Spontaneous bending of pre-stretched bilayers

We discuss spontaneously bent configurations of pre-stretched bilayer sheets that can be obtained by tuning the pre-stretches in the two layers. The two-dimensional nonlinear plate model we use for this purpose is an adaptation of the one recently obtained for thin sheets of nematic elastomers, by means of a rigorous dimensional reduction argument based on the theory of Gamma-convergence (Agostiniani and DeSimone in Meccanica. doi: 10.1007/s11012-017-0630-4, 2017, Math Mech Solids. doi: 10.1177/1081286517699991, arXiv:1509.07003, 2017). We argue that pre-stretched bilayer sheets provide us with an interesting model system to study shape programming and morphing of surfaces in other, more complex systems, where spontaneous deformations are induced by swelling due to the absorption of a liquid, phase transformations, thermal or electro-magnetic stimuli. These include bio-mimetic structures inspired by biological systems from both the plant and the animal kingdoms.     

Evolution of Pore-Scale Morphology of Oil Shale During Pyrolysis: A Quantitative Analysis

This article describes experimental results and the numerical validation for multiphase, multicomponent evaporation in porous media 1d flow. We apply the model of Lindner et al. (Transp. Porous Media 112(2):313–332, 2016. doi: 10.1007/s11242-016-0646-6). The permeability of the porous medium is measured in an additional setup with a constant head permeameter to verify the validity of Darcy flow. The heat losses are considered in an analytical approach of correlating measured temperatures and heat inputs with enthalpies. A method of interpreting the experimental results is discussed to determine the phase state. We can show good qualitative agreement of the shift and position of the evaporation region when varying boundary conditions such as mass flux, concentration and heat input.     

Finite gradient elasticity and plasticity: a constitutive thermodynamical framework

In Bertram (Continuum Mech Thermodyn. doi: 10.1007/s00161-014-0387-0, 2015), a mechanical framework for finite gradient elasticity and plasticity has been given. In the present paper, this is extended to thermodynamics. The mechanical theory is only briefly repeated here. A format for a rather general constitutive theory including all thermodynamic fields is given in a Euclidian invariant setting. The plasticity theory is rate-independent and unconstrained. The Clausius–Duhem inequality is exploited to find necessary and sufficient conditions for thermodynamic consistency. The residual dissipation inequality restricts the flow and hardening rules in combination with the yield criterion.     

Blow-Up Rate Estimates and Liouville Type Theorems for a Semilinear Heat Equation with Weighted Source

We study the Liouville-type theorem for the semilinear parabolic equation \(u_t-\Delta u =|x|^a u^p\) with \(p>1\) and \(a\in {\mathbb R}\). Relying on the recent result of Quittner (Math Ann, doi: 10.1007/s00208-015-1219-7, 2015), we establish the optimal Liouville-type theorem in dimension \(N=2\), in the class of nonnegative bounded solutions. We also provide a partial result in dimension \(N\ge 3\). As applications of Liouville-type theorems, we derive the blow-up rate estimates for the corresponding Cauchy problem.     

On the Generalization of Reissner Plate Theory to Laminated Plates,Part II: Comparison with the Bending-Gradient Theory

In the first part of this two-part paper (Lebée and Sab in On the generalization of Reissner plate theory to laminated plates, Part I: theory, doi: 10.1007/s10659-016-9581-6, 2015), the original thick plate theory derived by Reissner (J. Math. Phys. 23:184–191, 1944) was rigorously extended to the case of laminated plates. This led to a new plate theory called Generalized-Reissner theory which involves the bending moment, its first and second gradients as static variables. In this second paper, the Bending-Gradient theory (Lebée and Sab in Int. J. Solids Struct. 48(20):2878–2888, 2011 and 2889–2901, 2011) is obtained from the Generalized-Reissner theory and several projections as a Reissner–Mindlin theory are introduced. A comparison with an exact solution for the cylindrical bending of laminated plates is presented. It is observed that the Generalized-Reissner theory converges faster than the Kirchhoff theory for thin plates in terms of deflection. The Bending-Gradient theory does not converge faster but improves considerably the error estimate.     

Effective Behavior Near Clogging in Upscaled Equations for Non-isothermal Reactive Porous Media Flow

For a non-isothermal reactive flow process, effective properties such as permeability and heat conductivity change as the underlying pore structure evolves. We investigate changes of the effective properties for a two-dimensional periodic porous medium as the grain geometry changes. We consider specific grain shapes and study the evolution by solving the cell problems numerically for an upscaled model derived in Bringedal et al. (Transp Porous Media 114(2):371–393, 2016. doi: 10.1007/s11242-015-0530-9). In particular, we focus on the limit behavior near clogging. The effective heat conductivities are compared to common porosity-weighted volume averaging approximations, and we find that geometric averages perform better than arithmetic and harmonic for isotropic media, while the optimal choice for anisotropic media depends on the degree and direction of the anisotropy. An approximate analytical expression is found to perform well for the isotropic effective heat conductivity. The permeability is compared to some commonly used approaches focusing on the limiting behavior near clogging, where a fitted power law is found to behave reasonably well. The resulting macroscale equations are tested on a case where the geochemical reactions cause pore clogging and a corresponding change in the flow and transport behavior at Darcy scale. As pores clog the flow paths shift away, while heat conduction increases in regions with lower porosity.     

On the Darboux transformation of a generalized inhomogeneous higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation

Recently, a paper about the Nth-order rogue waves for an inhomogeneous higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation using the generalized Darboux transformation is published. Song et al. (Nonlinear Dyn 82(1):489–500. doi: 10.1007/s11071-015-2170-6, 2015). However, the inhomogeneous equation which admits a nonisospectral linear eigenvalue problem is mistaken for having a constant spectral parameter by the authors. This basic error causes the results to be wrong, especially regarding the Darboux transformation (DT) in Sect. 2 when the inhomogeneous terms are dependent of spatial variable x. In fact, the DT for inhomogeneous equation has an essential difference from the isospectral case, and their results are correct only in the absence of inhomogeneity which was already discussed in detail before. Consequently, we firstly modify the DT based on corresponding nonisospectral linear eigenvalue problem. Then, the nonautonomous solitons are obtained from zero seed solutions. Properties of these solutions in the inhomogeneous media are discussed graphically to illustrate the influences of the variable coefficients. Finally, the failure of finding breather and rogue wave solutions from this modified DT is also discussed.     

The GraVent DDT database

An open-access online platform containing data from experiments on deflagration-to-detonation transition conducted at the Institute of Thermodynamics, Technical University of Munich, has been developed and is accessible at http://www.td.mw.tum.de/ddt. The database provides researchers working on explosion dynamics with data for theoretical analyses and for the validation of numerical simulations.     

Doubly Connected V-States for the Generalized Surface Quasi-Geostrophic Equations

In this paper, we prove the existence of doubly connected V-states for the generalized SQG equations with α ∈]0, 1[. They can be described by countable branches bifurcating from the annulus at some explicit “eigenvalues” related to Bessel functions of the first kind. Contrary to Euler equations Hmidi et al. (Doubly connected V-states for the planar Euler equations, arXiv:1409.7096, 2015), we find V-states rotating with positive and negative angular velocities. At the end of the paper we discuss some numerical experiments concerning the limiting V-states.     

Full-order optimal compensators for flow control: the multiple inputs case

Flow control has been the subject of numerous experimental and theoretical works. We analyze full-order, optimal controllers for large dynamical systems in the presence of multiple actuators and sensors. The full-order controllers do not require any preliminary model reduction or low-order approximation: this feature allows us to assess the optimal performance of an actuated flow without relying on any estimation process or further hypothesis on the disturbances. We start from the original technique proposed by Bewley et al. (Meccanica 51(12):2997–3014, 2016.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-016-0547-3), the adjoint of the direct-adjoint (ADA) algorithm. The algorithm is iterative and allows bypassing the solution of the algebraic Riccati equation associated with the optimal control problem, typically infeasible for large systems. In this numerical work, we extend the ADA iteration into a more general framework that includes the design of controllers with multiple, coupled inputs and robust controllers (\(\mathcal {H}_{\infty }\) methods). First, we demonstrate our results by showing the analytical equivalence between the full Riccati solutions and the ADA approximations in the multiple inputs case. In the second part of the article, we analyze the performance of the algorithm in terms of convergence of the solution, by comparing it with analogous techniques. We find an excellent scalability with the number of inputs (actuators), making the method a viable way for full-order control design in complex settings. Finally, the applicability of the algorithm to fluid mechanics problems is shown using the linearized Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation and the Kármán vortex street past a two-dimensional cylinder.     

Study of Hydraulic Properties of Uncoated Paper: Image Analysis and Pore-Scale Modeling

In this study, uncoated paper was characterized. Three-dimensional structure of the layer was reconstructed using imaging results of micro-CT scanning with a relatively high resolution \((0.9~\upmu \hbox {m})\). Image analysis provided the pore space of the layer, which was used to determine its porosity and pore size distribution. Representative elementary volume (REV) size was determined by calculating values of porosity and permeability values for varying domain sizes. We found that those values remained unchanged for domain sizes of \(400\times 400\times 150\,\upmu \hbox {m}^{3}\) and larger; this was chosen as the REV size. The determined REV size was verified by determining capillary pressure–saturation Open image in new window imbibition curves for various domain sizes. We studied the directional dependence of Open image in new window curves by simulating water penetration into the layer from various directions. We did not find any significant difference between Open image in new window curves in different directions. We studied the effect of compression of paper on Open image in new window curves. We found that up to 30% compression of the paper layer had very small effect on the Open image in new window curve. Relative permeability as a function of saturation was also calculated. Water penetration into paper was visualized using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Dynamic visualization of water flow in the paper showed that water moves along the fibers first and then fills the pores between them.     

An Alternative Approach to Predicting Reservoir Performance in a Coalbed Methane (CBM) Well Flowing Under Dominant Matrix Shrinkage Effect

Coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs contain gas molecules in adsorbed state into the solid matrix of coal. The pressure depletion in CBM reservoir causes the matrix gas to desorb into the cleat system which leads to matrix shrinkage. The pore volume of the cleat network changes as coal matrix shrinks. Consequently, cleat porosity and permeability of reservoir change as reservoir pressure depletes. The change in cleat porosity and permeability due to shrinkage of coal matrix with depletion of reservoir pressure invalidates the underlying assumptions made in the derivation of diffusivity equation. Under the conditions of changing porosity and permeability, the utility of the standard method of inflow performance relationship (IPR), paired with \(\frac{P}{Z^{*}}\) method suggested by King (in: SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, 1990), for performance prediction diminishes. In this paper, an effort has been made to predict reservoir performance of such CBM reservoirs with an alternative approach. The method suggested by Upadhyay and Laik (Transp Porous Media, 2017. doi: 10.1007/s11242-016-0816-6) has been leveraged to describe pseudo-steady-state flow in the form of a new equation that relates stress-dependent pseudo-pressure function with time. The analytical equation derived in this paper is useful in predicting reservoir pressure and flowing bottom hole pressure of a CBM well under the situation when coal matrix shrinks below desorption pressure. The paper aims to predict production performance of CBM reservoirs producing under the influence of matrix shrinkage effect with an approach alternative to conventional IPR approach paired with \(\frac{P}{Z^{*}}\) method. The results of this analytical solution have been validated with the help of numerical simulator CMG–GEM as well as in-field production data. The equations and workflow suggested in this paper can be easily implemented in spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel tools.     

Coherent structure of Alice–Bob modified Korteweg de-Vries equation

To describe two-place events, Alice–Bob systems have been established by means of the shifted parity and delayed time reversal in the preprint arXiv:1603.03975v2 [nlin.SI], (2016). In this paper, we mainly study exact solutions of the integrable Alice–Bob modified Korteweg de-Vries (AB-mKdV) system. The general Nth Darboux transformation for the AB-mKdV equation is constructed. By using the Darboux transformation, some types of shifted parity and time reversal symmetry breaking solutions including one-soliton, two-soliton, and rogue wave solutions are explicitly obtained. In addition to the similar solutions of the mKdV equation (group invariant solutions), there are abundant new localized structures for the AB-mKdV systems.     

Approximate Semi-analytical Solution for Injection–Falloff–Production Well Test: An Analytical Tool for the In Situ Estimation of Relative Permeability Curves

An injection–falloff–production test (IFPT) was originally proposed in Chen et al. (in: SPE conference paper, 2006. doi: 10.2118/103271-MS, SPE Reserv Eval Eng 11(1):95–107, 2008) as a well test for the in situ estimation of two-phase relative permeability curves to be used for simulating multiphase flows in porous media. Hence, we develop an approximate semi-analytical solution for the two-phase saturation distribution in an oil–water system during the flowback period of an IFPT according to the mathematical theory of waves. In fact, we show that the weak solution we construct for the saturation equation for the flowback period satisfies the Oleinik entropy condition and hence is unique. In addition, we allow the governing relative permeabilities during the flowback period to be different from the relative permeabilities during injection. Using the saturation solution with the steady-state pressure theory of Thompson and Reynolds, we obtain a solution for the wellbore pressure during the flowback period. By comparing results from our solution with those from a commercial numerical simulator, we show that our approximate semi-analytical solution yields accurate saturation profiles and bottom hole pressures history. The use of very small time steps and a highly refined radial grid is necessary to generate a good solution from a reservoir simulator. The approximate analytical pressure solution developed is used as a forward model to match pressure and water flow rate data from an IFPT in order to estimate reservoir rock absolute permeability and skin factor in conjunction with in situ imbibition and drainage water–oil relative permeabilities.     

On the Ill-Posedness of the Prandtl Equations in Three-Dimensional Space

In this paper, we give an instability criterion for the Prandtl equations in three-dimensional space, which shows that the monotonicity condition on tangential velocity fields is not sufficient for the well-posedness of the three-dimensional Prandtl equations, in contrast to the classical well-posedness theory of the two-dimensional Prandtl equations under the Oleinik monotonicity assumption. Both linear stability and nonlinear stability are considered. This criterion shows that the monotonic shear flow is linearly stable for the three-dimensional Prandtl equations if and only if the tangential velocity field direction is invariant with respect to the normal variable, and this result is an exact complement to our recent work (A well-posedness theory for the Prandtl equations in three space variables. arXiv:1405.5308, 2014) on the well-posedness theory for the three-dimensional Prandtl equations with a special structure.     

Unstable Immiscible Displacements in Oil-Wet Rocks

Displacement of a viscous fluid by a lower viscosity immiscible fluid (such as waterflood of a viscous oil) in a porous medium is unstable. The displacement front generates viscous fingers which lead to low oil recovery efficiency. These fingers are much smaller in width than typical reservoir simulation grid blocks, and capturing their effect in reservoir simulation is important. A dimensionless scaling group (viscous finger number) had been suggested in the past, which has a power-law relationship with the breakthrough recovery and cumulative recovery in unstable core floods. The relative permeability used in large grid block simulations had been modified to so-called pseudo-relative permeability on the basis of the dimensionless group, thus incorporating the effect of fingers in waterflood predictions. However, the previous proposed models were constructed from experiments in only water-wet rocks. This paper extends the recent viscous fingering models to oil-wet systems. Sandstone cores were treated to alter the wettability to oil-wet. Adverse viscosity water floods were performed in oil-wet cores. Viscosity ratio, velocity and diameter were varied. It is shown that the previously developed viscous finger number does not work for the oil-wet experiments. The correlating dimensionless number is modified for oil-wet systems; it is also different from the dimensionless group identified by Peters and Flock (Soc Petroleum Eng, 1981. doi: 10.2118/8371-PA) for oil-wet cores. A pseudo-relative permeability model has been developed for oil-wet cores. Corefloods have been matched by the new pseudo-relative permeability model to determine the model parameters. This pseudo-relative permeability model can be used in reservoir simulations of water and polymer floods in viscous oil-wet reservoirs.     

Sharp Weighted Korn and Korn-Like Inequalities and an Application to Washers

In this paper we prove asymptotically sharp weighted “first-and-a-half” \(2D\) Korn and Korn-like inequalities with a singular weight occurring from Cartesian to cylindrical change of variables. We prove some Hardy and the so-called “harmonic function gradient separation” inequalities with the same singular weight. Then we apply the obtained \(2D\) inequalities to prove similar inequalities for washers with thickness \(h\) subject to vanishing Dirichlet boundary conditions on the inner and outer thin faces of the washer. A washer can be regarded in two ways: As the limit case of a conical shell when the slope goes to zero, or as a very short hollow cylinder. While the optimal Korn constant in the first Korn inequality for a conical shell with thickness \(h\) and with a positive slope scales like \(h^{1.5}\), e.g., (Grabovsky and Harutyunyan in arXiv:1602.03601, 2016), the optimal Korn constant in the first Korn inequality for a washer scales like \(h^{2}\) and depends only on the outer radius of the washer as we show in the present work. The Korn constant in the first and a half inequality scales like \(h\) and depends only on \(h\). The optimal Korn constant is realized by a Kirchhoff Ansatz. This results can be applied to calculate the critical buckling load of a washer under in plane loads, e.g., (Antman and Stepanov in J. Elast. 124(2):243–278, 2016).     

Suppression of Chemotactic Explosion by Mixing

Chemotaxis plays a crucial role in a variety of processes in biology and ecology. In many instances, processes involving chemical attraction take place in fluids. One of the most studied PDE models of chemotaxis is given by the Keller–Segel equation, which describes a population density of bacteria or mold which is attracted chemically to substance they secrete. Solutions of the Keller–Segel equation can exhibit dramatic collapsing behavior, where density concentrates positive mass in a measure zero region. A natural question is whether the presence of fluid flow can affect singularity formation by mixing the bacteria thus making concentration harder to achieve. In this paper, we consider the parabolic-elliptic Keller–Segel equation in two and three dimensions with an additional advection term modeling ambient fluid flow. We prove that for any initial data, there exist incompressible fluid flows such that the solution to the equation stays globally regular. On the other hand, it is well known that when the fluid flow is absent, there exists initial data leading to finite time blow up. Thus the presence of fluid flow can prevent the singularity formation. We discuss two classes of flows that have the explosion arresting property. Both classes are known as very efficient mixers. The first class are the relaxation enhancing (RE) flows of (Ann Math:643–674, 2008). These flows are stationary. The second class of flows are the Yao–Zlatos near-optimal mixing flows (Mixing and un-mixing by incompressible flows. arXiv:1407.4163, 2014), which are time dependent. The proof is based on the nonlinear version of the relaxation enhancement construction of (Ann Math:643–674, 2008), and on some variations of the global regularity estimate for the Keller–Segel model.     

Evaluation of planar elongation viscosity of low-viscosity liquids using annular abrupt contraction flow around a sliding disk-shaped bob

This paper proposes a mechanical measurement technique of the planar elongation viscosity of the low-viscosity liquids. A newly designed flow cell, which consists of a cylindrical cup and a disk-shaped bob with a knife-edged rim, generates the planar elongation flow. Three kinds of Newtonian fluids and an M1 fluid are used. A strain control rheometer pushed the bob into the cup filled with the test fluid and measured the resistant force. The planar elongation viscosity was evaluated using the following two assumptions: first, the resistant force is regarded as the sum of the buoyancy and the resultant forces caused by pressure drops in the planar elongation flow and the shear flow in the test section. Second, the hydraulic mean depth is used as a representative length. The relative errors of the Trouton ratio of the Newtonian fluids were less than 20% compared to the theoretical value of 4.

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Graphical abstract ?

     

Rheological and micro structural studies of methylcellulose solutions in <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-dimethylformamide for preparation of extruded beads: controlled urea release

The rheological properties of methylcellulose in N,N-dimethylformamide (MC-DMF) gel are investigated to prepare extruded beads. The temperature scan under dynamic compression for various concentrations of MC in DMF is performed to investigate the rapture of MC gel at a constant frequency of 1 Hz. The morphological studies are performed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to analyze the size and shape of dried bead. However, during swelling studies, the MC beads have the capability to swell and retain a large amount of water >?9150% by weight and 9192.6% by volume. The mechanism of swelling is thermodynamically verified, where the enthalpy of hydration of initial layer of MC bead is negative. The newly defined electrostatic penta-pole model explains the anomalous behavior of urea release, where urea is assumed to be electrostatically bounded with the MC molecules.

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Grapichal abstract ?