Analysis of forced-convection boiling flow instabilities in a single-channel upflow system

A numerical model is developed to predict the steady-state and transient behaviour of forced-convection boiling two-phase flow in a single channel. The model is based on the assumption of homogeneous two-phase flow and thermodynamic equilibrium of the phases. Compressibility effects in the two-phase region, motion of the bulk boiling interface and the thermal capacity of the heater wall have been included in the analysis. The model is used to study the effects of heat input, inlet subcooling and flow rate on the system behaviour. For comparison purposes, an experimental investigation was conducted using a single-channel, electrically heated, forced-convection upflow system. Steady-state operating characteristics, and stable and unstable regions, are determined as a function of heat flux, inlet subcooling and mass flow rate. Different modes of oscillation and their characteristics have been investigated. The model's predictions are in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Effects of hall current on MHD Couette flow in a channel partially filled with a porous medium in a rotating system

MHD Couette flow in a channel with non-conducting walls, partially filled with a porous medium, is investigated in the presence of an inclined magnetic field in a rotating system. It is observed that the MHD flow behaviour in the channel has been influenced significantly by the Coriolis force, the hydromagnetic force with an inclusion of Hall current and the permeability of the porous medium. Effects of the parameters of these forces on the velocity distributions, induced magnetic field distributions and the skin friction have been depicted graphically and discussed.     

Mechanical characterisation of a viscoplastic material sensitive to hydrostatic pressure

The present paper deals with the characterisation of the static mechanical behaviour of an energetic material all along its lifespan. The material behaviour is viscoplastic, damageable and sensitive to hydrostatic pressure. For such materials, existing models have generally been developed in the framework of transient dynamic behaviour. These models are not suitable for a static study. Therefore a specific experimental protocol and an associated model are developed. Characterisation is derived from both uniaxial compressive, tensile tests and triaxial tests. Plastic behaviour is described by means of a parabolic yield criterion and a new hardening law. Non-associated plastic flow rule and isotropic damage complete the model. The performance of the model is illustrated through the simulation of various loading paths.     

Unsteady non-linear convection in a second-order fluid

Linear and weakly non-linear analyses of convection in a second-order fluid is investigated. The Rivlin-Ericksen constitutive equation is considered to give viscoelastic correction to the momentum equation. The linear and non-linear analyses are, respectively, based on the normal mode technique and truncated representation of Fourier series. The linear theory reveals that the critical eigenvalue is independent of viscoelastic effects and the principle of exchange of stabilities holds. An autonomous system of differential equations representing cellular convection arising in the non-linear study is solved numerically. The non-linear analysis reveals that finite amplitudes have random behaviour. The effect of viscoelasticity on the non-linear solutions is analysed by considering different projections in the phase-space. Also, the transient behaviour concerning the variations of the Nusselt number with time has been investigated. The onset of chaotic motion is also discussed in this paper.     

Analysis of a horizontal solid-liquid pipe flow by a cross correlation method

The transit time distribution has been demonstrated to be a most useful measure of the behaviour of two phases mixtures but the measurement of it with tracers is difficult. The authors have tested a method based on the correlation of fluctuations in the mixture concentration as measured by gamma ray density meters at two sections. This method is shown to give accurate results and allows continuous monitoring of conditions in a pipeline. It is shown how such monitoring can allow the onset of critical conditions such as deposition or the formation of a mobile bed to be detected. This approach can lead to non-dimensional analysis and therefore prediction of mixture behaviour from laboratory tests.     

Non‐Newtonian blood flow study in a model cavopulmonary vascular system

A transient haemodynamic study in a model cavopulmonary vascular system has been carried out for a typical range of parameters using a finite element‐based Navier–Stokes solver. The focus of this study is to investigate the influence of non‐Newtonian behaviour of the blood on the haemodynamic quantities, such as wall shear stress (WSS) and flow pattern. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is based on an artificial compressibility characteristic‐based split (AC‐CBS) scheme, which has been adopted to solve the Navier–Stokes equations in space–time domain. A power law model has been implemented to characterize the shear thinning nature of the blood depending on the local strain rate. Using the computational model, numerical investigations have been performed for Newtonian and non‐Newtonian flows for different frequencies and input pulse forms. The haemodynamic quantities observed in total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) for the above conditions suggest that there are considerable differences in average (about 25–40%) and peak (about 50%) WSS distributions, when the non‐Newtonian behaviour of the blood is taken into account. The lower WSS levels observed for non‐Newtonian cases point to the higher risk of lesion formation, especially at higher pulsation frequencies. A realistic pulse form is relatively safer than a sinusoidal pulse as it has more energy distributed in the higher harmonics, which results in higher average WSS values. The present study highlights the importance of including non‐Newtonian shear thinning behaviour for modelling blood flow in the vicinity of repaired arterial connections. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal instability in a rotating anisotropic porous layer saturated by a viscoelastic fluid

Linear and non-linear thermal instability in a rotating anisotropic porous medium, saturated with viscoelastic fluid, has been investigated for free-free surfaces. The linear theory is being related to the normal mode method and non-linear analysis is based on minimal representation of the truncated Fourier series analysis containing only two terms. The extended Darcy model, which includes the time derivative and Coriolis terms has been employed in the momentum equation. The criteria for both stationary and oscillatory convection is derived analytically. The rotation inhibits the onset of convection in both stationary and oscillatory modes. A weak non-linear theory based on the truncated representation of Fourier series method is used to find the thermal Nusselt number. The transient behaviour of the Nusselt number is also investigated by solving the finite amplitude equations using a numerical method. The results obtained during the analysis have been presented graphically.     

Quasi-static bubble in a yield stress fluid: elasto-plastic model

The influence of the yield stress of Carbopol® gel dispersions on the behaviour of quasi-static bubbles was investigated. Many fluids, from many different industrial fields, have yield stress behaviour. Most of them contain gas bubbles. To study bubble behaviour in such suspensions, a transparent model fluid (dispersion of Carbopol® in water) was used. The experimental device allowed to quasi-statically increase bubble internal pressure with small pressure step to reach a maximum target internal pressure and the pressure setpoint was inverted to return to the initial pressure. Hysterical behaviour of the bubbles was highlighted as they did not regain their initial shape because of yield stress. We show that the rheological behaviour is related to the internal pressure, bubble geometry and yield stress in quasi-static conditions. A modification of the Laplace law depending on the yield stress of the fluid and bubble sphericity was proposed and validated.     

Study of a simple oscillatory flow in polar fluids

Summary In the present paper, we have undertaken a comparative study of the flow behaviour of two types of fluids —Eringen's mioropolar fluid andStokes' couple stress fluid — in a simple oscillatory flow. This study was undertaken with a view to see if the close resemblance of the flow behaviour of these two fluids in steady shearing flows was maintained even in time dependent flows. We find that the flow behaviour of these two fluids are widely different in oscillatory motion.     

A numerical study on the unsteady evolution of weak axisymmetric fountain flows in a homogeneous ambient

Weak axisymmetrical fountains resulting from the injection of a dense fluid upwards into a large container of homogeneous fluid of lower density has been studied numerically in this paper using a time-accurate finite volume scheme. The behaviour of fountains for both the uniform and parabolic profiles of the discharge velocity at the fountain source has been investigated. The evolution of transient fountain flow has been analysed and two distinct stages of evolution have been identified. The time trace of the position of the fountain front has been presented and the initial, temporary and final fountain height and fountain width have been determined. The project is jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Special Fund for the Young and Middle-aged Academic and Technical Leaders Training Scheme of Yunnan Province, and the Australian Development Cooperation Scholarship to Prof. Lin Wenxian. Author for correspondence: Li Yuncang.     

Nonlinear damped vibrations of simply-supported sandwich plates in a rapidly changing temperature field

The paper studies the effects of a rapidly changed temperature on the free vibrations of simply supported sandwich plates. It has been taken into account that the properties of the facings and of the core of the sandwich plate change with the temperature. The effects of geometrical nonlinearities on the behaviour of the plate have also been included. The damping is considered by modelling the viscoelastic core as a Voigt-Kelvin solid. A Runge-Kutta method is employed to solve the governing equations and obtain the numerical results. It was found that the rapid change of temperature strongly affects the amplitude and frequency of the vibrations.     

A Mechanistic Model of Gas-Condensate Flow in Pores

Recent experimental results reported in the literature indicate that the relative permeability of gas-condensate systems increases with rate (velocity) at some conditions. To gain a better understanding of the nature of the flow and the prevailing mechanisms resulting in such behaviour flow visualisation experiments have been performed, using high pressure micromodels. The observed flow behaviour at the pore level has been employed to develop a mechanistic model describing the coupled flow of gas and condensate phases. The results of the model simulating the observed simultaneous flow of gas and condensate phases have been compared with reported core experimental results. Most features of the reported rate effect are predictable by the developed single pore model, nevertheless, its extension to include multiple pore interaction is recommended.     

Effects of surface properties on the impact process of a yield stress fluid drop

The impact of a yield stress fluid drop onto a solid surface with diversified interface properties has been experimentally investigated. Two smooth substrates with distinct surface energies and three similar substrates with different roughnesses have been used. The bulk shear rheological behaviour of Carbopol gels, concentrated suspensions of swollen micro-gels, has been measured. Wall friction has also been characterized on each substrate. Slip effects of gels proved to be greater on a more hydrophobic substrate. They decreased with an increase in roughness. The drop hydrodynamics during the impact was correlated with the wall friction of the gels on all substrates and with the ratio of surface roughness to size of the swollen micro-gels. At very low impact velocities, the gravitational subsidence amplitude depends greatly on surface properties. At higher impact velocities, no significant difference is observed during the spreading phase. The drop behaviour differs during the retraction depending on the substrate. Interface effects during the retraction stage proved to diminish when the yield stress value increases.     

应变损伤材料平面应力动态裂纹尖端场的渐近解

采用塑性动力学方程,对应变损伤材料的平面应力动态裂纹尖端场进行了渐近分析。假定损伤规律服从反比例关系,对平面应力问题,导出了本构方程,并给出了动态弹塑性场的渐近解,揭示了场的渐近特性。     

Comparative Large Eddy Simulation study of a large-scale buoyant fire

A fully-coupled Large Eddy Simulation model which incorporates all essential combustion, radiation and soot chemistry considerations have been developed to simulate the temporal vortical structure of a large-scale buoyant fire. Numerical results are validated and compared against a full-scale fire measurements and predictions from other LES models. Quantitative comparisons against experimental data suggested that the present model successfully captured the vortical structures and the puffing behaviour of a buoyant fire.     

A further investigation about a simple model of the hunting behavior of some old locomotives

This study is concerned with forced damped purely nonlinear oscillators and their behaviour at different excitation frequencies. First, their dynamics is considered numerically for the response determined in the vicinity of a backbone curve with the aim of detecting coexisting responses that have not been found analytically so far. Both the cases of low and high excitation amplitudes are investigated. Second, the angular excitation frequency is lowered significantly for different powers of nonlinearity, and the system’s behaviour is examined qualitatively, which has not been considered previously related to a general class of purely nonlinear oscillators. It is illustrated that the response at a low-valued angular excitation frequency has a form of bursting oscillations, consisting of fast oscillations around a slow flow. Finally, approximate analytical solutions are presented for the slow and fast flow for a general class of purely nonlinear oscillators.     

Optimal harvesting of a two species competition model with imprecise biological parameters

In this paper a two competing species harvesting model with imprecise biological parameters has been developed. We have developed a method to handle these imprecise parameters and discuss the dynamical behaviour of the model. We have discussed the existence of various equilibrium points and stability of the system at these equilibrium points. Also the bionomic equilibrium of the harvesting model has been analysed. Next the equilibrium solution of the control problem has been derived, and then dynamical optimization of the harvest policy is carried out taking combined harvesting effort as a dynamic variable by invoking Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle. Our important analytical findings are illustrated through computer simulation using MATLAB followed by discussions and conclusions.     

Visualisation of flow boiling heat transfer in a microtube

This paper presents the results of the flow boiling patterns and heat transfer coefficients of FC-72 in a small tube. The internal diameter of the tube is 0.48 mm, with a heated length of 73 mm. The mass flow rate varies from 50 to 3,000 kg/m²-s. The microtube is made of Pyrex in order to obtain the visualisation of the flow pattern along the heated channel. Different types of flow pattern have been observed: bubbly flow, deformed bubbly flow, bubbly/slug flow, slug flow, slug/annular flow, and annular flow. The experiments show the presence of flow instabilities in a large portion of the tests at low mass flow rates and low subcooling. Flow patterns in presence of flow instabilities are mainly characterized by bubbly/slug flow and slug/annular flow. Heat transfer rates have been studied in all flow pattern conditions. The two groups of results, with flow instabilities and without flow instabilities, show similar heat transfer behaviour. The heat transfer characteristics of the pipes have been studied in comparison with mass flux and vapour quality.     

Boiling driven mixed convection in a L-shaped slab geometry

 The behaviour of a two-phase mixed convection loop with subcooled boiling has been investigated in order to design a passive cooling system. In a test facility with a L-shaped slab geometry subcooled water is pumped into the horizontal lower duct and heated up by the hot bottom plate. Vapour bubbles generated at the heated wall establish a disperse two-phase region with considerable void, measured by a gamma densitometer. The structure and stability of the two-phase mixed convection can be characterised by the Phase Change Number and the Subcooling Number. Operation regimes with flashing induced instabilities in the chimney are indicated in the stability diagram. For the numerical simulation the Eulerian two-fluid-model in the commercial software package CFX4 has been used. The two-fluid-model had to be extended with physical models for bubble generation under subcooled boiling in the lower duct and for water-bubble interfacial forces in the chimney, which have been validated by data of a bubbly flow experiment and of a boiling experiment. Received on 17 January 2000