Two‐dimensional modeling for stability analysis of two‐phase stratified flow

The effect of wavelength and relative velocity on the disturbed interface of two‐phase stratified regime is modeled and discussed. To analyze the stability, a small perturbation is imposed on the interface. Growth or decline of the disturbed wave, relative velocity, and surface tension with respect to time will be discussed numerically. Newly developed scheme applied to a two‐dimensional flow field and the governing Navier–Stokes equations in laminar regime are solved. Finite volume method together with non‐staggered curvilinear grid is a very effective approach to capture interface shape with time. Because of the interface shape, for any time advancement, a new grid is performed separately on each stratified field, liquid, and gas regime. The results are compared with the analytical characteristics method and one‐dimensional modeling. This comparison shows that solving the momentum equation including viscosity term leads to physically more realistic results. In addition, the newly developed method is capable of predicting two‐phase stratified flow behavior more precisely than one‐dimensional modeling. It was perceived that the surface tension has an inevitable role in dissipation of interface instability and convergence of the two‐phase flow model. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Capillary Water-Retention Framework for the Effective Stress Parameter Considering Hydraulic Hysteresis

Transport in Porous Media - The establishment of the representative elementary volume (REV) in studies of porous media is crucial for linking microscopic structure and pore-scale fluid...     

Effective Stress in Unsaturated Soils: A Thermodynamic Approach Based on the Interfacial Energy and Hydromechanical Coupling

In recent years, the effective stress approach has received much attention in the constitutive modeling of unsaturated soils. In this approach, the effective stress parameter is very important. This parameter needs a correct definition and has to be determined properly. In this paper, a thermodynamic approach is used to develop a physically-based formula for the effective stress tensor in unsaturated soils. This approach accounts for the hydro-mechanical coupling, which is quite important when dealing with hydraulic hysteresis in unsaturated soils. The resulting formula takes into account the role of interfacial energy and the contribution of air?Cwater specific interfacial area to the effective stress tensor. Moreover, a bi-quadratic surface is proposed to represent the contribution of the so-called suction stress in the effective stress tensor. It is shown that the proposed relationship for suction stress is in agreement with available experimental data in the full hydraulic cycle (drying, scanning, and wetting).     

EIT based tunable metal composite spherical nanoparticles

Optical polarizability of a composite metal–dielectric and dielectric–metal spherical nanoparticle is investigated in view of achieving all-optical tunability. In this work, the Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) implemented in the shell or core of the nanoparticle is used. For the proposed nanoparticle, we show that EIT phenomenon can be utilized to tune the resonance frequency in the frequency response of polarizability. We present a quasi-static analysis for determining polarizability of the nanoparticle. According to our simulation results, all-optical tunability of polarizability can be achieved for reasonable values of optical pump power. Also, we demonstrate how the extinction quality factor and electric field distribution can be controlled for the introduced nanoparticle.     

Further consideration of the shape-factor relationship for turbulent boundary layers

The lag-entrainment predictive scheme developed by Green et al. has been modified to include the pressure-gradient parameter Π₁. In the original model suggested by Green et al. the mass-flow shape factor H₁ is related to the common shape factor H, H₁ = f(H). In the present model H₁ is related to H, Reynolds number based on the local momentum thickness θ, and Π₁; thus H₁ = f(H, R_eθ, Π₁). The modified formula for H₁, is introduced into the original lag-entrainment integral model. Calculations are made to examine the present model for the predictions of the development of boundary layers approaching separation studied experimentally by the authors. Slightly improved predictions are obtained using the model developed by El Telbany et al. However, the present model proved to give an improved representation of the development of wall shear stress in cases the two-equation turbulence model proved to be unsuccessful.     

Fourier multipliers of classical modulation spaces

Based on the observation that translation invariant operators on modulation spaces are convolution operators we use techniques concerning pointwise multipliers for generalized Wiener amalgam spaces in order to give a complete characterization of the Fourier multipliers of modulation spaces. We deduce various applications, among them certain convolution relations between modulation spaces, as well as a short proof for a generalization of the main result of a recent paper by Bènyi et al., see [À. Bènyi, L. Grafakos, K. Gröchenig, K.A. Okoudjou, A class of Fourier multipliers for modulation spaces, Appl. Comput. Harmon. Anal. 19 (1) (2005) 131–139]. Finally, we show that any function with ([d/2]+1)-times bounded derivatives is a Fourier multiplier for all modulation spaces with p(1,∞) and q[1,∞].     

Measurements and model predictions of transient elongational rheology of polymeric nanocomposites

Transient elongational rheology of two commercial-grade polypropylene (PP) and the organoclay thermoplastic nanocomposites is investigated. A specifically designed fixture consisting of two drums (SER Universal Testing Platform) mounted on a TA Instruments ARES rotational rheometer was used to measure the transient uniaxial extensional viscosity of both polypropylene and nanoclay/PP melts. The Hencky strain rate was varied from 0.001 to 2 s^− 1, and the temperature was fixed at 180°C. The measurements show that the steady-state elongational viscosity was reached at the measured Hencky strains for the polymer and for the nanocomposites. The addition of nanoclay particles to the polymer melt was found to increase the elongation viscosity principally at low strain rates. For example, at a deformation rate of 0.3 s^− 1, the steady-state elongation viscosity for polypropylene was 1.4 × 10⁴ Pa s which was raised to 2.8 × 10⁴ and 4.5 × 10⁴ Pa s after addition of 0.5 and 1.5 vol.% nanoclay, respectively. A mesoscopic rheological model originally developed to predict the motion of ellipsoid particles in viscoelastic media was modified based on the recent developments by Eslami and Grmela (Rheol Acta 47:399–415, 2008) to take into account the polymer chain reptation. We show that the orientation states of the particles and the rheological behavior of the layered particles/thermoplastic hybrids can be quantitatively explained by the proposed model.