The attenuation of oscillatory thermocapillary convection in the oxide melt by a transverse magnetic field

The effect of a transverse magnetic field on the oscillatory thermocapillary convection in the NaBi(WO4)2 melt was studied by using the in-situ observation system. The oscillation was attenuated when the 60 mT magnetic field was applied, as shown by the decrease in the amplitude and the frequency. Furthermore, the oscillation under smaller temperature difference was stabilized after the magnetic field was applied. The magnetic effect could be due to the Lorentz force generated by the interaction between motional ions and the vertical magnetic field. The ionic conductivities were measured to demonstrate the effect of the magnetic field. The solid ionic electrical conductivity increases with the temperature rise, and the melt ionic electrical conductivity was measured to be about 2.0×10-4 Ω-1·cm-1. Experimental results manifest that the effect of the magnetic field on anions and cations in the melt makes the flow change to the direction normal to the applied field, so the flow is more orderly and the oscillation is suppressed.     

Experimental Study on Liquid Free Surface in Buoyant-Thermocapillary Convection

We investigate the surface deformations of buoyant-thermocapillary convection in a rectangular cavity due to gravity and temperature gradient between the two sidewalls. The cavity is 52mm×42 mm in horizontal cross section, the thickness of liquid layer h is changed from 2.5 mm to 6.5 mm. Surface deformations of h = 3.5 mm and 6.0mm are discussed and compared. Temperature difference is increased gradually, and the flow in the liquid layer will change from stable convection to unstable convection. Two kinds of optical diagnostic system with image processor are developed for study of the kinetics of buoyant-thermocapillary convection, they give out the information of liquid free surface. The quantitative results are calculated by Fourier transform and correlation analysis, respectively. With the increasing temperature gradient, surface deformations calculated are more declining. It is interesting phenomenon that the inclining directions of the convections in thin and thick liquid layers are different. For a thin layer, the convection is mainly controlled by thermocapillary effect. However, for a thick layer, the convection is mainly controlled by buoyancy effect. The surface deformation theoretically analysed is consistent with our experimental results. The present experiment proves that surface deformation is related to temperature gradient and thickness of the liquid layer. In other words, surface deformation lies on capillary convection and buoyancy convection.     

Coupling of Evaporation and Thermocapillary Convection in a Liquid Layer with Mass and Heat Exchanging Interface

We propose and analyse a new model of thermocapillary convection with evaporation in a cavity subjected to horizontal temperature gradient, rather than the previously studied model without evaporation. The pure liquid layer with a top free surface in contact with its own vapour is considered in microgravity condition. The computing programme developed for simulating this model integrates the two-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations and energy equation by a second-order accurate projection method. We focus on the coupling of evaporation and thermocapillary convection by investigating the influence of evaporation Biot number and Marangoni number on the interracial mass and heat transfer. Three different regimes of the coupling mechanisms are found and explained from our numerical results.     

Transition to Chaos in the Floating Half Zone Convection

The transition process from steady convection to chaos is experimentally studied in thermocapillary convections of floating half zone. The onset of temperature oscillations in the liquid bridge of floating half zone and further transitions of the temporal convective behaviour are detected by measuring the temperature in the liquid bridge. The fast Fourier transform reveals the frequency and amplitude characteristics of the flow transition. The experimental results indicate the existence of a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations that culminate in chaos. The measured Feigenbaum numbers are δ2 =4.69 and δ4 = 4.6, which are comparable with the theoretical asymptotic value δ=4.669.     

Instabilities and pattern evolution in a vertically heated annulus

The convection in an annular container with heated bottom,cooled top and insulated side walls are studied by both linear instability analysis and direct numerical simulation.The onset of convection is investigated by linear stability analysis and corresponding pattern selection mechanisms are discussed.The nonlinear evolution of different flow patterns and the convective heat transfer are simulated.The transition to oscillatory flow is also given by stability analysis where the base flow is a steady three dimensional flow.The stability predictions are in good agreement with the numerical simulations,including both the growth rate and the dimensionless frequency.     

The hydrothermal wave of large-Prandtl-number fluid in a shallow cavity

The hydrothermal wave was investigated numerically for large-Prandtl-number fluid (Pr = 105.6) in a shallow cavity with different heated sidewalls. The traveling wave appears and propagates in the direction opposite to the surface flow (upstream) in the case of zero gravity when the applied temperature difference grows and over the critical value. The phase relationships of the disturbed velocity, temperature and pressure demonstrate that the traveling wave is driven by the disturbed temperature, which is named hydrothermal wave. The hydrothermal wave is so weak that the oscillatory flow field and temperature distribution can hardly be observed in the liquid layer. The exciting mechanism of hydrothermal wave is analyzed and discussed in the present paper.     

Optimization of fin geometry in heat convection with entransy theory

The entransy theory developed in recent years is used to optimize the aspect ratio of a plate fin in heat convection.Based on a two-dimensional model,the theoretical analysis shows that the minimum thermal resistance defined with the concept of entransy dissipation corresponds to the maximum heat transfer rate when the temperature of the heating surface is fixed.On the other hand,when the heat flux of the heating surface is fixed,the minimum thermal resistance corresponds to the minimum average temperature of the heating surface.The entropy optimization is also given for the heat transfer processes.It is observed that the minimum entropy generation,the minimum entropy generation number,and the minimum revised entropy generation number do not always correspond to the best heat transfer performance.In addition,the influence factors on the optimized aspect ratio of the plate fin are also discussed.The optimized ratio decreases with the enhancement of heat convection,while it increases with fin thermal conductivity increasing.     

Three-Dimensional Linear Instability Analysis of Thermocapillary Return Flow on a Porous Plane

A three-dimensional linear instability analysis of thermocapillary convection in a fluid-porous double layer system, imposed by a horizontal temperature gradient, is performed. The basic motion of fluid is the surface-tension-driven return flow, and the movement of fluid in the porous layer is governed by Darcy＇s law. The slippery effect of velocity at the fluid-porous interface has been taken into account, and the influence of this velocity slippage on the instability characteristic of the system is emphasized. The new behavior of the thermocapillary convection instability has been found and discussed through the figures of the spectrum.     

Numerical Modelling of Velocity and Temperature Distributions of the Buoyancy Convection Effect in KNbO3 Melt

Numerical Modelling of velocity and temperature fields in high-temperature KNbO3 melt of a loop-shaped Pt wire heater is carried out by using the commercial computational code ANSYS for the mathematical solution of the governing equations.Based on the experimental boundary conditions and the Boussinesq approximation,the numerical modelling of a steady and two-dimensional model is applied to study the process under consideration of the buoyancy-driven convection condition.The result is compared with the previous experimental and theoretical data obtained in our laboratory,and the former is in agreement with the latter.Thus a theoretical guide for reasonable growth conditions is provided by studying in depth the real fluid flow effects in the crystal growth from the melt.     

Wavenumber Selection by Bénard-Marangoni Convection at High Supercritical Number

Marangoni-Bénard convection, which is mainly driven by the thermocapillary(Marangoni) effect, occurs in a thin liquid layer heated uniformly from the bottom. The wavenumber of supercritical convection is studied experimentally in a 160 x 160-mm~2 cavity that is heated from the bottom block. The convection pattern is visualized by an infrared thermography camera. It is shown that the onset of the Benard cell is consistent with theoretical analysis. The wavenumber decreases obviously with increasing temperature, except for a slight increase near the onset. The wavenumber gradually approaches the minimum when the supercritical number εis larger than 10. Finally, a formula is devised to describe the wavenumber selection in supercritical convection.     

A lattice Boltzmann–cellular automaton study on dendrite growth with melt convection in solidification of ternary alloys

A lattice Boltzmann(LB)–cellular automaton(CA) model is employed to study the dendrite growth of Al-4.0 wt%Cu–1.0 wt%Mg alloy. The effects of melt convection, solute diffusion, interface curvature, and preferred growth orientation are incorporated into the coupled model by coupling the LB–CA model and the CALPHAD-based phase equilibrium solver,Pan Engine. The dendrite growth with single and multiple initial seeds was numerically studied under the conditions of pure diffusion and melt convection. Effects of initial seed number and melt convection strength were characterized by newdefined solidification and concentration entropies. The numerical result shows that the growth behavior of dendrites, the final microstructure, and the micro-segregation are significantly influenced by melt convection during solidification of the ternary alloys. The proposed solidification and concentration entropies are useful characteristics bridging the solidification behavior and the microstructure evolution of alloys.     

Flow rate limitation in open wedge channel under microgravity

A study of flow rate limitation in an open wedge channel is reported in this paper. Under microgravity condition, the flow is controlled by the convection and the viscosity in the channel as well as the curvature of the liquid free surface. A maximum flow rate is achieved when the curvature cannot balance the pressure difference leading to a collapse of the free surface. A 1-dimensional theoretical model is used to predict the critical flow rate and calculate the shape of the free surface. Computa- tional Fluid Dynamics tool is also used to simulate the phenomenon. Results show that the 1-dimensional model overestimates the critical flow rate because extra pressure loss is not included in the governing equation. Good agreement is found in 3-dim- ensional simulation results. Parametric study with different wedge angles and channel lengths show that the critical flow rate increases with increasing the cross section area; and decreases with increasing the channel length. The work in this paper can help understand the surface collapsing without gravity and for the design in propellant management devices in satellite tanks.     

Geodesic Acoustic Mode in Toroidally Axisymmetric Plasmas with Non-Circular Cross Sections

The geodesic acoustic mode （GAM）, first predicted by Winsor, Johnson and Dawson in an attempt to explain some experimentally observed low frequency oscillations in stellarators, is a special electrostatic fluid mode with low mode number and coupled with the so-called geodesic curvature of a toroidally confined plasma. The recent on this mode are due to the close relevance of the stabi- lization of drift turbulence by both the zonal flow and the GAM. Previously, the GAM was illustrated in very simple geometries,     

High and low frequency relaxation oscillations in a capacitive discharge plasma

Both high and low frequency relaxation oscillations have been observed in an argon capacitive discharge connected to a peripheral grounded chamber through a slot with dielectric spacers. The oscillations, observed from time-varying optical emission of the main discharge chamber, show, for example, a high frequency （46 kHz） relaxation oscillation at 100 mTorr, with an absorbed power near the peripheral breakdown, and a low frequency （2.7-3.7 Hz） oscillation, at a higher absorbed power. The high frequency oscillation is found to ignite a plasma in the slot, but usually not in the periphery. The high frequency oscillation is interpreted by using an electromagnetic model of the slot impedance, combined with the circuit analysis of the system including a matching network. The model is further developed by using a parallel connection of variable peripheral capacitance to analyse the low frequency oscillation. The results obtained from the model are in agreement with the experimental observations and indicate that a variety of behaviours are dependent on the matching conditions.     

Size-Dependent Melting Behaviour of Nanometre-Sized Pb Particles Studied by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

Nanometre-sized （hereafter nano-） Pb particles embedded in an Al matrix are prepared by ball milling. It is found that the size of nano-Pb particles was decreased with increasing milling time. The melting behaviour of nano-Pb particles embedded in the Al matrix is studied by means of dynamic mechanical analysis, and a single internal friction peak in the vicinity of Pb melting temperature is observed. The onset temperature of the peak moves to lower temperature with the decrease of particles size and the internal friction peak height is increased, which indicates a size-dependent melting behaviour of nano-Pb particles. It is suggested that the size-dependent melting behaviour is associated with surface melting.     

Mechanical strains in pecvd SiN_x:H films for nanophotonic application

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride films(Si N x:H) are deposited at low temperature by high-frequency plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition(HF PECVD). The main effort is to investigate the roles of plasma frequency and plasma power density in determining the film properties particularly in stress. Information about chemical bonds in the films is obtained by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). The stresses in the Si N x:H film are determined from substrate curvature measurements. It is shown that plasma frequency plays an important role in controlling the stresses in Si N x:H films. For silicon nitride layers grown at plasma frequency 40.68 MHz initial tensile stresses are observed to be in a range of 400 MPa–700 MPa. Measurements of the intrinsic stresses of silicon nitride films show that the stress quantity is sufficient for film applications in strained silicon photonics.     

Optically induced abnormal terahertz absorption in black silicon

The absorption responses of blank silicon and black silicon(silicon with micro/nano-conical surface structures) wafers to an 808-nm continuous-wave(CW) laser are investigated at room temperature by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The transmission of the blank silicon shows an appreciable change, from ground state to the pump state, with amplitude varying up to 50%, while that of the black silicon(BS) with different cone sizes is observed to be more stable. Furthermore,the terahertz transmission through BS is observed to be strongly dependent on the size of the conical structure geometry.The conductivities of blank silicon and BS are extracted from the experimental data with and without pumping. The non-photo-excited conductivities increase with increasing frequency and agree well with the Lorentz model, whereas the photo-excited conductivities decrease with increasing frequency and fit well with the Drude–Smith model. Indeed, for BS, the conductivity, electron density and mobility are found to correlate closely with the size of the conical structure.This is attributed to the influence of space confinement on the carrier excitation, that is, the carriers excited at the BS conical structure surface have a stronger localization effect with a backscattering behavior in small-sized microstructures and a higher recombination rate due to increased electron interaction and collision with electrons, interfaces and grain boundaries.     

Solute distribution in KNbO3 melt-solution and its effect on dendrite growth during rapid solidification

This paper reports that the rapid solidification of mixed Li 2 B 4 O 7 and KNbO 3 melted in a Pt loop heater has been performed experimentally by the method of quenching, and various morphologies of KNbO 3 crystals have been observed in different regions of the quenched melt-solution. Dendrites were formed in the central region where mass transfer is performed by diffusion, whereas polygonal crystals with smooth surface grew in the marginal region where convection dominates mass transport. Based on measurement of KNbO 3 concentration along crystal interface by electronic probe analysis, it finds the variety of crystal morphologies, which is the result of different solute distributions: in the central region the inhomogeneity of solute concentration is much sharper and morphological instability is easier to take place; nevertheless in the marginal region the concentration homogeneity has been greatly enhanced by convection which prevents the occurrence of morphological instability. Additional solute distribution in the melt along the primary dendrite trunk axis as well as that in mushy zones has also been determined. Results show that the solute concentration in the liquid increases linearly with distance from the trunk tip and more solutes were found to be concentrated in mushy zones. The closer the mushy zone is to trunk tip, the lower the solute concentration will be there.     

Comprehensive studies on dielectric properties of p-methoxy benzylidene p-decyl aniline with function of temperature and frequency in planar geometry: A potential nematic liquid crystal for display devices

The dielectric properties of the nematic mesophase, p-methoxy benzylidene p-decyl aniline(MBDA), measured in planar geometry with a function of frequency and temperature are investigated in detail. The complex dielectric permittivity(ε' and ε') is also studied at a bias voltage of 10 V for planar aligned sample cell of nematic mesophase. The dielectric permittivity with bias voltage attains a higher( 2 times) value than that without bias voltage at a temperature of 56℃,which is due to the fact that the linking group of nematic molecules is internally interacted with an applied bias voltage.This is supported by observing an enhanced dielectric permittivity of nematic liquid crystal(LC) in the presence of bias voltage, which can be fully explained as the increasing of the corresponding dipole moment. The dielectric relaxation behaviors of nematic LC are also demonstrated for planar aligned sample cell. The remarkable results are observed that the relaxation frequency shifts into low frequency region with the increase of the bias voltage applied to the planar aligned sample cells. The dielectric relaxation spectra are fitted by Cole–Cole nonlinear curve fitting for nematic mesophase in order to determine the dielectric strength.     

Investigation on laser brazing AA6056 Al alloy to XC18 low-carbon steel

Based on the studies of influence of YAG laser heating conditions for Al alloy melt and steel on wettability, the mechanics of the laser overlap braze welding of 6056 Al and XC18 steel sheet has been investigated. Under the temperature range which is above the melting point of the Al alloy and below the melting point of the steel, two dissimilar metals can be joined by means of laser braze welding. There is no crack observed in the joining area, i.e. Al-Fe intermetallic phase (Fe3Al/FeAl/FeAl3/Fe2Al5) layer formed by solution and diffusion between liquid-solid interface. The temperature range can be defined as the process temperatures of laser braze welding of Al-Fe materials. Selecting a higher laser heating temperature can improve the wettability of Al melt to steel surface, but the intermetallic phase layer is also thicker. When the laser heating temperature is so high that the joining surface of steel is melted, there is a crack trend in the joining area.