Velocity measurements in liquid sodium by means of ultrasound Doppler velocimetry

A successful application of ultrasound Doppler velocimetry in liquid sodium flows is described. To obtain sufficient Doppler signals, different problems had to be solved: the transmission of the ultrasonic beam through the channel wall made of stainless steel, the acoustic coupling between the transducer and the channel wall, and the wetting of the inner surface of the wall by the liquid metal, respectively. A sodium flow in a square duct exposed to a transverse magnetic field is investigated. In accordance with the existing knowledge about MHD channel flows, we found that the velocity profiles modified to a M-shape owing to the effect of an inhomogeneous magnetic field. Received: 12 June 2001/Accepted: 27 October 2001     

Necessary Conditions for Differentiability of Distance Functions

Necessary conditions for the Gâteaux differentiability of the distance function to a set are considered. A series of characterizing results is obtained.     

Extrusion of pastes with a piston extruder for the determination of the local solid and fluid concentration, the local porosity and saturation and displacement profiles by means of NMR imaging

 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was used to investigate the extrusion behaviour of PTFE pastes in a ram extruder. By means of ¹H-NMR imaging (MRI) it is possible to determine the local proton density and therefore, the local fluid concentration. The ¹⁹F-MRI provides the local solid concentration. Thus the local saturation and the local porosity can be calculated with the information of the local fluid and solid concentration. Furthermore displacement profiles can be derived from NMR images by means of correlation techniques without any preparation or marking of the pastes. Received: 8 May 2000   Accepted: 1 May 2001     

Unconditional Bases, the Matrix Muckenhoupt Condition, and Carleson Series in a Spectrum

Two families of functions constructed by a system of n scalar Muckenhoupt weights are studied. Criteria are given under which these families are unconditional bases. From the point of view of the spectral operator theory, the problem is reduced to the study of the structure of n-dimensional perturbations of the integration operator. Weighted estimates for the Hilbert transform in the spaces of vector-functions are applied to construct an operator mapping functions of the studied families to vector-valued rational functions. The concept of the Carleson series is used in the study of the following problem: when do vector-valued rational functions form an unconditional basis? Bibliography: 8 titles.     

Numerical solutions of the shallow water equations with discontinuous bed topography

A simple scheme is developed for treatment of vertical bed topography in shallow water flows. The effect of the vertical step on flows is modelled with the shallow water equations including local energy loss terms. The bed elevation is denoted with z_b^‐ for the left and z_b⁺ for the right values at each grid point, hence exactly representing a discontinuity in the bed topography. The surface gradient method (SGM) is generalized to reconstruct water depths at cell interfaces involving a vertical step so that the fluxes at the cell interfaces can accurately be calculated with a Riemann solver. The scheme is verified by predicting a surge crossing a step, a tidal flow over a step and dam‐break flows on wet/dry beds. The results have shown good agreements compared with analytical solutions and available experimental data. The scheme is efficient, robust, and may be used for practical flow calculations. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solving the problem of contact equilibrium of a punch and an elastic body

The variational problem of contact equilibrium of a punch and an elastic body is considered. An equivalent formulation of the problem is given in variational inequality form. Existence and uniqueness of the solution is investigated in a particular case. A penalty method is proposed for approximate solution of the problem.Translated from Vychislitel'naya i Prikladnaya Matematika, No. 56, pp. 97–103, 1985.     

Numerical analysis of near electromagnetic fields of a parabolic cylinder and a paraboloid of revolution

Translated from Chislennye Metody Resheniya Obratnykh Zadach Matematicheskoi Fiziki, pp. 119–127.     

Error analysis: a tool for selecting travel demand models

In developing travel demand models it is generally assumed that the base-year data used in developing the parameters, as well as the forecasted data to be used as independent variables for the design year, are of acceptable quality. The purpose of this paper is to present the application of error propagation theory in assesing the predictive quality of one type of travel demand forecasting model (multinomial logit models) and to demonstrate how error considerations can be used as a tool for identifying the optimal model. The general conclusions of this study are that: (1) it is indeed possible to quantify errors in dependent variables in logit models as a consequence of errors in independent variables; and (2) error consideration can be used as a tool for identifying the optimal model from a set of candidate models. Further research is recommended to develop better insights into the phenomenon of error propagation so that the consideration of errors can be a factor in decisions on model selection.