Analysis of a viscous soft dielectric elastomer generator operating in an electrical circuit

Dielectric Elastomer Generators (DEGs) are able to convert mechanical work into electric energy. A soft dielectric elastomer generator can be modelled as a strain-dependent variable capacitor undergoing large viscoelastic deformation. In this work we analyze an electrical circuit for energy harvesting in which the DEG is stretched periodically by a source of mechanical work. Since these devices undergo a high number of electro-mechanical loading cycles at large deformation, it turns out that viscous effects must be carefully taken into account as they strongly affect the generator performance. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Reduction of seismic vibration in multistorey structures retrofitted with nonlinear viscous dampers using mode summation method

Viscous dampers are the retrofitted devices used to reduce the vibration energy in mechanical systems. In the present paper an investigation is carried to see the effect of nonlinear viscous dampers (NVDs) in multistory buildings. A model of building consisting of NVDs in each floor is considered and is subjected to base shear excitation. The complete model is considered as an equivalent mechanical system and equation of motion is established for equilibrium condition. Using mode summation method analytical expressions are found for the displacement response of the building's floors due to shear waves. To see the role of NVDs different values of damping coefficients are considered and the result is compared with the response of building without NVDs. Analyzing the result it is found that NVDs present in the building's floors dissipate the vibration energy significantly.     

A particle method for 1-D compressible fluid flow

This paper proposes a novel particle scheme that provides convergent approximations of a weak solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for the 1-D flow of a viscous compressible fluid. Moreover, it is shown that all differential inequalities that hold for the fluid model are preserved by the particle method: mass is conserved, mechanical energy is decaying, and a modified mechanical energy functional is also decaying. The proposed particle method can be used both as a numerical method and as a method of proving existence of solutions for compressible fluid models.     

Entropy balance for the one-dimensional hyperbolic quasi-gasdynamic system of equations

Entropy balance in the one-dimensional hyperbolic quasi-gasdynamic (HQGD) system of equations is analyzed. In particular, in regular flow regimes, it is shown that the behavior of entropy in the HQGD system is mainly determined by terms involving the natural viscosity and thermal conductivity coefficients. The total entropy production differs from the Navier–Stokes equations for viscous compressible heat-conducting gases by O(τ₂) terms, where τ is a relaxation parameter. Additionally, a similar analysis of energy balance is performed for the simpler case of the barotropic HQGD system, which is of interest for some applications.

     

Quasineutral limit of the viscous quantum hydrodynamic model for semiconductors

The quasineutral limit (zero-Debye-length limit) of viscous quantum hydrodynamic model for semiconductors is studied in this paper. By introducing new modulated energy functional and using refined energy analysis, it is shown that, for well-prepared initial data, the smooth solution of viscous quantum hydrodynamic model converges to the strong solution of incompressible Navier-Stokes equations as the Debye length goes to zero.     

An extended tube model for thermo-viscoelasticity of rubberlike materials: Parameter identification and examples

The extended tube-model was presented by KALISKE & HEINRICH (RCT 72, 602-632) in 1999 as a novel approach for isothermal hyperelasticity of rubberlike materials. This contribution is dedicated to its further development to finite non-linear thermo-viscoelasticity. A non-linear evolution law and a thermo-mechanical coupled free energy formulation are the kernel of the phenomenological approach where the elastic material response is inspired by statistical-mechanical theory. The representation of viscoelasticity is based on a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient. The Helmholtz free energy of the material is formulated in terms of isothermal free energy functions multiplicatively coupled with non-linear temperature evolution functions. The non-linear evolution law for the viscous material branch is solved by applying a predictor-corrector algorithm with an exponential mapping scheme. In today's literature, several sophisticated thermo-mechanical material models are available. However, they are built upon a considerable number of material parameters governing the mechanical and thermal material response which need to be identified for practical application. Therefore, particular emphasis is given to an appropriate parameter identification technique for the thermal field. For the latter, a uniaxial extension test is carried out where the recorded data of the temperature field of the rubber specimen under cyclic loading is used for parameter identification. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Stochastic Stability of Some Mechanical Systems

We discuss the behavior, for large values of time, of two linear stochastic mechanical systems. The systems are similar mathematically in that they contain a white noise in their parameters. The initial data may be random as well but are independent of white noise. The expected energy is calculated in both cases. It is well known that for free nonstochastic mechanical systems with viscous damping, the energy approaches zero as time increases. We check that this behavior takes place for the stochastic systems under consideration in the case when the initial data are random but the parameters are not. When the parameters contain a random noise the expected energy may be infinite, approach zero, remain bounded, or increase with no bound. This regime is similar to but more interesting than the known regime for the solutions of differential equations with time dependent periodic coefficients that describes the behavior of a mechanical system with characteristics that are periodic functions of time. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for stability of both systems in terms of the structure of the set of roots of an auxiliary equation.     

Residual saturated porous media – from oscillating water blobs to waves in ground earth

A model for wave propagation in residual saturated porous media is presented distinguishing enclosed fluid clusters with respect to their eigenfrequency and damping properties. The additional micro-structure information of cluster specific damping is preserved during the formal upscaling process and allows a stronger coupling between micro- and macro-scale than characterisation via eigenfrequencies alone. A numerical example of sandstone filled with air and liquid clusters of different eigenfrequency and damping distributions is given. If energy dissipation due to viscous damping dominates energy storage due to cluster oscillations, the damping distribution is more influential than the eigenfrequency distribution and vice versa. Spreading the damping distribution around a constant mean value supported the effect of capillary forces and spreading the eigenfrequency distribution around a constant mean value supported the effect of viscous damping in the investigated samples. For a wide distribution of the liquid clusters' damping properties, two damping mechanisms of propagating waves occur at the same time: damping due to viscous effects (for highly damped clusters) and energy storage by cluster oscillations (for underdamped clusters). (© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A finite element formulation of a viscoelastic model for dielectric elastomers

Smart materials by definition, are solids, fluids or gases which react independently on changing external conditions and modify one or more properties without external stimuli. Sensu lato an external energy can produce the reaction, such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, magnetic or electric fields. The distinguishing characteristic for electroactive polymers (EAP) is, that they react with a deformation by the application of an electrical field. This contribution presents a nonlinear electro-viscoelastic model for dielectric elastomers and its finite element implementation. This type of smart materials belong to the group of EAP's and consists out of soft elastomer between compliant and conducting electrodes. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A model of weak viscoelastic nematodynamics

The paper develops a continuum theory of weak viscoelastic nematodynamics of Maxwell type. It can describe the molecular elasticity effects in mono-domain flows of liquid crystalline polymers as well as the viscoelastic effects in suspensions of uniaxially symmetric particles in polymer fluids. Along with viscoelastic and nematic kinematics, the theory employs a general form of weakly elastic thermodynamic potential and the Leslie–Ericksen–Parodi type constitutive equations for viscous nematic liquids, while ignoring inertia effects and the Frank (orientation) elasticity in liquid crystal polymers. In general case, even the simplest Maxwell model has many basic parameters. Nevertheless, recently discovered algebraic properties of nematic operations reveal a general structure of the theory and present it in a simple form. It is shown that the evolution equation for director is also viscoelastic. An example of magnetization exemplifies the action of non-symmetric stresses. When the magnetic field is absent, the theory is reduced to the symmetric, fluid mechanical case with relaxation properties for both the stress and director. Our recent analyses of elastic and viscous soft deformation modes are also extended to the viscoelastic case. The occurrence of possible soft modes minimizes both the free energy and dissipation, and also significantly decreases the number of material parameters. In symmetric linear case, the theory is explicitly presented in terms of anisotropic linear memory functionals. Several analytical results demonstrate a rich behavior predicted by the developed model for steady and unsteady flows in simple shearing and simple elongation.     

A model of weak viscoelastic nematodynamics

The paper develops a continuum theory of weak viscoelastic nematodynamics of Maxwell type. It can describe the molecular elasticity effects in mono-domain flows of liquid crystalline polymers as well as the viscoelastic effects in suspensions of uniaxially symmetric particles in polymer fluids. Along with viscoelastic and nematic kinematics, the theory employs a general form of weakly elastic thermodynamic potential and the Leslie–Ericksen–Parodi type constitutive equations for viscous nematic liquids, while ignoring inertia effects and the Frank (orientation) elasticity in liquid crystal polymers. In general case, even the simplest Maxwell model has many basic parameters. Nevertheless, recently discovered algebraic properties of nematic operations reveal a general structure of the theory and present it in a simple form. It is shown that the evolution equation for director is also viscoelastic. An example of magnetization exemplifies the action of non-symmetric stresses. When the magnetic field is absent, the theory is reduced to the symmetric, fluid mechanical case with relaxation properties for both the stress and director. Our recent analyses of elastic and viscous soft deformation modes are also extended to the viscoelastic case. The occurrence of possible soft modes minimizes both the free energy and dissipation, and also significantly decreases the number of material parameters. In symmetric linear case, the theory is explicitly presented in terms of anisotropic linear memory functionals. Several analytical results demonstrate a rich behavior predicted by the developed model for steady and unsteady flows in simple shearing and simple elongation.     

Stokes efficiency of molecular motors with inertia

A molecular motor utilizes chemical free energy to generate a unidirectional motion in a viscous media. The stochastic motion of a motor is governed by a Langevin equation coupled to the chemical occupancy state. The change of chemical occupancy state is governed by a discrete Markov process. The Stokes efficiency was introduced to measure how “efficiently” the motor uses chemical free energy to drive through the surrounding fluid. For the overdamping case where the effect of inertia is ignored, it was proved that the Stokes efficiency is bounded by 100% [H. Wang, G. Oster, The Stokes efficiency for molecular motors and its applications, Europhysics Letters 57 (2002) 134–140]. Here we present a proof for the general case.     

Mechanical model of a mistuned 2DOF-structure coupled by viscous damping

In this paper the vibration amplitude reduction of a mechanical system is investigated when applying a damper between different DOF of that structure. Thereby, an elementary mechanical model consisting of two mass-spring elements with slightly differing eigenfrequencies and which are connected via a viscous dashpot damper is regarded. To investigate the systems behavior, an analysis of the transfer function and its poles and zeros in the L APLACE domain is performed when varying the damping constant. This reveals that the achievable amplitude reduction depends on the mistuning of the system and that even ideal viscous damping leads to a coupling which results in a shift of eigenfrequencies. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Lattice Boltzmann simulation for high-speed compressible viscous flows with a boundary layer

In this study, the lattice Boltzmann method is employed for simulating high-speed compressible viscous flows with a boundary layer. The coupled double-distribution-function lattice Boltzmann method proposed by Li et al. (2007) is employed because of its good numerical stability and non-free-parameter feature. The non-uniform mesh construction near the wall boundary in fine grids is combined with an appropriate wall boundary treatment for the finite difference method in order to obtain accurate spatial resolution in the boundary layer problem. Three typical problems in high-speed viscous flows are solved in the lattice Boltzmann simulation, i.e., the compressible boundary layer problem, shock wave problem, and shock boundary layer interaction problem. In addition, in-depth comparisons are made with the non-oscillatory and non-free-parameter dissipation (NND) scheme and second order upwind scheme in the present lattice Boltzmann model. Our simulation results indicate the great potential of the lattice Boltzmann method for simulating high-speed compressible viscous flows with a boundary layer. Further research is needed (e.g., better numerical models and appropriate finite difference schemes) because the lattice Boltzmann method is still immature for high-speed compressible viscous flow applications.     

On the Navier-Stokes equations: Existence theorems and energy equalities

Currently available results on the solvability of the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible non-Newtonian fluids are presented. The order of nonlinearity in the equations may be variable; the only requirement is that it must be a measurable function. Unsteady and steady equations are considered. A lot of attention is paid to the recovery of energy balance, whose violation is theoretically admissible, in particular, in the three-dimensional classical unsteady Navier-Stokes equation. When constructing a weak solution by a limit procedure, a measure arises as a limit of viscous energy densities. Generally speaking, the limit measure contains a nonnegative singular (with respect to the Lebesgue measure) component. It is this singular component that maintains energy balance. Sufficient conditions for the absence of a singular component are studied: in this case, the standard energy equality holds. In many respects, only the regular component of the limit measure is important: in the natural form it is equal to the product of the viscous stress tensor and the gradient of a solution; if this natural form is retained, then the problem is solvable. Conditions are found for the validity of the indicated fundamental representation of the absolutely continuous component of the limit measure.     

Viscous boundary value problems for symmetric systems with variable multiplicities

Extending investigations of Métivier and Zumbrun in the hyperbolic case, we treat stability of viscous shock and boundary layers for viscous perturbations of multidimensional hyperbolic systems with characteristics of variable multiplicity, specifically the construction of symmetrizers in the low-frequency regime where variable multiplicity plays a role. At the same time, we extend the boundary-layer theory to “real” or partially parabolic viscosities, Neumann or mixed-type parabolic boundary conditions, and systems with nonconservative form, in addition proving a more fundamental version of the Zumbrun-Serre-Rousset theorem, valid for variable multiplicities, characterizing the limiting hyperbolic system and boundary conditions as a nonsingular limit of a reduced viscous system. The new effects of viscosity are seen to be surprisingly subtle; in particular, viscous coupling of crossing hyperbolic modes may induce a destabilizing effect. We illustrate the theory with applications to magnetohydrodynamics.     

On the solvability of equations of a nonlinear viscous-ideal fluid

A model of the one-dimensional motion of a viscous compressible fluid is considered. A class of nonlinear stressed-state equations for which the initial boundary-value problem has global (in time) solutions in the class of generalized solutions satisfying the energy identity is described. In particular, media exhibiting viscous properties only for large strain rates are studied. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 13–23, July, 2000.