Precursor vacuum-ultraviolet radiation ahead of strong shock waves in a shock tube

The profile and excitation mechanism of vacuum-ultraviolet radiation emitted from shock wave is investigated in a shock tube. For shock wave in argon, the rdiation is due to resonant transition excited by argon-argon collision in the shock front with excitation cross section coefficientS ^*=1.0×10⁻¹⁷ cm²·ev⁻¹ and activation energyE ^*=11.4 ev. For shock wave in air the radition is emitted from a very thin shock layer in which the mechanism ofX ¹∑→b ¹∑ of N₂ is excited with excitation cross sectionQ=2×10⁻¹⁶cm² and activation energyE ^*=12.1 ev. Institute of Mechanics, Academia Sinica     

Effect of noise on erosion of safe basin in power system

We study the effect of Gaussian white noise on erosion of safe basin in a simple model of power system whose safe basin is integral in the absence of noise. The stochastic Melnikov method is first applied to predict the onset of basin erosion when the noise excitation is present in system. And then the eroded basins are simulated according to the necessary restrictions for the system’s parameters. It is found that for the noisy power system when the noise intensity σ is greater than a threshold, basin erosion occurs and as σ is further increased basin erosion is aggravated. These studies imply that random noise excitation can induce and enhance the basin erosion in the power system.     

Stochastic Motion by Mean Curvature

We prove the existence of a continuously time‐varying subset K(t) of R ⁿ such that its boundary ∂K(t), which is a hypersurface, has normal velocity formally equal to the (weighted) mean curvature plus a random driving force. This is the first result in such generality combining curvature motion and stochastic perturbations. Our result holds for any C ² convex surface energy. The K(t) can have topological changes. The randomness is introduced by means of stochastic flows of diffeomorphisms generated by Brownian vector fields which are white in time but smooth in space. We work in the context of geometric measure theory, using sets of finite perimeter to represent K(t). The evolution is obtained as a limit of a time‐stepping scheme. Variational minimizations are employed to approximate the curvature motion. Stochastic calculus is used to prove global energy estimates, which in turn give a tightness statement of the approximating evolutions. (Accepted December 22, 1997)     

The moment Lyapunov exponent of a Timoshenko beam under bounded noise excitation

The moment Lyapunov exponents and the Lyapunov exponent of a two-dimensional system under bounded noise excitation are studied in this paper. The method regular perturbation is applied to obtain the small noise expansion of the pth moment Lyapunov exponent and the Lyapunov exponent. The results are applied to the study of the almost-sure and moment stability of the stationary solutions of the elastic beam subjected to the stochastic axial load. The boundaries of the almost-sure and moment stability of the elastic beam as the function of the damping coefficient and characteristics of the stochastic force are obtained.     

Influence of the mode number on the stochastic stability regions of the elastic beam

The moment Lyapunov exponents and Lyapunov exponent of a two-dimensional system under stochastic parametric excitation are studied. A perturbation approach is used to obtain explicit expressions for these exponents in the presence of small intensity noises. Approximate analytical results for the pth moment Lyapunov exponents are compared with the numerical values obtained by the Monte Carlo simulation approach. The results are applied to the study of the almost-sure and the moment stability of the stationary solutions of the elastic beam subjected to the stochastic axial load. The boundaries of the almost-sure and the moment stability of the elastic beam as the function of the damping coefficient, spectral density of the stochastic force and mode number are obtained.     

On Nonlinear Stochastic Balance Laws

We are concerned with multidimensional stochastic balance laws. We identify a class of nonlinear balance laws for which uniform spatial BV bound for vanishing viscosity approximations can be achieved. Moreover, we establish temporal equicontinuity in L ¹ of the approximations, uniformly in the viscosity coefficient. Using these estimates, we supply a multidimensional existence theory of stochastic entropy solutions. In addition, we establish an error estimate for the stochastic viscosity method, as well as an explicit estimate for the continuous dependence of stochastic entropy solutions on the flux and random source functions. Various further generalizations of the results are discussed.     

The maximal Lyapunov exponent of a co-dimension two-bifurcation system excited by a bounded noise

In the present paper,the maximal Lyapunov exponent is investigated for a co-dimension two bifurcation system that is on a three-dimensional central manifold and subjected to parametric excitation by a bounded noise.By using a perturbation method,the expressions of the invariant measure of a one-dimensional phase diffusion process are obtained for three cases,in which different forms of the matrix B,that is included in the noise excitation term,are assumed and then,as a result,all the three kinds of singular boundaries for one-dimensional phase diffusion process are analyzed.Via Monte-Carlo simulation,we find that the analytical expressions of the invariant measures meet well the numerical ones.And furthermore,the P-bifurcation behaviors are investigated for the one-dimensional phase diffusion process.Finally,for the three cases of singular boundaries for one-dimensional phase diffusion process,analytical expressions of the maximal Lyapunov exponent are presented for the stochastic bifurcation system.     

Precursor ionization ahead of strong shock waves in argon

The mechanism of precursor ionization ahead of strong shock waves has been studied in a low density shock tube. The experimental results are illustrated with Arrhenius plots with kink points dividing them into two parts with apparent activation energy ratio 1:2, namely with the values 7.7 eV and 15.3 eV, and varying with first and third power of the density respectively. A model is proposed to interpret the facts where the process taking place in the precursor region, is a two step photo ionization accompanied with the drift flow effect of the gas relative to the shock wave or the ionization recombination effect according to whether the shock speed and initial density are low enough. The product of the A-A collision excitation cross section coefficientS ^* multiplied by the radiation cross sectionQ ^* of ArgonS ^*×Q ^*=1×10⁻³⁶ (cm⁴eV⁻¹) and the three body recombination coefficient of Argon at room temperaturek _ra =1×10⁻²⁴ (cm⁻⁶s⁻¹). The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Energy Transport in Stochastically Perturbed Lattice Dynamics

We consider lattice dynamics with a small stochastic perturbation of order ${\varepsilon}We consider lattice dynamics with a small stochastic perturbation of order e{\varepsilon} and prove that for a space–time scale of order e^-1{\varepsilon^{-1}} the local spectral density (Wigner function) evolves according to a linear transport equation describing inelastic collisions. For an energy and momentum conserving chain, the transport equation predicts a slow decay, as 1/?t{1/\sqrt t} , for the energy current correlation in equilibrium. This is in agreement with previous studies using a different method.     

Sensitivity,probabilistic and stochastic analysis of the thermo-piezoelectric phenomena in solids by the stochastic perturbation technique

The main aim here is to present the application of the generalized stochastic perturbation technique to thermo-piezoelectric analysis of solid continua. The general nth order Taylor series representation for all random input parameters and the state functions is employed to formulate the coupled thermo-electro-elasticity equilibrium equations of the additional order; a determination of any probabilistic moments and characteristics is described; the discretization of the problem in terms of the Stochastic perturbation-based Finite Element Method is also provided. Since this expansion includes the lowest order partial derivatives, the structural sensitivity analysis using direct differentiation is performed at the same time with probabilistic modeling contrasted with the Monte-Carlo simulation results. The probabilistic approach is extended here towards an accounting for the stochastic ageing processes, which appear frequently in aggressive external environments and under dynamic excitation. The two parametric stochastic process with Gaussian initial value and ageing velocity is tested for this purpose. The entire procedure is tested on the example of the thermo-electro-elastic pulsation of the beam modeled analytically using the symbolic software MAPLE, where polynomial approximations, design sensitivities, probabilistic moments and their histories are computed and visualized.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of the structure of pseudo-shock systems in laval nozzles with parallel side walls

Detailed numerical and experimental investigations of pseudo-shock systems in a Laval nozzle with parallel side walls are carried out. The location of the pseudo-shock system is defined in this system of two choked Laval nozzles by the ratio of the critical cross sections A₂^*/A₁^*{{A}_{2}^*/{A}_{1}^*} , the stagnation pressure loss across the shock system and viscous losses. The wall pressure distributions and high-speed schlieren videos recorded in the experiments are compared to the results of a steady and an unsteady numerical simulation. For the steady case, good agreement is found between the calculated and measured shock structure and pressure distribution along the primary nozzle wall, except for a remaining slight deviation in the shock position. For the unsteady case, in which asymmetric shock configurations are observed, deviations of the results with respect to the stochastic wall attachment of the shock system are given which indicate the necessity of further investigations on that topic.     

Influence of Horizontal Excitations on Dynamic Stability of a Slender Beam Under Vertical Excitation

Experimental studies have been conducted to clarify the influence of horizontal harmonic excitations on the dynamic stability of a slender cantilever beam under vertical harmonic excitation. Three kinds of aluminum test beams with rectangular cross section have been used. The test beam being clamped at one end and free at the other end, was vertically stood, and was harmonically excited to both vertical and horizontal directions simultaneously. The direction of the horizontal excitation was taken parallel to one of the beam side faces, i.e. two directions were considered as X and Y directions which have the largest and smallest flexural rigidity, respectively. By varying the horizontal excitation amplitude, keeping the amplitude of excitation in the vertical direction, the influence of the horizontal excitation has been investigated on the principal instability regions in which unstable vibration of the fundamental vibration mode occurs. The excitation frequency in the vertical excitation was taken around twice the fundamental natural frequency 2f _{Y 1} in smallest rigidity direction, while that in the horizontal direction was taken around both the fundamental natural frequency f _{Y 1} and twice of it 2f _{Y 1}. Obtained experimental results present useful fundamental data for aseismatic design of structures under earthquake containing both vertical and horizontal excitation components.     

Optimal control strategies for stochastically excited quasi partially integrable Hamiltonian systems

In this paper two different control strategies designed to alleviate the response of quasi partially integrable Hamiltonian systems subjected to stochastic excitation are proposed. First, by using the stochastic averaging method for quasi partially integrable Hamiltonian systems, an n-DOF controlled quasi partially integrable Hamiltonian system with stochastic excitation is converted into a set of partially averaged Itô stochastic differential equations. Then, the dynamical programming equation associated with the partially averaged Itô equations is formulated by applying the stochastic dynamical programming principle. In the first control strategy, the optimal control law is derived from the dynamical programming equation and the control constraints without solving the dynamical programming equation. In the second control strategy, the optimal control law is obtained by solving the dynamical programming equation. Finally, both the responses of controlled and uncontrolled systems are predicted through solving the Fokker-Plank-Kolmogorov equation associated with fully averaged Itô equations. An example is worked out to illustrate the application and effectiveness of the two proposed control strategies.     

Theoretical and Experimental Study on the Parametrically Excited Vibration of Mass-Loaded String

The parametrically excited lateral vibration of a mass-loaded string is investigated in this paper. Supposing that the mass at the lower end of the string is subjected to a vertical harmonic excitation and neglecting the higher-order vibration modes, the equation of motion for the mass-loaded string can be represented by a Mathieu's equation with cubic nonlinearity. Based on the stability criterion for Mathieu's equation, the critical conditions inducing parametric resonance are clarified. Theoretical analysis shows that when the natural frequency f _s of the string lateral vibration and the vertical excitation frequency f satisfy f _s= (n/2)f, n= 1, 2, 3, ..., parametric resonance occurs in the case of no damping. For a damped system, parametric resonance most likely occurs when f is close to 2f _s, and depends on the damping of the system and the vertical excitation. The critical excitation has been derived at different frequencies. If the natural frequency of the mass vertical vibration happens to be twice that of the string lateral vibration, the parametric resonance may occur due to a small disturbance. Numerical simulations show that the lateral vibration of the string does not increase infinitely at parametric resonance because the parametric excitation is self-tuned due to the coupling between the vertical and lateral vibrations. Finally, the theoretical results are supported by some experimental work.     

Effect of acoustic excitation on flow over a partially grooved circular cylinder

An experimental investigation was carried out on the flow over a partially grooved circular cylinder over a Reynolds number range of 3 × 10⁴ to 1.22 × 10⁵ with and without acoustic excitation. Without excitation the flow over the smooth half of the cylinder was observed to shift to higher subcritical regime. The flow over the groove half, however, is shifted to supercritical or transcritical flow regime. With excitation, on the smooth half it is the separated laminar shear layer which locks in with the excitation frequency, resulting in the shift from subcritical to supercritical or transcritical regimes. On the groove half excitation is not effective for the flow within the transcritical regime. With excitation, the lift is found to reverse its direction while the drag is nearly the same.This study is partly supported by a grant from the Committee of Research and Conference Grants. The University of Hong Kong     

Velocity and spanwise vorticity measurements in an excited mixing layer of a plane jet

The mixing layer of a plane jet was subjected to periodic weak excitation at two different frequencies corresponding to shear layer mode (St =0.012) and preferred mode (St _D =0.36). The nozzle exit boundary layer was identical for the unexcited and excited flows. Measurements of mean velocity, longitudinal and lateral velocity fluctuations, Reynolds shear stress and spanwise component of fluctuating vorticity were made over a longitudinal distance x/D of 6 for both the unexcited and the excited flows. Even weak excitation was observed to influence the development of the mixing layer. Under shear layer mode of excitation, the width of the layer and longitudinal turbulence level decrease compared to the naturally developing (unexcited) flow whereas preferred mode of excitation results in increase in the width and turbulence levels. The rms spanwise vorticity showed an increase for shear layer mode of excitation whereas the preferred mode of excitation resulted in a decrease compared to the values in an unexcited flow. Spectra of velocity and vorticity fluctuations exhibited subharmonic peaks, suggesting the possible occurrence of vortex pairing in both unexpected and excited flows. The influence of excitation is found to decrease as x/D increases and is not significant at x/D=6.This study was partly supported by a grant from the Research Grant Council, Hong Kong. The support and hospitality of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hong Kong are gratefully acknowledged by SR. The authors are grateful the referees for valuable comments.     

Influence of Transverse Shear on Stochastic Instability of the Elastic Beam

In the case when Kirchhoff–Love hypotheses do not give satisfactory results, we have to take the rotatory inertia and transverse shear into account. This paper studies the elastic beam subjected to stochastic axial load, when transverse shear is taken into account. By using the direct Liapunov method, the bounds of the almost sure instability of beams as the function of the damping coefficient, variance of the stochastic force, geometric parameters, mode number, section shape factor and intensity of the deterministic component of axial loading, are obtained. Calculations are performed for the Gaussian process with zero mean and variance ², as well as for the harmonic process with amplitude A.     

Some asymptotic results for a class of stochastic systems with parametric excitations

Systems of stochastic ordinary differential equations dependent on a small parameter are studied. The equations are assumed to depend on two time scales: they are stochastic in a fast time t and they are deterministic in a slow time t. The method of analysis is based on a generalization of the Method of Averaging. Mathematical results are given valid for all t for sufficiently small. The mathematical results are applied to several examples of parametrically excited dynamical systems.     

Lagrangian Time-Scales in Homogeneous Non-Gaussian Turbulence

Lagrangian time-scales in homogeneous non-Gaussian turbulence were studied using a one-dimensional Lagrangian Stochastic Model. The existence of two time-scales τ _L and T _L , one typical of the inertial subrange and the other which is an integral property, is outlined. Variations of the ratio T _L /τ _L in the plane skewness-flatness (S, F) are shown and a connection with the statistical constraint F ≥S ² + 1 is evidenced. The Lagrangian autocorrelation function ρ(t) of particle velocity was computed for some values of (S, F). It is shown that for small times, say t < T _L , the influence of non-Gaussianity is negligible and ρ(t) presents the same behaviour as in the Gaussian case regardless of variations in (S, F).As the time increases, departures from Gaussianity are observed and autocorrelation turns out to be always larger than in the Gaussiancase. This is supported by some considerations in terms of information entropy, which is shown to decrease with increasing departures from Gaussianity. Spectral analysis of Lagrangian velocity shows that non-Gaussianity is relevant only to large scales of the stochastic process and that the expected inertial subrange decay ω⁻² is attained by spectra of all simulations, except for one case in which the model probability density function is bimodal, due to the vicinity to the statistical limit. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Stochastic jump and bifurcation of Duffing oscillator with fractional derivative damping under combined harmonic and white noise excitations

The stochastic jump and bifurcation of Duffing oscillator with fractional derivative damping of order α (0<α<1) under combined harmonic and white noise excitations are studied. First, the system state is approximately represented by two-dimensional time-homogeneous diffusive Markov process of amplitude and phase difference using the stochastic averaging method. Then, the method of reduced Fokker–Plank–Kolmogorov (FPK) equation is used to predict the stationary response of the original system. The phenomenon of stochastic jump and bifurcation as the fractional orders' change is examined.