Stabilization of flow boiling in a micro tube with air injection

Air injection as a stabilization method is evaluated for flow boiling in a micro tube. Pyrex glass tube coated by ITO film is employed as a test tube for flow visualization with water as a working fluid. Air bubble and liquid slug lengths are controlled by changing air and liquid mass velocities. Wall temperatures and inlet/outlet pressures show very large fluctuations during flow boiling without air injection. Severe reverse flow is also observed from flow visualization. On the other hand, wall temperature and inlet/outlet pressures as well as visualized flow patterns become very stable with air injection. In addition, much higher heat transfer coefficients are obtained for air injected cases. It is observed from the flow visualization that the flow becomes much stable and shows regular patterns.     

Sound-producing sand in Japan: major element composition and its minerals determined by X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence.

The major element composition, including two kinds of clay minerals and moisture content of sound-producing sand are reported for the first time. Sand from 33 beaches in Japan has been found to make sound. Ten sound-producing beaches were selected to compare with silent beach sand. Both sound-producing sand and silent beach sand are mostly composed of quartz and feldspar. The range of SiO2 content of sound-producing sand is not different from silent sand samples. This indicates that a high quartz content is not necessary to produce sound, although more than 60 weight percent of quartz is necessary. One silent sand recovered its sound after a 3.5 percent HNO3 treatment. Also, a small portion of clay minerals was found. A clean grain surface is a necessary factor for sand to produce sound. Illite was found in all silent sand samples.     

Incomplete fusion of the 16O + 27Al reaction

Velocity spectra of fusion-like residues produced in the reactions of 90 MeV and 150 MeV ¹⁶O with ²⁷Al were measured. At 90 MeV the velocity spectra were well reproduced by a statistical model calculation. At 150 MeV the observed centroids of the velocity spectra deviate from the statistical model predictions. The centroid shifts as a function of the atomic and mass numbers of evaporation residues were analyzed by two different model calculations based on the assumption that incomplete fusion is (a) a peripheral process, or (b) independent on the angular momentum of the entrance channel, respectively. The later assumption is in better agreement with the presented data.     

Mass distribution of fission fragments in the19F+197Au reaction

Mass distributions of fission fragments have been measured for the reaction of¹⁹F on¹⁹⁷Au as a function of scattering angle. The mean fragment mass is dependent on the scattering angle, the asymmetry increasing with increasing projectile energy.     

Analysis of E1 and E2 radiative α-capture and giant multipole resonances

Experimental data on E1 and E2 radiative α-capture are analyzed by taking account of direct and semidirect processes as well as the compound process. Observed excitation functions for these reactions are reasonably well reproduced assuming the reactions take place mainly through giant multipole resonances. It is shown that the compound process dominates in the lower energy region especially for E1 capture whereas in the higher energy region direct and semidirect captures are the major processes especially for E2 capture. Several interesting results are obtained on α-particle spectroscopic factors of target ground states and on spreading widths and isospin-mixing coefficients of the giant multipole resonance states. The data are shown to be consistent with the existence of the isoscalar giant quadrupole resonances. The applicability of direct and semidirect capture theories to α-capture is examined.     

Particle line shape after γ-ray emission in flight

Line shapes broadened by theγ-ray emission are described in the coordinate frame, in which a quantization axis is chosen to be the direction of the center of mass scattering angle of a decaying nucleus. In this coordinate frame the line shapes can be described only by diagonal density matrix elements for finite values of kinematic factork. The method of this analysis has been applied to the single and mutual excitations of the first 2⁺ state of¹²C in the¹²C+¹²C inelastic scattering.     

Alpha capture to the giant dipole resonances of 42Ca, 44Ca and 52Cr

Differential cross sections for the ${}^{38}\text{Ar}\text{(α, γ}{}_0\text{)}{}^{42}\text{Ca}\text{,}{}^{40}\text{Ar}\text{(α, γ}{}_{\mathrm{0,\; 1}}\text{)}{}^{44}\text{Ca and}{}^{48}\text{Ti}\text{(α, γ}{}_{\mathrm{0,\; 1}}\text{)}{}^{52}\text{Cr}$ reactions were measured at 90° to the beam direction in 50 or 100 keV steps over the bombarding energy ranges 6.0–15.0 MeV, 5.5–11.1 MeV and 6.0–12.0 MeV respectively. Gamma-ray angular distributions were measured at forty bombarding energies. These show that the (α, γ₀) reaction proceeds through 1^? levels and to a lesser extent 2⁺ levels, whereas the (α, γ₁) reaction most probably proceeds through 1^? and 3^? levels. It is deduced that 〈Γ〉/〈D〉 ≦ 1 for the ⁴⁰Ar(α, γ)⁴⁴Ca. reaction whereas the fine structure observed in the ⁴⁸Ti(α, γ)⁵²Cr reaction is probably due to fluctuations. From a comparison with other data it is shown that the (α, γ) reaction is most probably statistical in nature. Using Hauser-Feshbach theory it is deduced that the ³⁶Ar(α, γ)⁴⁰Ca. reaction is inhibited by isospin selection rules and an estimate is made of isospin mixing in the ⁴⁰Ca giant dipole resonance. The ${}^{38}\text{Ar}\text{(α, γ)}{}^2{}^{42}\text{Ca and}{}^{40}\text{Ar}\text{(α, γ)}{}^{44}\text{Ca}$ data are considered with respect to theories of isosopin splitting of the giant dipole resonance.     

Measurement of the liquid film thickness in micro tube slug flow

Slug flow is one of the representative flow regimes of two-phase flow in micro tubes. It is well known that the thin liquid film formed between the tube wall and the vapor bubble plays an important role in micro tube heat transfer. In the present study, experiments are carried out to clarify the effects of parameters that affect the formation of the thin liquid film in micro tube two-phase flow. Laser focus displacement meter is used to measure the thickness of the thin liquid film. Air, ethanol, water and FC-40 are used as working fluids. Circular tubes with five different diameters, D = 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0 and 1.3 mm, are used. It is confirmed that the liquid film thickness is determined only by capillary number and the effect of inertia force is negligible at small capillary numbers. However, the effect of inertia force cannot be neglected as capillary number increases. At relatively high capillary numbers, liquid film thickness takes a minimum value against Reynolds number. The effects of bubble length, liquid slug length and gravity on the liquid film thickness are also investigated. Experimental correlation for the initial liquid film thickness based on capillary number, Reynolds number and Weber number is proposed.     

Measurement of liquid film thickness in micro square channel

In micro channels, slug flow becomes one of the main flow regimes due to strong surface tension. In micro channel slug flow, elongated bubble flows with the thin liquid film confined between the bubble and the channel wall. Liquid film thickness is an important parameter in many applications, e.g., micro heat exchanger, micro reactor, coating process etc. In the present study, liquid film thickness in micro square channels is measured locally and instantaneously with the confocal method. Square channels with hydraulic diameter of D_h = 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mm are used. In order to investigate the effect of inertial force on the liquid film thickness, three working fluids, ethanol, water and FC-40 are used. At small capillary numbers, liquid film at the channel center becomes very thin and the bubble interface is not axisymmetric. However, as capillary number increases, bubble interface becomes axisymmetric. Transition from non-axisymmetric to axisymmetric flow pattern starts from lower capillary number as Reynolds number increases. An empirical correlation for predicting axisymmetric bubble radius based on capillary number and Weber number is proposed from the present experimental data.     

Measurement of liquid film thickness in a micro parallel channel with interferometer and laser focus displacement meter

In the present study, liquid film thicknesses in parallel channels with heights of H = 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mm are measured with two different optical methods, i.e., interferometer and laser focus displacement meter. Ethanol is used as a working fluid. Liquid film thicknesses obtained from two optical methods agree very well. At low capillary numbers, dimensionless liquid film thickness is in accordance with Taylor’s law. However, as capillary number increases, dimensionless liquid film thickness becomes larger than Taylor’s law for larger channel heights. It is attributed to the dominant inertial effect at high capillary numbers. Using channel height H for dimensionless liquid film thickness δ₀/H and hydraulic diameter D_h = 2H as the characteristic length for Reynolds and Weber numbers, liquid film thickness in a parallel channel can be predicted well by the circular tube correlation previously proposed by the authors. This is because curvature differences between bubble nose and flat film region are identical in circular tubes and parallel channels.