The aerodynamics of a cylinder submerged in the wake of another

Flow-induced fluctuating lift (C_Lf) and drag (C_Df) forces and Strouhal numbers (St) of a cylinder submerged in the wake of another cylinder are investigated experimentally for Reynolds number (Re)=9.7×10³–6.5×10⁴. The spacing ratio L^⁎ (=L/D) between the cylinders is varied from 1.1 to 4.5, where L is the spacing between the cylinders and D is the cylinder diameter. The results show that C_Lf, C_Df and St are highly sensitive to Re due to change in the inherent nature of the flow structure. How the flow structure is dependent on Re and L^⁎ is presented in a flow structure map. Zdravkovich and Pridden (1977) observed a ‘kink’ in time-mean drag distribution at L^⁎≈2.5 for Re>3.1×10⁴, but not for Re≤3.1×10⁴. The physics is provided here behind the presence and absence of the ‘kink’ that was left unexplained since then.     

Nonlinear dynamics for broadband energy harvesting: Investigation of a bistable piezoelectric inertial generator

Vibration energy harvesting research has largely focused on linear electromechanical devices excited at resonance. Considering that most realistic vibration environments are more accurately described as either stochastic, multi-frequency, time varying, or some combination thereof, narrowband linear systems are fated to be highly inefficient under these conditions. Nonlinear systems, on the other hand, are capable of responding over a broad frequency range; suggesting an intrinsic suitability for efficient performance in realistic vibration environments. Since a number of nonlinear dynamical responses emerge from dissipative systems undergoing a homoclinic saddle-point bifurcation, we validate this concept with a bistable inertial oscillator comprised of permanent magnets and a piezoelectric cantilever beam. The system is analytically modeled, numerically simulated, and experimentally realized to demonstrate enhanced capabilities and new challenges. In addition, a bifurcation parameter within the design is examined as either a fixed or an adaptable tuning mechanism for enhanced sensitivity to ambient excitation.     

Bistable buckled beam and force actuation: Experimental validations

This paper presents recent experimental results on the switching of a simply supported buckled beam. Moreover, the present work is focussed on the experimental validation of a switching mechanism of a bistable beam presented in details in Camescasse et al. (2013). An actuating force is applied perpendicularly to the beam axis. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the force position on the beam on the switching scenario. The experimental set-up is described and special care is devoted to the procedure of experimental tests highlighting the main difficulties and how these difficulties have been overcome. Two situations are examined: (i) a beam subject to mid-span actuation and (ii) off-center actuation. The bistable beam responses to the loading are experimentally determined for the buckling force and actuating force as a function of the vertical position of the applied force (displacement control). A series of photos demonstrates the scenarios for both situations and the bifurcation between buckling modes are clearly shown, as well. The influence of the application point of the force on the bifurcation force is experimentally studied which leads to a minimum for the bifurcation actuating force. All the results extracted from experimental tests are compared to those coming from the modeling investigation presented in a previous work (Camescasse et al., 2013) which ascertains the proposed model for a bistable beam.     

Qualitative Properties of Saddle-Shaped Solutions to Bistable Diffusion Equations

We consider the elliptic equation ? Δu = f(u) in the whole ?^2m , where f is of bistable type. It is known that there exists a saddle-shaped solution in ?^2m . This is a solution which changes sign in ?^2m and vanishes only on the Simons cone 𝒞 = {(x ¹, x ²) ∈ ? ^m × ? ^m : |x ¹| = |x ²|}. It is also known that these solutions are unstable in dimensions 2 and 4.

In this article we establish that when 2m = 6 every saddle-shaped solution is unstable outside of every compact set and, as a consequence has infinite Morse index. For this we establish the asymptotic behavior of saddle-shaped solutions at infinity. Moreover we prove the existence of a minimal and a maximal saddle-shaped solutions and derive monotonicity properties for the maximal solution.

These results are relevant in connection with a conjecture of De Giorgi on 1D symmetry of certain solutions. Saddle-shaped solutions are the simplest candidates, besides 1D solutions, to be global minimizers in high dimensions, a property not yet established.     

Variational supersymmetric approach to evaluate Fokker-Planck probability

In this work we introduce a method to determine the time dependent probability density for the one-dimensional Fokker-Planck equation. The treatment is based in an analysis of the Schrödinger equation through the variational method associated to the formalism of supersymmetric quantum mechanics (SQM). The approach uses an ansatz for the superpotential which allows us to obtain the trial functions of the variational method. The hierarchy of effective Hamiltonians permits us to determine the variational eigenfunctions and energies of the excited states to the evaluation of the probability. The symmetric bistable potential is used to illustrate the approach whose results are compared with results obtained by the state-dependent diagonalization method and by direct numerical calculation.     

Effects of asymmetric Lévy noise in parameter-induced aperiodic stochastic resonance

We study properties of parameter-induced aperiodic stochastic resonance in the presence of asymmetric Lévy noise. The system performance is characterized by the bit error rate. Investigations are based on the numerical solution of the space-fractional Fokker-Planck equation and Monte Carlo simulations. After choosing the optimal detection threshold, it is shown that the skewness parameter β has very limited influence on the system performance. Under the same conditions, the system performance is slightly reduced with the increasing β. The stability index α has the dominant effects on the system performance. The lower value of α leads to the better system performance.     

Bistable switching using an optical Tamm cavity with a Kerr medium

All-optical bistable switching is proposed to realize by using an optical Tamm cavity in which a Kerr medium is sandwiched between a metal layer and a Bragg mirror. Results show that the excitation of clockwise and counterclockwise bistable switching under the control of external optical injection is due to the presence of optical Tamm states. In addition, the bistable characteristics of optical Tamm cavities are found to be sensitive to the polarization of external optical injection.     

反应扩散系统双稳波前解的全局渐近稳定性

该文研究一类拟单调反应扩散系统的古典解的渐近行为.在双稳的假定下,利用上、下解方法和单调半流的收敛性结果,证明了当系统的初值在±∞处的极限分别"大于"和"小于"其中间平衡点时,初值问题的解收敛于一个连接两个稳定平衡点的波前解.最后,将结果应用到一个传染病模型.     

Generation and Propagation of Interfaces for <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Laplacian Equations

In this paper, we consider the generation and propagation of interfaces for p-Laplacian equations with the derivative of a bi-stable potential.     

Diffusion–convection reaction equations with sign-changing diffusivity and bistable reaction term

We consider a reaction–diffusion equation with a convection term in one space variable, where the diffusion changes sign from the positive to the negative and the reaction term is bistable. We study the existence of wavefront solutions, their uniqueness and regularity. The presence of convection reveals several new features of wavefronts: according to the mutual positions of the diffusivity and reaction, profiles can occur either for a single value of the speed or for a bounded interval of such values; uniqueness (up to shifts) is lost; moreover, plateaus of arbitrary length can appear; profiles can be singular where the diffusion vanishes.