A Model for Flow and Deformation in Unsaturated Swelling Porous Media

A thermomechanical theory for multiphase transport in unsaturated swelling porous media is developed on the basis of Hybrid Mixture Theory (saturated systems can also be modeled as a special case of this general theory). The aim is to comprehensively and non-empirically describe the effect of viscoelastic deformation on fluid transport (and vice versa) for swelling porous materials. Three phases are considered in the system: the swelling solid matrix s, liquid l, and air a. The Coleman–Noll procedure is used to obtain the restrictions on the form of the constitutive equations. The form of Darcy’s law for the fluid phase, which takes into account both Fickian and non-Fickian transport, is slightly different from the forms obtained by other researchers though all the terms have been included. When the fluid phases interact with the swelling solid porous matrix, deformation occurs. Viscoelastic large deformation of the solid matrix is investigated. A simple form of differential-integral equation is obtained for the fluid transport under isothermal conditions, which can be coupled with the deformation of the solid matrix to solve for transport in an unsaturated system. The modeling theory thus developed, which involves two-way coupling of the viscoelastic solid deformation and fluid transport, can be applied to study the processing of biopolymers, for example, soaking of foodstuffs and stress-crack predictions. Moreover, extension and modification of this modeling theory can be applied to study a vast variety of problems, such as drying of gels, consolidation of clays, drug delivery, and absorption of liquids in diapers.     

Seismic Reflection from an Interface Between an Elastic Solid and a Fractured Porous Medium with Partial Saturation

The theory of Tuncay and Corapcioglu (Transp Porous Media 23:237–258, 1996a) has been employed to investigate the possibility of plane wave propagation in a fractured porous medium containing two immiscible fluids. Solid phase of the porous medium is assumed to be linearly elastic, isotropic and the fractures are assumed to be distributed isotropically throughout the medium. It has been shown that there can exist four compressional waves and one rotational wave. The phase speeds of these waves are found to be affected by the presence of fractures, in general. Of the four compressional waves, one arises due to the presence of fractures in the medium and the remaining three are those encountered by Tuncay and Corapcioglu (J Appl Mech 64:313–319, 1997). Reflection and transmission phenomena at a plane interface between a uniform elastic half-space and a fractured porous half-space containing two immiscible fluids, are analyzed due to incidence of plane longitudinal/transverse wave from uniform elastic half-space. Variation of modulus of amplitude and energy ratios with the angle of incidence are computed numerically by taking the elastic half-space as granite and the fractured porous half-space as sandstone material containing non-viscous wetting and non-wetting fluid phases. The results obtained in case of porous half-space with fractures, are compared graphically with those in case of porous half-space without fractures. It is found that the presence of fractures in the porous half-space do affect the reflection/transmission of waves, which is responsible for raising the reflection and lowering the transmission coefficients.     

Flow visualization of compressible vortex structures using density gradient techniques

Mathematical results are derived for the schlieren and shadowgraph contrast variation due to the refraction of light rays passing through two-dimensional compressible vortices with viscous cores. Both standard and small-disturbance solutions are obtained. It is shown that schlieren and shadowgraph produce substantially different contrast profiles. Further, the shadowgraph contrast variation is shown to be very sensitive to the vortex velocity profile and is also dependent on the location of the peak peripheral velocity (viscous core radius). The computed results are compared to actual contrast measurements made for rotor tip vortices using the shadowgraph flow visualization technique. The work helps to clarify the relationships between the observed contrast and the structure of vortical structures in density gradient based flow visualization experiments.Nomenclature a Unobstructed height of schlieren light source in cutoff plane, m - c Blade chord, m - f Focal length of schlieren focusing mirror, m - C _T Rotor thrust coefficient, T/( ² R ⁴) - I Image screen illumination, Lm/m ² - l Distance from vortex to shadowgraph screen, m - n _b Number of blades - p Pressure,N/m ² - p Ambient pressure, N/m ² - r, , z Cylindrical coordinate system - r _c Vortex core radius, m - Non-dimensional radial coordinate, (r/r _c ) - R Rotor radius, m - Tangential velocity, m/s - Specific heat ratio of air - Circulation (strength of vortex), m ²/s - Non-dimensional quantity, ² 8²p r _c ² - Refractive index of fluid medium - ₀ Refractive index of fluid medium at reference conditions - Gladstone-Dale constant, m ³/kg - Density, kg/m ³ - Density at ambient conditions, kg/m ³ - Non-dimensional density, (/ ) - Rotor solidity, (n _b c/ R) - Rotor rotational frequency, rad/s     

Velocity correlations in dense granular flows observed with internal imaging

We show that the velocity correlations in uniform dense granular flows inside a silo are similar to the hydrodynamic response of an elastic hard-sphere liquid. The measurements are made using a fluorescent refractive-index-matched interstitial fluid in a regime where the flow is dominated by grains in enduring contact and fluctuations scale with the distance traveled, independent of flow rate. The velocity autocorrelation function of the grains in the bulk shows a negative correlation at short time and slow oscillatory decay to zero similar to simple liquids. Weak spatial velocity correlations are observed over several grain diameters. The mean square displacements show an inflection point indicative of caging dynamics. The observed correlations are qualitatively different at the boundaries.     

A Magneto-Mechanically Coupled Phase-Field Model at Large Deformation

The aggregate magneto-mechanical behavior of magneto-rheological elastomers (MREs) stems from the magnetic properties of the ferromagnetic inclusion and the mechanical properties of the matrix material. We propose a large deformation micro-magnetic theory, to predict the behavior and interaction of ferromagnetic particles inside an elastomeric matrix. A rate-type variational principle, with the magnetization as the order parameter is proposed. A large deformation Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation for the time evolution of the magnetization, is obtained directly from the proposed variational principle. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Revisiting the Nutritional,Chemical and Biological Potential of Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.

The genus Cajanus (Family: Fabaceae) consists of approximately 37 species, and Cajanus cajan (C. cajan) is a significant member of the genus. It is a commercial legume crop widely grown in sub-tropical and semi-arid tropical areas of the world. C. cajan is well known for its folk medicinal uses to treat various disorders, such as toothache, dizziness, diabetes, stomachache, female ailments and chronic infections. These properties have been linked to the presence of several value-added nutritional and bioactive components. Different solvent extracts from C. cajan (leaves, root, stem and seeds) have been evaluated for their phytochemical and biological activities, namely antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory effects. Taken together, and considering the prominent nutraceutical and therapeutic properties of C. cajan, this review article focuses on the important details including ethnomedicinal uses, chemical composition, biological applications and some other medicinal aspects related to C. cajan nutraceutical and pharmacological applications.     

Energy transfer in CaSiO3 phosphors doped with Ce3+ and Tb3+

Calcium metasilicate phosphors activated by Ce³⁺ and Tb³⁺ have been studied for their emission characteristics. In two series of phosphors, one activator was kept at its optimum value while the other was varied. In another two series, one activator was kept below its optimum value and the other was varied. Concentration quenching effects start when each activator gives its maximum emission. There is clear evidence of an energy transfer from Ce³⁺ to Tb³⁺ because the⁵ D ₃ lines appear on addition of Ce³⁺ while they were conspicuously absent when Tb³⁺ alone was present. Their absence in singly activated phosphors could not have been due to cross-relaxation. Obviously X-ray excitation does not lead to⁵ D ₃ transitions which are achieved only by energy transfer. Further, considering the features of the emission spectra and the concentrations of activators used, the transfer could only be of the dipole-dipole type.     

Self‐diffusion coefficient of ring polymers in semidilute solution

In a topologically constraining environment the size of a flexible nonconcatenated ring polymer (macrocycles) and its dynamics are known to differ from that of linear polymers. Hence, the diffusion coefficient of ring polymers can be expected to be different from linear chains. We present here scaling arguments for the concentration and molecular weight dependence of self‐diffusion coefficient of ring polymers in semidilute solutions, and show that contrary to expectations these scaling relations are identical to what is known for linear polymers. At higher concentrations excluded volume interactions arising from possibilities of segmental overlap can become effective for large ring polymers. In this regime the diffusion coefficient of large ring polymers shows a relatively weaker dependence on concentration and molecular weight. ©2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 2370–2379, 2008