Taylor–least-squares finite element for two-dimensional advection-dominated unsteady advection–diffusion problems

A new finite element method, the Taylor–least-squares, is proposed to approximate the advection-dominated unsteady advection–diffusion equation. The new scheme is a direct generalization of the Taylor–Galerkin and least-squares finite element methods. Higher-order spatial derivatives in the new formulation necessitate higher-degree polynomials. Hermite cubic shape functions are used. Extensive comparisons with other methods in one dimension proved that the new scheme is a step forward in modelling this difficult problem. The method offers straightforward generalizations to higher dimensions without losing the accuracy demonstrated in one dimension, i.e. the method preserves the important property of the Taylor–Galerkin scheme of being free of numerical crosswind diffusion. Several numerical experiments were made in two dimensions and excellent results were obtained from the representative experiments.     

Topology optimization of microfluidic mixers

This paper demonstrates the application of the topology optimization method as a general and systematic approach for microfluidic mixer design. The mixing process is modeled as convection dominated transport in low Reynolds number incompressible flow. The mixer performance is maximized by altering the layout of flow/non‐flow regions subject to a constraint on the pressure drop between inlet and outlet. For a square cross‐sectioned pipe the mixing is increased by 70% compared with a straight pipe at the cost of a 2.5 fold increase in pressure drop. Another example where only the bottom profile of the channel is a design domain results in intricate herring bone patterns that confirm findings from the literature. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diffeomorphisms with C 1-stably average shadowing

Let M be a closed smooth manifold M, and let f : M → M be a diffeomorphism. In this paper, we consider a nontrivial transitive set Λ of f . We show that if f has the C1-stably average shadowing property on Λ, then Λ admits a dominated splitting.     

An improvement on the positivity results for 2-stage explicit Runge-Kutta methods

In this paper, we investigate the positivity property for a class of 2-stage explicit Runge-Kutta (RK2) methods of order two when applied to the numerical solution of special nonlinear initial value problems (IVPs) for ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We also pay particular attention to monotonicity property. We obtain new results for positivity which are important in practical applications. We provide some numerical examples to illustrate our results.     

Minimal rambling sets with codimension one dominated splittings

In this paper,we study the dynamics of minimal rambling sets with codimension one dominatedsplittings     

Large deviations for heavy-tailed random sums of independent random variables with dominatedly varying tails

We prove large deviation results on the partial and random sums Sn = ∑i=1n Xi,n≥1; S(t) = ∑i=1N(t) Xi, t≥0, where {N(t);t≥0} are non-negative integer-valued random variables and {Xn;n≥1} are independent non-negative random variables with distribution, Fn, of Xn, independent of {N(t); t≥0}. Special attention is paid to the distribution of dominated variation.     

Anisotropic equipartition state in a charged particle beam

The purpose of this Letter is to conjecture a characterization of the anisotropic equipartition state. The anisotropic equipartition state is defined through a phase space density which is uniform on the invariant surface of ξ, where ξ is the ratio between the oscillation energies in the x- and y-directions. It is a version of the ergodic hypothesis where the invariant surface of ξ plays the role of the conserved energy. We show that the anisotropic equipartition state is characterized by the following properties: the development of an elliptical shape with increasing size along the x-direction, the presence of a coupling between transversal emittances, halo formation along a preferential direction, stationarity of the temperature and a growth of the entropy in the cascade form.     

A monotone finite element scheme for convection-diffusion equations

A simple technique is given in this paper for the construction and analysis of a class of finite element discretizations for convection-diffusion problems in any spatial dimension by properly averaging the PDE coefficients on element edges. The resulting finite element stiffness matrix is an -matrix under some mild assumption for the underlying (generally unstructured) finite element grids. As a consequence the proposed edge-averaged finite element scheme is particularly interesting for the discretization of convection dominated problems. This scheme admits a simple variational formulation, it is easy to analyze, and it is also suitable for problems with a relatively smooth flux variable. Some simple numerical examples are given to demonstrate its effectiveness for convection dominated problems.

     

Air traverse time in grain bins

To maintain the quality of cereal grains during storage, it is necessary to keep the grain cool and free from insects, and typical methods for dealing with these problems are considered in this paper. In particular the insect population is controlled by fumigating the grain bed with carbon dioxide gas and the grain is cooled by forcing ambient air through the bed. In both problems, the equations which describe the physical processes contain a mixture of advection and diffusion or conduction terms. This paper explores the relationship between traverse time and heat and mass transfer and gains an insight into the grain storage processes that are controlled by forced convection. When heat and mass transport is dominated by the advection terms, the equations are simplified by changing variables from the (x,y) space coordinates to (ψ,τ), where ψ is the stream function for the problem and the traverse time τ at a point in the storage bin is the time taken for the air to travel to the point from the inlet duct. The conditions are described for the equations to be independent of ψ, with the main condition being that the derivatives of the metrics g₁₁, g₁₂ and g₂₂ with respect to ψ are small enough. If the equations are independent of ψ then the dependent variable (concentration or temperature) will be constant on lines of constant traverse time τ. This relationship between traverse time and the cooling or fumigation pattern can be used in the design of storage bins since it implies that the best outlet surface is a line of constant τ.