Improving surfactant grafting in magnetic colloids

The grafting number of surfactant coating on magnetite nanoparticles in a magnetic colloid (magnetic fluid), defined as the number of surfactant molecules adsorbed per surface area of nanoparticles, was successfully obtained from the atomic absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. We found that the increases of grafting number with the molar concentration of surfactant and the adsorption temperature can be quantitatively measured, making it possible to produce well controlled, stable magnetic colloids that are precursors for many magnetic nanostructures.     

Confined ferrofluid droplet in crossed magnetic fields

When a ferrofluid drop is trapped in a horizontal Hele-Shaw cell and subjected to a vertical magnetic field, a fingering instability results in the droplet evolving into a complex branched structure. This fingering instability depends on the magnetic field ramp rate but also depends critically on the initial state of the droplet. Small perturbations in the initial droplet can have a large influence on the resulting final pattern. By simultaneously applying a stabilizing (horizontal) azimuthal magnetic field, we gain more control over the mode selection mechanism. We perform a linear stability analysis that shows that any single mode can be selected by appropriately adjusting the strengths of the applied fields. This offers a unique and accurate mode selection mechanism for this confined magnetic fluid system. We present the results of numerical simulations that demonstrate that this mode selection mechanism is quite robust and “overpowers” any initial perturbations on the droplet. This provides a predictable way to obtain patterns with any desired number of fingers.     

Coordinated chain motion resulting in intensity variation of light transmitted through ferrofluid film

While a suitable magnetic field is applied to a ferrofluids film, magnetic nanoparticles in the film would form chain-like structure. Because of the action of magnetic convergent force (MCF) and magnetic divergent force (MDF), the chains will move coordinately towards to the axis of the field, then do apart from the center. From geometric shadowing effect, variation in the intensity of light transmitted through ferrofluids film is in relation to the coordinate motion of the chains. And a radiate synchromotion of the chain groups is constructed equivalently for describing the relation between transmitted light's intensity varying and chains moving. From the motion equation of one chain group, the relation is illustrated qualitatively by computer simulation. The experimental results show that the field-induced variation of light transmitted through ferrofluids film is a nonlinear relaxation process with intrinsic noise, and are in agreement with the behavior simulated by using the model of coordinated chains motion (MCCM).     

Effect of magnetic field-dependent viscosity on revolving ferrofluid

The effect of magnetic field-dependent viscosity on the revolving axi-symmetric steady flow of ferrofluid in a disc is investigated by solving the boundary layer equations using Neuringer-Rosenweig model. Besides numerically calculating the velocity components and pressure for different values of magnetic field-dependent viscosity with variation in dimensionless parameter α (Karman’s parameter), we also have calculated the thickness of the boundary layer and the total volume flowing outward the z-axis. Here, the solutions of non-linear differential equations are obtained in the form of asymptotic series.     

Forced diffusion in magnetic fluids under the influence of a strong magnetic field gradient

We have investigated the forced diffusion of magnetic nanoparticles suspended in a carrier liquid under the influence of a magnetic field gradient. A cylindrical layer of the suspension was exposed to an azimuthal magnetic field with radial gradient. The radial distribution of the concentration of magnetic particles was determined for different times. The obtained experimental data are compared with a numerical solution of the diffusion equation and good agreement has been observed.     

Series solution of flow over nonlinearly stretching sheet with chemical reaction and magnetic field

In this Letter, the boundary-layer equation of flow over a nonlinearly stretching sheet in the presence of a chemical reaction and a magnetic field is investigated by employing the Adomian decomposition method (ADM). The series solution of the governing nonlinear problem is developed. The present solution is shown to agree very well with the existing solution.     

Nonlinear stability in magnetic fluids of cylindrical interface with mass and heat transfer

The nonlinear Rayleigh-Taylor stability of the cylindrical interface between the vapor and liquid phases of a magnetic fluid is studied when the phases are enclosed between two cylindrical surfaces coaxial with the interface, and when there is mass and heat transfer across the interface. The method of multiple scale expansion is used for the investigation. The evolution of amplitude is shown be governed by a nonlinear Ginzburg-Landau equation. The various stability criteria is discussed, and the region of stability is displayed graphically. Received 18 January 2002 Published online 13 August 2002     

Spatio-temporal patterns in the thermoconvection of a planar nematic layer: I. Weakly nonlinear models

We study theoretically the formation of convection patterns in a laterally extended planar nematic layer heated from below, in the linear and weakly nonlinear regimes. By reformulating the viscous coupling terms of the basic nematohydrodynamic equations, a simple interpretation of the flow effects on the director dynamics can be proposed. A detailed linear analysis of the problem is presented. A systematic method to investigate nonlinear mechanisms is developed, and exemplified by the study of the nonlinear saturation in rolls. The extension of the roll amplitude equation with the envelope formalism is used to characterize the dynamics of the roll modulations near threshold. Coupled envelope equations are shown to describe the structure of the point defects in zig-zags observed experimentally. Finally the bifurcation to the bimodal varicose is studied. The secondary wavevector in the bimodal appears to be selected by a rotation of the director in the horizontal plane. Quantitative predictions concerning the amplitude of this rotation are given. Received: 1st December 1997 / Revised: 25 May 1998 / Accepted: 2 June 1998     

Stability analysis of double-diffusive convection of Maxwell fluid in a porous medium heated from below

Linear stability analysis of Maxwell fluid in the Bénard problem for a double-diffusive mixture in a porous medium is studied based on the Darcy-Maxwell model. The critical Rayleigh number and the corresponding wave number for the exchange of stability are obtained. On the other hand, the effect of the relaxation time of Maxwell fluid on the critical Rayleigh number is discussed. In limiting cases, some results published previously are recovered from our results.     

Effective magnetic permeability of a turbulent fluid with macroferroparticles

A fully developed turbulent flow is capable to mix and homogenize a suspension of heavy macroscopic particles even at a high concentration of particles. If the particles are ferromagnetic, a kind of “turbulent ferrofluid" can be obtained. In the present work, we present a direct measurements of the effective magnetic permeability in a turbulent fluid with suspended ferromagnetic particles of typical size 0.01-0.1 mm and volume fraction c up to 25%. We show that the effective permeability can be fitted by the linear law = 1 + 5.3c for c? 10%. For higher volume fractions the permeability exceeds this linear relation. Received 11 January 2002     

Influence of Rayleigh-Taylor Instability on Liquid Propellant Reorientation in a Low-Gravity Environment

A computational simulation is conducted to investigate the influence of Rayleigh-Taylor instability on liquid propellant reorientation flow dynamics for the tank of CZ-3A launch vehicle series fuel tanks in a low-gravity environment. The volume-of-fluid （VOF） method is used to simulate the free surface flow of gas-liquid. The process of the liquid propellant reorientation started from initially flat and curved interfaces are numerically studied. These two different initial conditions of the gas-liquid interface result in two modes of liquid flow. It is found that the Rayleigh Taylor instability can be reduced evidently at the initial gas-liquid interface with a high curve during the process of liquid reorientation in a low-gravity environment.     

A method to simulate linear stability of impulsively accelerated density interfaces in ideal-MHD and gas dynamics

We present a numerical method to solve the linear stability of impulsively accelerated density interfaces in two dimensions such as those arising in the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability. The method uses an Eulerian approach, and is based on an upwind method to compute the temporally evolving base state and a flux vector splitting method for the perturbations. The method is applicable to either gas dynamics or magnetohydrodynamics. Numerical examples are presented for cases in which a hydrodynamic shock interacts with a single or double density interface, and a doubly shocked single density interface. Convergence tests show that the method is spatially second-order accurate for smooth flows, and between first and second-order accurate for flows with shocks.     

On the use of Galerkin-Eckhaus method to study the nonlinear regime of Marangoni-Bénard instabilities in an evaporating liquid layer

We investigate theoretically Marangoni-Bénard instability in an evaporating liquid layer surmounted by its vapor and an inert gas. A Galerkin-Eckhaus method, based on a slaving principle and an iterative algorithm, and a direct finite element method are used to determine the evaporation rate above the convective threshold. Both methods provide precise quantitative results, even far from the linear stability threshold.     

Study on power generation using electro-conductive polymer and its mixture with magnetic fluid

A new power generation system using electro-conductive polymer and its mixture with magnetic fluid is introduced. The system using non-poison electro-conductive polymer and its mixture with magnetic fluid and operating at room temperature is proposed in the present paper. The system could be used as a micro-distributed energy supply system for domestic use in the future. An experimental set-up is designed and established to investigate the performance of the power generation with an aid of a theoretical analysis of the power generation. It is found that the theoretical results are in good agreement with the measured data. Based on the obtained results, the electric output increases with Reynolds number, size of the test channel, magnetic strength and electric conductivity. It is understood that in order to obtain a practical power generation, priority should be put on increasing fluid flow velocity and magnetic field strength.     

A parallel computer implementation of the Asymptotic Numerical Method to study thermal convection instabilities

We have developed a numerical model to efficiently compute steady-state combined buoyancy and thermocapillary convection solutions. It features a parallel computer implementation of an Asymptotic Numerical Method to perform steady-state path-following and locate bifurcation points in problems involving large size algebraic systems, up to few million degrees of freedom. The model has been first validated on a problem for which a reference solution exists and then is used to analyse the influence of the container size and shape on Rayleigh–Bénard–Marangoni convection and its related cellular pattern.     

Maintaining the stability of nonlinear differential equations by the enhancement of HPM

Homotopy perturbation method is an effective method to find a solution of a nonlinear differential equation. In this method, a nonlinear complex differential equation is transformed to a series of linear and nonlinear parts, almost simpler differential equations. These sets of equations are then solved iteratively. Finally, a linear series of the solutions completes the answer if the convergence is maintained. In this Letter, the need for stability verification is shown through some examples. Consequently, HPM is enhanced by a preliminary assumption. The idea is to keep the inherent stability of nonlinear dynamic, even the selected linear part is not.     

Phase-ordering dynamics of binary mixtures with field-dependent mobility in shear flow

The effect of shear flow on the phase-ordering dynamics of a binary mixture with field-dependent mobility is investigated. The problem is addressed in the context of the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation with an external velocity term, studied in self-consistent approximation. Assuming a scaling ansatz for the structure factor, the asymptotic behavior of the observables in the scaling regime can be analytically calculated. All the observables show log-time periodic oscillations which we interpret as due to a cyclical mechanism of stretching and break-up of domains. These oscillations are damped as consequence of the vanishing of the mobility in the bulk phase. Received 13 April 1999     

Linear stability analysis of the Hele-Shaw cell with lifting plates

The first stages of finger formation in a Hele-Shaw cell with lifting plates are investigated by means of linear stability analysis. At the beginning of lifting the square of the wavenumber of the dominant mode results to be proportional to the lifting rate (in qualitative agreement with the available experimental data), to the square of the length of the cell occupied by the more viscous fluid, and inversely proportional to the cube of the cell gap. This dependence on the cell parameters is significantly different of that found in the standard cell. On the other hand, our results show that the wavelength of the dominant mode decreases with lifting time, also in agreement with several experimental observations. Received: 16 April 1997 / Accepted: 23 October 1997     

Exact solutions for a diffusion equation with a nonlinear external force

This work is devoted to investigate the solutions of the one-dimensional diffusion equation by taking the nonlinear external force F(x,t;ρ)=−k(t)x+K/x+κx|x|^α−1η[ρ(x,t)] into account. Our investigation is first performed by considering the case α=0 and η=1, which results in a Burgers like equation with a spatial and time dependent external force. After, we consider the case α≠0 and η=α+1 and show that the solution found may be expressed in terms of the q-exponential functions present in the Tsallis formalism. In addition, we also discuss the stationary solution for α and η arbitraries.