Effect of crack tip sharpness on the strength of vulcanized rubbers

The effect of crack tip sharpness on crack propagation in vulcanized rubbers has been studied. For very sharp cracks, tearing is found to occur on a small scale at very low energies not far above the threshold required for the onset of mechanical crack growth. The “small-scale” tearing energies show relatively little variation for rubbers that differ widely in tear strength as normally measured. Thus the latter property appears to be strongly influenced by variations in the ability of rubbers to promote tip blunting. The small-scale tear behavior is of relevance to other fracture phenomena, including cutting by sharp objects and tensile failure. Natural variations in tip sharpness occur during cyclic or time-dependent mechanical crack growth and influence the form of the crack growth characteristics.     

Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical and Chemical Analysis of Expansive Clay Subjected to Heating and Hydration

A fully coupled formulation combining reactive transport and an existing thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) code is presented. Special attention has been given to phenomena likely to be encountered in clay barriers used as part of containment systems of nuclear waste. The types of processes considered include hydrolysis, complex formation, oxidation/reduction reactions, acid/base reactions, precipitation/dissolution of minerals and cation exchange. Both kinetically-controlled and equilibrium-controlled reactions have been incorporated. The total analytical concentrations (including precipitated minerals) are adopted as basic transport variables and chemical equilibrium is achieved by minimizing Gibbs Free Energy. The formulation has been incorporated in a general purpose computer code capable of performing numerical analysis of engineering problems. A validation exercise concerning a laboratory experiment involving the heating and hydration of an expansive compacted clay is described.     

An algebraic index theorem for orbifolds

Using the concept of a twisted trace density on a cyclic groupoid, a trace is constructed on a formal deformation quantization of a symplectic orbifold. An algebraic index theorem for orbifolds follows as a consequence of a local Riemann-Roch theorem for such densities. In the case of a reduced orbifold, this proves a conjecture by Fedosov, Schulze, and Tarkhanov. Finally, it is shown how the Kawasaki index theorem for elliptic operators on orbifolds follows from this algebraic index theorem.     

A qualitative investigation of the oscillations of a pendulum with a periodically varying length and a mathematical model of a swing

The behaviour of the amplitude-frequency characteristics of families of periodic solutions, produced from the equilibrium position of a system, is established by a qualitative investigation of the equation of the oscillations of a pendulum, the length of which is an arbitrary periodic function of time. The non-local conditions for their stability and instability, expressed in terms of the amplitude and frequency of the oscillations, are obtained. The results are used when discussing the parametric and self-excited oscillatory model of a swing. In the parametric model the length of a swing is a specified periodic function of time, and in the self-excited oscillatory model it is a function of the phase coordinates of the system. For an appropriate choice of these functions, both systems have a common periodic solution. It is shown that the parametric model leads to an erroneous conclusion regarding the instability of the periodic mode, which is in fact realized in the oscillations of a swing, whereas the self-excited oscillatory model indicates its stability.     

Pressure recovery system for a high-power HF/DF laser: implementation practice

The matter of development of a high-performance pressure recovery system (PRS) for a high-power HF/DF laser is discussed. A sequence of design steps is proposed, which involves estimation of basic characteristics of PRS components with the help of one-dimensional integral and semi-empirical procedures; simulation, to be performed using three-dimensional non-stationary Navier — Stokes equations; experimental modelling aimed at verification of the calculation procedures and at refinement of obtained parameters; and a fullscale experiment. An ejector-type system providing for recovery of pressure from 12 Torr to atmospheric pressure in the gas-dynamic system of an HF/DF laser of several-tens-kilowatt power is developed. Matching conditions for parameters of individual PRS components as well as joint functioning of the PRS with a continuous chemical laser in an integral complex are analysed. Conditions for minimization of mass-dimensional characteristics of the laser-PRS complex necessary for the development of ground-based mobile systems are identified.     

Voltage ‐ Current Study of an Atmospheric Dielectric Barrier Discharge

The discharge behaviour of an atmospheric dielectric barrier parallel plate discharge, used for surface treatment, is studied. Since an uniform plasma is preferable for surface treatment, filaments must be avoided in the discharge. The occurrence of filaments can be detected by measuring the current flowing through the discharge. Current and voltage measurements give an indication of the power consumption by the plasma. The power consumption of the plasma as function of the applied frequency is examined. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Maximal Cluster Sets of L-Analytic Functions Along Arbitrary Curves

Let Ώ be a domain in the N-dimensional real space, let L be an elliptic differential operator, and let (T_n) be a sequence whose members belong to a certain class of operators defined on the space of L-analytic functions on Ώ. This paper establishes the existence of a dense linear manifold of L-analytic functions all of whose nonzero members have maximal cluster sets under the action of every T_n along any curve ending at the boundary of Ώ such that its closure does not contain any component of the boundary. The above class contains all partial differentiation operators ∂^α, hence the statement extends earlier results due to Boivin, Gauthier, and Paramonov, and due to the first, third, and fourth authors.