An ALE finite element method for a coupled Stefan problem and Navier–Stokes equations with free capillary surface

In this article, an ALE finite element method to simulate the partial melting of a workpiece of metal is presented. The model includes the heat transport in both the solid and liquid part, fluid flow in the liquid phase by the Navier–Stokes equations, tracking of the melt interface solid/liquid by the Stefan condition, treatment of the capillary boundary accounting for surface tension effects and a radiative boundary condition. We show that an accurate treatment of the moving boundaries is crucial to resolve their respective influences on the flow field and thus on the overall energy transport correctly. This is achieved by a mesh‐moving method, which explicitly tracks the phase boundary and makes it possible to use a sharp interface model without singularities in the boundary conditions at the triple junction. A numerical example describing the welding of a thin‐steel wire end by a laser, where all aforementioned effects have to be taken into account, proves the effectiveness of the approach.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A mass‐fraction‐based interface‐capturing method for multi‐component flow

An interface‐capturing method based on mass fraction is developed to solve the Riemann problem in multi‐component compressible flow. Equations of mass fraction with modified form, which is derived from conservative equations of mass, are employed here to capture the interface. By introducing mass fraction into Euler equations system, as well as other conservative coefficients, a quasi‐conservative numerical model is created. Numerical examples show that the mass fraction model performs well not only in multi‐component fluids modeled by simple stiffened gas equation of state (EOS) but also in that modeled by complex Mie–Grüneisen EOS. Moreover, the mass fraction model is applied to Riemann problem with piecewise EOS; the expression of which depends on density. It is found that the mass fraction model can well adapt to the analytic change in piecewise EOS and produce accuracy solutions with fewer unknown quantities, and the model can be easily extended to m‐component fluid mixture by using only m + 4 equations with no additional conditions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the shear centre in Saint-Venant beam theory

The notion of shear centre in Saint-Venant beam theory was introduced by Robert Maillart who envisaged it to explain the results of experimental tests on beams with C-shaped sections. In literature, the location of the shear centre is provided in terms of flexure functions. The new result is a formula for the shear centre, based on the knowledge of the sole twist warping function of the cross-section.     

Two kinds of contact problems in three-dimensional icosahedral quasicrystals

Two kinds of contact problems, i.e., the frictional contact problem and the adhesive contact problem, in three-dimensional(3D) icosahedral quasicrystals are discussed by a complex variable function method. For the frictional contact problem, the contact stress exhibits power singularities at the edge of the contact zone. For the adhesive contact problem, the contact stress exhibits oscillatory singularities at the edge of the contact zone. The numerical examples show that for the two kinds of contact problems, the contact stress exhibits singularities, and reaches the maximum value at the edge of the contact zone. The phonon-phason coupling constant has a significant effect on the contact stress intensity, while has little impact on the contact stress distribution regulation. The results are consistent with those of the classical elastic materials when the phonon-phason coupling constant is 0. For the adhesive contact problem, the indentation force has positive correlation with the contact displacement, but the phonon-phason coupling constant impact is barely perceptible. The validity of the conclusions is verified.     

Simulation of viscoelastic fluids in a 2D abrupt contraction by spectral element method

This study presents the vortex structure and numerical instability increase occurring when the level of elasticity is enhanced in inertial flows in planar contraction configuration for finitely extensible nonlinear elastic model by Peterlin (FENE‐P) fluid 1 . The re‐entrant corner effect on corner vortices is also considered. The calculations are performed using extended matrix logarithm formulation described in a previous paper: A. Jafari et al. A new extended matrix logarithm formulation for the simulation of viscoelastic fluids by spectral elements. Computer & Fluids 2010; 39 (9):1425–1438. In that reference, the proposed algorithm has been tested for simple geometry such as Poiseuille flow. In this study, we are interested in the capability of this algorithm for more complex geometry. This formulation helps to reach higher values of the Weissenberg number when compared with the classical one. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Symmetric nonnegative realizability via partitioned majorization

A sufficient condition for symmetric nonnegative realizability of a spectrum is given in terms of (weak) majorization of a partition of the negative eigenvalues by a selection of the positive eigenvalues. If there are more than two positive eigenvalues, an additional condition, besides majorization, is needed on the partition. This generalizes observations of Suleǐmanova and Loewy about the cases of one and two positive eigenvalues, respectively. It may be used to provide insight into realizability of 5-element spectra and beyond.     

Self–gravitating fluid flows with Gowdy symmetry near cosmological singularities

We consider self-gravitating fluids in cosmological spacetimes with Gowdy symmetry on the torus T³ and, in this class, we solve the singular initial value problem for the Einstein–Euler system of general relativity, when an initial data set is prescribed on the hypersurface of singularity. We specify initial conditions for the geometric and matter variables and identify the asymptotic behavior of these variables near the cosmological singularity. Our analysis of this class of nonlinear and singular partial differential equations exhibits a condition on the sound speed, which leads us to the notion of sub-critical, critical, and super-critical regimes. Solutions to the Einstein–Euler systems when the fluid is governed by a linear equation of state are constructed in the first two regimes, while additional difficulties arise in the latter one. All previous studies on inhomogeneous spacetimes concerned vacuum cosmological spacetimes only.     

Reproducing-kernel-based splines for the regularization of the inverse ellipsoidal gravimetric problem

To solve the inverse gravimetric problem, i.e. to reconstruct the Earth's mass density distribution by using the gravitational potential, we introduce a spline interpolation method for the ellipsoidal Earth model, where the ellipsoid has a rotational symmetry. This problem is ill-posed in the sense of Hadamard as the solution may not exist, it is not unique and it is not stable. Since the anharmonic part (orthogonal complement) of the density function produces a zero potential, we restrict our attention only to reconstruct the harmonic part of the density function by using the gravitational potential. This spline interpolation method gives the existence and uniqueness of the unknown solution. Moreover, this method represents a regularization, i.e. every spline continuously depends on the given gravitational potential. These splines are also combined with a multiresolution concept, i.e. we get closer and closer to the unknown solution by increasing the scale and adding more and more data at each step.     

On an inverse problem for acoustic and seismic waves

Two basic inverse problems for determining the constitutive relation in an attenuating medium from given absorption behavior of plane waves in the medium are dealt with in the frequency domain by methods of complex analysis. In particular the case of a prescribed constant internal friction function over the seismic frequencies is considered in detail.