Development of high bandwidth powered resonance tube actuators with feedback control

A high bandwidth powered resonance tube (PRT) actuator potentially useful for noise and flow control applications was developed. High bandwidth allows use of the same actuator at various locations on an aircraft and over a range of flight speeds. The actuator selected for bandwidth enhancement was the PRT actuator, which is an adaptation of the Hartmann whistle. The device is capable of producing high-frequency and high-amplitude pressure and velocity perturbations for active flow control applications. Our detailed experiments aimed at understanding the PRT phenomenon are complemented by an improved analytical model and direct numerical simulations. We provide a detailed characterization of the unsteady pressures in the nearfield of the actuator using phase averaged pressure measurements. The measurements revealed that propagating fluctuations at 9 kHz were biased towards the upstream direction (relative to the supply jet). A complementary computational study validated by our experiments was useful in simulating the details in the region between the supply jet and the resonance tube where it was difficult to gather experimental data. High bandwidth was obtained by varying the depth of the resonance tube that determines the frequency produced by the device. Our actuator could produce frequencies ranging from 1600 to 15,000 Hz at amplitudes as high as 160 dB near the source. The frequency variation with depth is predicted well by the quarter wavelength formula for deep tubes but the formula becomes increasingly inaccurate as the tube depth is decreased. An improved analytical model was developed, in which the compliance and mass of the fluid in the integration slot is incorporated into the prediction of resonance frequencies of the system. Finally a feedback controller that varied both the resonance tube depth and spacing to converge on a desired frequency was developed and demonstrated. We are optimistic that numerous potential applications exist for such high bandwidth high dynamic range actuators.     

Bio-inspired digital nanoactuators for photon and biomaterial manipulation

This paper presents a bio-inspired digital nanoactuation device (DND) for applications to nano-precision digital manipulation of photons and biomolecules. The structures and principles of DND device have been inspired from those of the biological muscle actuator. The bio-inspired DND, composed of a digital actuator and a nonlinear mechanical modulator, purifies the stroke of the digital actuator in order to generate the high-precision motion required for nano-positioning of photonic or bio-molecule devices. We design and fabricate two kind of DNDs: one with a linear modulator (l-DND) and the other with nonlinear modulator (n-DND), both having an identical input and output strokes of 15.2 μm and 5.4 μm, respectively. In experimental study, n-DND shows the repeatability of 12.3 ± 2.9 nm, superior to that of 27.8 ± 2.9 nm achieved by l-DND. We experimentally verify that the displacement purifying capability of the bio-inspired n-DND achieves nano-precision motion repeatability, applicable to photon and bio-molecule manipulation.     

Experimental examination of vortex-sound generation in an organ pipe: A proposal of jet vortex-layer formation model

Aero-dynamical models of sound generation in an organ pipe driven by a thin jet are investigated through an experimental examination of the vortex-sound theory. An important measurement requirement (acoustic cross-flow as an irrotational potential flow reciprocating sinusoidally) from the vortex-sound theory is carefully realized when the pipe is driven with low blowing pressures of about 60 Pa (jet velocities of about 10 m/s). Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is applied to measure the jet velocity and the acoustic cross-flow velocity over the mouth area at the same phase by quickly switching the jet drive and the loudspeaker-horn drive. The vorticity of the jet flow field and the associated acoustic generation term are evaluated from the measurement data. It is recognized that the model of the “jet vortex-layer formation” is more relevant to the sound production than the vortex-shedding model. The acoustic power is dominantly generated by the flow–acoustic interaction near the edge, where the acoustic cross-flow velocity takes larger magnitudes. The acoustic generation formula on the vortex sound cannot deny the conventional acoustical volume-flow model because of the in-phase relation satisfied between the acoustic pressure at the mouth and the acoustic volume flow into the pipe. The vortex layers formed along both sides of the jet act as the source of an accelerating force (through the “acceleration unbalance”) with periodically alternating direction to oscillate the jet flow and to reinforce the acoustic cross-flow at the pipe mouth.     

Theoretical and experimental investigations of the dynamics of cantilevered flexible plates subjected to axial flow

In this paper, the dynamics of cantilevered flexible plates subjected to axial flow is investigated theoretically and experimentally. A nonlinear equation of motion of the plate based on the inextensibility assumption, coupled with an unsteady lumped vortex model for the aerodynamic part is used to analyze the instability and post-critical dynamical behaviour of this fluid–structure system theoretically. Experiments have been conducted in a 3 ft×2 ft (914 mm×610 mm) cross-section wind tunnel, using polypropylene carbonate (PPC) films, thin brass plates, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets, and type 304 stainless steel sheets, with maximum dimensions 224 mm×168 mm. In the experiments, time traces, power spectral densities (PSDs), phase-plane plots, Poincaré maps, probability density functions (PDFs) and autocorrelations are used to characterize the motions of the system.Periodic and chaotic oscillations have been observed in the experiments. It has also been observed that flutter arises via a subcritical bifurcation involving hysteresis for large aspect ratio plates; this hysteresis does not occur for low aspect ratio plates. The hysteresis phenomenon is considered to be due to spanwise deformation of the plates. The effect of aspect ratio on critical flow velocity is investigated. The experimental critical flow velocities for flutter onset are in good agreement with the theoretically predicted values.     

A comparison of vortex and pseudo-spectral methods for the simulation of periodic vortical flows at high Reynolds numbers

We present a validation study for the hybrid particle-mesh vortex method against a pseudo-spectral method for the Taylor–Green vortex at Re_Γ = 1600 as well as in the collision of two antiparallel vortex tubes at Re_Γ = 10,000. In this study we present diagnostics such as energy spectra and enstrophy as computed by both methods as well as point-wise comparisons of the vorticity field. Using a fourth order accurate kernel for interpolation between the particles and the mesh, the results of the hybrid vortex method and of the pseudo-spectral method agree well in both flow cases. For the Taylor–Green vortex, the vorticity contours computed by both methods around the time of the energy dissipation peak overlap. The energy spectrum shows that only the smallest length scales in the flow are not captured by the vortex method.In the second flow case, where we compute the collision of two anti-parallel vortex tubes at Reynolds number 10,000, the vortex method results and the pseudo-spectral method results are in very good agreement up to and including the first reconnection of the tubes. The maximum error in the effective viscosity is about 2.5% for the vortex method and about 1% for the pseudo-spectral method. At later times the flows computed with the different methods show the same qualitative features, but the quantitative agreement on vortical structures is lost.     

EHD flow measured by 3D PIV in a narrow electrostatic precipitator with longitudinal-to-flow wire electrode and smooth or flocking grounded plane electrode

In this work, results of three-dimensional (3D) Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow velocity fields in a narrow electrostatic precipitator (ESP) with a longitudinal-to-flow placed wire electrode are presented. The ESP was a narrow transparent acrylic box (90 mm×30 mm×30 mm). The electrode set consisted of a single wire discharge electrode and two plane collecting electrodes. Either two smooth stainless-steel plates or two stainless-steel plane meshes with nylon flocks were used as the collecting electrodes. The 3D PIV measurements were carried out in two parallel planes, placed longitudinally to the flow duct. The positive DC voltage of up to 9.5 kV was applied to the wire electrode through a 10 MΩ resistor. The collecting electrodes were grounded. The measurements were carried out at a primary flow velocity of 0.5 m/s. Obtained results show that the flow patterns for the smooth-plate electrodes and for the flocking plane electrodes are similar in the bulk of the flow. However, the flow velocities near the flocking plane electrodes are much lower than those near the smooth-plate electrodes. This is a beneficial phenomenon, because the lower the flow near the collecting electrodes, the lower re-entrainment of the particles deposited on the collecting electrodes occurs.     

Dynamic evolution of Riemann–Silberstein vortices for Gaussian vortex beams

The dynamic evolution of Riemann–Silberstein (RS) vortices for Gaussian vortex beams with topological charges m = ± 1 in free space is studied. It is shown that for Gaussian on-axis vortex beams there exist both RS vortex with m = + 2 and circular edge dislocation. For Gaussian off-axis vortex beams the circular edge dislocation splits into two RS vortices with opposite topological charges m = ± 1 and the RS vortex with m = + 2 decays into two vortices with same topological charges m = + 1. The motion of RS vortices takes place by varying the propagation distance, waist width, off-axis parameter, or topological charge. RS vortices for Gaussian vortex-free beams can be treated as a special case. The results are illustrated analytically and numerically.     

Velocity measurement for moving surfaces using spatial filtering method based on area image sensor

The idea of using spatial filtering method to measure velocity of vehicles for an inertial navigation system is put forward. Corresponding optical system, including a 532 nm solid-state laser as active illumination, is established. A 17.92 mm × 14.34 mm area charge coupled device (CCD) is employed both as detector and as spatial filter. The spatial filtering characteristics are theoretically analyzed using a power spectral density function. The spatial filtering operation of CCD is performed fully by software. Therefore, the parameters of the spatial filter, such as the size and the number of spatial period, are changeable. In addition, the CCD is arranged as two differential spatial filters without any other additional elements. Experiments are carried out to examine the feasibility of CCD as two differential spatial filters and the influence of the number of spatial period on the signal frequency. The results indicate that the more number of spatial period the more accurate measurements can be obtained, and show that the relation between signal frequency and velocity has good linearity. So this velocimeter is suitable to provide velocity information for a vehicle self-contained inertial navigation system.     

Active vibration control of beam structures using acceleration feedback control with piezoceramic actuators

In this study, the active vibration control of clamped–clamped beams using the acceleration feedback (AF) controller with a sensor/moment pair actuator configuration is investigated. The sensor/moment pair actuator is a non-collocated configuration, and it is the main source of instability in the direct velocity feedback control system. First, the AF controller with non-collocated sensor/moment pair actuator is numerically implemented for a clamped–clamped beam. Then, to characterize and solve the instability problem of the AF controller, a parametric study is conducted. The design parameters (gain and damping ratio) are found to have significant effects on the stability and performance of the AF controller. Next, based on the characteristics of AF controllers, a multimode controllable single-input single-output (SISO) AF controller is considered. Three AF controllers are connected in parallel with the SISO architecture. Each controller is tuned to a different mode (in this case, the second, third and fourth modes). The design parameters are determined on the basis of the parametric study. The multimode AF controller with the selected design parameters has good stability and a high gain margin. Moreover, it reduces the vibration significantly. The vibration levels at the tuned modes are reduced by about 12 dB. Finally, the performance of the AF controller is verified by conducting an experiment. The vibration level of each controlled mode can be reduced by about 12 dB and this value is almost same as the theoretical result.     

Improving the stability of organic light-emitting devices using a solution-processed hole-injecting layer

The stability of organic light-emitting devices with a spin-coated film of 4,4′,4″-tris(3-methylphenylphenylamino)triphenylamine (m-MTDATA) as hole-injection layer (HIL) was investigated. The lifetime of this device is increased to 40 900 h (with an initial luminance of 100 cd/m²), which is 2.7 times as large as that of the control device with a vacuum-deposited film of m-MTDATA as HIL. A significant feature with this method is that the performance and the operational stability of the device with spin-coated HIL are little attenuated by the rough substrate coated by the indium-tin oxide film. The surface morphology of the solution-processed m-MTDATA thin film is quite even and uniform, and it acts as a smoothing layer in the device, which leads to the stability enhancement of the device.     

Electrohydrodynamic gas pump in a vertical tube

The characteristics of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) gas pumps have been experimentally evaluated. Two tubes of different size were used to house the EHD gas pumps. Experiments were conducted using positive direct current with voltage varying from 13 kV to 30 kV. The applied voltage at which flow was induced correlates well with the electrode spacing. Air flows with a uniform velocity profile were induced in the smaller tube and an inverted parabolic profile in the larger tube. The results also show that the ionic wind velocity increases to a maximum value and then decreases to an asymptotic value.     

All-optical switches based on 3 × 3 generalized multimode interference structure

Multimode interference in optical waveguide is attractive for optical signal processing in recent years. In this paper, we propose and design a 3 × 3 all-optical switch using 3 × 3 General Interference Multimode Interference (GI-MMI) structures. Nonlinear directional couplers based on the Kerr effect in two arms of the structure are used as phase shifters. We use chalcogenide glass on silica platform for designing the device structure. The switching states of the device can be controlled by adjusting the optical control signals at the phase shifters in the two arms. The transfer matrix method (TMM) and beam propagation method (BPM) are used for designing and optimizing the device structure.     

Towards a 1 MW, 170 GHz gyrotron design for fusion application

The electrical design of different components of 1 MW, 170 GHz gyrotron such as, magnetron injection gun, cylindrical interaction cavity and collector and RF window is presented in this article. Recently, a new project related to the development of 170 GHz, 1 MW gyrotron has been started for the Indian Tokamak. TE_34,10 mode is selected as the operating mode after studied the problem of mode competition. The triode type geometry is selected for the design of magnetron injection gun (MIG) to achieve the required beam parameters. The maximum transverse velocity spread of 3.28% at the velocity ratio of 1.34 is obtained in simulations for a 40 A, 80 kV electron beam. The RF output power of more than 1 MW with 36.5% interaction efficiency without depressed collector is predicted by simulation in single-mode operation at 170 GHz frequency. The simulated single-stage depressed collector of the gyrotron predicted the overall device efficiencies >55%. Due to the very good thermal conductivity and very weak dependency of the dielectric parameters on temperature, PACVD diamond is selected for window design for the transmission of RF power. The in-house developed code MIGSYN and GCOMS are used for initial geometry design of MIG and mode selection respectively. Commercially available simulation tools MAGIC and ANSYS are used for beam–wave interaction and mechanical analysis respectively.     

1.55 μm silicon-based reflection-type waveguide-integrated thermo-optic 2 × 2 switch

In this work a waveguide-integrated 2 × 2 switch operating at the infrared communication wavelength of 1550 nm is proposed and theoretically discussed. The device is based on the total internal reflection (TIR) phenomenon and the thermo-optic effect (TOE) in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si). It takes advantage of a bandgap-engineered a-Si:H layer to explore the properties of an optical interface between materials showing similar refractive indexes but different thermo-optic coefficients. In particular, thanks to modern plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) techniques, the refractive index of the amorphous film can be properly tailored to match that of c-Si at a given temperature. TIR may be therefore achieved at the interface by acting on the temperature. The device is integrated in a 4 μm-wide and 3 μm-thick single-mode rib waveguide. The substrate is a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer with an oxide thickness of 500 nm. We calculated an output crosstalk always better than 24 dB and insertion losses as low as 3.5 dB.     

Novel optical add-drop multiplexer based on dual racetrack resonators

In this paper, we designed and fabricated a four-channel optical add-drop multiplexer (OADM) based on dual racetrack resonators. The size of the fabricated device is only 2400 μm × 500 μm. The fabricated device can effectively and perfectly realize the signals upload and download. The free spectral range (FSR) of OADM is about 15.2 nm. We take the spectral responses near 1555 nm as an example. When the device acts as an optical drop multiplexer, the minimum insertion loss is 4.481 dB and the maximum extinction ratio is 31.931 dB. The maximum adjacent channels crosstalk is -9.845 dB. When the device acts as an optical add multiplexer, the minimum insertion loss is 0.944 dB and all of the extinction ratios are bigger than 25 dB. The maximum crosstalk is -16.531 dB which indicates the crosstalk can be neglected.     

Focused electron beam induced deposition as a tool to create electron vortices

Focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) is a microscopic technique that allows geometrically controlled material deposition with very high spatial resolution. This technique was used to create a spiral aperture capable of generating electron vortex beams in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The vortex was then fully characterized using different TEM techniques, estimating the average orbital angular momentum to be ∼0.8ℏ per electron with almost 60% of the beam ending up in the ℓ = 1 state.     

Re-Active Passive devices for control of noise transmission through a panel

Re-Active Passive devices have been developed to control low-frequency (<1000 Hz) noise transmission through a panel. These devices use a combination of active, re-active, and passive technologies packaged into a single unit to control a broad frequency range utilizing the strength of each technology over its best suited frequency range. The Re-Active Passive device uses passive constrained layer damping to cover relatively high-frequency range (>150 Hz), reactive distributed vibration absorber to cover the medium-frequency range (50–200  Hz), and active control for controlling low frequencies (<150 Hz). The actuator was applied to control noise transmission through a panel mounted in the Transmission Loss Test Facility at Virginia Tech. Experimental results are presented for the bare panel, and combinations of passive treatment, reactive treatment, and active control. Results indicate that three Re-Active Passive devices were able to increase the overall broadband (15–1000 Hz) transmission loss by 9.4 dB. These three devices added a total of 285 g to the panel mass of 6.0 kg, or approximately 5%, not including control electronics.     

Experimental investigation of conical bubble structure and acoustic flow structure in ultrasonic field

The objective of this paper is to investigate the transient conical bubble structure (CBS) and acoustic flow structure in ultrasonic field. In the experiment, the high-speed video and particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques are used to measure the acoustic cavitation patterns, as well as the flow velocity and vorticity fields. Results are presented for a high power ultrasound with a frequency of 18 kHz, and the range of the input power is from 50 W to 250 W. The results of the experiment show the input power significantly affects the structures of CBS, with the increase of input power, the cavity region of CBS and the velocity of bubbles increase evidently. For the transient motion of bubbles on radiating surface, two different types could be classified, namely the formation, aggregation and coalescence of cavitation bubbles, and the aggregation, shrink, expansion and collapse of bubble cluster. Furthermore, the thickness of turbulent boundary layer near the sonotrode region is found to be much thicker, and the turbulent intensities are much higher for relatively higher input power. The vorticity distribution is prominently affected by the spatial position and input power.     

Superior performance characteristics for the poly(2,5-dimethoxyaniline)–poly(styrene sulfonic acid)-based electrochromic device

We have fabricated an electrochromic (EC) device with poly(2,5-dimethoxyaniline), PDMA, entrapped in poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PSS) as an electrochromic layer. The device showed improved performances like stability, optical contrast, etc., over the device with a PDMA layer doped by H₂SO₄. In the process of fabrication of the EC device with a sandwich configuration, indium tin oxide (ITO)/PDMA–PSS||poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI)/orthophosphoric acid (H₃PO₄)/WO₃/ITO, electrochemical polymerization of 2,5-dimethoxyaniline (DMA) was performed with PSS as electrolyte and ITO coated glass as working electrode. The performance characteristics of EC device, like optical contrast, stability, switching time, etc., were followed by cyclic voltammetry, double potential step chronoamperometry and in-situ spectroelectrochemistry. The device was operated in between − 1 V and + 1 V, and absorption characteristics were followed by in-situ UV–visible spectroscopy. A visible contrast in color upon switching the potential from − 1 V to + 1 V was noticed for the device. The device was pale yellow at − 1 V and dark green at + 1 V. Incorporation of PSS into PDMA resulted enhancement in the performance of the complementary electrochromic device. The optical contrast of the device was improved by incorporating PSS into PDMA matrix. The device retained nearly 50% of their optical contrast after 10,000 double steps informing the superior performance of PDMA–PSS in the EC device.     

Near limit behavior of the detonation velocity

The behavior of the detonation velocity near the limits is investigated. Circular tubes of diameters 65, 44 and 13 mm are used. To simulate a quasi two-dimensional rectangular geometry thin annular channels are also used. The annular channels are formed by a 1.5 m long insert of a smaller diameter tube into the larger outer diameter detonation tube. Premixed mixtures of C₂H₂ + 2.5O₂ + 70%Ar, CH₄ + 2O₂ and C₂H₂ + 5N₂O + 50%Ar are used in the present study. The high argon dilution stoichiometric C₂H₂ + 2.5O₂ mixture has a regular cell size and piecewise laminar reaction zone and thus referred to as “stable”. The other two mixtures give highly irregular cell pattern and a turbulent reaction zone and are hence, referred to as “unstable” mixtures. Pressure transducers and optical fibers spaced 10 cm apart along the tube are used for pressure and velocity measurements. Cell size of the three mixtures studied is also determined using smoked foils in both the circular tubes and annular channels. The ratio d/λ (representing the number of cells across the tube diameter) is found to be an appropriate sensitivity parameter to characterize the mixture. The present results indicate that well within the limit, the detonation velocity is generally a few percent below the theoretical Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) value. As the limit is approached, the velocity decreases rapidly to a minimum value before the detonation fails. The narrow range of values of d/λ of the mixture where the velocity drops rapidly is found to correspond to the range of values for the onset of single headed spinning detonations. Thus we may conclude that the onset of single headed spin can be used as a criterion for defining the limits. Spinning detonations are also observed near the limits in annular channels.