Friction Between Steel and a Confined Inert Material Representative of Explosives Under Severe Loadings

The ignition of a confined explosive submitted to an impact strongly depends on the friction conditions between the explosive and the confinement material (generally steel). A test has been developed to study the friction between steel and a material mechanically representative of an explosive. The scope of interest is that of high pressures and high relative velocities (respectively 20 MPa and 10 m/s). The friction device consists of making a cylinder, formed of the material, slide through a steel tube. Axial prestress enabling the steel-material contact stress to be generated is performed by means of a screw-nut system. This confinement state avoids any fracture of the material from occurring throughout the test. Two kinds of tests are carried out: low-velocity (around 1 mm/min) and high-velocity (around 10 m/s). The relative displacement is obtained using a testing machine during the low-velocity tests, and thanks to a Hopkinson bars system during the high-velocity tests. Examination of the measurements obtained during high-velocity tests shows that a workable steady state of equilibrium has been reached. As the interface stresses cannot be measured, the friction coefficient must be determined using indirect data: force measurements obtained from the machine or from the Hopkinson bars and strain measurements made on the exterior of the tube. The procedure to identify the steel-material friction coefficient from these measurements entails analytical modelling and finite element simulations of the mechanical behaviour of the tube-specimen assembly. The friction coefficient identified during the high-velocity tests is far higher than the coefficient identified during the low-velocity tests.     

Time-resolved velocity and concentration measurements in variable-viscosity turbulent jet flow

This paper addresses the ability to reliably measure the fluctuating velocity field in variable-viscosity flows (herein, a propane–air mixture), using hot-wire anemometry. Because the latter is sensitive to both velocity and concentration fluctuations, the instantaneous concentration field also needs to be inferred experimentally. To overcome this difficulty, we show that the hot-wire response becomes insensitive to the concentration of the field, when a small amount of neon is added to the air. In this way, velocity measurements can be made independently of the concentration field. Although not necessary to velocity measurements, Rayleigh light-scattering technique is also used to infer the local (fluctuating) concentration, and, therefore, the viscosity of the fluid. Velocity and concentration measurements are performed in a turbulent propane jet discharging into an air–neon co-flow, for which the density and viscosity ratios are 1.52 and 1/5.5, respectively. The Reynolds number (based on injection diameter and velocity) is 15400. These measurements are first validated: the axial decay of the mean velocity and concentration, as well as the lateral mean and RMS profiles of velocity and concentration, is in full agreement with the existing literature. The variable-viscosity flow along the axis of the round jet is then characterized and compared with a turbulent air jet discharging into still air, for which the Reynolds number (based on injection diameter and velocity) is 5400. Both flows have the same initial jet momentum. As mixing with the viscous co-flow is enhanced with increasing downstream position, the viscosity of the fluid increases rapidly for the case of the propane jet. In comparison with the air jet, the propane jet exhibits: (1) a lower local Reynolds number based on the Taylor microscale (by a factor of four); (2) a reduced range of scales present in the flow; (3) the isotropic form of the mean energy dissipation rate is first more enhanced and then drastically diminishes and (4) a progressively increasing local Schmidt number (from 1.36 to 7.5) for increasing downstream positions. Therefore, the scalar spectra exhibit an increasingly prominent Batchelor regime with a ~ k ^?1 scaling law. The experimental technique developed herein provides a reliable method for the study of variable-viscosity flows.     

Simulation of Cement/Clay Interactions: Feedback on the Increasing Complexity of Modelling Strategies

During the last decade, numerous studies have focused on long-term predictive reactive transport modelling of cement/clay interactions. These simulations have been performed using modelling strategies of growing complexity, e.g. (i) taking more minerals into account, (ii) considering the effect of dissolution/precipitation kinetics versus thermodynamic equilibrium, (iii) refining the spatial discretisation of the models, etc. The present study reviews these simulations in order to identify the main factors affecting numerical results (e.g. mass transport, mesh, selected phases). Simulations are reproduced here with a consistent set of data and input parameters arranged with increasing order of complexity. Only such a standardised approach can allow a proper comparison of numerical results. Modelled reaction pathways (i.e. mineralogical transformations) appear to be independent from the chosen modelling assumptions. Irrespective of the simulated case or the underlying hypotheses, the geochemical transformations remain located very close to the cement/clay interface.     

An Enantiopure Cyclometallated Iridium Complex Displaying Long‐Lived Phosphorescence both in Solution and in the Solid State

A new enantiopure cyclometallated iridium complex bearing a [4]helicenic ‐coordinating and two ‐coordinating dfppy (2‐(2,4‐difluorophenyl)‐pyridyl) ligands was prepared. This complex displayed long‐lived phosphorescence both in solution and in the solid state. Its chiroptical properties, namely electronic circular dichroism and circularly polarized luminescence, were also examined. Comparison with former chiral complexes enabled assignment of the Δ_Ir‐(?) and Λ_Ir‐(+) absolute configurations.     

A pragmatic approach for deriving constitutive equations endowed with pom–pom attributes

The most important rheological and mathematical features of the pom–pom model are presently used to compare and improve other constitutive models such as the Giesekus and Phan-Thien–Tanner models. A pragmatic methodology is selected that allows derivation of simple constitutive equations, which are suited to possible software implementation. Alterations to the double convected pom–pom, Phan-Thien–Tanner and Giesekus models are proposed and assessed in rheometric flows by comparing model predictions to experimental data.

A Micellar Multitasking Device: Sensing pH Windows and Gauging the Lipophilicity of Drugs with Fluorescent Signals

A multitasking fluorescent device can be obtained by forming micelles of Triton X‐100, containing a lipophilic macrocyclic Cu²⁺ complex and the coordinating fluorophore Coumarin 343 (C343), which features a COOH moiety. At low pH the two micellised components do not interact, and the fluorescence of Courmarin 343 (C343) is intense. At intermediate pH, C343 is deprotonated and coordinates to the Cu²⁺ centre in its apical position, with fluorescence quenching. At higher pH the deprotonated C343 is displaced from Cu²⁺ by the formation of an OH^? complex, and the fluorescence is revived. This allows the system to carry out its first task as it behaves as an “on–off–on” fluorescent sensor for pH windows. The “off” part of the window ranges from pH 6 to 8. In this interval, in which the carboxylate form of C343 is apically coordinated to the Cu²⁺ complex inside micelles, the device carries out its second task, that is, it behaves as a gauge for lipophilicity. For pHs between 6 and 8, molecules containing a COOH group are in their COO^? form and distribute between bulk water and micelles proportionally to their lipophilicity. Upon entering the micelle, their COO^? moiety competes for coordination with C343, displacing it from the Cu²⁺ centre, and this results in fluorescence revival, the intensity of which is also proportional to the lipophilicity of the examined molecule. We have chosen the physiological pH value (7.4) as the working pH, and we have examined the lipophilicity of fatty acids and of the widely used family of non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The device successfully measures their lipophilicity, expressing it with an “off–on” type fluorescent signal, as demonstrated by the correlation of the fluorescence increase with the logarithmic water/octanol partition coefficient (log P) and with the difference between the pK_a observed in micelles and that measured in water for NSAIDs.     

Dispersion-based pulse shaping for multiplexed two-photon fluorescence microscopy

We demonstrate selective two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy with shaped pulses produced with a simple yet efficient scheme based on dispersive optical components. The pulse train from a broadband oscillator is split into two subtrains that are sent through different amounts of glass. Beam recombination results in pulse-shape switching at a rate of 150MHz. Time-resolved photon counting detection then provides two simultaneous images resulting from selective two-photon excitation, as demonstrated in a live embryo. Although less versatile than programmable pulse-shaping devices, this novel arrangement significantly improves the performance of selective microscopy using broadband shaped pulses while simplifying the experimental setup.     

On certain Riesz families in vector-valued de Branges-Rovnyak spaces

We obtain criteria for the Riesz basis property for families of reproducing kernels in vector-valued de Branges-Rovnyak spaces H(b). In particular, it is shown that in several situations the property implies a special form for the function b. We also study the completeness of a related family.