An experimental study of airfoil instability tonal noise with trailing edge serrations

This paper presents an experimental study of the effect of trailing edge serrations on airfoil instability noise. Detailed aeroacoustic measurements are presented of the noise radiated by an NACA-0012 airfoil with trailing edge serrations in a low to moderate speed flow under acoustical free field conditions. The existence of a separated boundary layer near the trailing edge of the airfoil at an angle of attack of 4.2 degree has been experimentally identified by a surface mounted hot-film arrays technique. Hot-wire results have shown that the saw-tooth surface can trigger a bypass transition and prevent the boundary layer from becoming separated. Without the separated boundary layer to act as an amplifier for the incoming Tollmien–Schlichting waves, the intensity and spectral characteristic of the radiated tonal noise can be affected depending upon the serration geometry. Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the airfoil wakes for a straight and serrated trailing edge are also reported in this paper. These measurements show that localized normal-component velocity fluctuations that are present in a small region of the wake from the laminar airfoil become weakened once serrations are introduced. Owing to the above unique characteristics of the serrated trailing edges, we are able to further investigate the mechanisms of airfoil instability tonal noise with special emphasis on the assessment of the wake and non-wake based aeroacoustic feedback models. It has been shown that the instability tonal noise generated at an angle of attack below approximately one degree could involve several complex mechanisms. On the other hand, the non-wake based aeroacoustic feedback mechanism alone is sufficient to predict all discrete tone frequencies accurately when the airfoil is at a moderate angle of attack.     

Sizing large proteins and protein complexes by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and ion mobility

Mass spectrometry (MS) and ion mobility with electrospray ionization (ESI) have the capability to measure and detect large noncovalent protein-ligand and protein-protein complexes. Using an ion mobility method of gas-phase electrophoretic mobility molecular analysis (GEMMA), protein particles representing a range of sizes can be separated by their electrophoretic mobility in air. Highly charged particles produced from a protein complex solution using electrospray can be manipulated to produce singly charged ions, which can be separated and quantified by their electrophoretic mobility. Results from ESI-GEMMA analysis from our laboratory and others were compared with other experimental and theoretically determined parameters, such as molecular mass and cryoelectron microscopy and X-ray crystal structure dimensions. There is a strong correlation between the electrophoretic mobility diameter determined from GEMMA analysis and the molecular mass for protein complexes up to 12 MDa, including the 93 kDa enolase dimer, the 480 kDa ferritin 24-mer complex, the 4.6 MDa cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), and the 9 MDa MVP-vault assembly. ESI-GEMMA is used to differentiate a number of similarly sized vault complexes that are composed of different N-terminal protein tags on the MVP subunit. The average effective density of the proteins and protein complexes studied was 0.6 g/cm(3). Moreover, there is evidence that proteins and protein complexes collapse or become more compact in the gas phase in the absence of water.     

An Asymmetric Synthesis of L-694,458, a Human Leukocyte Elastase Inhibitor, via Novel Enzyme Resolution of beta-Lactam Esters

A convergent synthesis of [S-(R,S)]-2-[4-[(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)carbonyl]phenoxy]-3,3-diethyl-N-[1-[3,4-(methylenedioxy)phenyl]butyl]-4-oxo-1-azetidinecarboxamide (L-694,458, 1), a potent human leukocyte elastase inhibitor, was achieved via chiral synthesis of key intermediates: (S)-3,3-diethyl-4-[4'-[(N-methylpiperazin-1-yl)carbonylphenoxy]-2-azetidinone (2) and (R)-alpha-propylpiperonyl isocyanate (3). Synthesis of beta-lactam 2 was achieved by a novel enantioselective lipase hydrolysis of ester 5 to produce (S)-3,3-diethyl-4-(4'-carboxyphenoxy)-2-azetidinone (6) (60% yield, three cycles, 93% ee) with isolation, epimerization, and recycling of the undesired (R)-ester 5. Isocyanate 3 was prepared by chiral addition of Zn(n-Pr)(2) to piperonal (98% yield, 99.2% ee), azide displacement and reduction to (R)-alpha-propylpiperonylamine (11) (58% yield, 85% ee), crystallization as the D-pyroglutamic acid salt (92% yield, 98.2% ee), and isocyanate formation (98% yield) with phosgene.     

Effective Rheology of Two-Phase Flow in Three-Dimensional Porous Media: Experiment and Simulation

We present an experimental and numerical study of immiscible two-phase flow of Newtonian fluids in three-dimensional (3D) porous media to find the relationship between the volumetric flow rate (Q) and the total pressure difference (\(\Delta P\)) in the steady state. We show that in the regime where capillary forces compete with the viscous forces, the distribution of capillary barriers at the interfaces effectively creates a yield threshold (\(P_t\)), making the fluids reminiscent of a Bingham viscoplastic fluid in the porous medium. In this regime, Q depends quadratically on an excess pressure drop (\(\Delta P-P_t\)). While increasing the flow rate, there is a transition, beyond which the overall flow is Newtonian and the relationship is linear. In our experiments, we build a model porous medium using a column of glass beads transporting two fluids, deionized water and air. For the numerical study, reconstructed 3D pore networks from real core samples are considered and the transport of wetting and non-wetting fluids through the network is modeled by tracking the fluid interfaces with time. We find agreement between our numerical and experimental results. Our results match with the mean-field results reported earlier.     

A posteriori error estimation with finite element methods of lines for one-dimensional parabolic systems

Summary Consider the solution of one-dimensional linear initial-boundary value problems by a finite element method of lines using a piecewiseP ^th -degree polynomial basis. A posteriori estimates of the discretization error are obtained as the solutions of either local parabolic or local elliptic finite element problems using piecewise polynomial corrections of degreep+1 that vanish at element ends. Error estimates computed in this manner are shown to converge in energy under mesh refinement to the exact finite element discretization error. Computational results indicate that the error estimates are robust over a wide range of mesh spacings and polynomial degrees and are, furthermore, applicable in situations that are not supported by the analysis.This research was partially supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Systems Command, USAF, under Grant Number AFOSR 90-0194; by the U.S. Army Research Office under Contract Number DAAL03-91-G-0215; and by the National Science Foundation under Institutional Infrastructure Grant Number CDA-8805910     

Separation of CO2 from CH4 using mixed-ligand metal-organic frameworks

The adsorption of CO2 and CH4 in a mixed-ligand metal-organic framework (MOF) Zn 2(NDC) 2(DPNI) [NDC = 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylate, DPNI = N, N'-di-(4-pyridyl)-1,4,5,8-naphthalene tetracarboxydiimide] was investigated using volumetric adsorption measurements and grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations. The MOF was synthesized by two routes: first at 80 degrees C for two days with conventional heating, and second at 120 degrees C for 1 h using microwave heating. The two as-synthesized samples exhibit very similar powder X-ray diffraction patterns, but the evacuated samples show differences in nitrogen uptake. From the single-component CO2 and CH4 isotherms, mixture adsorption was predicted using the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST). The microwave sample shows a selectivity of approximately 30 for CO2 over CH4, which is among the highest selectivities reported for this separation. The applicability of IAST to this system was demonstrated by performing GCMC simulations for both single-component and mixture adsorption.     

An evaluation of atmospheric pressure ionization techniques for the analysis of N-Methyl carbamate pesticides by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry

Atmospheric pressure ionization (API) techniques are evaluated for the mass spectral analysis of N-methyl carbamate pesticides. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) using a heated nebulizer interface provided both protonated molecules and abundant, characteristic fragment ions. With ion spray (ISP; pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization), which utilizes a milder “ion evaporation” process, primarily protonated molecules were obtained, although fragment ions similar to those observed in APCI could be induced by variation of the API orifice voltage. Product ion spectra of ISP-derived protonated molecules, generated by tandem mass spectrometry using collision-induced dissociation, are also presented. The APCI and ISP spectra of the carbamates are compared to those obtained with a thermospray interface and also to their electron ionization and methane CI spectra obtained with a particle beam interface. For all four interfaces, combined liquid chromatography mass spectrometry methods using conventional (4.6 mm i.d.) columns are described for the separation and detection of pesticide mixtures. These methods are applied to the confirmatory analysis of three representative carbamate pesticides, spiked at the 0.1-ppm level in green peppers. For those carbamates amenable to gas chromatography mass spectrometry, comparative results are presented.     

Invariant discrete flows

In this paper, we investigate the evolution of joint invariants under invariant geometric flows using the theory of equivariant moving frames and the induced invariant discrete variational complex. For certain arc length preserving planar curve flows invariant under the special Euclidean group , the special linear group , and the semidirect group , we find that the induced evolution of the discrete curvature satisfies the differential‐difference mKdV, KdV, and Burgers' equations, respectively. These three equations are completely integrable, and we show that a recursion operator can be constructed by precomposing the characteristic operator of the curvature by a certain invariant difference operator. Finally, we derive the constraint for the integrability of the discrete curvature evolution to lift to the evolution of the discrete curve itself.     

Onion‐like Multifunctional Microtrap Vehicles for Attraction–Trapping–Destruction of Biological Threats

A multifunctional motile microtrap is developed that is capable of autonomously attracting, trapping, and destroying pathogens by controlled chemoattractant and therapeutic agent release. The onion‐inspired multi‐layer structure contains a magnesium engine core and inner chemoattractant and therapeutic layers. Upon chemical propulsion, the magnesium core is depleted, resulting in a hollow structure that exposes the inner layers and serves as structural trap. The sequential dissolution and autonomous release of the chemoattractant and killing agents result in long‐range chemotactic attraction, trapping, and destruction of motile pathogens. The dissolved chemoattractant (l ‐serine) significantly increases the accumulation and capture of motile pathogens (E. coli) within the microtrap structure, while the internal release of silver ions (Ag⁺) leads to lysis of the pathogen accumulated within the microtrap cavity.     

Fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate) capillary electrophoresis microchips by in situ surface polymerization

A novel method based on in situ surface polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) has been developed for the rapid fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) capillary electrophoresis (CE) microchips. MMA containing both thermal and ultraviolet (UV) initiators was allowed to prepolymerize in a water bath to form a fast curing molding solution that was subsequently sandwiched between a nickel template and a PMMA plate. The images of the raised microchannels on the nickel template were precisely replicated into the synthesized PMMA substrates during the UV-initiated polymerization of the molding solution within 30 min under ambient temperature. The attractive performances of the novel PMMA microchips have been demonstrated in connection with amperometric detection for the separation and detection of several model analytes. The new approach significantly simplifies the process for fabricating PMMA devices and could be applied to other materials that undergo light-initiated polymerization.