The use of an ultrasonic Doppler velocimeter in turbulent pipe flow

An ultrasonic Doppler velocimeter (UDV) is used for an experimental investigation of turbulent pipe flow at eight different Reynolds numbers (22,300–854,900). The UDV is a multipoint probe in the sense that it takes instantaneous measurements of fluid velocities at different locations simultaneously, with remarkable resolutions in space and time. The performances of the instrument with respect to the properties of the overlap layer of the turbulent flow field are investigated; the experimental results are compared with both already existing and more recently proposed scaling laws, and with other data of experimental nature.     

Recovering Beam Search: Enhancing the Beam Search Approach for Combinatorial Optimization Problems

A hybrid heuristic method for combinatorial optimization problems is proposed that combines different classical techniques such as tree search procedures, bounding schemes and local search. The proposed method enhances the classic beam search approach by applying to each partial solution corresponding to a node selected by the beam, a further test that checks whether the current partial solution is dominated by another partial solution at the same level of the search tree. If this is the case, the latter solution becomes the new current partial solution. This step allows to partially recover from previous wrong decisions of the beam search procedure and can be seen as a local search step on the partial solution. We present here the application to two well known combinatorial optimization problems: the two-machine total completion time flow shop scheduling problem and the uncapacitated p-median location problem. In both cases the method strongly improves the performances with respect to the basic beam search approach and is competitive with the state of the art heuristics.     

Marking Games and the Oriented Game Chromatic Number of Partial <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Trees

 Nešetřil and Sopena introduced the concept of oriented game chromatic number. They asked whether the oriented game chromatic number of partial k-trees was bounded. Here we answer their question positively. Received: January 12, 2001 Final version received: February 25, 2002     

Self-Interactions of Strands and Sheets

Physical strands or sheets that can be modelled as curves or surfaces embedded in three dimensions are ubiquitous in nature, and are of fundamental importance in mathematics, physics, biology, and engineering. Often the physical interpretation dictates that self-avoidance should be enforced in the continuum model, i.e., finite energy configurations should not self-intersect. Current continuum models with self-avoidance frequently employ pairwise repulsive potentials, which are of necessity singular. Moreover the potentials do not have an intrinsic length scale appropriate for modelling the finite thickness of the physical systems. Here we develop a framework for modelling self-avoiding strands and sheets which avoids singularities, and which provides a way to introduce a thickness length scale. In our approach pairwise interaction potentials are replaced by many-body potentials involving three or more points, and the radii of certain associated circles or spheres. Self-interaction energies based on these many-body potentials can be used to describe the statistical mechanics of self-interacting strands and sheets of finite thickness.     

Spectra Analysis of a Novel Ti-Doped LiAlO2 Single Crystal

LiAlO2 single crvstals doped with Ti at concentration 0.2at.% are grown by the Czochralskl technique with dimensions φ42×55mm. Ti ions in the crystal are quadrivalence proven by comparing the absorption and fluorescence spectra of pure LiAlO2 and Ti： LiAlO2. After air and Li-rich atmosphere annealing, the absorption peaks in the range of 600-800nm disappear. We conclude that 682 and 756nm absorption peaks are attributed to the VLi and Vo absorptions, respectively： The peaks at 716nm and 798nm may stem from the VLi^＋ and absorptions. The colour-centre model can be applied to explain the experimental phenomena. Ti^4＋-doping produces more lithium vacancies in the LiAlO2 crystal. The intensities of [LiO4] and the associated bonds remain unchanged, which improves the anti-hydrolyzation and thermal stability of LiAlO2 crystals.     

Reconstruction of the fine structure of an acoustic scatterer against the distorting influence of its large-scale inhomogeneities

In the ultrasonic diagnostics of small-size neoplasms of biological tissues at the earliest stage of their development, an efficient way to eliminate the distorting influence of high-contrast or large inhomogeneities of the biological medium is to apply the iterative technique. A simple approach is proposed, which makes it possible with only two iteration steps to achieve an efficient focusing of the tomograph array. At the first step, the unknown distribution of the large-scale inhomogeneities of sound velocity and absorption over the scatterer is reconstructed, where the large-scale inhomogeneities are those whose size exceeds several wavelengths. At the second step, the fine structure of the scatterer is reconstructed against the large-scale background, which can be performed with a high accuracy owing to the evaluation of the background at the first step. The possibility of simultaneous reconstruction of the large-scale and fine structures by the noniterative Grinevich-Novikov algorithm is considered as an alternative. This algorithm reconstructs in an explicit form two-dimensional refractive-absorbing acoustic scatterers of almost arbitrary shape and strength. Taking into account the effects of multiple scattering, this algorithm provides resolution of the fine structure almost as good as that achieved in reconstructing the same structure against an undistorting homogeneous background. The results of numerical simulations of both algorithms are presented.     

Local adsorption sites and bondlength changes in Ni(1 0 0)/H/CO and Ni(1 0 0)/CO

The local adsorption geometry of CO adsorbed in different states on Ni(1 0 0) and on Ni(1 0 0) precovered with atomic hydrogen has been determined by C 1s (and O 1s) scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction, using the photoelectron binding energy changes to characterise the different states. The results confirm previous spectroscopic assignments of local atop and bridge sites both with and without coadsorbed hydrogen. The measured Ni–C bondlengths for the Ni(1 0 0)/CO states show an increase of 0.16 ± 0.04 Å in going from atop to bridge sites, while comparison with similar results for Ni(1 1 1)/CO for threefold coordinated adsorption sites show a further lengthening of the bond by 0.05 ± 0.04 Å. These changes in the Ni–CO chemisorption bondlength with bond order (for approximately constant adsorption energy) are consistent with the standard Pauling rules. However, comparison of CO adsorbed in the atop geometry with and without coadsorbed hydrogen shows that the coadsorption increases the Ni–C bondlength by only 0.06 ± 0.04 Å, despite the decrease in adsorption energy of a factor of 2 or more. This result is also reproduced by density functional theory slab calculations. The results of both the experiments and the density functional theory calculations show that CO adsorption onto the Ni(1 0 0)/H surface is accompanied by significant structural modification; the low desorption energy may then be attributed to the energy cost of this restructuring rather than weak local bonding.     

Gaussian Chaos Laws on Banach Function Spaces

We give a characterization of Gaussian chaos laws on Banach function spaces which do not contain ℓ _∞ ⁿ 's uniformly. The result is applied to describe the convergence in law of U-processes with sample paths in certain Banach function spaces. __________ Published in Lietuvos Matematikos Rinkinys, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 553–566, October–December, 2005.     

Compression Behaviour of Ni77P23 Amorphous Alloy up to 30.5 GPa

The compression behaviour of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy is investigated at room temperature in a diamond-anvil cell instrument using in-situ high pressure energy dispersive x-ray diffraction with a synchrotron radiation source. The equation of state is determined by fitting the experimental data according to the Birch-Murnaghan equation. It is found that the structure of Ni77P23 amorphous alloy is stable under pressures up to 30.5 GPa. Within the pressure range from zero to the experimental one, the pressure-induced structural relaxation is reversible.