Amorphous and crystalline states of ultrasoft colloids: a molecular dynamics study

In this work, we study the temperature-induced development of “dynamically arrested” states in dense suspensions of “soft colloids” (multi-arm star polymers and/or block-copolymers micelles) by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Temperature increase in marginal solvents results in “soft sphere” swelling, dynamical arrest, and eventually crystallization. However, two distinct “dynamically arrested” states were found, one almost amorphous (“glassy”) and one with a considerable degree of crystallinity, yet lower than that of the fully equilibrated crystal. It is remarkable that even that latter state permitted self-diffusion in the timescale of the simulations, an effect that underlies the importance of the “ultra-soft” nature of inter-particle potential. The “number of connections” criterion for crystallinity proved to be very successful in identifying the ultimate thermodynamic trend from the very early stages of the α-relaxation. This paper was presented at the Third Annual Rheology Conference, AERC 2006, April 27–29, 2006, Crete, Greece.     

Development of an X-ray computed tomography (CT) system with sparse sources: application to three-phase pipe flow visualization

This paper describes the application of a two-beam X-ray computed tomography (CT) system to multiphase (gas–oil–water) flow measurement. Two high-voltage (160 keV) X-ray sources are used to penetrate a 4-in. (101.6 mm ID) pipeline. A rotating filter wheel mechanism is employed to alternately “harden” and “soften” the X-ray spectra to provide discrimination between the three phases. Because this system offers only two projections, conventional back-projection algorithms are ineffective and thus a new reconstruction technique has been developed. A matrix equation is formed, to which additional “smoothing equations” are added to compensate for the lack of projection data. The tomographic result is obtained by computing an inverse matrix. This is a one-off computation and the inverse is stored for repeated use; reconstructed images from synthesized data demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique. Three-phase tomographic images of a horizontal slug flow are presented, which clearly show the mixing of oil and water layers within the slug body. The relevance of this work to the offshore oil and gas industry is summarized.     

Conditional-sampling schemes for turbulent flow,based on the variable-interval time averaging (VITA) algorithm

The variable-interval time-averaging (“VITA”) algorithm has been tested in a variety of turbulent boundary layers for its ability to detect shear-stress-producing motions from hot-wire signals. A “VITA + LEVEL” scheme (which uses criteria for both short-time variance and short-time average, i.e.“level”) has been devised, and used in several different boundary layers. This scheme yields length-scale statistics that are acceptably independent of the conditioning criteria, which the VITA scheme does not.     

Effects of the weak/micro-discontinuity of interface on the fracture behavior of a functionally graded coating with an inclined crack

The mechanical model was established for the anti-plane fracture problem of a functionally graded coating–substrate system with a coating crack inclined to the weak/micro-discontinuous interface. The Cauchy singular integral equation for the crack was derived using Fourier integral transform, and the Lobatto–Chebyshev collocation method put up by Erdogan and Gupta was used to get its numerical solution. Finally, the effects of the weak/micro-discontinuity of the interface on SIFs were analyzed, the “affected regions” corresponding to the two crack tips have been obtained and their engineering significance was discussed. It was indicated that, for the crack tip in the corresponding “affected region”, to reduce the weak-discontinuity of the interface and to make the interface micro-discontinuous are the two effective ways to reduce the SIF, and the latter way always has more remarkable SIF-reduction effect. For the crack tip outside the “affected region”, its SIF is mainly influenced by material stiffness, and to prevent such a tip from growing toward the interface “softer coating and stiffer substrate” is a more advantageous combination than “stiffer coating and softer substrate”.     

Investigation of high-speed combustible gas ignited by a hot gas jetproduced in the shock tube

The high-speed combustible gas ignited by a hot gas jet, which is induced by shock focusing, was experimentally investigated. By use of the separation mode of shock tube, the test section of a single shock tube is split into two parts, which provide the high-speed flow of combustible gas and pilot flame of hot gas jet, respectively. In the interface of two parts of test sections the flame of jet was formed and spread to the high-speed combustible gas. Two kinds of the ignitions, 3-D “line-flame ignition” and 2-D “plane-flame ignition”, were investigated. In the condition of 3-D “line-flame ignition” of combustion, thicker hot gas jet than pure air jet, was observed in schlieren photos. In the condition of 2-D “plane-flame ignition” of combustion, the delay time of ignition and the angle of flame front in schlieren photos were measured, from which the velocity of flame propagation in the high-speed combustible gas is estimated in the range of 30–90m/s and the delay time of ignition is estimated in the range of 0.12–0.29ms. PACS 47.40.Nm; 82.40.FpPart of this paper was presented at the 5th International Workshop on Shock/Vortex Interaction, Kaohsiung, October 27–31, 2003.     

Asymptotic properties of solutions of the Cauchy problem for a degenerate singularly perturbed system of differential equations in the case of the multiple spectrum of the principal operator

We prove the asymptotic character of a solution of the Cauchy problem for a singularly perturbed linear system of differential equations with degenerate matrix of the coefficients of derivatives in the case where the limit matrix pencil is regular and has multiple “finite” and “infinite” elementary divisors. We establish conditions under which the constructed formal solutions are asymptotic expansions of the corresponding exact solutions. __________ Translated from Neliniini Kolyvannya, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 247–257, April–June, 2007.     

Addendum to: Symmetry classification of quasi-linear PDE’s. II: an exceptional case

This short note completes the symmetry analysis of a class of quasi-linear partial differential equations considered in the previous paper (Nonlinear Dynamics 51: 309–316, 2008): it deals with an “exceptional” Lie point symmetry which is admitted only if the involved parameters are fixed by precise relationships. The peculiarity of this symmetry is enhanced by the fact that, combined with the presence of a conditional symmetry of “weak” type, it leads to a family of solutions which include, as a particular case, a relevant solution of the Grad–Schlüter–Shafranov equation, well known in plasma physics.     

Propagation of Density-Oscillations in Solutions to the Barotropic Compressible Navier–Stokes System

Considering a bounded sequence of weak solutions to the compressible Navier–Stokes system, we introduce Young measures as in [12] in order to describe a “homogenized system” satisfied in the limit. We then study the Cauchy problem associated to this “homogenized system” when Young measures are convex combinations of Dirac measures.     

Numerical investigation on the flowfield of ＂swallowtail＂ cavity for supersonic mixing enhancement

A ＂swallowtail＂ cavity for the supersonic combustor was proposed to serve as an efficient flame holder for scramjets by enhancing the mass exchange between the cavity and the main flow. A numerical study on the ＂swallow- tail＂ cavity was conducted by solving the three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations implemented with a k-e turbulence model in a multi-block mesh. Turbu- lence model and numerical algorithms were validated first, and then test cases were calculated to investigate into the mechanism of cavity flows. Numerical results demonstrated that the certain mass in the supersonic main flow was sucked into the cavity and moved spirally toward the combustor walls. After that, the flow went out of the cavity at its lateral end, and finally was efficiently mixed with the main flow. The comparison between the ＂swallowtail＂ cavity and the conventional one showed that the mass exchanged between the cavity and the main flow was enhanced by the lateral flow that was induced due to the pressure gradient inside the cavity and was driven by the three-dimensional vortex ring generated from the ＂swallowtail＂ cavity structure.     

Gas-dynamic signs of explosive eruptions of volcanoes. 2. Model of homogeneous-heterogeneous nucleation. Specific features of destruction of the cavitating magma

The dynamics of state of the crystallite-containing magma is studied within the framework of the gas-dynamic model of bubble cavitation. The effect of crystallites on flow evolution is considered for two cases: where the crystallites are cavitation nuclei (homogeneous-heterogeneous nucleation model) and where large clusters of crystallites are formed in the magma in the period between eruptions. In the first case, decompression jumps are demonstrated to arise as early as in the wave precursor; the intensity of these jumps turns out to be sufficient to form a series of discrete zones of nucleation ahead of the front of the main decompression wave. Results of experimental modeling of an explosive eruption with ejection of crystallite clusters (magmatic “bombs”) suggest that a cocurrent flow of the cavitating magma with dynamically varying properties (mean density and viscosity) transforms to an independent unsteady flow whose velocity is greater than the magma flow velocity. Experimental results on modeling the flow structure during the eruption show that coalescence of bubbles in the flow leads to the formation of spatial “slugs” consisting of the gas and particles. This process is analyzed within a combined nucleation model including the two-phase Iordansky-Kogarko-van Wijngaarden model and the model of the “frozen” field of mass velocities in the cavitation zone. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 167–177, March–April, 2009.     

Symmetry classification of quasi-linear PDE’s containing arbitrary functions

We consider the problem of performing the preliminary “symmetry classification” of a class of quasi-linear PDE’s containing one or more arbitrary functions: we provide an easy condition involving these functions in order that nontrivial Lie point symmetries be admitted, and a “geometrical” characterization of the relevant system of equations determining these symmetries. Two detailed examples will elucidate the idea and the procedure: the first one concerns a nonlinear Laplace-type equation, the second a generalization of an equation (the Grad–Schlüter–Shafranov equation) which is used in magnetohydrodynamics.     

Effect of energy dissipation on the shaped-charge flow regime

Convergence of a viscous shaped-charge liner to the symmetry axis is described. It is shown that energy dissipation has a significant effect on the process considered. Convergence at small angles can lead to a strong phase explosion of the metastable liquid of the inner, strongly heated, layers of the liner, which is comparable toTNT explosion. An increase in the angle of convergence results in a weak phase “explosion,” which leads to different behavior of shaped-charge jets for different types of linear material. Lavrent'ev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 3–11, July–August, 2000.     

Poroelasticity-I: Governing Equations of the Mechanics of Fluid-Saturated Porous Materials

We present here the approach to the theory of fluid-filled poroelastics based on consideration of poroelastics as a continuum of “macropoints” (representative elementary volumes), which “internal” states can be described by as a set of internal parameters, such as local relative velocity of fluid and solid, density of fluid, internal strain tensor, specific area, and position of the center of mass of porous space. We use the generalized Cauchy–Born hypothesis and suggest that there is a system of (structural) relationships between external parameters, describing the deformation of the continuum and internal parameters, characterizing the state of representative elementary volumes. We show that in nonhomogenous (and, particularly, nonlinear) poroelastics, an interaction force between solid and fluid appears. Because this force is proportional to the gradient of porosity, absent in homogeneous poroelastics, and one can neglect with dynamics of internal degrees of freedom, this force is equivalent to the interaction force, introduced earlier by Nikolaevskiy from phenomenological reasons. At last, we show that developed theory naturally incorporates three mechanisms of energy absorption: visco-inertial Darcy mechanism, “squirt flow” attenuation, and skeleton attenuation.     

Deformation model for brittle materials and the structure of failure waves

Constitutive equations that describe the experimentally observed failure waves are proposed to model inelastic strains of brittle materials. The complete system of equations is hyperbolic, each equation of this system has divergent form. The model is based on the assumption that continual failure is the process of transition from an intact state to a “fully damaged” state described by the kinetics of the order parameter. The structure of stationary traveling compressive waves is analyzed using a simplified model. It is shown that in a certain range of amplitudes, the wave splits into an elastic precursor and a failure wave. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 164–172, May–June, 2007.     

Laminar–turbulent transition in oscillating boundary layer: experimental and numerical analysis using continuous wavelet transform

The laminar–turbulent transition of a forced oscillating boundary layer with a varying pressure gradient is experimentally and numerically investigated for two Strouhal numbers. Time-dependent characterization of the natural instability modes is carried out using continuous wavelet analysis of velocity signals. The periodic evolution of the total growth rates of the most unstable disturbances are measured and compared to the results of the linear stability theory. The “Tollmien–Schlichting” (TS) and “convective” transition modes are identified. It is shown that they correspond to the extrema of opposite signs of the skewness factor of unstable wavelet transform of the most unstable frequencies.     

On the extendability of solutions of a difference equation “to the left”

We give sufficient conditions for the extendability of solutions of a nonlinear difference equation “to the left” in a Banach space. __________ Translated from Neliniini Kolyvannya, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 298–302, July–September, 2007.     

“Non-free” interaction of plane shock waves and the boundary layer in the neighborhood of the leading edge of a plate with slip

The interaction between a normally impinging shock wave and the boundary layer on a plate with slip is studied in the neighborhood of the leading edge using various experimental methods, including special laser technology, to visualize the supersonic conical gas flows. It is found that in the “non-free” interaction, when the leading edge impedes the propagation of the boundary layer separation line upstream, the structure of the disturbed flow is largely identical to that in the developed “free” interaction, but with higher parameter values and gradients in the leading part of the separation zone. The fundamental property of developed separation flows, namely, coincidence of the values of the pressure “plateau” in the separation zone and the pressure behind the oblique shock above the separation zone of the turbulent boundary layer, is conserved. Moscow. e-mail: ostap@inmech.msu.su. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 57–69, May–June, 2000. The work was carried out with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 97-01-00099).