Phase-stepped ESPI and moiré interferometry for measuring stress-intensity factor andJ integral

Electronic-speckle-pattern interferometry and moiré interferometry have been used to calculateK ₁ andJ for compact tension specimens. Automated-fringe-pattern analysis enables the full-field of data to be used with the minimum of operator intervention. Measurements are shown to be accurate to within 10 percent. TheJ-measurement procedure employed could form the basis of an automatic-fault detection system.     

Modeling of the dynamics of the change in the index of refraction during resonance interaction of radiation with vibrational-rotational transitions

Moscow. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, No. 1, pp. 21–29, January–February, 1994.     

Numerical analysis of the asymptotic representation of solitary waves

Novosibirsk. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Technicheskaya Fizika, No. 5, pp. 44–54, September–October, 1994.     

Optimal control of a spacecraft with a solar sail

Analysis of the results indicates that:

Mixing quantification by visual imaging analysis

This paper reports on development of a method for quantifying two measures of mixing, the scale and intensity of segregation, through flow visualization, video recording, and software analysis. This non-intrusive method analyzes a planar cross section of a flowing system from an instantaneous data record, thereby eliminating the need for statistical analysis of a large number of point measurements at multiple locations throughout the system to characterize the mixing. The method is applied to a cold flow model of a high temperature, gas/solid reactor so that reactor design and operation can be optimized to promote reaction efficiency. This method may be useful for studying a variety of mixing systems in which multiphase components or tracers are visually distinguishable.List of symbols mixing coefficient (defined by Eq. (17)) - standard deviation - a mixing coefficient (defined by Eq. (16)) - C(k, m) sample grayscale covariance (defined by Eq. (3)) - d distance (defined by Eq. (8)) - D divisor (defined by Eq. (3)) - d ^* value of d for which R _I (d) approaches zero - D ₅₀ mass median diameter - I intensity of segregation (defined by Eq. (20)) - M sample size (defined by Eq. (16)) - n number of contiguous pixels - n ^* value of n for which SSE _Q /SSE _L is maximized - n _c number of columns of pixels - N_R number of rows of pixels - P number of pixels per linear distance - r radius of Cold Flow Model - R(k, m) sample correlation function (defined by Eq. (5)) - R _C (k) column correlation function (defined by Eq. (7)) - R _I (d) isotropic correlation function (defined by Eq. (9)) - R _R (m) row correlation function (defined by Eq. (6)) - SSE _Q residual sum of squared errors from the least squares fit of the quadratic model to Eq. (14) - SSE _L residual sum of squared errors from the least squares fit of the linear model to Eq. (14) - S _y ² sample grayscale variance (defined by Eq. (2)) - S _c column scale of segregation (defined by Eqs. (7) and (13)) - S _D Danckwerts' scale of segregation (defined by Eq. (10)) - S _R row scale of segregation (defined by Eqs. (6) and (13)) - S _s scale measure developed in this paper (defined by Eq. (13)) - V _n sample variance of contiguous pixels (defined by Eq. (11)) - V _n ^* normalized variance function (defined by Eq. (12)) - sample grayscale mean (defined by Eq. (1)) - Y _i,j grayscale value at pixel (i,j)     

Stability of a nonorthogonal stagnation flow to three-dimensional disturbances

A similarity solution for a low Mach number nonorthogonal flow impinging on a hot or cold plate is presented. For the constant-density case, it is known that the stagnation point shifts in the direction of the incoming flow and that this shift increases as the angle of attack decreases. When the effects of density variations are included, a critical plate temperature exists; above this temperature the stagnation point shifts away from the incoming stream as the angle is decreased. This flow field is believed to have applications to the reattachment zone of certain separated flows or to a lifting body at a high angle of attack. Finally, we examine the stability of this nonorthogonal flow to self-similar, three-dimensional disturbances. Stability characteristics of the flow are given as a function of the parameters of this study: ratio of the plate temperature to that of the outer potential flow and angle of attack. In particular, it is shown that the angle of attack can be scaled out by a suitable definition of an equivalent wave number and temporal growth rate, and the stability problem for the nonorthogonal case is identical to the stability problem for the orthogonal case. By use of this scaling, it can be shown that decreasing the angle of attack decreases the wave number and the magnitude of the temporal decay rate, thus making nonlinear effects important. For small wave numbers, it is shown that cooling the plate decreases the temporal decay of the least-stable mode, while heating the plate has the opposite effect. For moderate to large wave numbers, density variations have little effect except that there exists a range of cool plate temperatures for which these disturbances are extremely stable.This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under NASA Contract NAS1-18605 while the authors were in residence at the Institute for Compute Applications in Science and Engineering, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23665, U.S.A.     

Excitation of velocity fluctuations and noise in a wind tunnel

The aim of this paper is to develop a theory, consistent with the observations, of the nature and location of the structures that determine self-excitation and the emission of the narrow-band components of the noise generated by the open working section of wind tunnels. At the same time, the theory is applied by using it as a basis for constructive solutions.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.4, pp. 165–173, July–August, 1992.     

Orienting properties of discotic nematic liquid crystals in Jeffrey-Hamel flows

The orienting properties of incompressible discotic nematic liquid crystals for creeping flows between converging and diverging planar walls (Jeffrey-Hamel) are analyzed using the Leslie-Ericksen theory. The dependence of director orientation on the reactive parameter and the flow kinematics is presented. Closed form stationary solutions for the director orientation are found when elastic effects are neglected. Stationary numerical solutions for the velocity and director fields using the full Leslie-Ericksen theory are presented. The director field in converging flow is characterized by azimuthal (radial) centerline orientation, by being asymmetric with respect to the azimuthal (radial) direction, and by having an allowed orientation range that spans two half-quadrants (full quadrants). In the limiting case of perfectly flat disk ( –) the flow-induced director orientation in converging flow is the azimuthal direction, while in diverging flow the director rotates by a full n radians. By reducing the vertex angle between the walls to vanishingly small values, converging flow solutions properly reduce to those of flow between parallel plates, but diverging flows are expected to lead to a new instability.     

Influence of vent positions on smoke clearance from a room

Results of solutions to the equations governing the clearance of smoke in laminar and in turbulent flow from a single rectilinear room are presented fof five different vent arrangements. These results show that the average smoke concentration in the room decreases in an approximately exponential manner with time at a rate that depdends much more on room geometry (vent positions in the present case) than on whether the flow is laminar or turbulent. The benefit of this observation is that, provided the clearance air jet is disrupted by impingement on a solid surface within the room, the analysis of smoke movement can for many practical purposes be limited to consideration of laminar flow only. An exceptional case is when the jet is allowed to take a straight line path between the inlet and outlet vents. Here in the absence of the large scale eddies caused by jet impingement, the smaller scale eddies of turbulent flow become relatively important as a mixing mechanism and give higher clearance rates than in laminar flow. Even so, this type of geometry is best avoided. The appearance of the jet is shown in a graphic presentation of the numerical results for laminar flow.