Numerical and Experimental Investigation of the Conjugate Heat Transfer for a High-Pressure Pneumatic Control Valve Assembly

This paper uses heat transfer experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to investigate the conjugate heat transfer (CHT) in a high-pressure pneumatic control valve assembly. A heat transfer test rig was constructed, and time–temperature histories of five test points placed on the valve assembly’s outer surface were recorded for study validation. The Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) CFD methods with the standard k-ε turbulence closure equations were adopted in the numerical computations. Polyhedral grids were used; time step and mesh convergence studies were conducted. Simulated and measured temperatures profile comparisons revealed a good agreement. The CHT results obtained from CFD showed huge velocity fields downstream of the valve throat and the vent hole. The airflow through the valve was icy, mainly in the supersonic flow areas. Low temperatures below 273.15 K were recorded on the internal and external walls of the valve assembly. The consistency of the measured data with the numerical results demonstrates the effectiveness of polyhedral grids in exploring the CHT using CFD methods. The local entropy production rate analysis revealed that irreversibility is mainly due to viscous dissipation. The current CHT investigation provides a potential basis for thermostress analysis and optimization.     

镍钛记忆合金自补偿磨粒磨损性能研究

研究了高临界温度镍钛记忆合金一维自补偿磨粒磨损特性.结果表明,在一定温度下,镍钛记忆合金在摩擦过程中具有形状恢复能力,从而产生一维磨损自补偿作用.超弹状态镍钛记忆合金具有热弹性马氏体相变、高阻尼、应力感生马氏体、超弹性、高应变硬化指数和时效弥散析出强化等特性,这使得硬度较低的镍钛合金的耐磨性能远优于硬度较高的淬火45#钢.利用超弹状态镍钛记忆合金的磨损自补偿作用可望开发出新型抗磨形状记忆合金产品.     

二维矢量边界推进非结构网格生成方法

提出二维矢量边界推进生成非结构三角形网格方法并证明其可行性.根据流场边界尺度布置边界节点并运用矢量边界推进方法生成背景网格,运用符号面积函数和概率筛选方法布置初始点阵,提出Spring-Laplace方法优化节点位置,同时利用边交换技术优化网格结构.该方法可包含任意点源、线源和内嵌边界,可自由进行局部自适应加密或稀疏,实现任意平面域内与尺度要求一致的高效光滑三角网格剖分.     

Nickel Oxide/Graphene Composites: Synthesis and Applications

Nickel oxide (NiO) has emerged as one of the most promising transition-metal oxides (TMOs) for electrochemical capacitors, batteries, catalysis, and electrochromic films, owing to its cost-effectiveness, abundance, and well-defined electrochemical properties. Recent studies have identified that mixing NiO with graphene or graphene derivatives results in novel composites with synergistic effects and superior electrochemical performance. This review summarizes the latest advances in composites of NiO with graphene or graphene derivatives. The synthetic strategies, morphologies, and electrochemical performance of these composites are introduced, as well as their electrochemical applications in supercapacitors, batteries, sensors, catalysis, and so forth. Finally, tentative conclusions and assessments regarding the opportunities and challenges for the future development of these composites and other TMOs/graphene or graphene-derived composites are presented.     

Elevated temperature directional recrystallization of high-purity nickel

Electron backscattered diffraction has been used to characterise the three different kinds of boundaries that occur in grains that are generated by secondary recrystallization during directional annealing of high-purity nickel. Boundaries between columnar grains (CC boundaries) can be twin boundaries, low-angle boundaries or high-angle grain boundaries. The frequency of low-angle CC boundaries dropped from 25% to 0% while the frequency of the high-angle CC boundaries increased from 19% to 67% when the annealing temperature was increased from 1000°C to 1200°C. The misorientation angles of boundaries between columnar grains and small equiaxed grains ahead of them (CE boundaries) was random at 1200°C but had a 40° rotation relationship about ?111? at 1000°C. It was found out that the character of the CC boundaries is determined by relative mobility of the CE boundaries, which is determined by the processing temperature rather than the energy of the CC boundaries themselves. The character of the island grain boundaries sometimes found with columnar grains was not affected by the annealing temperature or the drawing velocity.     

High-order curvilinear mesh generation technique based on an improved radius basic function approach

A high-order curvilinear hybrid mesh generation technique is developed for high-order numerical method (eg, discontinuous Galerkin method) applications to improve the accuracy for problems with curve boundary. The grid generation technique is based on an improved radius basic function (RBF) approach by which the straight-edge mesh is converted into high-order curve mesh. Firstly, an initial straight-edge mesh is prepared by traditional grid generation software. Then, high-order interpolation points are inserted into the mesh entities such as edges, faces, and cells according to the final demand of mesh order. To preserve the original geometry, the inserted points on solid wall are then projected onto the CAD model using an open source tool “Open Cascade.” Finally, other inserted points in the field near the solid wall are moved to appropriate positions by the improved RBF approach to avoid tangled cells. If we use the original RBF approach, then the inserted points on the edge and face entities normal to the solid boundary in the region of boundary layer will move to improper positions. To overcome this problem, a weighting based on the local grid aspect ratio between normal direction and tangential direction is introduced into the baseline RBF approach. Three typical configurations are tested to validate the mesh generator. Meanwhile, a third-order solution of subsonic flow over an analytical 3D body of revolution in the second International Workshop on High-Order CFD Methods is supplied by a discontinuous Galerkin solver. These numerical tests demonstrate the potential capability of present technique for high-order simulations of complex geometries.     

Variable spaced particle in mesh-free method to handle wave-floating body interactions

In this work, the motion of a two-dimensional rectangular freely floating body under waves is simulated using Improved Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin method with Rankine Source function (IMLPG_R) with variable spacing resolutions. The IMLPG_R method is a particle method that solves Navier–Stokes equations using the fractional step method to capture the wave properties. However, many existing particle methods are computationally intensive to model the wave-floating body due to the requirement of fine particles, needing uniform distribution throughout the domain. To improve the computational efficiency and capture the body response properly, variable spaced particle distribution with fine resolution near the floating body and coarse resolution far from the body is implemented. Numerical schemes to handle variable resolutions are reported. An iterative scheme to handle the wave-floating body is implemented in the particle method. Two test cases, one with small wave and another with steep waves, are simulated for uniform particle distribution and the result shows good agreement with literature. Based on this, the performance of the variable spaced particle distribution is tested in coupling with floating body solver. The application of the method for wave impact load from the green water loading of the floating structure is also simulated.