that the new filter scheme performs efficiently both in parallel and serial running for one‐dimensional inviscid flow problems. Direct numerical simulation of a Mach 5 turbulent boundary layer over a flat plate was carried out to demonstrate the applicability of the scheme to the DNS practices. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Novel Scheme for Calculating Pressure Fluctuations Used in Lagrangian-Eulerian Particulate Dispersion Codes

A novel scheme for pressure fluctuations in turbulent flows is developed. The pressure fluctuations are sensitive parameter in some of the fluid phenomena. In the computational methods and modeling turbulence flow, the pressure fluctuations are eliminated after averaging of the Navier-Stokes equations, and only average pressure could be calculated. In this research, the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are computed using SIMPLE method. The Reynolds stress transport model (RSTM) is used to determine the Reynolds stresses and the flow details. The velocity fluctuations are simulated using the Kraichnan model. The Poisson equation for the pressure fluctuations is obtained by taking the divergence of the incompressible momentum equation and algebraic operations, and this equation is numerically solved by finite difference method. The effects of Reynolds number on the pressure fluctuations are studied.     

Pulsed microwave-driven argon plasma jet with distinctive plume patterns resonantly excited by surface plasmon polaritons

Atmospheric lower-power pulsed microwave argon cold plasma jets are obtained by using coaxial transmission line resonators in ambient air.The plasma jet plumes are generated at the end of a metal wire placed in the middle of the dielectric tubes.The electromagnetic model analyses and simulation results suggest that the discharges are excited resonantly by the enhanced electric field of surface plasmon polaritons.Moreover,for conquering the defect of atmospheric argon filamentation discharges excited by 2.45-GHz of continued microwave,the distinctive patterns of the plasma jet plumes can be maintained by applying different gas flow rates of argon gas,frequencies of pulsed modulator,duty cycles of pulsed microwave,peak values of input microwave power,and even by using different materials of dielectric tubes.In addition,the emission spectrum,the plume temperature,and other plasma parameters are measured,which shows that the proposed pulsed microwave plasma jets can be adjusted for plasma biomedical applications.     

Conformation‐Specific Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy of Cold,Isolated Chiral Molecules

The CD spectroscopy of a chiral compound in solution yields an average CD value derived from all of the conformations of a chiral molecule. By contrast, CD spectroscopy of cold chiral molecules in the gas phase distinguishes specific conformers of a chiral molecule, but the weak CD effect has limited the practical application of this technique. Reported herein is the first resonant two‐photon ionization CD spectra of ephedrines in a supersonic jet using circularly polarized laser pulses, which were generated by synchronizing the oscillation of the photoelastic modulator with the laser firing. The spectra exhibited well‐resolved CD bands which were specific for the conformations and vibrational modes of each enantiomer. The CD signs and magnitudes of the jet‐cooled chiral molecules were very sensitive to their conformations and thus offered crucial information for determining the three‐dimensional structures of chiral species, as conducted in combination with quantum chemical calculations.     

The dynamic behavior of magnetic fluid adsorbed to small permanent magnet in alternating magnetic field

The dynamic behavior of a magnetic fluid adsorbed to a small NdFeB permanent magnet subjected to an alternating magnetic field was studied with a high speed video camera system. The directions of alternating magnetic field are parallel and opposite to that of the permanent magnet. It was found that the surface of magnetic fluid responds to the external alternating magnetic field in elongation and contraction with a lot of spikes. Generation of a capillary magnetic fluid jet was observed in the neighbourhood of a specific frequency of alternating field. The effect of gravitational force on surface phenomena of magnetic fluid adsorbed to the permanent magnet was revealed.     

Influence of standoff distance on the structure and properties of carbon coatings deposited by atmospheric plasma jet

Carbon coatings were deposited by atmospheric plasma jet. Influence of the distance between the exit of the plasma gun and a substrate (consequently temperature of the substrate) on properties of the coatings was investigated. The coatings deposited near to the exit of the plasma gun are porous with columnar structure, moderate hardness (∼10 GPa), and the lowest hydrogen (∼7 at.%) concentration. The coatings deposited at the larger standoff distance (>5 mm) have higher hydrogen (≤25 at.%) content and graphite-like structure. Most of the hydrogen in all coatings is bonded to the sp³ carbon (70-60 at.%) and predominantly forms methylene compounds. Decrease of standoff distance yields lower concentration of sp³ CH₃ compounds and relative increase of amount of hydrogenated sp² rings.