Effects of hydraulic pressure on the stability and transition of wetting modes of superhydrophobic surfaces

The underlying mechanisms of stability, metastability, or instability of the Cassie-Baxter and Wenzel wetting modes and their transitions on superhydrophobic surfaces decorated with periodic micropillars are quantitatively studied in this article. Hydraulic pressure, which may be generated by the water-air interfacial tension of water droplets or external factors such as raining impact, is shown to be a key to understanding these mechanisms. A detailed transition process driven by increasing hydraulic pressure is numerically simulated. The maximum sustainable or critical pressure of the Cassie-Baxter wetting state on a pillarlike microstructural surface is formulated for the first time in a simple, unified, and precise form. This analytic result reveals the fact that reducing the microstructural scales (e.g., the pillars' diameters and spacing) is probably the most efficient measure needed to enlarge the critical pressure significantly. We also introduce a dimensionless parameter, the pillar slenderness ratio, to characterize the stability of either the Cassie-Baxter or the Wenzel wetting state and show that the energy barrier for transitioning from the Cassie-Baxter to the Wenzel wetting mode is proportional to both the slenderness ratio and the area fraction. Thus, the Cassie-Baxter wetting mode may collapse under a hydraulic pressure lower than the critical one if the slenderness ratio is improperly small. This quantitative study explains fairly well some experimental observations of contact angles that can be modeled by neither Wenzel nor Cassie-Baxter contact angles and eventually leads to our proposals for a mixed (or coexisting) wetting mode.     

Neue Näherungsgleichung zur einheitlichen Berechnung von Wärmeübertragern

Zusammenfassung Es wird eine für alle Stromführungen einheitliche Näherungsgleichung mit drei oder vier anpaßbaren Parametern zur Berechnung des Korrekturfaktors für die mittlere logarithmische Temperaturdifferenz angegeben. Die anpaßbaren Parameter wurden für etwa 50 verschiedene Stromführungen durch Ausgleichsrechnung bestimmt. Die Genauigkeit der Gleichung ist für die Berechnung im praktisch wichtigen Bereich mehr als ausreichend.

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New approximate equation for uniform heat exchanger design

An approximate equation with three or four empirical parameters for the uniform calculation of the LMTD-correction factor of all heat exchanger configurations is proposed. The empirical parameters have been determined for about 50 different flow configurations using least squares estimation. The accuracy of the equation is more than sufficient for practical design purposes.

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Formelzeichen A Übertragungsfläche - a, b, c, d Parameter der Näherungsgleichung - Wärmekapazitätsstrom - F Korrekturfaktor für die logarithmische mittlere Temperaturdifferenz - k Wärmedurchgangskoeffizient - m, n Zahl der Durchgänge oder Einzelapparate - NTU Anzahl der Übertragungseinheiten (number of transfer units); NTU_i=kA/ _i - P dimensionslose Temperaturänderung - R Wärmekapazitätsstromverhältnis;R ₁=₁/₂;R ₂=₂/₁ - relativer Fehler - Mittelwert von NTU₁ und NTU₂ Indizes 1, 2 Stoffstrom 1, 2 - G Gegenstrom - s Schätzwert Herrn Prof. Dr.-Ing. E.h. K. Stephan zum 65. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Luminescence centers in porous silicon

Photoluminescence studies on porous silicon show that there are luminescence centers present in the surface states. By taking photoluminescence spectra of porous silicon with respect to temperature, a distinct peak can be observed in the temperature range 100–150 K. Both linear and nonlinear relationships were observed between excitation laser power and the photoluminescence intensity within this temperature range. In addition, there was a tendency for the photoluminescence peak to red shift at low temperature as well as at low excitation power. This is interpreted as indicating that the lower energy transition becomes dominant at low temperature and excitation power. The presence of these luminescence centers can be explained in terms of porous silicon as a mixture of silicon clusters and wires in which quantum confinement along with surface passivation would cause a mixing of andX band structure between the surface states and the bulk. This mixing would allow the formation of luminescence centers.     

Optical spectra of an intracavity two-photon medium with sequeezed inputs

We consider an ensemble of three-level configuration atoms in an optical cavity, interacting through two-photon transitions with a cavity mode, driven by a broad-band squeezed input of finite amplitude. The atom-cavity system is coupled to reservoirs to describe the losses of the atoms and the cavity. Optical spectra in the transmitted and the reflected field are calculated and analysed in the good cavity limit, for the purely absorptive resonant case and the general case, respectively.     

A nonlinear dynamical model for atmospheric boundary layer turbulence

Using the qualitative theory of nonlinear dynamical systems and the ergodic theory of chaos and strange attractors, we study a truncated-spectrum model of dynamical equations of the atmosphere. In the parameter plane (Re, Ri), the atmospheric motion states can be divided into four regions: O (basic), P (periodic), T (turbulent or chaotic), and T-P (transition of T and P). We analyze the routes to turbulence during the day and at night. Finally, we discuss the physical aspects of the occurrence of turbulence.     

On two methods of determining the ellipses and ellipsoids of positioning accuracy of robot manipulators

Summary When analysing the problem of the positioning accuracy of robot manipulators it is important to know how far random deviations of the hand may be from the desired position if the joint positioning errors possess a normal distribution. Two methods of determining the ellipses and ellipsoids of probability concentration are compared. The first of them is based on the standard procedure of the probability calculus. The second approximate method consists in finding at first the polygon or polyhedron of the positioning accuracy, and then in finding the ellipse or ellipsoid with principal axes and second order moments coinciding with those of the polygon or polyhedron, respectively. Examples of application demonstrate that these two methods give very close results.

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Zwei Methoden zur Bestimmung der Ellipsen und Ellipsoide der Positioniergenauigkeit von Handhabungsrobotern

Übersicht Bei der Untersuchung der Positioniergenauigkeit von Handhabungsrobotern ist es wichtig, die Größe zufälliger Abweichungen des Greifers von der erstrebten Position zu kennen, wenn die Lagefehler der Verbindungen eine Normalverteilung besitzen. Es werden zwei Methoden zur Bestimmung der Ellipsen bzw. Ellipsoide der Wahrscheinlichkeitsdichte verglichen. Die erste beruht auf dem Standardverfahren der Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung. Die zweite Näherungsmethode besteht darin, daß zunächst das Polygon bzw. Polyeder der Positioniergenauigkeit bestimmt wird und danach die Ellipse bzw. das Ellipsoid mit den Hauptachsen und Momenten zweiter Ordnung wie das Polygon oder Polyeder. Beispiele zeigen, daß beide Methoden zu sehr ähnlichen Ergebnissen führen.