Identification of micellar stability zones and structural inversion process of thermoresponsive polymeric micelles by dissipative particle dynamics simulations

The stimuli-sensitive polymeric micelles have huge applications to industrial and technological level, know their behaviour under the influence of a pure stimulus, such as the temperature is an important aspect to control and amplify its application field. In this paper, we investigate the micellar stability zones together with the structural inversion process of thermoresponsive polymeric micelles formed by a diblock copolymer (poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-b-3-[N-(3-methacrylamidopropyl)-N,N-dimethyl]ammoniopropane sulphonate (PNIPA-b-PSPP)) in an aqueous environment employing dissipative particle dynamics simulations. Our outcomes show that the PNIPA-b-PSPP copolymer has the ability to form thermodynamically stable micelles with different core-shell structure (PSPP-core/PNIPA-shell and PNIPA-core/PSPP-shell) depending on the direction of the applied stimulus (low or high temperature), the duality of this micellar behaviour is controlled by temperature effect and by the double hydrophilic character that exhibit the PNIPA and PSPP polymeric segments. Four micellar stability zones and one zone where only exist free unimer chains were detected during the thermal scan. The micellar inversion process is triggered by purely temperature effect, is totally reversible and involves three main stages: (1) micellar dissociation, (2) stabilisation of free unimer chains and (3) formation of inverse micelles, all transitory and metastable stages of micellar inversion process are described and analysed in this paper.     

Numerical study on transient response of droplet deformation in a steady electric field

The transient response of droplet deformation in a steady electric field is investigated by the numerical simulation and the motion of interface is captured by level-set method. The numerical scheme is validated and found to be in good agreement with classic analytical solutions. The effects of electric field intensity, interfacial tension, oil viscosity and droplet size on the transient deformation process are systematically discussed. The numerical results show that electric field intensity can accelerate the deformation of the droplet, while interfacial tension and oil viscosity damp it. Furthermore, the relation between electric capillary number and dimensionless deformation time is obtained.     

Integration of rotational algorithms into dissipative particle dynamics: modeling polyaromatic hydrocarbons on the meso-scale

Heavy crude oil consists of thousands of compounds, a significant fraction of which have fairly large molecular weights and complex structures. Our work aims at constructing a meso-scale platform to explore this complex fluid in terms of microstructure, phase behavior, stability and rheology. In the present study, we focus on the treatment of the structures of fused aromatic rings as rigid body fragments in fractions such as asphaltenes and resins. To derive the rotational motion of rigid bodies in a non-conservative force field, we conduct a comparison of three rigid body rotational algorithms integrated into a standard dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation. The simulation results confirm the superiority of the Quaternion method. To ease any doubt concerning the introduction of rigid bodies into DPD, the performance of the Quaternion method was tested carefully. Finally, the aggregation dynamics of asphaltene in very diluted toluene was investigated. The nanoaggregates are found to experience forming, breaking up and reforming. The sizes of the asphaltene monomer and nanoaggregate are identified. The diffusion coefficient of diluted asphaltene in toluene is similar to that found experimentally. All these results verify the rotational algorithm and encourage us to extend this platform to study the rheological and colloidal characteristics of heavy crude oils in the future.     

Effect of shear on the symmetric diblock copolymer/nanorod mixture: A dissipative particle dynamics study

The phase behaviours of a lamellar diblock copolymer/nanorod composite under steady shear are investigated using dissipative particle dynamics.We consider a wide range of nanorod concentrations,where the nanorods each have a preferential affinity to one of the blocks.Our results suggest that shear not only aligns the orientations of the diblock copolymer templates and nanorods towards flow direction,but also regulates the distribution of the nanorods within the polymer matrix.Meanwhile,the shear-induced reorientation and morphology transitions of the systems also significantly depend on the nanorod concentration.At certain nanorod concentrations,the competitions between shearinduced polymer thinning and nanorods dispersion behaviours determine the phase behaviours of the composites.For high nanorod concentrations,no morphology transition is observed,but reorientation is present,in which the sheared nanorods are arranged into hexagonal packing arrays.Additionally,the orientation behaviour of nanorods is determined directly by the applied shear,also interfered with by the shear-stretched copolymer molecules.     

Microgravity experiments of single droplet combustion in oscillatory flow at elevated pressure

An experimental study for 1-butanol single droplet flames in constant and oscillatory flow fields was conducted under microgravity conditions at elevated pressure. In the constant flow experiments, flow velocities from 0 to 40 cm/s were tested. Using obtained data of d², the burning rate constants were evaluated. The burning rate constant in the quiescent condition was also calculated successfully at high pressure by the extrapolation method based on the Frössling relation. In the oscillatory flow experiments, the flow velocities were varied from 0 to 40 cm/s at the frequencies of 2–40 Hz. Results showed that the burning rate constant during the droplet lifetime varied following the quasi-steady relation at 0.1 MPa; however, in the conditions with higher frequencies at 0.4 MPa, the average burning velocity became larger than that for the constant flow case with the velocity equivalent to the maximum velocity in the oscillatory flow. Under the condition where the burning rate constant increased, it was observed that the flame did not sufficiently move back upstream, leading to enhancement of the heat transfer from the flame to the droplet surface. Therefore, the instantaneous burning rate constant increased. To investigate the mechanism of such flame behavior, the ratio of two characteristic times, τ_f/τ_D (τ_f: flow oscillation characteristic time, τ_D: diffusion characteristic time), were compared. As the flow oscillatory frequency increased, τ_f/τ_D becomes smaller. τ_f/τ_D also became smaller at high pressure. If τ_f/τ_D is small due to the small mass diffusion rate, the droplet flame could not move back to the appropriate position for the minimum velocity in steady flow, leading to an increase of the burning rate constant, especially in the case of higher frequency at high pressure.     

有结构壁面上液滴运动特征的耗散粒子动力学模拟

本文采用耗散粒子动力学方法, 研究了恒定外力驱动下液滴在有结构壁面上的运动过程. 通过研究液滴在通过壁面结构时前缘接触点和前进角的变化, 分析了液滴的运动特征. 研究结果表明, 在不同润湿性或不同外力驱动下, 存在使液滴运动最快的“最优”壁面结构, 并对其机理进行了讨论. 本文还探讨了壁面润湿性、热涨落以及外力对液滴运动状态的影响. 关键词： 微流体 有结构壁面 润湿性 耗散粒子动力学(DPD)     

Dissipative particle dynamics simulation on the rheological properties of heavy crude oil

The rheological properties of heavy crude oil have a significant impact on the production, refining and transportation. In this paper, dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations were performed to study the effects of the addition of light crude oil and emulsification on the rheological properties of heavy crude oil. The simulation results reflected that the addition of light crude oil reduced the viscosity effectively. The shear thinning behaviour of crude oil mixtures were becoming less distinct as the increase of the mass fraction of light crude oil. According to the statistics, the shear had an influence on the aggregation and spatial orientation of asphaltene molecules. In addition, the relationship between the viscosity and the oil mass fraction was investigated in the simulations of emulsion systems. The viscosity increased with the oil mass fraction slowly in oil-in-water emulsions. When the oil mass fraction was higher than 50%, the increase became much faster since systems had been converted into water-in-oil emulsions. The equilibrated morphologies of emulsion systems were shown to illustrate the phase inversion. The surfactant-like feature of asphaltenes was also studied in the simulations.     

TiAl/Ti3Al体系剪切变形的分子动力学研究

利用分子动力学方法研究了正化学比的TiAl/Ti3Al双相体系中剪切变形诱发位错形核以及相关结构转变的动态过程以及切变力场对最终结构的影响.研究发现,在TiAl/Ti3Al双相体系中剪切变形诱发黏滞-滑移式的滑移行为;界面在其中起到了传递能量、均衡协变的作用,界面两侧的异相结构保留了单相形变特征.六角密堆积(HCP)-Ti3Al部分各原子层较长时间内呈整体剪切协变,其后形变分化为应力集中诱发层错区和初始完整结构回复区;而面心立方(FCC)-TiAl部分因刚性较大仅存在微协变,其后局部受力区直接诱发相邻原子层间相对滑移,发生FCC向HCP结构转变.变形结构方面,HCP-Ti3Al部分在剪切力较大区域形成连续且稳定的FCC堆垛,近界面区FCC薄层与HCP相交替并存;而FCC-TiAl部分内禀层错和孪晶共存,当力场增大时形成亚稳HCP结构.     

Effect of the particle temperature on lift force of nanoparticle in a shear rarefied flow

The nanoparticles suspended in a shear flow are subjected to a shear lift force, which is of great importance for the nanoparticle transport. In previous theoretical analysis on the shear lift, it is usually assumed that the particle temperature is equal to the temperature of the surrounding gas media. However, in some particular applications, the particle temperature can significantly differ from the gas temperature. In the present study, the effect of particle temperature on the shear lift of nanoparticles is investigated and the corresponding formulas of shear lift force are derived based on the gas kinetic theory. For extremely small nanoparticles(with radius R 2 nm) or large nanoparticles(R 20 nm), the influence of the particle temperature can be neglected. For the intermediate particle size, the relative error induced by the equal gas–particle temperature can be significant. Our findings can bring an insight into accurate evaluation of the nanoparticle transport properties.     

TiAl/Ti3Al体系剪切变形的分子动力学研究

利用分子动力学方法研究了正化学比的TiAl/Ti₃Al双相体系中剪切变形诱发位错形核以及相关结构转变的动态过程以及切变力场对最终结构的影响.研究发现,在TiAl/Ti₃Al双相体系中剪切变形诱发黏滞-滑移式的滑移行为;界面在其中起到了传递能量、均衡协变的作用,界面两侧的异相结构保留了单相形变特征.六角密堆积（HCP）-Ti₃Al部分各原子层较长时间内呈整体剪切协变,其后形变分化为应力集中诱发层错区和初始完整结构回复区;而面心立方（FCC）-TiAl部分因刚性较大仅存在微协变,其后局部受力区直接诱发相邻原子层间相对滑移,发生FCC向HCP结构转变.变形结构方面,HCP-Ti₃Al部分在剪切力较大区域形成连续且稳定的FCC堆垛,近界面区FCC薄层与HCP相交替并存;而FCC-TiAl部分内禀层错和孪晶共存,当力场增大时形成亚稳HCP结构. 关键词： 3Al')" href="#">TiAl/Ti₃Al 分子动力学模拟 剪切变形 层错结构     

Effect of electrode geometry on droplet velocity in open EWOD based device for digital microfluidics applications

Electro wetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is an emerging method for handling droplet motion by applying an electric field to an array of electrodes. The dependence of droplet velocities on different electrode configuration in open EWOD system has been investigated in this work. In this paper, open configured EWOD devices with different geometries of electrodes, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a base layer are designed and fabricated. The electrowetting force is computed by analytical methods as well as by numerical methods and its effect on droplet velocity is studied in detail. The velocity of the droplet is measured by using open image processing tool.     

Effect of stress state on deformation and fracture of nanocrystalline copper:Molecular dynamics simulation

Deformation in a microcomponent is often constrained by surrounding joined material making the component under mixed loading and multiple stress states. In this study, molecular dynamics(MD) simulation are conducted to probe the effect of stress states on the deformation and fracture of nanocrystalline Cu. Tensile strain is applied on a Cu single crystal,bicrystal and polycrystal respectively, under two different tension boundary conditions. Simulations are first conducted on the bicrystal and polycrystal models without lattice imperfection. The results reveal that, compared with the performance of simulation models under free boundary condition, the transverse stress caused by the constrained boundary condition leads to a much higher tensile stress and can severely limit the plastic deformation, which in return promotes cleavage fracture in the model. Simulations are then performed on Cu single crystal and polycrystal with an initial crack. Under constrained boundary condition, the crack tip propagates rapidly in the single crystal in a cleavage manner while the crack becomes blunting and extends along the grain boundaries in the polycrystal. Under free boundary condition, massive dislocation activities dominate the deformation mechanisms and the crack plays a little role in both single crystals and polycrystals.     

Influence of oxygen concentration on the sooting behavior of ethanol droplet flames in microgravity conditions

The influence of oxygen (O₂) concentration and inert on the sooting and burning behavior of large ethanol droplets under microgravity conditions was investigated through measurements of burning rate, flame temperature, sootshell diameter, and soot volume fraction. The experiments were performed at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) 2.2 s drop tower in Cleveland, OH. Argon (Ar), helium (He), and nitrogen (N₂) were used as the inerts and the O₂ concentration was varied between 21% and 50% mole fraction at 2.4 atm. The unique configuration of spherically symmetric droplet flames enables effective control of sooting over a wide range of residence time of fuel vapor transport, flame temperature, and regimes of sooting to investigate attendant influences on burning behavior of droplets. For all inert cases, soot volume fraction initially increased as a function of the O₂ concentration. The highest soot volume fractions were measured for experiments in Ar environments and the lowest soot volume fractions were measured for the He environments. These differences were attributed to the changes in the residence time for fuel vapor transport and the flame temperature. For the He inert and N₂ inert cases, the soot volume fraction began to decrease after reaching a maximum value. The competition between the influence of residence time, rate of pyrolysis reactions, and soot oxidation can lead to this interesting behavior in which the soot volume fraction varies non-monotonically with increase in O₂ concentration. These experiments have developed new understanding of the burning and sooting behaviors of ethanol droplets under various O₂ concentrations and inert substitutions.     

Statistics of particle pair relative velocity in the homogeneous shear flow

Small scale clustering of inertial particles and relative velocity of particle pairs have been fully characterized for statistically steady homogeneous isotropic flows. Depending on the particle Stokes relaxation time, the spatial distribution of the disperse phase results in a multi-scale manifold characterized by local particle concentration and voids and, because of finite inertia, the two nearby particles have high probability to exhibit large relative velocities. Both effects might explain the speed-up of particle collision rate in turbulent flows. Recently it has been shown that the large scale geometry of the flow plays a crucial role in organizing small scale particle clusters. For instance, a mean shear preferentially orients particle patterns. In this case, depending on the Stokes time, anisotropic clustering may occur even in the inertial range of scales where the turbulent fluctuations which drive the particles have already recovered isotropy. Here we consider the statistics of particle pair relative velocity in the homogeneous shear flow, the prototypical flow which manifests anisotropic clustering at small scales. We show that the mean shear, by imprinting anisotropy on the large scale velocity fluctuations, dramatically affects the particle relative velocity distribution even in the range of small scales where the anisotropic mechanisms of turbulent kinetic energy production are sub-dominant with respect to the inertial energy transfer which drives the carrier fluid velocity towards isotropy. We find that the particles’ populations which manifest strong anisotropy in their relative velocities are the same which exhibit small scale clustering. In contrast to any Kolmogorov-like picture of turbulent transport these phenomena may persist even below the smallest dissipative scales where the residual level of anisotropy may eventually blow-up. The observed anisotropy of particle relative velocity and spatial configuration is suggested to influence the directionality of the collision probability, as inferred on the basis of the so-called “ghost collision” model.     

Effect of laser energy on the deformation behavior in microscale laser bulge forming

Microscale laser bulge forming is a high strain rate microforming method using high-amplitude shock wave pressure induced by pulsed laser irradiation. The process can serve as a rapidly established and high precision technique to impress microfeatures on thin sheet metals and holds promise of manufacturing complex miniaturized devices. The present paper investigated the forming process using both numerical and experimental methods. The effect of laser energy on microformability of pure copper was discussed in detail. A 3D measuring laser microscope was adopted to measure deformed regions under different laser energy levels. The deformation measurements showed that the experimental and numerical results were in good agreement. With the verified simulation model, the residual stress distribution at different laser energy was predicted and analyzed. The springback was found as a key factor to determine the distribution and magnitude of the compressive residual stress. In addition, the absorbent coating and the surface morphology of the formed samples were observed through the scanning electron microscope. The observation confirmed that the shock forming process was non-thermal attributed to the protection of the absorbent coating.     

On the orientational characteristics and transport coefficients of an oblate spheroidal hematite particle in a simple shear flow

We have developed the basic equation of the orientational distribution function of oblate spheroidal hematite particles with rotational Brownian motion in a simple shear flow under an applied magnetic field. An oblate spheroidal hematite particle has an important characteristic in that it is magnetized in a direction normal to the particle axis. Since a dilute dispersion is addressed in the present study, we have taken into account only the friction force (torque) whilst neglecting the hydrodynamic interactions among the particles. This basic equation has been solved numerically in order that we may investigate the dependence of the orientational distribution on the magnetic field strength, shear rate and rotational Brownian motion and the relationship between the orientational distribution and the transport coefficients such as viscosity and diffusion coefficient. We found that if the effect of the magnetic field is more dominant, the particle inclines in such a way that the oblate surface aligns in the magnetic field direction. If the Peclet number increases and the effect of the shear flow becomes more dominant, the particle inclines such that the oblate surface tilts in the shear flow direction. The viscosity due to the magnetic torque is shown to increase as the magnetic field increases, since the magnetic torque due to the applied magnetic field becomes the more dominant effect. Moreover, the viscosity increase is shown to be more significant for a larger aspect ratio or for a more oblate hematite particle. We have applied the analysis to the problem of particle sedimentation under gravity in the presence of a magnetic field applied in the sedimentation direction. The particles are found to sediment with the oblate surface aligning more significantly in the sedimentation direction as the applied magnetic field strength increases.     

Effect of ruptured cavitated bubble cluster on the extent of the cell deformation by ultrasound

In this paper, the bubble-cell model is presented. The effects of the spacing between the bubble population and the cell, the radius of the bubble and the bubble medium on the degree of cell deformation were investigated by solving the Helmholtz equation and the equilibrium of motion equation using COMSOL Multiphysis@ software. The ultrasonic transducer is applied in a round bottom flask with the bubble-cell model on the side of the ultrasonic transducer. When the distance between the bubble cluster and the cell gradually increases, the extent of deformation of the cell is reflected as first increasing and then decreasing, reaching the maximum deformation at D = 2. When the radius of the bubble is changed, there is a “constant frequency” at low frequency ultrasound in any distance case, at which the cell deformation will be violent. However, when the bubble medium is changed, there is no significant change in the degree of deformation of the cells. In other words, changes in the structure of the bubble-cell model affect the degree of cell deformation, but without structural changes, the degree of cell deformation changes very little.     

Influence of grain-boundary dynamics on shear and rotational deformation components in the creep of polycrystals

The as-a-whole motion of polycrystal grains with migrating and stationary boundaries is investigated during the creep of lead and lead-based alloys. It is shown that boundary migration promotes grain-boundary slip and fragmentation of regions along the boundaries, and that the effect is not related to differing orientations of the migrating and stationary boundaries. Migrating and stationary boundaries of equal slope were formed in aging alloys as a result of intermittent segregation and coalescence of phases. V. D. Kuznetsov Siberian Physicotechnical Institute, Tomsk State University. Tomsk Branch, Institute of Structural Macrokinetics, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 6, pp. 40–45, June, 1998.