Interactions between kinetic and radiative processes inside moving absorbing fluids

The aim of this paper is to present several features of the couplings occurring between radiative transfer and the kinetics of a moving dielectric. After determining how the velocity field affects the apparent thermo-optical properties of matter, the energy transport problem is investigated in instationary regime and the general form of transient radiative transfer equation inside a moving medium is built. Then, the model is applied to the particular case of turbulent flows: a system of two equations for mean and fluctuating radiative energies is presented, and the resolution of this system is finally carried out.     

Operational characteristics and power scaling of a transverse flow transversely excited CW CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser

Transverse flow transversely excited (TFTE) CO₂ lasers are easily scalable to multikilowatt level. The laser power can be scaled up by increasing the volumetric gas flow and discharge volume. It was observed in a TFTE CW CO₂ laser having single row of pins as an anode and tubular cathode that the laser power was not increasing when the discharge volume and the gas volumetric flow were increased by increasing the electrode separation keeping the gas flow velocity constant. The discharge voltage too remained almost constant with the change of electrode separation at the same gas flow velocity. This necessitated revision of the scaling laws for designing this type of high power CO₂ laser. Experimental results of laser performance for different electrode separations are discussed and the modifications in the scaling laws are presented.     

A tentative approach to the direct simulation of drag reduction by polymers

An efficient technique for drag reduction uses dilute solutions of a few p.p.m. of polymers. A possible reduction in drag of up to 80% is achieved. Several experimental observations have been made which tend to indicate that the polymers modify the turbulence structures within the buffer layer. Flow visualisations have shown that the changes consist of a weakening of the strength of the streamwise vortices. Existing literature reveals no attempts of numerical simulation of this phenomenon. In this paper an approach is pursued by using a constitutive equation which relates the elongation viscosity to the local properties of the flow. According to this model this viscosity is large in zones where the amount of strain rate is greater than the amount of vorticity, and is zero when the vorticity exceeds the strain rate. Simulations have been performed in a “minimal channel” to give good resolution with a limited number of grid points. The accuracy of the method is tested by comparison with the results of other techniques. For simulations with polymers, quantitative comparisons cannot be made, but the results reproduce the qualitative outputs of the experiments. The mean streamwise velocity is modified in the buffer layer; the peak of the streamwise turbulent intensity, in wall units, increases and its maximum moves far from the wall; and the vertical turbulent intensity is largely reduced in the wall region. An interesting outcome from both the simulation and the experiments is that the strength of the longitudinal vortices is reduced when the polymers are present.     

Improved dust capture methods for crushing plant

The use of compressive crushing equipment such as gyratory crushers within minerals processing plants can potentially generate large quantities of dust. Remedies to this problem include the retrofitting of shrouds, enclosures, local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems and water suppression systems. The single or combined application of these systems must be optimised to ensure they operate efficiently. It is desirable that the future design planning of such facilities include integrated dust suppression and/or removal systems to ensure material delivery rates are maintained and the welfare of the workforce is protected.     

Thermal stability of shear-induced precursor structures in isotactic polypropylene by rheo-X-ray techniques with couette flow geometry

Combined in situ rheo-SAXS (small-angle X-ray scattering) and -WAXD (wide-angle X-ray diffraction) studies using couette flow geometry were carried out to probe thermal stabilty of shear-induced oriented precursor structure in isotactic polypropylene (iPP) at around its normal melting point (162 °C). Although SAXS results corroborated the emerging consensus about the formation of “long-living” metastable mesomorphic precursor structures in sheared iPP melts, these are the first quantitative measures of the limiting temperature at which no oriented structures survive. At the applied shear, rate = 60 s⁻¹ and duration t_s = 5 s, the oriented iPP structures survived a temperature of 185 °C for 1 h after shear, while no stable structures were detected at and above 195 °C. Following Keller's concepts of chain orientation in flow, it is proposed that the chains with highly oriented high molecular weight fraction are primarily responsible for their stability at high temperatures. Furthermore, the effects of flow condition, specifically the shear temperature, on the distributions of oriented and unoriented crystals were determined from rheo-WAXD results. As expected, at a constant flow intensity (i.e., rate = 30 s⁻¹ and duration, t_s = 5 s), the oriented crystal fraction decreased with the increase in temperature above 155 °C, below which the oriented fraction decreased with the decrease in temperature. As a result, a crystallinty “phase” diagram, i.e., temperature versus crystal fraction ratio, exhibited a peculiar “hourglass” shape, similar to that found in many two-phase polymer–polymer blends. This can be explained by the competition between the oriented and unoriented crystals in the available crystallizable species. Below the shear temperature (155 °C), the unoriented crystals crystallized so rapidly that they overwhelmed the crystallization of the oriented crystals, thus depleting a major portion of the crystallizable species and increasing their contribution in the final total crystalline phase. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3553–3570, 2006     

Assessment of filtered gas–solid momentum transfer models via a linear wave propagation speed test

The propagation speeds of linear waves in gas–solid suspensions depend strongly on the solids volume fraction and the wave frequency. The latter is due to gas–solid momentum transfer and allows a simple test on filtered gas–solid momentum transfer models. Such models may predict linear wave propagation speeds different from those obtained with the non-filtered model at wave frequencies higher than the filter frequency, but not at wave frequencies lower than the filter frequency.     

Formation of long range ordered arrangement of quantum dots with the help of lateral centripetal flow

A simple “chimney” method was used to eliminate the voids in an arrangement of quantum dots sized 2 nm on a solid substrate, which resulted in a large well ordered superlattice of area in the order more than 1 μm². Based on the principle of speeding up the interparticle interaction of nanoparticles to overcome the particle-substrate one, a lateral centripetal force originated from a glass tube acting as a chimney in a simple evaporation device is imposed. This method allows the packing process to be controlled in a mechanical force field, that is, with the same nanogold dispersion different patterns on a substrate—from separate dots to an ordered compact monolayer or even a multilayer structure—could be easily obtained.     

绕圆柱体自由表面磁流体流动和传热的研究

本文对在不同雷诺数下,绕圆柱体的磁流体自由表面流动及传热进行了模拟,分析了磁场对绕流圆柱尾迹和涡分离的影响,获得了两种雷诺数下的电磁力密度、流场和温度场分布。结果表明,磁场不仅影响了流动的形态,而且对湍流有抑制作用,降低了自由表面的更新机制,从而减少了传热能力;在相同的Hartmann数下,相比低雷诺数下的流动换热情况,高雷诺数下的湍流不能被完全抑制,自由表面与尾迹的相互作用也较强,因而自由表面换热也较强。     

Minimum concave cost production system: A further generalization of multi-echelon model

We will consider a concave minimization problem associated with a series production system in which raw material is processed inm consecutive facilities. The products at some facility are either sent to the next facility or stocked in the warehouse. The amount of demand for the final products during periodi, i = 1,,n, are known in advance. Our problem is to minimize the sum of processing, holding and backlogging cost, all of which are assumed to be concave.The origin of this model is the classical economic lot size problem of Wagner and Whitin and was extensively studied by Zangwill. This model is very important from the theoretical as well as practical point of view and this is one of the very rare instances in which polynomial time algorithm has been constructed for concave minimization problems.The purpose of this paper is to extend the model further to the situation in which time lag is associated with processing at each facility. We will propose an efficient O(n ⁴ m) algorithm for this class of problems.     

One-dimensional harmonic lattice caricature of hydrodynamics: Second approximation

The long-time behavior of an infinite chain of coupled harmonic oscillators is studied. In addition to a limiting hydrodynamic (Euler-type) equation, the next approximation is investigated. The corresponding equation is derived.