Symmetry analysis for uniaxial compression of a hypoplastic granular material

A variety of modelling approaches currently exist to describe and predict the diverse behaviours of granular materials. One of the more sophisticated theories is hypoplasticity, which is a stress-rate theory of rational continuum mechanics with a constitutive law expressed in a single tensorial equation. In this paper, a particular version of hypoplasticity, due to Wu [2], is employed to describe a class of one-dimensional granular deformations. By combining the constitutive law with the conservation laws of continuum mechanics, a system of four nonlinear partial differential equations is derived for the axial and lateral stress, the velocity and the void ratio. Under certain restrictions, three of the governing equations may be combined to yield ordinary differential equations, whose solutions can be calculated exactly. Several new analytical results are obtained which are applicable to oedometer testing. In general this approach is not possible, and analytic progress is sought via Lie symmetry analysis. A complete set or “optimal system” of group-invariant solutions is identified using the Olver method, which involves the adjoint representation of the symmetry group on its Lie algebra. Each element in the optimal system is governed by a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which in general must be solved numerically. Solutions previously considered in the literature are noted, and their relation to our optimal system identified. Two illustrative examples are examined and the variation of various functions occuring in the physical variables is shown graphically.     

Impaction of spray droplets on leaves: influence of formulation and leaf character on shatter,bounce and adhesion

This paper combines experimental data with simple mathematical models to investigate the influence of spray formulation type and leaf character (wettability) on shatter, bounce and adhesion of droplets impacting with cotton, rice and wheat leaves. Impaction criteria that allow for different angles of the leaf surface and the droplet impact trajectory are presented; their predictions are based on whether combinations of droplet size and velocity lie above or below bounce and shatter boundaries. In the experimental component, real leaves are used, with all their inherent natural variability. Further, commercial agricultural spray nozzles are employed, resulting in a range of droplet characteristics. Given this natural variability, there is broad agreement between the data and predictions. As predicted, the shatter of droplets was found to increase as droplet size and velocity increased, and the surface became harder to wet. Bouncing of droplets occurred most frequently on hard-to-wet surfaces with high-surface-tension mixtures. On the other hand, a number of small droplets with low impact velocity were observed to bounce when predicted to lie well within the adhering regime. We believe this discrepancy between the predictions and experimental data could be due to air layer effects that were not taken into account in the current bounce equations. Other discrepancies between experiment and theory are thought to be due to the current assumption of a dry impact surface, whereas, in practice, the leaf surfaces became increasingly covered with fluid throughout the spray test runs.     

Influence of interparticle interactions on the kinetics of self-assembly and mechanical strength of nanoparticulate aggregates

Computer simulations based on Discrete Element Method have been performed in order to investigate the influence of interparticle interactions on the kinetics of self-assembly and the mechanical strength of nanoparticle aggregates.Three different systems have been considered.In the first system the interaction between particles has been simulated using the JKR (Johnson,Kendall and Roberts) contact theory,while in the second and third systems the interaction between particles has been simulated using van der Waals and electrostatic forces respectively.In order to compare the mechanical behaviour of the three systems,the magnitude of the maximum attractive force between particles has been kept the same in all cases.However,the relationship between force and separation distance differs from case to case and thus,the range of the interparticle force.The results clearly indicate that as the range of the interparticle force increases,the self-assembly process is faster and the work required to produce the mechanical failure of the assemblies increases by more than one order of magnitude.     

Evaluation of protein-A chromatography media

In process-scale antibody purification, protein-A affinity chromatography is commonly used as the initial purification step. In this paper, two different protein-A media were evaluated. These adsorbents have a porous glass backbone with different pore sizes: 700 A and 1000 A. Adsorption equilibrium data of human immunoglobulins on these media were measured via a batch technique and correlated using the Langmuir isotherm model. A larger static capacity was found for the smaller pore size material, which is probably a result of the larger specific surface area and associated higher ligand concentration. The protein uptake kinetics were also obtained via a stirred tank experiment using different initial protein concentrations. A surface layer model was used to represent the protein uptake by the media and to estimate values of a concentration-independent effective diffusivity within the particle. Experimental breakthrough curves were also obtained from packed beds operated under different conditions. Calculated breakthrough profiles were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. Experimental breakthrough data were used to determine the dependence of the dynamic capacity of the media as a function of the fluid residence time. A larger dynamic capacity was also found for the smaller pore size media. The permeability of large scale packed beds was also reported and used in conjunction with the dynamic capacity to calculate the process production rate.     

Capillary gas chromatographic-electron-capture assay for the aldose reductase inhibitor imirestat in lens and plasma

A sensitive and selective gas chromatographic-electron-capture assay was developed for the determination of the aldose reductase inhibitor imirestat in lens and plasma. The method involves solid-phase extraction of drug and internal standard from the plasma specimen or lens sample homogenate using "Baker"-10 SPE extraction columns followed by derivatization with pentafluorobenzyl bromide and further purification. Derivatives of drug and internal standard were separated on a fused-silica capillary column and analyzed using a 63Ni electron-capture detector. The limit of detection was 2.5 ng per lens or ml of plasma. The method was used to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of imirestat in human subjects and to quantitate imirestat in animal lens tissue following topical ocular administration.     

Symmetry analysis for uniaxial compression of a hypoplastic granular material

A variety of modelling approaches currently exist to describe and predict the diverse behaviours of granular materials. One of the more sophisticated theories is hypoplasticity, which is a stress-rate theory of rational continuum mechanics with a constitutive law expressed in a single tensorial equation. In this paper, a particular version of hypoplasticity, due to Wu [2], is employed to describe a class of one-dimensional granular deformations. By combining the constitutive law with the conservation laws of continuum mechanics, a system of four nonlinear partial differential equations is derived for the axial and lateral stress, the velocity and the void ratio. Under certain restrictions, three of the governing equations may be combined to yield ordinary differential equations, whose solutions can be calculated exactly. Several new analytical results are obtained which are applicable to oedometer testing. In general this approach is not possible, and analytic progress is sought via Lie symmetry analysis. A complete set or “optimal system” of group-invariant solutions is identified using the Olver method, which involves the adjoint representation of the symmetry group on its Lie algebra. Each element in the optimal system is governed by a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which in general must be solved numerically. Solutions previously considered in the literature are noted, and their relation to our optimal system identified. Two illustrative examples are examined and the variation of various functions occuring in the physical variables is shown graphically. Received: February 3, 2004; revised: June 2, 2004     

JT-60U装置温度分布剖面不变性的实验研究

在一系列H模放电条件下，建立了一个旨在研究等离子体温度分布剖面不变性的数据库。介绍了数据库建立过程中要解决的关键问题和所用软件，对等离子体温度分布剖面不变性及芯部约束与边缘参数的关系进行了研究。