An analytical film drainage model and breakup criterion for Taylor bubbles in slug flow in inclined round pipes

The velocity of Taylor bubbles in inclined pipes is reduced if a lubricating liquid film between the bubble and the pipe wall is not present. An analytical model predicting the gravity-driven drainage of the lubricating film is presented in this article. The model is then used to establish a criterion for film breakup: if ${\overline{t}}_{bubble}=t_{bubble}/\tau <0.01$ the thin film would not break up, where t_bubble is the bubble’s passage time, and τ is the characteristic film drainage time based on the fluid properties, pipe geometry, and critical film thickness. The model is validated experimentally with Taylor bubbles in inclined pipes (5° to 90°, the latter being vertical) with stagnant liquids (ethanol, methanol, and mixtures of deionized water and methanol).     

Material characterization by dual sharp indenters

In a recent study, Le [Le, M.-Q., 2008. A computational study on the instrumented sharp indentations with dual indenters. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 45 (10), 2818–2835.] demonstrated that the yield strength Y can be replaced by the loading curvature C and hence the reduced elastic modulus-loading curvature ratio $E^1/C$ and strain hardening exponent n can be used to govern characteristic parameters of indentation load–depth curves. Extending Le’s approach and regarding dimensional analysis, it is found that $C/Y\text{and}{E}^1/Y$ can be used to investigate fundamental issues in instrumented sharp indentation. Based on extensive finite element analysis, a set of dimensionless functions are constructed for cone indenters of half included angles of 60° and 70.3°. Dimensionless relationships with respect to dual indenters are further explored. Several features of hardness are also considered. An inverse analysis procedure is suggested to estimate material properties, giving good inverse results for experimental data from the literature and representative materials. Sensitivity of inverse solution are studied and discussed. The results show that the proposed dual indenter method is quite robust and can be applied to a wide range of materials.     

Quantifying dislocation microstructure evolution and cyclic hardening in fatigued face-centered cubic single crystals

Discrete dislocation dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the dislocation microstructure evolution and cyclic hardening during the early stages of fatigue loading in nickel single crystals. The effects of the crystal size and initial dislocation densities on both the mechanical response and the evolution of dislocation microstructure were quantified. Crystals having an initial dislocation density of 10¹²  m⁻² and diameter less than $2.0\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ do not show any dislocation density multiplication or cyclic hardening. In contrast, crystals having the same initial dislocation density and diameters larger than $2.0\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ show a significant dislocation density accumulation in the form of dislocation cell-like structures, even after only a few number of loading cycles. This dislocation density accumulation was also accompanied by considerable cyclic hardening. The dislocation cell size and its wall thickness increase with increasing crystal size. With increasing dislocation density the critical crystal size, at which dislocation cell-structures form, decreases. The information theoretic entropy is utilized as a metric to quantify the extent of dislocation patterning and the formation and evolution of dislocation cell structures over time. Cross-slip was found to play a dominant role in the dislocation cell-structure formation. Further insights on the mechanisms contributing to the observed behavior are presented and discussed.     

Kinematic regimes of convection at high Prandtl number in a shallow cavityRégimes cinématiques de la convection à haut nombre de Prandtl dans une cavité allongée.

We consider free convection in a horizontal shallow cavity with different end temperatures, filled with a high Prandtl number fluid. From scaling analysis, we find two kinematic regimes resulting from the competition of heat transfer by conduction and by convection. Numerical simulations realized for a large range of Rayleigh number and aspect ratio confirm the phenomenological analysis and provide the threshold between the two regimes. The conductive and convective regimes occur at $\mathit{Ra}{A}^2$ smaller and larger than 443 respectively, where Ra is the Rayleigh number and A is the aspect ratio. In the convective regime, the characteristic velocity is independent of depth of the cavity. To cite this article: J.-M. Flesselles, F. Pigeonneau, C. R. Mecanique 332 (2004).