Macro-mechanical modelling of blast wave mitigation in foams. Part I: review of available experiments and models

Multiphase flows, which involve compressible or incompressible fluids with linear or nonlinear dynamics, are found in all areas of technology at all length scales and flow regimes. In this contribution, we discuss application of aqueous-foam barriers against blast wave impact. The first experiments demonstrating this behaviour were conducted in the early 1980s in free-field tests. Based on structural requirements, various foams with different blast energy contents were tested with the aim of characterizing the time history of the blast pressure reduction. A number of consistent methodologies for calculating this pressure reduction in foam are based on the effective gas flow model. For estimating the uncertainties of these methodologies, we briefly demonstrate their comparison with existing experimental data. Thereafter, we present various modifications of modelling approaches and their comparison with new results of blast wave experiments.     

Preparation de membranes hydrophiles obtenues par le greffage de la n-vinylpyrrolidone dans le poly(chlorure de vinyle)

PVC films were radiation-grafted in NVP-methanol solutions. Unusual kinetics relations were observed: an increase in monomer concentration or in temperature decreased the reaction rate. These effects are attributed to a higher mobility of the growing chains leading to faster chain termination and resulting in a drop of the overall rate and shortening of grafted chains. The graft copolymers swell homogeneously in water and in methanol. The swelling rate and limiting swelling ratio increase linearly with the grafting ratio. The swelling ratio was found to depend on chain length, being higher for short chains. An irreversible increase of the swelling ratio was found by raising the temperature. These unusual swelling properties of the grafted films are attributed to strong interactions between pyrrolidone groups and the Cl atoms of the PVC.     

Ab-initio molecular dynamics and vibrational Raman spectroscopy investigations of quartz polymorph at high temperature

Quartz has found a wide range of applications over the past years. In the present work, the temperature dependence of microcrystalline quartz is investigated with Raman spectroscopy and DFT-based molecular dynamics simulations. We aimed to determine the structure at short and medium range distances as a function of the increasing temperature. The dynamics and the structural changes are analysed in terms of time-dependent properties, and the vibrational analysis obtained from calculated dipole trajectory and vibrational density of states (VDOS). The computed data is compared to Raman and infrared spectroscopic measurements. The approach is of a particularly great interest when we focus on the structural behaviour, and the dynamical disorder observed and characterised through geometric and thermodynamic data. The calculations confirm that the infrared and Raman signature as a function of temperature provide a sensitive analysis of the structural behaviour of quartz.     

Chemical Constituents of the Aerial Part of Zygophyllum gaetulum

Chemistry of Natural Compounds - A new megastigman sulfate (1) was isolated from the aerial part of Zygophyllum gaetulum. The structure of 1 was elucidated as (E)-3-sulfooxymegastigm-7-en-9-one by...     

Numerical investigations of transition between regular and Mach reflections caused by free-stream disturbances

Numerical simulations have been performed to study the influence of the free-stream disturbances on the alternation of the steady shock wave reflection configurations in the dual solution domain. Different types of disturbances have been considered. The analysis of interaction between disturbances and the incident shock wave can be substantially simplified for the localized density disturbances. It is shown that such disturbances can indeed cause the transition from regular reflection to Mach reflection and back, so that within a certain range of angles of incidence the shock wave reflection configuration can be considered as a bi-stable system. The threshold amplitude of the localized density disturbance, able to induce the transition, has been estimated theoretically. The results of numerical computations convince of higher stability of the Mach reflection in the dual solution domain compared to the regular reflection, which is in accordance with available experimental data. Received 10 May 2001 / Accepted 15 November 2001 Published online 8 July 2002     

In silico drug design and molecular docking of novel amidophosphonates and sulfamidophosphonates as inhibitors of urokinase-type plasminogen activator

Cancer is one of the most serious health problems worldwide, affecting individuals from different sexes, ages, and races. However, the most frequent cancer types in the world are lung, prostate, stomach, colorectal, and esophagus in men; and breast, lung, stomach, colorectal and cervical in women. Currently, the search for new active substances used in oral targeted therapies are legitimate and opens up the possibility of an "ambulatory shift" in cancer treatment. In order to design anti-tumor drug candidates endowed with oral bioavailability, we studied trough an in silico approach the oral bioavailability of newly synthesized biomolecules; α-sulfamidophosphonates and α-amidophosphonates as well as their mechanism of action on the new target urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). The studied compounds have been found to meet the five criteria of. Lipinski's rule. The Osiris, Molinspiration and SWISS/ADME calculations related to the compounds (1d, 2a) have shown that these compounds could be good candidates for interacting with the different targets, they have convincing characteristics in relation to the standard drug used. It can be concluded that these compounds are biologically important and possessing molecular properties desirable for being a drug candidate for oral use.The molecular docking results of the studied compounds revealed a good ligand-target interactions, the compounds (1d, 2a) presented a possibility of interacting as an inhibitor of the anticancer target: urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA).     

On the use of immersed boundary methods for shock/obstacle interactions

This paper describes the implementation of immersed boundary method using the direct-forcing concept to investigate complex shock–obstacle interactions. An interpolation algorithm is developed for more stable boundary conditions with easier implementation procedure. The values of the fluid variables at the embedded ghost-cells are obtained using a local quadratic scheme which involves the neighboring fluid nodes. Detailed discussions of the method are presented on the interpolation of flow variables, direct-forcing of ghost cells, resolution of immersed-boundary points and internal treatment. The method is then applied to a high-order WENO scheme to simulate the complex fluid–solid interactions. The developed solver is first validated against the theoretical solutions of supersonic flow past triangular prism and circular cylinder. Simulated results for test cases with moving shocks are further compared with the previous experimental results of literature in terms of triple-point trajectory and vortex evolution. Excellent agreement is obtained showing the accuracy and the capability of the proposed method for solving complex strong-shock/obstacle interactions for both stationary and moving shock waves.     

Blast wave mitigation by dry aqueous foams

This paper presents results of experiments and numerical modeling on the mitigation of blast waves using dry aqueous foams. The multiphase formalism is used to model the dry aqueous foam as a dense non-equilibrium two-phase medium as well as its interaction with the high explosion detonation products. New experiments have been performed to study the mass scaling effects. The experimental as well as the numerical results, which are in good agreement, show that more than an order of magnitude reduction in the peak overpressure ratio can be achieved. The positive impulse reduction is less marked than the overpressures. The Hopkinson scaling is also found to hold particularly at larger scales for these two blast parameters. Furthermore, momentum and heat transfers, which have the main dominant role in the mitigation process, are shown to modify significantly the classical blast wave profile and thereafter to disperse the energy from the peak overpressure due to the induced relaxation zone. In addition, the velocity of the fireball, which acts as a piston on its environment, is smaller than in air. Moreover, the greater inertia of the liquid phase tends to project the aqueous foam far from the fireball. The created gap tempers the amplitude of the transmitted shock wave to the aqueous foam. As a consequence, this results in a lowering of blast wave parameters of the two-phase spherical decaying shock wave.     

Visualisation de l'écoulement de Taylor–Dean ouvert

Results of flow visualisation in a Taylor–Dean open device are given. Observations made at the inlet, the core and the outlet of the flow show that different flow patterns can develop simultaneously. The formation and the growth of the structures observed versus control parameters are described. To cite this article: A. Ait Aider et al., C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).