Orientational order parameter studies on 3.Om and 3O.Om liquid crystals

Orientational order parameter S is evaluated in the nematic phase of six liquid crystal compounds, N-(p-n-propyl benzylidene)-p-n-alkoxy anilines, 3.Om and N-(p-n-propyloxy benzylidene)-p-n-alkoxy anilines, 3O.Om compounds with m = 6, 7 and 8, using different methods. The techniques employed are S from birefringence δn, Haller's approximation from (1?T/T_c) ^β, effective geometry parameter α_g and Vuks’ scaling factor S_C. The values of S obtained using the above methods are compared with one another and with the results on a number of liquid crystals; the liquid crystals favor isotropic Vuks’ method.     

单矢量水听器估计目标方位的方法与实验

为评估基于单矢量水听器的方位估计能力,在黄海海域对矢量水听器进行实验。矢量水听器吊放于接收船尾部,采用平均声强器和复声强器方位估计方法,并提出以概率密度值最大的方位角作为目标方位估计值的具体处理准则,对恒定方向、匀速行驶的目标船方位进行估计,并求出两种方法的方位估计误差。结果表明,水听器布放深度10 m时,对正横距离为0.42 km的航速10 kn的目标船,平均声强器方法的水平方位角估计误差18°,极角估计误差为5°,可以在离目标船最远1.17 km处估计其方位;复声强法的水平方位角估计误差为13°,极角估计误差为8°,可以在离目标船最远2.35 km处估计其方位。在有接收船的噪声干扰情况下,复声强器比平均声强器方法估计的方位更准确,可以对更远处的噪声源进行方位估计。     

A variational solution of 2-D sound-structure interaction problems

Based on the fluid-structure coupling theory, a localized variational principle for analyzing the sound radiation from elastic structure submerged in water due to harmonic excitations is presented. It will be a powerful tool to formulate various numerical methods for steady response of structural-acoustic systems. By means of this variational principle a hybrid element method, in which an analytical solution valid in most of the surrounding water is incorporated with finite elements distributed in the structure and its neighboring water, is devised. Computational examples are then given to demonstrate its high accuracy and time saving. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10172038) and the Doctoral Program Foundation of Institution of Higher Education of China (20040487013). The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Foam Self-Clarification Phenomenon: An Experimental Investigation

This paper is focused on the capabilities of gas–liquid foams to attenuate acoustic waves. It is postulated that the sound attenuation phenomenon in foams is largely governed by the hydrodynamic resistance of the Plateau-Gibbs channels (PGC) to the flow of liquid through them. It is shown that the addition of solid particles to gas–liquid foams has opposite effects depending on the concentration of the added solid particles. As long as the concentration of the added solid particles is smaller than a certain critical value the sound attenuation coefficient increases and as a result in the sound velocity decreases. However, if the concentration of the added solid particles becomes larger than this critical value the attenuation coefficient decreases and the sound velocity increases. When the concentration of the solid particles reaches some critical value, the particles block the Plateau-Gibbs channels and stop the filtration. As a result the attenuation coefficient of the sound wave decreases while the sound velocity, in such three-phase foams, increases. The point at which the sound wave stops attenuating and its velocity starts to increase is known as the point of self-clarification. Based on this postulate and on the results of our preliminary tests the present study provides a plausible explanation to the above-mentioned contradicting effect, and the self- clarification phenomenon.     

Analysis of regular and irregular acoustic streaming patterns in a rectangular enclosure

This study reports an experimental investigation of the non-linear phenomena of regular (classical) and irregular streaming patterns generated in an air-filled rigid-walled square channel subjected to the acoustic standing waves of different frequencies and intensities. The interaction of acoustic waves and thermoviscous fluids is responsible for these phenomena. The resonator’s walls are maintained at isothermal condition. Synchronized particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique has been used to measure the streaming velocity fields. The experimental results show that at a given excitation frequency, regular streaming flow patterns are observed up to a certain value of the excitation amplitude. As the amplitude increases beyond this limit, the regular streaming is distorted to an irregular flow structure. The regular and irregular streaming are classified in terms of streaming Reynolds number . It is found that for Re_s2<50, classical streaming flow patterns are established and then deform to irregular and complex shapes as Re_s2 exceeds 50.     

Exterior cloaking with active sources in two dimensional acoustics

We cloak a region from a known incident wave by surrounding the region with three or more devices that cancel out the field in the cloaked region without significantly radiating waves. Since very little waves reach scatterers within the cloaked region, the scattered field is small and the scatterers are for all practical purposes undetectable. The devices are multipolar point sources that can be determined from Green's formula and an addition theorem for Hankel functions. The cloaking devices are exterior to the cloaked region.     

Broadband acoustic cloaks based on the homogenization of layered materials

We present an analysis of acoustic cloaks based on the homogenization of two fluidlike materials, with an emphasis on periodically layered imperfect cloaks, by removing the singularities of the acoustic parameters required for ideal cloaks. The conditions that material layers should satisfy are systematically analyzed and critically discussed according to their feasibility.     

3D stress local nondestructive analysis in the middle plane of a plate

The Isodyne technique based on the scattered light scanning from a thin laser beam can be used to obtain the information inside the loaded object in the room temperature nondestructively, so it is a very powerful technique in 3D stress analysis. The problems are how to interpret the information and how to get sufficient information from the few interference fringe. Birefringence phase shift technique can distinguish the fringe orders automatically and enrich the information in 256 gray levels between maxim and minim light intensity. In the paper the Isodyne birefringence phase shift method with an oblique incidence and equilibrium equation is presented, by which the 3D stresses in the middle plane of a plate with U shape notch are separated successfully. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under the Grant No. 1380345     

Simultaneous measurement of transient stress and flow birefringence in one-sided compression (biaxial extension) of a polymer melt

Summary Investigation of time dependent behaviour of a polystyrene melt is carried out with the aid of a new apparatus for biaxial extension. Use is made of the method of two impinging fluid streams guided by lubricated trumpet shaped metal walls. The flow birefringence is measured in the plane of symmetry and, at the same time, the force is measured which tends to separate the trumpets. The linear stress-optical relation turns out to be valid in this new flow geometry. An accurate value for the stress-optical coefficient can be determined from the relaxation experiments. The stress build-up as calculated from the optical measurements, is compared with the pertinent result of the theory of linear viscoelasticity. For the desired interconversion of dynamic moduli use is made of the approximation by Schwarzl and Struik. The steady state measurements are checked by the results of the non-linear model of Acierno et al.With 16 figures and 2 tables     

A tool for rapid quenching of elongated polymer melts

In this article, we present a device for rapid quenching of elongated polymer melts. The tool is an accessory to the uniaxial elongational rheometer RME of Meissner and Hostettler. It is intended to be used for microscopic and other investigations of stretched polymers. The device allows us to solidify a polymer melt by pouring liquid nitrogen on it and to cut it at the nearly same instant of time. Then the sample can be easily removed from the stretching apparatus. Solving the heat diffusion equation for a polymer melt, which is cooled by liquid nitrogen, we theoretically estimate the quenching time of this method. To demonstrate that this quenching procedure indeed rapidly cools a polymer melt, the stress birefringence of elongated and subsequently quenched polystyrene melts is measured and the stress-optical coefficient C is determined. The experimental value of the stress-optical coefficient is |C|= 4.65×10⁻⁹ Pa⁻¹, which agrees well with the data in literature. Using this tool for elongation experiments with the RME, polymer melts can be solidified in between approximately 0.2 and 2.0 s, depending on the thickness of the sample.