Steep wave fronts on extrudates of polymer melts and solutions: lubrication layers and boundary lubrication

Steep wave fronts tend to develop in many regimes of lubricated, slipping flows in which waves appear. Problems of slip, spurt, fracture and extrudate distortion can be framed in terms of lubrication theory with paradigms arising from the lubrication of heavy oil with water for some problems and concepts from the theory of boundary lubrication for others. In water-lubricated pipelines, high pressures are produced at the front side of a wave on the oil when water is forced through the wavecrest and the wall, low pressures develop at the back of the wave where the gap opens. The steep waves which develop on cores of heavy oil lubricated by water are irregular and look like melt fracture. Direct numerical simulation of regular periodic waves give rise to sharkskin solutions in which the wave length decreases with the wave amplitude as the gap size decreases, preserving the steep wave front. Wave steepening seems always to occur in extrusion when the polymers slip, in the abrasion of rubber samples and in Schallamach's waves of detachment.     

A boundary element method for a non-linear free surface problem

In this paper a numerical method to compute the wave resistance of a body submerged in a free stream of finite and infinite depth is presented. Non-linear effects on the free surface are taken into account by an iterative procedure; the solution is in the form of a single-layer potential. For the 2D problem, results are shown for both the cases of finite and infinite depth of the fluid domain, with special emphasis on the supercritical flow in which the consistency of the scheme is pointed out. The method is also extended to the 3D case of a spheroid submerged in deep water. All the results presented are compared with experimental data and analytical solutions available in the literature.     

Numerical solution of a free surface problem by a boundary element method

This paper describes a method for the numerical solution of a Riabouchinsky cavity flow. Application of a boundary element method leads to a system of non-linear equations. The mild singularity appearing at the separation point is treated with the introduction of a curved boundary element, which satisfies the exact behaviour of the free boundary in that neighbourhood.     

Extension of the lubrication theory for arbitrary wall shape: An asymptotic analysis

We extend the lubrication approximation for a viscous flow in two-dimensional channels with arbitrary shape functions and moderate aspect ratio. The higher-order model is obtained following an asymptotic analysis. Velocity and pressure profiles for the approximated model are given analytically and involve the derivatives of the shape functions of the walls up to the second order. Comparisons with full-scale simulations are given and show good agreement as well as improvements from the classical standard lubrication approximation.     

An effective model for the lubrication with micropolar fluid

In this paper, using asymptotic analysis, we study the lubrication process with incompressible micropolar fluid. Starting from 3D micropolar equations, we derive the higher-order asymptotic model explicitly acknowledging the microstructure effects. The effective equations are similar to the Brinkman model for porous medium flow.     

A consistent boundary element method for free surface hydrodynamic calculations

Free surface phenomena are described by equations that exhibit two types of non-linearities. The first is inherent to the equations themselves and the second is caused by the application of boundary conditions at a free surface at an unknown location. Numerical calculations usually do not specifically recognize the second non-linearity, nor treat it in a fashion consistent with the more obvious non-linearities in the boundary conditions. A consistent formulation is introduced in the present paper. The field equation is integrated and the free surface boundary conditions are applied on the unknown geometry by means of appropriate series expansions. The consistent formulation introduces improvements in accuracy and computing speed. The method is demonstrated on several hydrodynamic free surface problems and an error analysis is included.     

On the no-slip boundary conditions for squeeze flow of viscous fluids

A typical class of boundary conditions for squeeze flow problems in lubrication approximation is the one in which the squeezing rate and the width between the squeezing plates are constant. This hypothesis is justified by claiming that the plates moves so slowly that they can be considered static. In this short note we prove that this assumption leads to a contradiction and hence cannot be used.     

Rigorous justification of the Reynolds equations for gas lubrication

The goal of this Note is to give a rigorous justification of the compressible Reynolds model for gas lubrication, via asymptotic analysis. We start from the equations of motion of compressible viscous fluid in a thin domain and study the limit as the domain thickness tends to zero. At the limit we find the known engineering model. The key of the proof is the strong convergence for the pressure obtained by its decomposition. To cite this article: E. Maru?i?-Paloka, M. Star?evi?, C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).     

A node-to-surface linear complementarity problem approach for general three-dimensional contact analysis

Meccanica - Contact between two deformable bodies is a complex nonlinear problem especially when rigid-body motion and geometric errors of components are taken into consideration. In this paper, an...     

Numerical simulation of fully non-linear steady free surface flow

The fully non-linear free surface potential flow past a 2D non-lifting body is computed. The numerical method is based on the simple layer integral formulation; the non-linear solution is obtained by means of an iterative procedure. Under some hypotheses, viscosity effects at the free surface are considered. All the numerical results obtained have been tested against analytical solutions and experimental results.     

A free boundary problem modeling thermal instabilities: Stability and bifurcation

In this paper, we analyze a simple free boundary model associated with solid combustion and some phase transition processes. There is strong evidence that this one-phase model captures all major features of dynamical behavior of more realistic (and complicated) combustion and phase transition models. The principal results concern the dynamical behavior of the model as a bifurcation parameter (which is related to the activation energy in the case of combustion) varies. We prove that the basic uniform front propagation is asymptotically stable against perturbations for the bifurcation parameter above the instability threshold and that a Hopf bifurcation takes place at the threshold value. Results of numerical simulations are presented which confirm that both supercritical and subcritical Hofp bifurcation may occur for physically reasonable nonlinear kinetic functions.     

A non-linear eigenvalue problem: The shape at equilibrium of a confined plasma

A free boundary value problem arising in plasma physics is reduced to a non-linear eigenvalue problem of a non-classical type. We establish the existence of solutions of the non-linear eigenvalue problem; these solutions are critical points of appropriate functionals.     

A complete boundary integral formulation for steady compressible inviscid flows governed by non-linear equations

A complete boundary integral formulation for steady compressible inviscid flows governed by non-linear equations is established by using the specific mass flux as a dependent variable. Thus, the dimensionality of the problem to be solved is reduced by one and the computational mesh to be generated is needed only on the boundary of the domain. It is shown that the boundary integral formulation developed in this paper is equivalent of the results of distributions of the fundamental solutions of the Laplacian operator equation with a different order along the boundaries of the domain. Hence, we have succeeded in establishing the fundamental-solution method for compressible inviscid flows governed by non-linear equations.     

A free boundary problem arising in oil production

For a stable two-phase free boundary problem arising in oil production, we prove the existence of a weak solution and the continuity of the free boundary.

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Sommario Si prova un teorema di esistenza di una soluzione debole per un problema stazionario a contorno libero a due fasi che interessa la produzione di petrolio. Si dimostra inoltre la continuità del contorno libero.

     

Review of boundary lubrication mechanisms of DLC coatings used in mechanical applications

In the last ten years significant progress has been made on development and understanding of diamond-like carbon coatings (DLC), which enabled them to become one of the most promising types of protective coatings for various mechanical applications. Their main advantages are low friction, good anti-wear properties, and adhesive protection. However, due to their low surface energy their reactivity with conventional oils and additives is limited, which makes achieving effective boundary lubrication a complex task. For a qualitative step-change that would improve the performance and allow effective optimizing and tailoring of these boundary-lubricated tribological systems, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms of why, how, under which conditions, and with which materials and lubricants, the actual boundary lubrication is possible—if at all. The current results on boundary lubrication of DLC coatings are not many, and are due to the different types of coatings, lubricants and additives used in these studies, often difficult to compare and sometimes even contradictive. However, a recent great demand in different industries to apply the DLC coatings to lubricated systems requires a better understanding of these phenomena and overall performance. Therefore, if we wish to see a more effective continuation of the research and a better understanding of the scattered results, an overview of today’s state-of-the-art of lubricated DLC contacts is needed. In this paper we analyse the behaviors and suggested mechanisms from already-published studies and we summarize the present understanding of the boundary lubrication of DLC coatings. We focus on the DLC-lubricant interaction, thus we analyse only self-mated DLC/DLC contacts in order to avoid the inevitable effects from interactions with other counter materials such as steel.     

A simple and efficient BEM algorithm for planar cavity flows

This paper presents a boundary element formulation for solution of planar Riabouchinsky cavity flow problems. An iterative procedure for adjusting the free surface position is developed and shown to be stable and convergent. Numerical results are compared with finite difference and finite element solutions, showing the superior accuracy of the BEM models.     

Computer-aided spillway design using the boundary element method and non-linear programming

The general context of this paper is to support the design of spillways by a direct mathematical approach instead of trial-and-error methods. First, a two-dimensional model is formulated to determine the free surface and the discharge for a stationary, incompressible, homogeneous, non-viscous and irrotational flow over a fixed spillway. The flow satisfies the Laplace equation and the Bernoulli equation (potential flow). An important feature of the model is that it can be extended to design the spillway structure when the spillway is not fixed but the pressure on the spillway is described by a cavitation criterion. Next, the continuous model is discretized by the boundary element method (BEM). We use a non-linear programming algorithm to calculate the pressures and the shape of the spillway. A computer-aided design package is developed on a PC using the equations describing the free surface, the BEM and standard optimization techniques. The input and output of the model are realized using graphical routines. Finally, we discuss the convergence and the computation time of the algorithms.     

Numerical approximation for a non-linear membrane problem

We present a numerical study of large deformations of non-linearly elastic membranes. We consider the non-linear membrane model obtained by Le Dret and Raoult using Γ-convergence, in the case of a Saint Venant-Kirchhoff bulk material. We consider conforming P₁ and Q₁ finite element approximations of the membrane problem and use a non-linear conjugate gradient algorithm to minimize the discrete energy. We present numerical tests including membranes subjected to live pressure loads.