Characterization of the branching structure of the lung from "macroscopic" pressure-volume measurements

We analyze the problem of fluid flow in a bifurcating structure containing random blockages that can be removed by fluid pressure. We introduce an asymmetric tree model and find that the predicted pressure-volume relation is connected to the distribution Pi(n) of the generation number n of the tree's terminal segments. We use this relation to explore the branching structure of the lung by analyzing experimental pressure-volume data from dog lungs. The Pi(n) extracted from the data using the model agrees well with experimental data on the branching structure. We can thus obtain information about the asymmetric structure of the lung from macroscopic, noninvasive pressure-volume measurements.     

A review of analytical methods, based on the wave approach, to compute partitions transmission loss

In this paper, various methods for calculating partition transparency are investigated. These methods are all based on the wave approach, yet they differ in the way of considering the incident field, partition leaf dimensions and the absorbing material, or absorbent, incorporated between the partition leaves. The method verification has been done through comparison with the experimental data available in the literature. Results are very convincing and the wave approach proves to be highly accurate. The basic wave approach is well suited for modeling of infinite single or double-leaf partitions, although the diffuse incident field requires spatial windowing to achieve agreement with experimental data. When porous material is incorporated inside double-leaf partitions, the model needs to be enhanced, based on the Biot theory, to ensure coincidence with experimental data. In the case of partitions, which cannot be considered infinite, spatial windowing is applied to the transparency to correct for the dimensional effect, especially in the low-frequency range. The final model turns out to be highly accurate, as long as spatial windowing is limited to the first coincidence frequency. The wave approach therefore proves to be a suitable method and calculation times are moreover acceptable.     

Theoretical and numerical approach to "magic angle" of stone skipping

We investigate the condition for the bounce of circular disks which obliquely impacts on the fluid surface. An experiment [C. Clanet, F. Hersen, and L. Bocquet, Nature (London) 427, 29 (2004)] revealed that there exists a "magic angle" of 20 degrees between a disk's face and water surface in which the condition of the lowest impact speed necessary for a bounce is minimized. We perform a three-dimensional simulation of the disk-water impact by means of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics. Furthermore, we analyze the impact with a model of the ordinary differential equation (ODE). Our simulation is in good agreement with the experiment. The analysis with the ODE model gives us a theoretical insight into the "magic angle" of stone skipping.     

Autoignition delay modulation by high-frequency thermoacoustic oscillations in reheat flames

This paper investigates the sensitivity of the autoignition delay in reheat flames to acoustic pulsations associated with high-frequency transverse thermoacoustic oscillations. A reduced order model for the response of purely autoignition-stabilised flames to acoustic disturbances is compared with experimental observations. The experiments identified periodic flame motion associated with high-amplitude transverse limit-cycle oscillations in an atmospheric pressure reheat combustor. This flame motion was assumed to be the result of a superposition of two flame-acoustic coupling mechanisms: autoignition delay modulation by the oscillating acoustic field and displacement and deformation of the flame by the acoustic velocity. The reduced order model coupled to reaction kinetics calculations reveals that a significant portion of the observed flame motion can be attributed to autoignition delay modulation. The ignition position responds instantaneously to the acoustic pressure at the time of ignition, as observed experimentally. The model also provides insight into the importance of the history of acoustic disturbances experienced by the fuel-air mixture prior to ignition. Due to the high-frequency nature of the instability, a fluid particle can experience multiple oscillation cycles before ignition. The ignition delay responds in-phase with the net-acoustic perturbation experienced by a fluid particle between injection and ignition. These findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms of the flame motion observed in experiments and provide useful insight into the importance of autoignition delay modulation as a driving mechanism of high-frequency thermoacoustic instabilities in reheat flames.     

One-dimensional "turbulence" in a discrete lattice

We study a one-dimensional discrete analog of the von Karman flow, widely investigated in turbulence. A lattice of anharmonic oscillators is excited by both ends in order to create a large scale structure in a highly nonlinear medium, in the presence of a dissipative term proportional to the second order finite difference of the velocities, similar to the viscous term in a fluid. In a first part, the energy density is investigated in real and Fourier space in order to characterize the behavior of the system on a local scale. At low amplitude of excitation the large scale structure persists in the system but all modes are however excited and exchange energy, leading to a power law spectrum for the energy density, which is remarkably stable against changes in the model parameters, amplitude of excitation, or damping. In the spirit of shell models, this regime can be described in terms of interacting scales. At higher amplitude of excitation, the large scale structure is destroyed and the dynamics of the system can be viewed as resulting from the creation, interaction, and decay of localized excitations, the discrete breathers, the one-dimensional equivalents of vortices in a fluid. The spectrum of the energy density is well described by the spectrum of the breathers, and shows an exponential decay with the wave vector. Due to this exponential behavior, the spectrum is dominated by the most intense breathers. In this regime, the probability distribution of the increments of velocity between neighboring points is remarkably similar to the experimental results of turbulence and can be described by distributions deduced from nonextensive thermodynamics as in fluids. In a second part the power dissipated in the whole lattice is studied to characterize the global behavior of the system. Its probability distribution function shows non-Gaussian fluctuations similar to the one exhibited recently in a large class of "inertial systems," i.e., systems that cannot be divided into mesoscopic regions which are independent. The properties of the nonlinear excitations of the lattice provide a partial understanding of this behavior.     

Highly resolved fluid flows: "liquid plasmas" at the kinetic level

Fluid flow around an obstacle was observed at the kinetic (individual particle) level using "complex (dusty) plasmas" in their liquid state. These "liquid plasmas" have bulk properties similar to water (e.g., viscosity), and a comparison in terms of similarity parameters suggests that they can provide a unique tool to model classical fluids. This allows us to study "nanofluidics" at the most elementary-the particle-level, including the transition from fluid behavior to purely kinetic transport. In this (first) experimental investigation we describe the kinetic flow topology, discuss our observations in terms of fluid theories, and follow this up with numerical simulations.     

Damping uncertainty due to noise and exponential windowing

Estimation of damping levels in structures is required in many applications and the theoretical damping predictions in many cases are either difficult or not very reliable. Therefore, determination of damping levels based on experimental data is employed quite often. However, in some cases, experimental approach may not be able to provide definite answers either in the sense that the identified damping level may exhibit high level of uncertainty. In experimental approach, the most widely used methods for damping determination require vibration spectrums or the Frequency Response Function(s) which are obtained by Fourier transformation of the time-domain data. During this process, it is often necessary, especially for lightly damped structures, to modify the time-domain data by using exponential windowing so as to minimise the leakage effect in the spectrum. The so-called numerical damping artificially added by this process can be subtracted later in order to obtain the correct damping level. However, for lightly damped structures, the artificially introduced numerical damping can be significantly greater than the actual damping level. This inevitably brings the accuracy and the reliability issues, especially when the data are contaminated by noise. This paper addresses damping uncertainty in frequency-domain estimation when (i) the data are contaminated by noise and (ii) numerical damping via exponential windowing is introduced during the signal processing phase of the spectrum estimation. Some numerical simulations are performed first in order to assess the adverse effects of noise on damping estimations and resulting damping uncertainty is examined as a function of noise level in the data. Then, damping uncertainty due to the use of exponential windowing is investigated using experimental data. A relationship between damping uncertainty and the level of added numerical damping is presented when the so-called Line-Fit method is used for damping estimation from measured Frequency Response Functions.     

Modified split-potential model for modeling the effect of DBD plasma actuators in high altitude flow control

Surface DBD plasma actuators are novel means of actively controlling flow. They have shown promising ability in reducing drag, postponing transition from laminar to turbulent flow, suppression of separation, noise reduction and enhancement of mixing in different applications. The CFD simulation of the effect of plasma actuator in such kind of applications could provide more information, and insight, for optimization and design of close looped flow control systems. However, the fluid models for simulating the formation of the plasma and its effect are computationally expensive such that, although they provide more detailed information about the physics related to the formation plasma, they are still not viable to be used in large scale CFD simulations. In this paper, we present the modified version of a simpler model that predicts the thrust generated by the plasma actuator with acceptable accuracy and can be easily incorporated in CFD calculations. This model is also free of empirical fitting parameters, being based on pure flow physics scaling.     

Top ten accelerating cosmological models

Recent astronomical observations indicate that the Universe is presently almost flat and undergoing a period of accelerated expansion. Basing on Einstein's general relativity all these observations can be explained by the hypothesis of a dark energy component in addition to cold dark matter (CDM). Because the nature of this dark energy is unknown, it was proposed some alternative scenario to explain the current accelerating Universe. The key point of this scenario is to modify the standard FRW equation instead of mysterious dark energy component. The standard approach to constrain model parameters, based on the likelihood method, gives a best-fit model and confidence ranges for those parameters. We always arbitrary choose the set of parameters which define a model which we compare with observational data. Because in the generic case, the introducing of new parameters improves a fit to the data set, there appears the problem of elimination of model parameters which can play an insufficient role. The Bayesian information criteria of model selection (BIC) is dedicated to promotion a set of parameters which should be incorporated to the model. We divide class of all accelerating cosmological models into two groups according to the two types of explanation acceleration of the Universe. Then the Bayesian framework of model selection is used to determine the set of parameters which gives preferred fit to the SNIa data. We find a few of flat cosmological models which can be recommend by the Bayes factor. We show that models with dark energy as a new fluid are favoured over models featuring a modified FRW equation.     

Predicting the sound reduction index of finite size specimen by a simplified spatial windowing technique

The transfer matrix technique is an efficient tool for calculating sound transmission through multilayered structures. However, due to the assumption of infinite size layers important discrepancies may be found between predicted and experimental data. The spatial windowing technique introduced by Villot et al. [Predicting the acoustical radiation of finite size multi-layered structures by applying windowing on infinite structures, Journal of Sound and Vibration 245 (2001) 433-455] has shown to give data much closer to measurement results than other measures, such as limiting the maximum angle of incidence when integrating to obtain the sound reduction index for diffuse incidence. Using a two-dimensional spatial window, also including the azimuth angle implies, however, that two double numerical integrations must be performed. As predicted results are compared with laboratory data, where the aspect ratio of the test object is required to be less than 1:2, a simplified procedure may be applied involving two single integrals only. It is shown that the accuracy in the end result may in practice be maintained by this simplified procedure.     

Improved depth extraction method of 3D objects using computational integral imaging reconstruction based on multiple windowing techniques

This paper presents an improved depth extraction method of 3D objects using computational integral imaging reconstruction (CIIR) based on the multiple windowing models. The proposed method records 3D objects using the lenslet array; and it reconstructs multiple sets of slice images from multiple CIIR methods based on the different windowing models. A depth map is then extracted by a block matching algorithm among multiple set of slice images. A preliminary experiment is carried out to show the feasibility of the proposed method. Experimental results indicate the proposed method outperforms the previous method with two windowing models.     

U型管传热量影响因素的数值模拟研究

地下换热器是地源热泵的重要组成部分,竖直U型管是最常见的地下换热器形式. U型管与土壤间的传热受诸多因素的影响.为分析这些因素对于U型管传热的影响,本文建立了地源热泵竖直U型管地下换热器的三维全尺寸数值模型,在此基础上采用CFD软件FLUENT对U型管的埋管深度、进口水温、管内流速等一系列因素在冬夏不同工况下对U型管传热量的影响进行了数值模拟研究.经过整理分析得出的各种因素对传热量影响可以为优化工程设计提供依据.     

Artifact analysis and image enhancement in three-dimensional computational integral imaging using smooth windowing technique

We propose an artifact analysis in computational integral imaging and the image enhancement method based on the analysis using the smooth windowing technique. Blurring and lenslet artifacts, which are major problems in computational integral imaging, are defined and analyzed using a signal model. Applying a smooth and continuous window such as the triangular window to computational integral imaging reconstruction provides a dramatic improvement in terms of image quality. Experimental results are presented to show the validity of our method. To our best knowledge, this is the first trial to control a window function in computational integral imaging.     

A new beamforming technique for ultrasonic imaging systems

We propose a simple, versatile and inexpensive beamforming method that performs the aperture windowing of an ultrasonic transducer array in the transmit mode, without modifying the driver voltage, but simply controlling the length of the electric pulse driving the array elements. A conversion formula has been determined that permits us to compute, for a desired emitted pulse amplitude, the corresponding driving pulse length to be applied. Any shading function can be implemented over any type of transducer array, using very low-cost hardware. Computer simulations and experimental measurements, with a 3.8 MHz convex array, confirm the effectiveness of this approach in enhancing the contrast resolution, since the off-axis intensity in the radiated beam pattern is largely reduced.     

Analytical predictions for vibration phase shifts along fluid-conveying pipes due to Coriolis forces and imperfections

Resonant vibrations of a fluid-conveying pipe are investigated, with special consideration to axial shifts in vibration phase accompanying fluid flow and various imperfections. This is relevant for understanding elastic wave propagation in general, and for the design and trouble-shooting of phase-shift measuring devices such as Coriolis mass flowmeters in particular. Small imperfections related to elastic and dissipative support conditions are specifically addressed, but the suggested approach is readily applicable to other kinds of imperfection, e.g. non-uniform stiffness or mass, non-proportional damping, weak nonlinearity, and flow pulsation. A multiple time scaling perturbation analysis is employed for a simple model of an imperfect fluid-conveying pipe. This leads to simple analytical expressions for the approximate prediction of phase shift, providing direct insight into which imperfections affect phase shift, and in which manner. The analytical predictions are tested against results obtained by pure numerical analysis using a Galerkin expansion, showing very good agreement. For small imperfections the analytical predictions are thus comparable in accuracy to numerical simulation, but provide much more insight. This may aid in creating practically useful hypotheses that hold more generally for real systems of complex geometry, e.g. that asymmetry or non-proportionality in axial distribution of damping will induce phase shifts in a manner similar to that of fluid flow, while the symmetric part of damping as well as non-uniformity in mass or stiffness do not affect phase shift. The validity of such hypotheses can be tested using detailed fluid-structure interaction computer models or laboratory experiments.     

Improved scatterer property estimates from ultrasound backscatter for small gate lengths using a gate-edge correction factor

Backscattered rf signals used to construct conventional ultrasound B-mode images contain frequency-dependent information that can be examined through the backscattered power spectrum. The backscattered power spectrum is found by taking the magnitude squared of the Fourier transform of a gated time segment corresponding to a region in the scattering volume. When a time segment is gated, the edges of the gated regions change the frequency content of the backscattered power spectrum due to truncating of the waveform. Tapered windows, like the Hanning window, and longer gate lengths reduce the relative contribution of the gate-edge effects. A new gate-edge correction factor was developed that partially accounted for the edge effects. The gate-edge correction factor gave more accurate estimates of scatterer properties at small gate lengths compared to conventional windowing functions. The gate-edge correction factor gave estimates of scatterer properties within 5% of actual values at very small gate lengths (less than 5 spatial pulse lengths) in both simulations and from measurements on glass-bead phantoms. While the gate-edge correction factor gave higher accuracy of estimates at smaller gate lengths, the precision of estimates was not improved at small gate lengths over conventional windowing functions.     

一种新颖的超结构光纤Bragg光栅梳状滤波器的设计

报道一种新颖的用于多波长光纤激光器的超结构光纤Bragg光栅（SFBG）梳状滤波器，其突出特点是仅由单个光栅构成、折射率调制和局部啁啾富于变化、反射峰均匀性好、窄带宽和标准的信道间隔.采用基于LP算法的IS光纤光栅设计技术，将整体加窗切趾法改进为各信道独立加窗切趾，成功地设计出所需的SFBG，同时对SFBG的制作技术也进行了探讨.用传输矩阵法分析反射谱、时延曲线和群时延抖动.结果表明，所设计的SFBG满足各项设计指标要求，在DWDM系统中，这种新颖的SFBG可望成为用于多波长光纤激光器的最理想的高性 能梳 关键词： 超结构光纤Bragg光栅 光栅设计 梳状滤波器     

Bose fluids above T(c): incompressible vortex fluids and "supersolidity"

This Letter emphasizes that nonlinear rotational or diamagnetic susceptibility is characteristic of Bose fluids above their superfluid T(C)'s. For sufficiently slow rotation or, for superconductors, weak B fields, this amounts to an incompressible response to vorticity. The cause is that there are terms missing in the conventionally accepted model Hamiltonian for quantized vortices in the Bose fluid. The resulting susceptibility can account for recent observations of Chan et al. [Nature (London) 427, 225 (2004); Science 305, 1941 (2004)] on solid He and Ong et al. [Europhys. Lett. 72, 451 (2005) on cuprate superconductors.     

Instability of the Randall-Sundrum Model and Exact Bulk Solutions

Five dimensional geodesic equation is used to study the gravitational force acted on a test particle in the bulk of the Randall-Sundrum two-brane model. This force could be interpreted as the gravitational attraction from matters on the two branes and may cause the model to be unstable. By analogy with star models in astrophysics, a fluid RS model is proposed in which the bulk is filled with a fluid and this fluid has an anisotropic pressure to balance the gravity from the two branes. Thus a class of exact bulk solutions is obtained which shows that any 4D Einstein solution with a perfect fluid source can be embedded in y = constant hypersurfaces in the bulk to form an equilibrium state of the brane model. By requiring a 4D effective curvature to have a minimum, the compactification size of the extra dimension is discussed.