Heat conduction in a rock mass with an annular hot water store

Vast subterranean caverns may be used for hot water storage in distinct heating schemes; such caverns can be annular, with a central pillar. This paper considers the quasi-steady solution of the heat conduction equation for this geometry with periodic temperature variations     

CO2 will probably not help to save Venice from the sea

It has been proposed to rise Venice by injecting CO₂ into an aquifer lying 600–800 m below its lagoon. It is shown that because of the prevailing ambient conditions in the aquifer phase change of CO₂ cannot be avoided. The ensuing change of specific volume and compressibility will inhibit a uniform uplift pattern which is needed to avoid cracks in historical buildings. Further, both liquid and gaseous CO₂ produce capillary effects at the contact surface with water in the voids of the reservoir rock and this affects its mechanical response. Hence further non homogeneity in the uplift pattern will be produced. This prevents the use of CO₂ in the proposed conditions.     

Force–displacement relationship in micro-metric pantographs: Experiments and numerical simulations

In this paper, we reveal that the mathematical discrete model of Hencky type, introduced in [1], is appropriate for describing the mechanical behavior of micro-metric pantographic elementary modules. This behavior does not differ remarkably from what has been observed for milli-metric modules, as we prove with suitably designed experiments. Therefore, we conclude that the concept of pantographic microstructure seems feasible for micro-metrically architected microstructured (meta)materials as well. These results are particularly indicative of the possibility of fabricating materials that can have an underlying pantographic microstructure at micrometric scale, so that its unique behavior can be exploited in a larger range of technological applications.     

三相介质饱和土自由场中爆炸波的传播规律

饱和土是由固体上颗粒、水和少量封闭的空气组成的三相介质。介绍了爆炸波作用下三相介质饱和土有限元基本方程的建立过程，推导了引进人工粘性项的动力有限元方程，得到在饱和土自由场中爆炸波的传播规律；不同空气含量饱和土中爆炸波随深度的衰减规律。文中还给出了有限元与有限差分间断分解结果的比较，以说明本文理论方法的有效性。     

一维流体饱和粘弹性多孔介质层的动力响应

本文研究了不可压流体饱和粘弹性多孔介质层的一维动力响应问题。基于粘弹性理论和多孔介质理论，在流相和固相微观不可压、固相骨架服从粘弹性积分型本构关系和小变形的假定下，建立了不可压流体饱和粘弹性多孔介质层一维动力响应的数学模型，利用Laplace变换，求得了原初边值问题在变换空间中的解析解，并利用Laplace逆变换的Crump数值反演方法，得到原动力响应问题的数值解。数值研究了饱和标准线性粘弹性多孔介质层的动力响应，分析了固相位移、渗流速度、孔隙压力及固相有效应力等的响应特征。结果表明，与不可压流体饱和弹性多孔介质相同，不可压流体饱和粘弹性多孔介质中亦只存在一个纵波，并且固相骨架的粘性对动力行为有显著的影响。     

The effect of velocity on rigid wheel performance

A simulation model to predict the effect of velocity on rigid-wheel performance for off-road terrain was examined. The soil–wheel simulation model is based on determining the forces acting on a wheel in steady state conditions. The stress distribution at the interface was analyzed from the instantaneous equilibrium between wheel and soil elements. The soil was presented by its reaction to penetration and shear. The simulation model describes the effect of wheel velocity on the soil–wheel interaction performances such as: wheel sinkage, wheel slip, net tractive ratio, gross traction ratio, tractive efficiency and motion resistance ratio. Simulation results from several soil-wheel configurations corroborate that the effect of velocity should be considered. It was found that wheel performance such as net tractive ratio and tractive efficiency, increases with increasing velocity. Both, relative wheel sinkage and relative free rolling wheel force ratio, decrease as velocity increases. The suggested model improves the performance prediction of off-road operating vehicles and can be used for applications such as controlling and improving off-road vehicle performance.     

Polymer contribution to the thermal conductivity and viscosity in a dilute solution (Fraenkel Dumbbell model)

The phase-space kinetic theory for polymeric liquid mixtures is used to obtain an expression for the polymer contribution to the thermal conductivity of a nonflowing, dilute solution of polymers, where the polymer molecules are modeled as Fraenkel dumbbells. This theory takes into account three mechanisms for the energy transport: diffusion of kinetic energy (including the Öttinger-Petrillo term), diffusion of intramolecular energy, and the work done against the intramolecular forces. This paper is an extension of previous developments for the Hookean dumbbell model and the finitely-extensible dumbbell model. A comparison among the dumbbell results suggests that the thermal conductivity increases with chain stiffness. In addition, the zero-shear-rate viscosity and first normal-stress coefficient are also given for the Fraenkel dumbbell model.Dedicated to Prof. John D. Ferry on the occasion of his 85th birthday.     

The “decaying springs” model for irreversibility in polymer melts

In this work, entanglements in a polymer melt are modeled as a system of parallel springs which form and decay spontaneously. The springs are assumed to be nonlinear, and a certain fraction of them is torn apart by a certain strain.Based on these assumptions, a model of behavior in simple shear is developed. This model is shown to predict a behavior comprising that of a Wagner fluid, and is generalized to a tensorial model of single integral type. The integrand depends on a product of a material function, modeling reversible behavior, and a material functional which takes irreversible processes into account.Irreversibility of network disentanglement, which may occur when deformation changes or reverses direction, can be modeled in this way. It is shown that the two well-known Wagner constitutive equations with and without irreversibility assumptions are special cases of the model developed. In case of a deformation which does not change directions, the new material function and the material functional are multiplied to yield Wagner's damping function.When the rate of spring formation is a function of temperature, the developed model is shown to predict thermorheologically simple behavior. A constitutive equation for non-isothermal flow of polymers is developed with this assumption.     

Pore-scale network model for drainage-dominated three-phase flow in porous media

Drainage displacements in three-phase flow under strongly wetting conditions are completely described by a simple generalisation of well understood two-phase drainage mechanisms. As in two-phase flow, the sequence of throat invasions in three-phase flow is determined by fluid connectivity and threshold capillary pressure for the invading interface. Flow through wetting and intermediate spreading films is important in determining fluid recoveries and the progress of the displacement in three-phase flow. Viscous pressure drops associated with flow through films give rise to multiple filling and emptying of pores. A three-phase, two-dimensional network model based on the pore-scale fluid distributions and displacement mechanisms reported by Øren et al. and which accounts for flow through both wetting and intermediate fluid films is shown to correctly predict all the important characteristics of three-phase flow observed in glass micromodel experiments.