A numerical study of an unsteady laminar flow in a doubly constricted 3D vessel

Unsteady flow dynamics in doubly constricted 3D vessels have been investigated under pulsatile flow conditions for a full cycle of period T. The coupled non‐linear partial differential equations governing the mass and momentum of a viscous incompressible fluid has been numerically analyzed by a time accurate Finite Volume Scheme in an implicit Euler time marching setting. Roe's flux difference splitting of non‐linear terms and the pseudo‐compressibility technique employed in the current numerical scheme makes it robust both in space and time. Computational experiments are carried out to assess the influence of Reynolds' number and the spacing between two mild constrictions on the pressure drop across the constrictions. The study reveals that the pressure drop across a series of mild constrictions can get physiologically critical and is also found to be sensitive both to the spacing between the constrictions and the oscillatory nature of the inflow profile. The flow separation zone on the downstream constriction is seen to detach from the diverging wall of the constriction leading to vortex shedding with 3D features earlier than that on the wall in the spacing between the two constrictions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Monitoring of electromagnetic fields in the environment. II. Fluctuations in the parameters of atmospheric electricity

The problems of determining and investigating the informative parameters of atmospheric electricity are discussed. It is shown that short-period variations in atmospheric electricity are ecologically significant. An automated system for monitoring atmospheric electricity and a method of processing the results of measurements are described. V. D. Kuznetsov Siberian Physicotechnical Institute, Tomsk State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 88–98, May, 1998.     

New polaron effect in magnetooptic phenomena in a quantum well

It is predicted that resonance coupling between two discrete electron energy levels corresponding to different size-quantization quantum numbers and different Landau quantum numbers can occur in a quantum well in a quantizing magnetic field. The resonance coupling is due to the interaction of an electron with LO phonons and results in the formation of polaron states of a new type. It is shown that for a certain value of the magnetic field, which depends on the splitting of the electron size-quantization levels, the absorption peak and the two-phonon resonance Raman scattering peak split into two components, the separation between which is determined by the electron-phonon coupling constant. The resonance coupling between size-quantization levels with the same Landau quantum numbers is also studied. The splitting of the peaks in this case is virtually independent of the magnetic field and can be observed in much weaker fields. The experimental observation of the effect will make it possible to determine the relative position of the electronic levels and the electron-phonon coupling constant. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 7, 511–515 (10 April 1997)     

Quantification of mass flow effects in capillary SFC

A model for restrictor flow produces accurate predictions of flow that can be used to optimize restrictor design. The relative amplitudes of restrictor and other flows and their effect on efficiency are discussed.     

Temperature dependent structure of spider silk by X-ray diffraction

We have investigated the structure of spider dragline silk by X-ray diffraction over a broad temperature range from room temperature up to thermal denaturation conditions. The dominating signal from the β-sheet crystallites is analyzed. Pronounced changes of scattering intensity starting at temperatures around 150 °C are observed. These changes are discussed in view of the respective lattice constants, crystal size, size distribution, crystallite number density and amino acid composition. PACS 87.68.+z; 87.15.-v; 87.64.Bx     

Coupling level set/VOF/ghost fluid methods: Validation and application to 3D simulation of the primary break-up of a liquid jet

Numerical simulations are carried out to describe the dense zone of a spray where very little information is available, either from experimental or theoretical approaches. Interface tracking is ensured by the level set method and the ghost fluid method (GFM) is used to capture accurately sharp discontinuities for pressure, density and viscosity. The level set method is coupled with the VOF method for mass conservation.     

Structural and optical characterization of the propolis films

We have performed structural and optical characterizations of the propolis (an organic entity of biological nature) films grown on various non-organic substrates. The films were grown from a propolis melt or a propolis alcohol solution. The crystal structure has been observed in the films precipitated from the solution onto substrates such as an amorphous glass and sapphire or semiconductor indium monoselenide. For any growth method, the propolis film is a semiconductor with the bandgap of 3.07 eV at 300 K that is confirmed by a maximum in photoluminescence spectra at 2.86 eV. We argue that propolis films might be used in various optoelectronic device applications.     

Very high coercivities of top-layer diffusion Au/FePt thin films

The Au/FePt samples were prepared by depositing a gold cap layer at room temperature onto a fully ordered FePt layer, followed by an annealing at 800 °C for the purpose of interlayer diffusion. After the deposition of the gold layer and the high-temperature annealing, the gold atoms do not dissolve into the FePt Ll₀ lattice. Compared with the continuous FePt film, the TEM photos of the bilayer Au(60 nm)/FePt(60 nm) show a granular structure with FePt particles embedded in Au matrix. The coercivity of Au(60 nm)/FePt(60 nm) sample is 23.5 kOe, which is 85% larger than that of the FePt film without Au top layer. The enhancement in coercivity can be attributed to the formation of isolated structure of FePt ordered phase.     

Self-organized ZnAl2O4 nanostructures grown on -sapphire

Self-organized ZnAl₂O₄ nanostructures with the appearance (in SEM) of high aspect ratio horizontal nanowires are grown on uncatalysed c-sapphire by vapour phase transport. The nanostructures grow as three equivalent crystallographic variants on c-sapphire. Raman and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy confirm that the nanostructures are not ZnO and TEM shows that they are the cubic spinel, zinc aluminate, ZnAl₂O₄, formed by the reaction of Zn and O with the sapphire substrate.