A Stefan-type free boundary problem in a thermal switch

Summary We study a mathematical model of thermal switch in a glass under the Joule heating. We prove the existence of solutions for the free boundary problem related to the model. This problem is a Stefan-type problem with a source depending on the free boundary and the latent heat depending on the history of the free boundary.

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Sommario Si studia un modello matematico che descrive un fenomeno di cambiamento di fase in un vetro attraversato da una corrente elettrica. In particolare si dimostra l'esistenza di soluzioni per il problema a frontiera libera connesso con il modello. Questo problema è del tipo di Stafan, con sorgente funzione della frontiera libera e con calore latente che dipende dalla storia della frontiera.

     

The Kepler problem spinor regularization and quantization on the manifolds S2

Summary In a previous research we have shown that the KS-transformation, developed by Kustaanheimo and Stiefel for the regularization of the Kepler problem, may be interpreted as the correspondence which associates to each null 4-vector of the space of Minkowski a one-index spinor, defined up to a phase factor, and we have obtained a new form of the KS-transformation. In the present research we show that this formulation allows a straight derivation of the Hopf fibering of the sphere S³ (characterized by unit spinors) having the base space given by the section (sphere S²) of the light cone, and we show that the KS-transformation allows the quantization of the symplectic manifold S² in the sense of Souriau. The sphere S³ turns out to be a contact quantized manifold. The bilinear relation characteristic of the KS-theory and the column vectors of the KS-matrix are intimately related to the contact structure.

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Sommario In un precedente lavoro si è mostrato che la trasformazione KS, introdotta da Kustaanheimo e Stiefel per regolarizzare il problema di Keplero, è riconducibile alla ben nota corrispondenza fra vettori del cono isotropo dello spazio di Minkowski e spinori semplici, definiti a meno della fase, e si è pervenuti ad una nuova formulazione della KS. Nel presente lavoro si mostra come da tale formulazione scaturisca in modo naturale la fibrazione di Hopf della sfera S³ (caratterizzata dagli spinori unitari) avente quale base una sezione (sfera S²) del cono isotropo e si mette in luce come la trasformazione KS consenta di effettuare la quantizzazione della varietà simplettica S² nel senso di Souriau e di ottenere la sfera S³ quale varietà quantica di contatto. La relazione bilineare caratteristica della teoria KS ed i vettori colonna della matrice KS risultano intimamente legati alla struttura di contatto.

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Presented at the VI Congresso Nazionale dell'Associazione Italiana di Meccanica Teorica ed Applicata (AIMETA), Genova, October 1982. Work performed under the auspices of G.N.F.M. of the C.N.R. (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche).     

On mean rotations in finite deformations

Summary Firstly, the classical interpretation of the mean rotation tensor of Cauchy and Novozhilov is revised. Indeed, two distinctive and defective features of this interpretation reflect a severe restriction on the class of admissible deformations. Secondly, an alternative measure of mean rotation is introduced and its explicit aspect for pure rotations, pure strains and additively pure rotations is determined.

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Sommario In questa nota viene riesaminata l'interpretazione classica del tensore di rotazione media di Cauchy e Novozhilov. Preliminarmente, si mostra come due tratti distintivi di questa interpretazione ne limitino l'ampiezza e riflettano una severa restrizione della classe delle deformazioni ammissibili. Successivamente, si perviene ad una misura alternativa di rotazione media, il cui calcolo esplicito è condotto nei casi di rotazioni pure, deformazioni pure e rotazioni additivamente pure.

     

A simplified flood routing model: variable prameter muskingum (VPM)

Summary Flood routing methods are numerical methods for estimating the movement of a flood wave along a channel reach, on the basis of the knowledge of the discharge hydrograph at the upstream end and of the hydraulic characteristics of the reach and, usually, in the hypothesis that no perturbation is coming from downstream (free boundary condition). The flood routing method wich is proposed is similar to the Muskingum one, but with variable and hydraulic parameters; it is able to estimate water levels too; is effective even if kinetic terms are not completely negligible; take advantage of the insignificance of the downstream condition and make it possible to obtain results starting upstream and proceeding downstream; for simplicity's sake, take advantage of the fact that the discharge loop of normal flood waves is quite small. Obtained results are much better that those obtainable from constant parameters methods and indeed, if the flood loop is less that 10%, very similar to those obtainable from more complex and time consuming models.

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Sommario I metodi di flood routing studiano la propagazione di un'onda di piena lungo un tratto di un corso d'acqua, assegnato l'andamento temporale della portata nella sezione di monte e le caratteristiche dell'alveo, e usualmente nell'ipotesi di assenza di perturbazioni provenienti da valle (condizione di valle passiva). Viene qui proposto un procedimento di flood routing, formalmente simile ad un Muskingum ma con i parametri variabili e calcolati per via idraulica; idoneo a stimare anche i livelli idrici; valido anche se i termini cinetici non sono del tutto trascurabili; che sfrutta l'irrilevanza della condizione di valle procedendo a cascata da monte a valle; che sfrutta, a vantaggio della semplicità, il fatto che per le normali onde di piena dei corsi d'acqua il cappio di portata è di dimensioni modeste. I risultati ottenuti sono molto migliori di quelli ottenibili con metodi a parametri costanti e, almeno per i casi in cui il cappio relativo è inferiore al 10%, paragonabili a quelli ottenuti con metodi molto più complessi ed onerosi.

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List of symbols x, t channel distance, starting upstream; time - z water surface height above datum - Q volumetric rate of discharge - P(x, z) steady rating curve - q=Q–P flood loop - g acceleration of gravity - A, B cross section wetted area and free surface width - I, S water surface slope and friction slope - c kinematic wave velocity - F Froude number - L,L ₀,L ₁,L ₂,L ₃ characteristic lengths of the channel - T=L/c characteristic time of the channel - D diffusion - p, l time and space steps - K, X Muskingum parameters - C ₁,C ₂,C ₃,C ₄ Muskingum coefficients - f _x=f/x,f _t=f/t etc. for the partial derivatives Paper presented at the First Italian Meeting of Computational Mechanics held in Milan, June 24–26, 1986.     

Dynamic shakedown by modal analysis

Summary Dynamic shakedown of discrete elastic-perfectly plastic structures under a specified load history is studied using the dynamic characteristics of the structure provided by modal analysis. Several statical and kinematical theorems are presented, including lower and upper bound theorems for the minimum adaptation time of the structure. In the formulation of the kinematical theorems a crucial role is played by the appropriate definition of admissible plastic strain cycle.

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Sommario Si studia il problema dell'adattamento dinamico (shakedown) di una struttura discreta elasto-perfetta-mente plastica e soggetta ad una storia di carichi prestabilita, facendo uso a tale scopo delle caratteristiche dinamiche della struttura fornite dalla analisi modale. Vengono presentati svariati teoremi, sia di tipo statico che cinematico, tra cui taluni teoremi di delimitazione superiore ed inferiore del tempo minimo di adattamento. Nella formulazione dei teoremi cinematici ha un ruolo cruciale la corretta definizione di ciclo deformativo ammissibile.

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This paper is part of a research project sponsored by the National (Italian) Research Council, C.N.R., Group of Structural Engineering, and by the National Department of Education (M.P.I.).     

Gasdynamics of a plasma in a multiple-mirror magnetic trap with “point” mirrors

Equations are derived for the gasdynamics of a dense plasma confined by a multiple-mirror magnetic field. The limiting cases of large and small mean free paths have been analyzed earlier: ₀ and k, where is the length of an individual mirror machine, ₀ is the size of the mirror, and k is the mirror ratio. The present work is devoted to a study of the intermediate range of mean free paths ₀ k. It is shown that in this region of the parameters the process of expansion of the plasma has a diffusional nature, and the coefficients of transfer of the plasma along the magnetic field are calculated.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 6, pp. 14–19, November–December, 1974.The authors thank D. D. Ryutov for the statement of the problem and interest in the work.     

Variational principles and differential inclusions for unilateral constraints in analytical mechanics

Summary The present paper deals with variational principles in terms of hemivariational inequalities and with differential inclusions for unilateral constraints in analytical mechanics. It is discussed how it is possible to describe one-sided constraints in a very general manner by the help of Clarke's generalized gradient.

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Sommario Questo scritto prende in esame i principi variazionali nella forma delle hermivariational inequalities e le inclusioni differenziali per vincoli unilaterali nella meccanica analitica. Si deduce come sia pissobile descrivere vincoli unilaterali, in modo generale facendo uso di gradienti generalizzati di Clarke.

     

Penetration of a solvent into a non-homogeneous polymer

Summary We consider a free boundary problem arising from a model for sorption of solvents by glassy polymers. We assume that the problem has planar symmetry, but it is non-homogeneous in the direction of the advancing front. We give an extensive mathematical analysis of the problem, proving existence and stability of the solution and describing some asymptotical behaviours.

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Sommario Si studia un problema unidimensionale a frontiera libera, che deriva da un modello per l'assorbimento di solventi nei polimeri vetrosi. Si suppone che il problema abbia simmetria piana e che il polimero sia non omogeneo nella direzione di avanzamento del fronte. Si prova l'esistenza e la stabilità della soluzione ed inoltre si descrive il comportamento asintotico.

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This work is partially supported by U.S.A.E.R.O. Contract DAJA 45-83-C-0053, and by the Italian MPI 40% Project Equazioni di evoluzione e applicazioni.     

The Italian contribution to the mathematical theory of elasticity

Summary The contributions of Italian mathematical physicists to the mathematical theory of elasticity are reviewed, starting from the second half of the last century. The work of Piola, Betti, Beltrami, Volterra, Somigliana, Signorini and many other eminent scholars is briefly outlined, showing how Italian mathematics achieved a leading position, comparable to that unanimously accorded Italy in other areas of mathematics, in this field where theory is so close to application.

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Sommario Vengono passati in rassegna i contributi che i fisico-matematici italiani, a partire, circa, dall'inizio della seconda metà del secolo scorso, hanno dato alla teoria matematica dell'elasticità. L'opera di Piola, Betti, Beltrami, Volterra, Somigliana, Signorini e di tanti altri eminenti studiosi viene brevemente riassunta e posto in luce come la matematica italiana, anche in questo campo, cosi vicino alle applicazioni, abbia raggiunto posizioni di primato, comparabili a quelle che, unanimamente, sono state riconosciute all'Italia in altri settori della matematica.

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Invited paper.This article was taken from a lecture given by the author at the University of Palermo on December 16, 1977 and published in the Rendiconti del Circolo Matematico di Palermo (vol. XXVIII, sr. II). The editors of this publication have kindly given Meccanica permission to publish this abbreviated version of the lecture in English.     

Stochastic response of structures with small geometric imperfections

Summary A probabilistic model of the geometric imperfections of a real structure is proposed, in order to provide a general theory of the stochastic response of structures in presence of small random deviations from the perfect scheme. The main statistical measures of the stochastic response are derived and an application to the study of a particular conservative elastic system is developed.

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Sommario Si propone una teoria generale della risposta probabilistica di strutture, in presenza di piccole deviazioni aleatorie dei dati iniziali rispetto allo schema geometrico perfetto. Si deducono le principali proprietà statistiche della risposta della struttura a sollecitazioni esterne deterministiche, e si sviluppa una applicazione riguardante il comportamento aleatorio di un particolare sistema elastico conservativo.

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List of symbols element of the sample space of events - _kn random variables modelling the structural imperfections - P(o) probability density of random variables - random imperfection of the unloaded structure - u additional displacement of the loaded structure - u_o deterministic fundamental solution for the perfect structure - difference between the additional displacement of the loaded structure and the deterministic fundamental solution for the perfect structure - V₁=u₁ buckling mode of the perfect structure - _i intrinsic coordinates of the structure - suitable measure of the magnitude of the random imperfections - scalar geometric variable representing the internal product - random imperfection divided by - single scalar variable denoting the magnitude of the prescribed loads - potential energy of the structure - potential energy of the perfect structure - difference between and - _c lowest critical load - _s real local maximum for the magnitude of the prescribed loads - _c divided by _S - E{} expected value of a random variable - ² variance of a random variable - , random variables defined by Eq. (21)     

Some problems concerning nonstationary currents in dense plasma systems confined by walls

Nonstationary currents are examined in a dense magnetized plasma with 1, in which energy release and heat loss by thermal conduction and radiation are possible. Solutions are found in two limiting cases: ¦f¦ ¦ div (T)¦ and ¦f¦ ¦ div(T)¦ (f is the radiation intensity, is the coefficient of heat conduction, and T is the temperature). In the first case a solution was obtained of some problems of the cooling and heating of a plasma illustrated in part by the evolution in time of the temperature profile in the boundary layer. In the second case an isomorphic solution was found for an arbitrary dependence of the coefficient of heat conduction on the temperature, pressure, and magnetic field.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 1, pp. 3–8, January–February, 1972.The author is grateful to G. I. Budker for formulating the problem.     

Instability of a plane axisymmetric flow with a shear discontinuity in the velocity profile

It is proposed to investigate the stability of a plane axisymmetric flow with an angular velocity profile (r) such that the angular velocity is constant when r < r_O – L and r > r_O + L but varies monotonically from ₁ to ₂ near the point r_O, the thickness of the transition zone being small L r_O, whereas the change in velocity is not small ¦₂ – ₁¦ ₂, ₁. Obviously, as L O short-wave disturbances with respect to the azimuthal coordinate (k=m/r_O 1/r_O) will be unstable with a growth rate-close to the Kelvin—Helmholtz growth rate. In the case L=O (i.e., for a profile with a shear-discontinuity) we find the instability growth rate _O and show that where the thickness of the discontinuity L is finite (but small) the growth rate does not differ from _O up to terms proportional to kL 1 and 1/m 1. Using this example it is possible to investigate the effect of rotation on the flow stability. It is important to note that stabilization (or destabilization) of the flow in question by rotation occurs only for three-dimensional or axisymmetric perturbations.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 111–114, January–February, 1985.     

Thermal stresses in plane elasticity: Numerical solutions based only on harmonic functions

Summary A theoretical treatment is outlined allowing solution of thermal stress problems in plane elasticity by using only numerical methods suited to solving — in 2 D — the Laplace equation. Only one type of element matrix (supposing for the sake of simplicity F.E.M.s are used) and only one mesh would thus be required, both for the determination of the thermal field and of the displacement/stress field. The numerical solutions required in the plane domain of interest entail, consequently, only one variable per node in place of two. Even if numerous unit solutions are required in order to impose arbitrary boundary conditions, this reduction of nodal variables allows to spend less computation time in solving linear systems, at least for problems of a certain extent.

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Sommario Si delinea una tecnica che permette di risolvere i problemi di coazioni termiche in elasticità piana facendo uso solo di metodi numerici atti a risolvere l'equazione di Laplace. Un solo tipo di matrice degli elementi (nel caso si usi una formulazione a E. F.) e una sola reticolazione sono pertanto richiesti tanto per il problema termico come per quello elastico. Ne consegue altresì il vantaggio che le soluzioni numeriche richieste nel dominio di interesse cornportano una sola variabile per nodo, anzichè due; anche tenuto conto che sono richieste numerose soluzioni unitarie per poter imporre condizioni al contorno comunque definite, ne deriva per problemi di una certa ampiezza una riduzione del tempo di calcolo speso nella soluzione di sistemi.

     

The Kepler problem spinor regularization and pre-quantization of the negative-energy manifold

Summary We extend the results of our two foregoing papers to the whole phase space of the Kepler problem, by: i) developing a natural spinor extension of the KS-regulari-zation of the Kepler problem, due to Kustaanheimo and Stiefel, and ii) applying the results to the pre-quantization (in the sense of Souriau) of the negative-energy manifold, the energy levels satisfying a well-known condition. We show that the quantized manifold is diffeomorphic to the symplectic productS ₃×S ₃ of two 3-spheres of the spinor phase space, factored through a suitable equívalence relation.

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Sommario Estendendo i risultati ottenuti in due prece denti lavori all'intero spazio delle fasi del problema di Keplero, si perviene nella presente nota ad una naturale estensione spinorialedella trasformazione KS (introdotta da Kustaanheimo e Stiefel per regolarizzare il problema di Keplero) la quale consente di prequantizzare, nel senso di Souriau, la varietà delle orbite kepleriane isoenergetiche, con energia negativa spddisfacente ad una ben nota condizione. Si mostra che la varietà quantica associata è diffeomorfa al prodotto simplettico S ₃×S ₃,opportunamente quozientato, di due 3-sfere dello spazio spinoriale delle fasi.

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Work performed under the auspices of G.N.F.M. of the Italian Research Council (C.N.R.).     

Weakness of multiple scattering effects in a slab of random medium

Summary Wave propagation in a stack of n slabs of equal thickness L/n, whose index of refraction is assumed to be random is considered. The behaviour of the wave function as n goes to infinity is studied.

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Sommario Si considera la propagazione ondosa in uno strato di materiale suddiviso in n parti di uguale spessore L/n, il cui indice di rifrazione è assunto aleatorio. Si studia il comportamento della funzione d'onda per n tendente a infinito.

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Presented at the VIII Congresso Nazionale dell'Associazione Italiana Di Meccanica Teorica ed Applicata (AIMETA), Torino, Ottobre 1986.     

Effect of blowing on the resistance of a sphere in laminar flow of viscous fluid

Using the method of matching asymptotic expansions [1–3], a stationary field of velocities is obtained in the vicinity of a sphere for Reynolds numbers R and R computed from the blowing velocity and the fluid flow, respectively; they satisfy the relations R² 1 and R 1. It is also shown that for intensive blowing (R 1), the resistive force is considerably smaller than that found by using the Stokes formula. For weak blowing the results are in good agreement with the solution of Oseen.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskai Fiziki, No. 3, pp. 110–114, May–June, 1972.     

Theory of plane flows of a readily conducting plasma in a pipe

Simplified equations are obtained describing slowly changing plane flows of a readily conducting quasineutral inviscid plasma in a pipe. The practically interesting case of flow in a channel with solid metal ideally conducting walls (electrodes) is analyzed. When the gas pressure is large by comparison with the magnetic pressure ( 1), the field and current distribution is determined by gas dynamic factors, and the solid electrodes perturb the longitudinal electric field in a skin of the flow, symmetrically on the two sides of the flow, leading to attenuation of the longitudinal electric field near the input to the pipe; we also consider problems in the motion of the plasma under ideal and under poor conductivity. In the converse limiting case ( 1), it is shown that as the motion of the plasma in the pipe accelerates near the anode, there is observed an increase in the intensity of the electric field which is sharply inhomogeneous in the transverse direction. The possibility of the plasma breaking away from the anode (the limiting regime) is indicated, this being accompanied by a divergence between the electron velocity and the velocity of the ions. A criterion is obtained for the breakaway of the plasma, and its possible connection with the occurrence of pre-anode explosions is noted. It is shown that for 1, Joule losses are small by comparison with the power in the charge and the magnitude of the losses is independent of the conductivity of the plasma.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Teknicheskoi Fiziki, No. 4, pp. 9–19, July–August, 1970.     

On the shape of a slender axisymmetric nonstationary cavity

Very few studies have been made of three-dimensional nonstationary cavitation flows. In [1, 2], differential equations were obtained for the shape of a nonstationary cavity by means of a method of sources and sinks distributed along the axis of thin axisymmetric body and the cavity. In the integro-differential equation obtained in the present paper, allowance is made for a number of additional terms, and this makes it possible to dispense with the requirement ¦ In ¦ 1 adopted in [1, 2]. The obtained equation is valid under the weaker restriction 1. In [3], the problem of determining the cavity shape is reduced to a system of integral equations. Examples of calculation of the cavity shape in accordance with the non-stationary equations of [1–3] are unknown. In [4], an equation is obtained for the shape of a thin axisymmetric nonstationary cavity on the basis of a semiempirical approach. In the present paper, an integro-differential equation for the shape of a thin axisymmetric nonstationary cavity is obtained to order ² ( is a small constant parameter which has the order of the transverse-to-longitudinal dimension ratio of the system consisting of the cavity-forming body, the cavity, and the closing body). A boundary-value problem is formulated and an analytic solution to the corresponding differential equation is obtained in the first approximation (to terms of order ² In ), A number of concrete examples is considered.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 38–47, July–August, 1980.I thank V. P. Karlikov and Yu. L. Yakimov for interesting discussions of the work.     

Application of the Chapman-Enskog method to the case of a binary two-temperature gas mixture

An interesting property of the flows of a binary mixture of neutral gases for which the molecular mass ratio =m/M1 is that within the limits of the applicability of continuum mechanics the components of the mixture may have different temperatures. The process of establishing the Maxwellian equilibrium state in such a mixture divides into several stages, which are characterized by relaxation times _i which differ in order of magnitude. First the state of the light component reaches equilibrium, then the heavy component, after which equilibrium between the components is established [1]. In the simplest case the relaxation times differ from one another by a factor of ^*.Here the mixture component temperature difference relaxation time _T /, where is the relaxation time for the light component. If 1, 1, so that _T ~1, then for the characteristic hydrodynamic time scale t~1 the relative temperature difference will be of order unity. In the absence of strong external force fields the component velocity difference is negligibly small, since its relaxation time _vt1.In the case of a fully ionized plasma the Chapman-Enskog method is quite easily extended to the case of the two-temperature mixture [3], since the Landau collision integral is used, which decomposes directly with respect to . In the Boltzmann cross collision integral, the quantity appears in the formulas relating the velocities before and after collision, which hinders the decomposition of this integral with respect to , which is necessary for calculating the relaxation terms in the equations for temperatures differing from zero in the Euler approximation [4] (the transport coefficients are calculated considerably more simply, since for their determination it is sufficient to account for only the first (Lorentzian [5]) terms of the decomposition of the cross collision integrals with respect to ). This led to the use in [4] for obtaining the equations of the considered continuum mixture of a specially constructed model kinetic equation (of the Bhatnagar-Krook type) which has an undetermined degree of accuracy.In the following we use the Boltzmann equations to obtain the equations of motion of a two-temperature binary gas mixture in an approximation analogous to that of Navier-Stokes (for convenience we shall term this approximation the Navier-Stokes approximation) to determine the transport coefficients and the relaxation terms of the equations for the temperatures. The equations in the Burnett approximation, and so on, may be obtained similarly, although this derivation is not useful in practice.     

On a path-independent integral approach to fast tearing of elastomers

Summary The feasibility of a path-independent integral approach to fracture mechanics of elastomers and the objectivity of the pertinent crack stability criterion are discussed with reference to tearing with negligible mechanical dissipations.

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Sommario In questo articolo si discutono le possibilità offerte dall'impiego dell'integrale J e del relativo criterio di stabilità della cricca nello studio della frattura veloce di materiali elastomerici.

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List of symbols and abbreviations F Deformation gradient. - Feled Finite Element for Large Elastic Deformations. - T Strain energy release per unit crack growth (termedG in fracture mechanics of metals). - T _l First Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor. - u Displacement vector. - W Stored energy function per unit of volume in the undeformed configuration. - x Spatial co-ordinates. - X Material co-ordinates.