Approximate formulae for the wetting front position and boundary water-content during horizontal infiltration

New formulae giving the position of the wetting front and the surface water content during horizontal infiltration when the surface flux is specified are presented. The flux can be any smoothly-varying function of time, though only nonhysteretic flow is modeled. The approximation is in excellent agreement with an exact analytical solution existing for constant boundary flux and a nonlinear Fujita diffusivity. It is also successfully compared with a further exact solution existing for a particular time-varying flux.     

A review of pool and forced convective boiling of binary mixtures

Boiling of binary mixtures is characterized by a close linking between heat and mass transfer processes, with the evaporation rate usually being limited by the mass transfer process. This is significantly different from single-component systems where interfacial mass transfer rates are normally very high. Information on pool boiling of binary mixtures is widely available in the literature, whereas research on forced convective boiling of mixtures has become significant only over the last few years. This paper presents a brief review of experimental results obtained in pool and forced convective boiling of binary mixtures and upgrades the empirical or theoretical predictive tools for both situations.     

Experimental study of critical heat flux enhancement during forced convective flow boiling of nanofluid on a short heated surface

Enhancements of nucleate boiling critical heat flux (CHF) using nanofluids in a pool boiling are well-known. Considering importance of flow boiling heat transfer in various practical applications, an experimental study on CHF enhancements of nanofluids under convective flow conditions was performed. A rectangular flow channel with 10-mm width and 5-mm height was used. A 10 mm-diameter disk-type copper surface, heated by conduction heat transfer, was placed at the bottom surface of the flow channel as a test heater. Aqueous nanofluids with alumina nanoparticles at the concentration of 0.01% by volume were investigated. The experimental results showed that the nanofluid flow boiling CHF was distinctly enhanced under the forced convective flow conditions compared to that in pure water. Subsequent to the boiling experiments, the heater surfaces were examined with scanning electron microscope and by measuring contact angle. The surface characterization results suggested that the flow boiling CHF enhancement in nanofluids is mostly caused by the nanoparticles deposition of the heater surface during vigorous boiling of nanofluids and the subsequent wettability enhancements.     

Experimental study on the forced convective flow in a channel with heated blocks in tandem

This study experimentally examines the forced convective flow over two sequentially heated blocks mounted on one principal wall of a channel. The experiments, involving mass transfer, were carried out via the naphthalene sublimation technique (NST). By virtue of the analogy between heat and mass transfer, the results can then be converted to determine the heat transfer. In the experiments, the block spacings were set at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, and 22 and the Reynolds numbers were set at 1300 and 10⁴ which correspond to the laminar and the turbulent convective flow cases, respectively. Results show that the Sherwood number increases or decreases monotonically along the block surfaces in the laminar convection cases; while the hump and sharp increase in the Sherwood number can be found in the turbulent convection cases. This is attributed to the reattachment of the separating bubble and the flow impingement, respectively. Comparison between the experimental and numerical results is made and the effect of the block spacing on heat transfer is discussed.     

Experimental study on forced convective heat transfer of flowing gaseous solid suspension at high temperature

The results of an experimental study of the forced convective heat transfer to helium-graphite suspension at high temperatures up to 1173K are presented. Entering gas Reynolds number ranges from 1.0 x 10⁴ to 2.0 x 10⁴ and the particle loading ratio reaches about 4. The ratio of the Nusselt number of the suspension to that of gas alone increases considerably in a range of high loading ratios as the wall temperature increases. Subsequently, two kinds of turbulence promoters (200 and 400 mm pitch twisted tapes) are inserted in the flowing gaseous solid suspensions to make use of the large inertia forces of particles. The current results show that the local heat fluxes with use of the tapes increase significantly with the rise in the wall temperature owing to the radiative effect of the particulate phase.     

可识别微层裂前界面的阶跃信号电探针测试技术

受微喷射物质干扰,现常用的测试技术难以对复杂结构金属样品微层裂前界面进行准确识别,针对该问题提出阶跃信号电探针测试技术。对传统电探针受微喷射物质干扰出现不正常放电现象的原理进行分析,设计阶跃信号形成电路。开展锡金属样品爆轰实验,对比传统电探针和阶跃信号电探针的放电波形,分析阶跃信号电探针数据解读方法,联合X光测试技术,对阶跃信号电探针放电波形阶跃信号高电平出现时刻进行检定。实验结果表明:阶跃信号电探针测试技术能够识别微喷射物质的干扰,可用于爆轰加载下金属样品微层裂前界面的识别。     

A new method for optimum design of parallel manipulator based on kinematics and dynamics

This paper presents a new method for the optimum design of parallel manipulators by taking both the kinematics and dynamic characteristics into account. The optimum design of a 3-DOF 4-RRR planar parallel manipulator with actuation redundancy is investigated to demonstrate the method. The kinematic performance indices such as the conditioning index, the velocity index, and workspace area are analyzed. Further, the dynamic dexterity, which is used to evaluate the dynamic characteristics, is investigated. The corresponding atlases are represented graphically in the established design space. Based on these atlases, the geometrical parameters without dimension are determined. Then the optimum dimensional parameters are achieved based on the optimum non-dimensional result. By using the method proposed in this paper, the designer can obtain the optimum result with respect to both kinematic performance indices and dynamic performance indices. Since the dynamic performance is considered in the process of optimum design by using the method proposed in this paper, it is expected to realize the high dynamics of parallel manipulators.     

A dynamic U-tube rheometer of novel design for the study of weak gels and foams

A novel rheometer based on the U-tube technique of Saunders and Ward has been developed to determine the shear moduli of very weak gels and foams. The instrument is fully automatic and operates in both static and oscillatory modes. The change of the shear modulus, with the time, was monitored in three series of samples to illustrate the performance of the instrument. The first series comprised gelatinized maize starch aqueous suspensions ranging in starch concentration from 6% to 12%. The second was a series of gelatine aqueous solutions ranging in gelatine content from 2% to 12%. The third was two commercial samples of shaving foam. The results indicated that the instrument is particularly suitable for the study of the gelation mechanism in very weak gels as well as for the study of the stability of foams in relation to time.     

A finite element solution to turbulent diffusion in a convective boundary layer

A second-order closure turbulence model is used to simulate the plume behaviour of a passive contaminant dispersed in a convective boundary layer. A time-splitting finite element scheme is used to solve the set of partial differential equations. It is shown that the second-order closure model compares favourably with recent findings from laboratories, wind-tunnel experiments and large-eddy simulations. We also compare the second-order closure model with the commonly used K-diffusion model for the same meteorological conditions. Case studies also show the effects of model parameters and turbulence variables on the plume behaviour.     

A correlation for heat transfer during subcooled boiling on a single tube with forced crossflow

Many heat exchangers, such as shell and tube heat exchangers and kettle reboilers, involve boiling with flow across tubes. For rational design of such heat exchangers, it is desirable to be able to predict heat transfer on a single tube. The dimensionless correlation presented here agrees well with available data for subcooled boiling during crossflow on a single tube. The correlating parameters are the same as those used for boiling inside tubes¹⁶. The data correlated include three fluids, four tube materials, tube diameters from 1.2 to 25.4 mm, subcooling from 0 to 80°C, and velocities from 0.02 to 7.8 m/s. The mean deviation of 334 data points is 9.5%. Hence the new correlation appears to be usable over a wide range of parameters.     

Fragmentation of fuel pellets during transport via a belt conveyor: A design of experiment study

This work investigates the proportion of generated fines in a pilot-scale experiment using a belt conveyor and commercial fuel pellets. For this, a belt conveyor with a length of 3.1 m was used and operated at varying conditions: speeds, percentages of material loading on the belt, two combinations of the inclination angle of the belt and the falling height, and a different number of handling steps. We considered a design of experiments approach based on response surface methodology to investigate the effect of different conditions on the potential of fines generation. Moreover, a comparison between the results of the belt conveyor and three common benchmark experimental approaches (tumbling box, rotary impact tester, and mechanical compression test) was made. Results show that the number of handling steps and the combined effect of drop height and inclination angle directly affected the fines generation. However, the tested belt speed range and the level of loading were of lower significance. A polynomial quadratic model was derived based on the regression analysis and showed a high accuracy to predict the proportion of fines. Moreover, the tumbling box method showed good potential to predict the proportion of fines in a belt conveyor when transported several times.     

A concentration probe for the study of mixing in supersonic shear flows

An aspirating hot-film probe is developed to measure local mean gas composition in supersonic flows. The probe consists of a constant temperature hot-film sensor operating in a channel with a choked exit. Thus, the flow over the hot film is influenced only by total temperature, total pressure, and gas concentration. The use of the probe requires a separate measurement of the total temperature in the gas flow. The probe has a spatial resolution of 0.011 in. and shows acceptable sensitivity to flow angularity. The probe is used in the study of an unheated supersonic air/helium mixing layer in a 23 cm × 23 cm supersonic wind tunnel. Data are presented in raw form and after reduction to concentration and mean flow quantities.     

A novel robust design method for improving stability of optimized structures

It is known that structural optimization may lead to designs of structures having low stability and sometimes even kinematically unstable designs. This paper presents a robust design method for improving the stability of optimized structures. A new approach is proposed, in which certain perturbation loads are introduced and the corresponding compliance is added to the objective function as a penalization. The stability of the optimized structures can thus be improved substantially by considering structural responses to the original and the introduced loads. Numerical examples show the simplicity and effectiveness of the proposed method.