Overspeed burst of elastoviscoplastic rotating disks – Part I: Analytical and numerical stability analyses

Burst of rotating disks in case of overspeed is investigated. The certification of turbo-engines requires to demonstrate the integrity of disks at higher rotation speeds than the maximum rotation speed reachable in service. The determination of the burst speed by analysis can help to reduce the number of tests required for the certification. This prediction can be established by non-linear stability analyses of finite element simulations. Non-linearities originate from (i) the material behaviour described by elastoviscoplastic constitutive equations, (ii) geometric changes accounted for by the finite strain formulation. In this work, loss of uniqueness and loss of stability criteria from [Hill, R., 1958. A general theory of uniqueness and stability in elastic-plastic solids. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 6, 236–249] are applied. The loss of stability criterion is restricted to the case of rotating disks and compared to several simple widely used material based failure criteria. 3D simulations of rotating metal disks are performed for a given elastoviscoplastic behaviour and the stability criteria are evaluated. The sensitivity of disk stability to material parameters, such as yield criterion, hardening and viscosity is evaluated in the case of a nickel based superalloy.     

Realization of a semiconductor-based cavity soliton laser

The realization of a cavity soliton laser using a vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor gain structure coupled to an external cavity with a frequency-selective element is reported. All-optical control of bistable solitonic emission states representing small microlasers is demonstrated by injection of an external beam. The control scheme is phase insensitive and hence expected to be robust for all-optical processing applications. The mobility of these structures is also demonstrated.     

Spatial Markov model of anomalous transport through random lattice networks

Flow through lattice networks with quenched disorder exhibits a strong correlation in the velocity field, even if the link transmissivities are uncorrelated. This feature, which is a consequence of the divergence-free constraint, induces anomalous transport of passive particles carried by the flow. We propose a Lagrangian statistical model that takes the form of a continuous time random walk with correlated velocities derived from a genuinely multidimensional Markov process in space. The model captures the anomalous (non-Fickian) longitudinal and transverse spreading, and the tail of the mean first-passage time observed in the Monte Carlo simulations of particle transport. We show that reproducing these fundamental aspects of transport in disordered systems requires honoring the correlation in the Lagrangian velocity.     

Inhomogeneous elastic response of silica glass

Using large scale molecular dynamics simulations we investigate the properties of the nonaffine displacement field induced by macroscopic uniaxial deformation of amorphous silica, a strong glass according to Angell's classification. We demonstrate the existence of a length scale xi characterizing the correlations of this field (corresponding to a volume of about 1000 atoms), and compare its structure to the one observed in a standard fragile model glass. The "boson-peak" anomaly of the density of states can be traced back in both cases to elastic inhomogeneities on wavelengths smaller than xi where classical continuum elasticity becomes simply unapplicable.     

Low-frequency fluctuations in two-state quantum dot lasers

We study the feedback-induced instabilities in a quantum dot semiconductor laser emitting in both ground and excited states. Without optical feedback the device exhibits dynamics corresponding to antiphase fluctuations between ground and excited states, while the total output power remains constant. The introduction of feedback leads to power dropouts in the ground state and intensity bursts in the excited state, resulting in a practically constant total output power.     

The local environment of Cu+ in Cu-Y zeolite and its relationship to the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate

Cu-exchanged Y zeolite was investigated in order to determine the location of the copper cations relative to the zeolite framework and to determine which Cu cations are active for the oxidative carbonylation of methanol to dimethyl carbonate (DMC). Cu-Y zeolite was prepared by vapor-phase exchange of H-Y with CuCl. The oxidation state, local coordination, and bond distances of Al and Cu were determined using Al K-edge and Cu K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Complimentary information was obtained by H2 temperature-programmed reduction and by in-situ infrared spectroscopy. Cu-Y has a Cu/Al ratio of unity and very little occluded CuCl. The average Al-O and Al-Cu bond distances are 1.67 angstroms and 2.79 angstroms, respectively, and the average Cu-O and Cu-Si(Al) bond distances are 1.99 angstroms and 3.13 angstroms, respectively. All of the Cu exchanged is present as Cu+ in sites I', II, and III'. Cu-Y is active for the oxidative carbonylation of methanol, and at low reactant contact time produces DMC as the primary product. With increasing reactant contact time, DMC formation decreases in preference to the formation of dimethoxy methane (DMM) and methylformate (MF). The formation of DMM and MF is attributed to the hydrogenation of DMC and the hydrogenolysis of DMM, respectively. Observation of the catalyst under reaction conditions reveals that most of the copper cations remain as Cu+, but some oxidation of Cu+ to Cu2+ does occur. It is also concluded that only those copper cations present in site II and III' positions are accessible to the reactants, and hence are catalytically active. The dominant adsorbed species on the surface are methoxy groups, and adsorbed CO is present as a minority species. The relationship of these observations to the kinetics of DMC synthesis is discussed.     

Elastic properties of glasses: a multiscale approach

Very different materials are named ‘Glass’, with Young's modulus E and Poisson's ratio ν extending from 5 to 180 GPa and from 0.1 to 0.4, respectively, in the case of bulk inorganic glasses. Glasses have in common the lack of long range order in the atomic organization. Beside the essential role of elastic properties for materials selection in mechanical design, we show in this analysis that macroscopical elastic characteristics (E,ν) provide an interesting way to get insight into the short- and medium-range orders existing in glasses. In particular, ν, the packing density (C_g) and the glass network dimensionality appear to be strongly correlated. Networks consisting primarily of chains and layers units (chalcogenides, low Si-content silicate glasses) correspond to ν>0.25 and C_g>0.56, with maximum values observed for metallic glasses (ν0.4 and C_g>0.7). On the contrary, ν<0.25 is associated to a highly cross-linked network with a tri-dimensional organization resulting in a low packing density. Moreover, the temperature dependence of the elastic moduli brings a new light on the ‘fragility’ of glasses (as introduced by Angell) and on the level of cooperativity of atomic movements at the source of the deformation process. To cite this article: T. Rouxel, C. R. Mecanique 334 (2006).