Wave propagation in a mixed convection boundary‐layer over a horizontal surface

The propagation of disturbances in a mixed convection boundary‐layer flow over a horizontal plate is described by a triple deck problem in the case of the buoyancy parameter being small. The pressure correction in the lower deck consists of two parts: One due to the buoyancy effects in the main deck and one due to the displacement of the outer flow field. The response of the boundary layer flow to an oscillator of frequency ω will be computed and upstream travelling waves will be identified.     

Shock boundary layer interactions in dense gases

The concept of triple deck theory is applied to study laminar interacting boundary layers of dense gases in external purely supersonic flow. An impinging shock is generated at distances which are large compared to the upper deck thickness. As predicted by weakly nonlinear theory such a discontinuity may disintegrate into a sonic shock and an associated wave fan depending on its amplitude and the magnitude of the so called fundamental derivative. Incoming and outgoing waves are computed analytically by means of the method of multiple scales taking into account that mutual interaction effects between them are restricted to the linear upper deck region. The lower deck problem is solved numerically. The results show that it is possible to reduce the size of the separation bubble or even to avoid the occurrence of flow separation by choosing an optimal thermodynamic state. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Importance of the flexural and membrane stiffnesses in large deflection analysis of floating roofs

Applying integrated variational principles on fluid and deck plate to the large deflection analysis of floating roofs, this paper investigates the significance of the flexural and membrane components in the formulations of the deck plate. Integrated variational principles facilitate the treatment of the compatibility of deformation between floating roof and supporting liquid. Analysis results show that different assumptions about deck plate formulation commonly used in the literature, results in considerably different deflection and stress patterns on the floating roof. The results show that modeling of the deck plate as a flexural element rather than the membrane, by eliminating the need for nonlinear analysis, gives reasonable results for deflections and stresses in the deck plate. Finally, to check the results of the variational formulation, employing Bessel functions and ignoring membrane stiffness an approximate solution is derived and its results compared with those of the variational formulation. This comparison shows that the approximate solution closely follows the variational formulation.     

On the initial phase of the triple deck stage in marginally separated flows

The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to investigate marginally separated boundary layer flows (laminar or alternatively transitional separation bubbles) at high Reynolds numbers. Typical examples include, among others, the flow past slender airfoils at small to moderate angels of attack and channel flows with suction. As is well-known, classical (hierarchical) boundary layer computations usually break down under the action of an adverse pressure gradient on the flow, a scenario associated with the appearance of the Goldstein separation singularity. If, however, the parameter controlling the strength of the pressure gradient (the angle of attack or the relative suction rate in the examples mentioned above) is adjusted accordingly, the application of a local viscous-inviscid interaction strategy is capable of describing localized boundary layer separation. Moreover, taking into account unsteady effects and flow control devices allows the investigation of the conditions leading to forced or self-sustained vortex generation and the subsequent evolution process culminating in bubble bursting. Within the asymptotic formulation of this stage bubble bursting is associated with the formation of finite time singularities in the solution of the underlying equations and a corresponding break down. The distinct blow-up structure gives rise to a fully non-linear triple deck interaction stage featuring shorter spatio-temporal scales characteristic of the successive vortex evolution process. The paper will focus on the numerical treatment of the initial phase of the latter stage. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Existence of the stationary solution of a Rayleigh-type equation

A fluid flow along a semi-infinite plate with small periodic irregularities on the surface is considered for large Reynolds numbers. The boundary layer has a double-deck structure: a thin boundary layer (“lower deck”) and a classical Prandtl boundary layer (“upper deck”). The aim of this paper is to prove the existence and uniqueness of the stationary solution of a Rayleigh-type equation, which describes oscillations of the vertical velocity component in the classical boundary layer.     

The flow of vapors through porous ceramic membranes consisting of several layers

The flow of a vapor through a porous ceramic membrane is investigated. The membrane consists of several layers and is asymmetric with respect to the flow direction. The flow process is modeled accounting for capillary condensation, for the capillary pressure at liquid menisci, and for the temperature difference between the upstream and the downstream side of the membrane due to the Joule-Thomson effect, which induces a transfer of heat in downstream direction. Condensation may occur in various parts of the membrane. Condensation has a large influence on the mass flux through the membrane. The mass flux in one flow direction through the membrane may be a few times larger than the mass flux in the other flow direction. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Asymptotic description of incipient separation bubble bursting

The appearance of short laminar separation bubbles in high Reynolds number (Re) wall bounded flows due to appropriate adverse pressure gradient conditions is usually associated with minor effects on global flow properties (e.g. lift force). However, localized reverse flow regions are known to react very sensitively to perturbations and in further consequence may trigger the laminar-turbulent transition process or even cause global separation. The present investigation of marginally separated boundary layer flows is based on an asymptotic approach Re → ∞. Special emphasis is placed on solutions of the corresponding model equations which blow up within finite time indicating the ejection of a vortical structure and the emergence of shorter spatio-temporal scales reminiscent of the early transition scenario (‘ bubble bursting’ ). Within the framework of marginal separation theory, an alternative adjoint operator method is used to formulate evolution equations governing the viscous-inviscid interaction process in leading and higher order correction required for the study of later stages of the flow development. Their blow up structure specifies the initial condition of and the match to the subsequent triple deck stage. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The generalized faro shuffle

The standard faro shuffle, an idealized riffle shuffle, divides the deck into two equal portions, and perfectly interlaces them. The simple cut takes one card from the top to the bottom of the deck. It is known that for decks of even size, the faro shuffle and simple cut generate all possible permutations, while if the deck is of odu size, only a small fraction are available. This paper considers a generalized faro shuffle wherein the deck is divided into n rather than 2, portions and these portions are “interlaced” together. It is shown that the generalized faro shuffle and the simple cut generate either the symmetric group of the deck, the alternating group of the deck, or in one special case, only a small fraction of the possible permutations. Whether the symmetric group or alternating group is generated depends on the parity of the simple cut and the generalized faro shuffle as group operations.     

A Double Channel Membrane Pump

The flow through a double channel membrane pump is modeled by a time dependent potential flow. The total forces on the fluid are determined as a function of the position of the lateral pistons. It turns out that the total force and thus the pressure gain is very sensitive to the position of the excitation. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The Poisson boundary of covering Markov operators

Covering Markov operators are a measure theoretical generalization of both random walks on groups and the Brownian motion on covering manifolds. In this general setup we obtain several results on ergodic properties of their Poisson boundaries, in particular, that the Poisson boundary is always infinite if the deck group is non-amenable, and that the deck group action on the Poisson boundary is amenable. For corecurrent operators we show that the Radon-Nikodym cocycles of two quotients of the Poisson boundary are cohomologous iff these quotients coincide. It implies that the Poisson boundary is either purely non-atomic or trivial, and that the action of any normal subgroup of the deck group on the Poisson boundary is conservative. We show that the Poisson boundary is trivial for any corecurrent covering operator with a nilpotent (or, more generally, hypercentral) deck group. Other applications and examples are discussed. Supported by a British SERC Advanced Fellowship. A part of this work was done during my stay at MSRI, Berkeley supported by NSF Grant DMS 8505550.     

The effect of osmotic pressure on the flow of solutions through semi-permeable hollow fibers

We study the laminar flow of binary liquid mixture, whose components are a Newtonian fluid (solvent) and a solute, in a hollow fiber. The fiber walls are porous, but the pores size is small enough preventing the solute molecules to be transported across the membrane. This produces an osmotic pressure that offers resistance (in many cases non negligible) to the fluid cross flow.     

Modelling and characterization of a pneumatically actuated peristaltic micropump

There is an emerging class of microfluidic bioreactors which possess long-term, closed circuit perfusion under sterile conditions with in vivo-like flow parameters. Integrated into microfluidics, peristaltic-like pneumatically actuated displacement micropumps are able to meet these requirements. We present both a theoretical and experimental characterization of such pumps. In order to examine volume flow rate, we have developed a mathematical model describing membrane motion under external pressure. The viscoelasticity of the membrane and hydrodynamic resistance of the microfluidic channel have been taken into account. Unlike other models, the developed model includes only the physical parameters of the pump and allows the estimation of their impact on the resulting flow. The model has been validated experimentally.     

Flow of fluids with microstructure between parallel plates—I

The basic equations for fluids with microstructure are applied to the steady flow between two parallel plates under the action of a constant pressure gradient. The flow is governed by a microstructure parameter α*. The classical flow is recovered when α* → ∞, while maximum effects of microstructure correspond to α* → 0. For a Poiseuille flow, the microstructure fluid exhibits resistance to motion greater than or equal to that of the classical flow. For a Couette flow it is shown that for a given applied velocity to the moving plate, the shearing stress at the plate is greater than or equal to that corresponding to the classical flow situation. For a Generalised Couette flow, it is shown that for a given pressure gradient in the direction of flow, the flow is retarded; while for an adverse pressure gradient the back flow is controlled.     

Examples on Ordered Set Reconstruction

We prove that ordered sets are not reconstructible from the maximal deck and the minimal deck together. The construction also produces classes of more than two pairwise nonisomorphic ordered sets that have the same maximal deck and the same minimal deck.     

Unified description of bifurcation processes associated with laminar boundary-layer separation

The presentation will concentrate on flows where no steady state exists if an appropriately defined controlling parameter exceeds a critical value while non-uniqueness is observed for sub-critical values of this parameter. Special attention is placed on flow phenomena which are associated with the passage through criticality. Based on a triple deck analysis it found that they can be described as solutions of differential equations of Fisher type which are better known from evolution studies of gene populations. Special examples which will be discussed include 2D marginally separated flows, weakly 3D transonic flows in slender channels and fully 3D subsonic flow past expansion ramps. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The Advanced Australian Shuffle

The “classical” Australian under-down shuffle starts with a deck of n cards. Then one proceeds as follows: one card under the deck, one on the table, one under the deck, one on the table, etc. One continues until only one card remains. There is an explicit formula to calculate the number of the card in the original deck that survives, and this is the basis of several mathematical magic tricks.     

Aplicación de métodos computacionales en la evaluación de la respuesta aeroelástica de puentes soportados por cables

The possibilities of computational methods for assessing the response of cable supported bridges under wind action are considered in this work. The main objective is to study the possibilities of substituting wind tunnel campaigns by computer based analyses, particularly at the early design stage. The preliminary proposed design for a continuous cable-stayed bridge with two main spans of 650 m and a single box girder deck has been considered as a case study. The force coefficients of the deck cross-section have been computed and the unsteady response associated to vortex-shedding has been simulated using CFD commercial software. Furthermore, an in-house piece of software has been employed to obtain the response for flutter and buffeting phenomena adopting the hybrid approach; with that purpose the experimental flutter functions of a similar box girder deck were adopted. The computational results have been validated by comparison with similar experimental results published by other researchers. It has been verified that the set of adopted methods offers reliable results with moderate costs; therefore, the proposed approach is very suitable at the early design stage of long span bridges or at conceptual design works.