Announcements

Recent numerical investigations on pressure surges during pump trip in pumping installations showed that by including an air entrainment variable wave speed model, reasonable predictions of transient pressure surges with proper phasing and attenuation of pressure peaks can be obtained. These calculated results are consistent with similar field measurements made with the pumps operating at low pump cut-out levels, when air entrainment due to an attached surface vortex was observed. However, in the numerical calculation procedures it is assumed that the inertia of the moving elements of the check valve is small and that the check valve closes at zero reverse flow velocity. In practice, check valves seldom close precisely at zero reverse flow velocity. With the check valves not closing at zero reverse velocity, the present numerical computations show that the air content in a fluid system can adversely affect the check valve performance. With the fluid system operating within a critical range of air entrainment values, the present analysis showed that there is a possibility of ‘check valve slamming’ when the check valves are selected based only on the analysis of an air-free system. This phenomenon is confirmed through field observations.     

Operational characteristics of dual gain single cavity Nd:YVO4 laser

Operational characteristics of a dual gain single cavity Nd:YVO₄ laser have been investigated. With semiconductor diode laser pump power of 2 W, 800 mW output was obtained with a slope efficiency of 49%. Further, by changing the relative orientation of the two crystals the polarization characteristics of the output could be varied. In particular by keeping the two Nd:YVO₄ crystals with their c-axes orthogonal to each other and adjusting the gain of the crystals so that both operate at approximately the same power level, completely unpolarized beams could be obtained.     

Energy Transfers in a System of Two Coupled Oscillators with Essential Nonlinearity: 1:1 Resonance Manifold and Transient Bridging Orbits

The purpose of this study is to highlight and explain the vigorous energy transfers that may take place in a linear oscillator weakly coupled to an essentially nonlinear attachment, termed a nonlinear energy sink. Although these energy exchanges are encountered during the transient dynamics of the damped system, it is shown that the dynamics can be interpreted mainly in terms of the periodic orbits of the underlying Hamiltonian system. To this end, a frequency-energy plot gathering the periodic orbits of the system is constructed which demonstrates that, thanks to a 1:1 resonance capture, energy can be irreversibly and almost completely transferred from the linear oscillator to the nonlinear attachment. Furthermore, it is observed that this nonlinear energy pumping is triggered by the excitation of transient bridging orbits compatible with the nonlinear attachment being initially at rest, a common feature in most practical applications. A parametric study of the energy exchanges is also performed to understand the influence of the parameters of the nonlinear energy sink. Finally, the results of experimental measurements supporting the theoretical developments are discussed. This study was carried out while the author was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Technical University of Athens and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.     

New results for the Liebau phenomenon via fixed point index

We prove new results regarding the existence of positive solutions for a nonlinear periodic boundary value problem related to the Liebau phenomenon. As a consequence we obtain new sufficient conditions for the existence of a pump in a simple model. Our methodology relies on the use of classical fixed point index. Some examples are provided to illustrate our theory. We improve and complement previous results in the literature.     

Contribution to efficiency of irreversible passive energy pumping with a strong nonlinear attachment

The present study deals with nonlinear energy pumping which consists in passive irreversible transfer of energy from a linear structure to a nonlinear one. Various results (theoretical, numerical, and experimental) about energy pumping based on recent works are given. Thus, the phenomenon is studied for different excitations: transient and periodical. Moreover, advantages of such a system are carried out in particular efficiency of this phenomenon. That is why the robustness and comparison with classical tuned mass damper are analyzed. An application is considered with physical experiment using a reduced scale building.     

Heat transfer augmentation and pumping power in double-pipe heat exchangers

One of the criteria for evaluating the performance of a heat exchanger with extended surfaces is the pumping power required for a specified heat duty. The results of an experimental project to relate the pumping power to heat transfer augmentation in a double-pipe heat exchanger are reported. The inner, electrically heated pipe was provided with external, rectangular, axial extended surfaces with interruptions. Heat transfer augmentation and friction factors were determined for different configurations with air as the fluid. Starting with continuous fins, cuts were introduced in the fins to give four ratios of the finssegment length to the gap between the segments, and finally all the fins were removed, which resulted in smooth pipes. Five different mass flow rates in two different inner pipes were employed. Lengths, surface areas, and pumping powers for finned pipes are compared with those for smooth pipes. The average heat transfer coefficient increases with an increase in the frequency of the interruptions. For equal heat transfer rates a significant reduction in the lengths can be achieved by interrupted fins. In many cases the reduction in the length is also accompanied by a reduction in the pumping power.     

Designing a Linear Structure with a Local Nonlinear Attachment for Enhanced Energy Pumping

We present a design procedure for enhancing nonlinear energy pumping from a mode of a linear-damped substructure to a weakly coupled, essentially nonlinear oscillator. By this we denote the one way, irreversible passive transfer of vibrational energy from the mode to the nonlinear attachment. The design relies in the asymptotic expansion for large energies of a nonlinear normal mode of the underlying conservative system that provides an analytic estimate of the level of the amplitude reached by the nonlinear attachment in the energy pumping regime. The analytical findings are validated by direct numerical simulations.     

Steady-State dynamics of a linear structure weakly coupled to an essentially nonlinear oscillator

We present a theoretical study of the dynamics of the coupled system of Jiang, McFarland, Bergman, and Vakakis. It comprises a harmonically excited linear subsystem weakly coupled to an essentially nonlinear oscillator. We explored the rich dynamics exhibited by this coupled system by determining its periodic responses and their bifurcations. Not surprisingly, we found a lot of interesting dynamics over a broad frequency range: cyclic-fold, Hopf, symmetry-breaking, and period-doubling bifurcations; phase-locked motions; regions with multiple coexisting solutions; hysteresis; and chaos. We did not find any occurrence of energy transfer via modulation (also known as zero-to-one internal resonance); theoretically, the possibility of its occurrence was ruled out for systems with weak nonlinearity and damping. Finally, we investigated the ef fectiveness of the so-called nonlinear energy sink (NES) in vibration attenuation of forced linear structures. We found that the NES results in an increase in the vibration amplitude of the linear subsystem, especially when the damping is low, contrary to the claim made by Jiang et al. Also, we did not find any indication of nonlinear energy pumping or localization of energy in the NES, away from the directly forced linear subsystem, indicating that the NES is not ef fective for controlling the vibrations of forced linear structures.     

微极流体蠕动泵经由滑移边界管道输送的Stokes流动

计及管道边界条件滑移的影响,研究微极流体蠕动泵,经由圆柱形管道输运的Stokes流动.壁面运动的控制方程为正弦波方程.使用润滑理论,得到了轴向速度、微转动向量、流函数、压力梯度、摩擦力和机械效率的解析数值解.用图形表示出构成参数,如像耦合参数、微极参数和表征蠕流泵特性的滑移参数、摩擦力和俘获现象的影响.数值计算表明,当耦合参数较大时,需要蠕动泵的压力更大,而微极参数和滑移参数正相反.俘获团块的大小随耦合参数和微极参数的减小而缩小,而随滑移参数的增大而缩小.     

Comparative Study of Different Measurement Methods for Characterizing Rheological Properties of Lubrication Layer

The lubrication layer plays a governing role in predicting the pumpability of fresh concrete. To determine the effect of measurement methods on the characterization of the rheological properties of the lubrication layer, different measurement systems, including Sliper, tribometer, and the utilization of a mortar rheometer, were employed. The rheological properties and workability of bulk concrete were measured in parallel to investigate the correlation between them and the rheological properties of the lubrication layer. The results show that the measured values of the rheological parameters of the lubrication layer differ due to the systematic deviation between different measurement methods. The results obtained by both tribometer and mortar rheometer were well-correlated, having a linear relationship with the rheological parameters of bulk concrete. The correlation coefficient between results gained with Sliper and rheological parameters of concrete or lubrication layer determined with other methods was not high enough. Addition friction led to the large accidental error and overestimated yield stress obtained with Sliper. The workability of concrete is only suitable for characterizing the rheological properties of bulk concrete.