Ultrasound-enhanced membrane-cleaning processes applied water treatments: influence of sonic frequency on filtration treatments

Ultrasound (US) cleaning technique was applied to remove fouling of ultrafiltration (UF) and microfiltration (MF) membranes which were used to treat peptone and milk aqueous solutions, respectively. Membrane operations were performed by cross-flow filtration with 60 kPa operating pressure in an US field. The US employed had 28, 45 and 100 kHz frequency with 23 W/cm(2) output power. For each polymeric membrane made of polysulfone UF and cellulose MF, cleaning experiments were carried out with and without US after fouling. The fouled UF and MF membranes showed volume flux decline, but the membrane property was recovered by US irradiation. It was found in 28 kHz frequency that water cleaning was effective for recovery of declined condition due to fouling. Also, US-enhanced permeability of membranes was discussed in both membrane systems. We observed that US decreased the fouling condition in both membrane systems when US was irradiated before fouling. It was found that 28 kHz frequency US could enhance formation of the fouled layer in both filtration systems of peptone and milk solution.     

Experimental investigation of the effect of cross wire on the flow field of elliptic jet

The effectiveness of cross wire in controlling the mixing characteristics of a circular and an equivalent elliptic jet is investigated experimentally. While circular jets are conventional, elliptic jets have gained attention due to their better mixing characteristics and faster decay. To further explore and augment the capabilities of elliptic jets for practical utility, it is investigated whether using an elliptic jet with cross wire control gives additional benefit in terms of mixing enhancement over an axisymmetric jet. Experiments are performed for subsonic and choked flow conditions with nozzle pressure ratios ranging from $1.2$ to $7.0$. Time-averaged pitot pressures and schlieren visualization is used for diagnosis. The jet bifurcation can be seen in controlled elliptical jets at all nozzle pressure ratios (NPRs). Core length is reduced to as much as $70\%$ in the elliptical jet and $84\%$ in the case of the circular jet. The core length values estimated from the present data are compared with the previous investigations.     

Continuum thermo-mechanical model for homogeneous liquid–gas flows with internal surface tension effects

This work presents a rational thermodynamic model which consistently incorporates internal surface tension effects in homogeneous and isothermal two-component two-phase flows, without appealing to additional kinematical variables to describe its microstructure. The liquid and gaseous phases are regarded as a pseudo-fluid whose constitutive behavior is obtained from two thermodynamic potentials—the Helmholtz free energy and a pseudo-potential of dissipation. The structure of the flow is assumed to be described solely by the void fraction, which is treated as an internal variable. The constraint associated with it is regarded as a material property, being an effective part of the constitutive equations. Surface tension is taken by the model into account by adding a suitable extra term, with dependence on the void fraction, in the Helmholtz free energy. The capability of the proposed model in properly describing pertinent physical phenomenon is demonstrated by comparing the analytical predictions of sound speeds in the medium with available experimental data.     

Double topological edge states investigation in sonic metamaterials

We investigate the topologically protected sound propagation in sonic metamaterials, analogous to quantum spin hall effect (QSHE). The sonic metamaterials consist of circular rods and meta-molecules arranged in air with a honeycomb-lattice. The on-demand inversion in topological phase can be achieved by two ways of scatterer controls at locally resonant frequency and Bragg frequency. The Helmholtz resonators in the structure are contributed to the formation of subwavelength double Dirac cones which are more likely to appear due to local resonance enhancement with more number of resonators. By combining two sonic metamaterials with different topological invariants, we demonstrate the robust sound propagation and pseudospin-dependent one-way acoustic propagation at the interface. Experimental measurement of the topologically protected acoustic wave transmission matches well with the simulation result.     

声波在高含蜡油生产中防蜡作用的实验研究

含蜡原油在生产过程中,蜡组分随井筒温度的降低而逐渐析出,这种结蜡现象导致原油粘度急剧上升而影响油井的正常生产,因此采取防蜡措施在高含蜡原油生产中是必不可少的,利用声波进行防蜡的实验研究表明,声波作用可以破坏蜡晶网状结构,降低原油粘度和凝固点,从而达到防蜡的目的,声波防蜡以其独特的作用机理较其它防蜡方法具有更大的可靠性和更加广阔的应用前景。     

Acoustic tunneling through artificial structures: From phononic crystals to acoustic metamaterials

We present a comparative study on the acoustic tunneling through artificial periodical composites, from phononic crystals to acoustic metamaterials. We find that the features of the acoustic tunneling are closely related with the origins of band gaps. In particular, the band gap associated with the negative effective material parameter in the metamaterial results in a better analog of the tunneling effect to the quantum system.     

Effect of driving frequency on non-linear coupling between ultrasound transducer and target under inspection in Sonic Infrared Imaging

Sonic Infrared (IR) Imaging, also referred as vibrothermography, is a novel Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) technology to find cracks through infrared imaging of vibration-induced crack heating. The vibration source plays an important role in the detection of cracks. In this paper, the effect of driving frequency on the ultrasound vibration to the thermal imaging is presented. The research is organized by using different frequency system and coupling materials on the same aluminum bar sample. The analysis is conducted by combination of the vibration waveforms with the IR images and signals. Correlation analysis between the acoustic energy and the thermal energy in the crack is discussed as well.     

Study on probability of detection for fatigue cracks in sonic infrared imaging

Detection reliability of sonic infrared imaging is one of the increasingly important aspects for out of lab applications. And for the detection reliability evaluation, probability of detection (POD) for different defects under given test conditions has been successfully used as an accepted quantitative measurement. In this study, we test a set of C45 ferritic steel plates with artificial fatigue cracks. Experimental results show that the crack heating response increases with the increasing crack length, and the relationship between the logarithmic form of heat response signal and the crack length appears to be linear. Based on the above statistic characteristics, the linear regression analysis and the Wald method are adopted to estimate the POD function and its confidence interval. The study aims to provide a quantitative evaluation method for detection reliability in sonic infrared imaging.