A model for crack formation during active solid pyrolysis of a char-forming solid: crack patterns; surface area generation; volatile mass efflux

A model is developed for the formation and propagation of cracks in a material sample that is heated at its top surface, pyrolyses, and then thermally degrades to form char. In this work the sample is heated uniformly over its entire top surface by a hypothetical flame (a heat source). The pyrolysis mechanism is described by a one-step overall reaction that is dependent nonlinearly on the temperature (Arrhenius form). Stresses develop in response to the thermal degradation of the material by means of a shrinkage strain caused by local mass loss during pyrolysis. When the principal stress exceeds a prescribed threshold value, the material forms a local crack. Cracks are found to generally originate at the surface in response to heating, but occasionally they form in the bulk, away from ever-changing material boundaries. The resulting cracks evolve and form patterns whose characteristics are described. Quantities examined in detail are: the crack spacing in the pyrolysis zone; the crack length evolution; the formation and nature of crack loops which are defined as individual cracks that have joined to form loops that are disconnected from the remaining material; the formation of enhanced pyrolysis area; and the impact of all of the former quantities on mass flux. It is determined that the mass flux from the sample can be greatly enhanced over its nominal (non-cracking) counterpart. The mass efflux profile qualitatively resembles those observed in Cone Calorimeter tests.     

Propagation of the Hermite–Gaussian beams through misaligned optical system with a circular aperture

By means of expanding a hard-edged aperture into a finite sum of complex Gaussian functions, the approximate analytical formula of one kind of higher-order Gaussian beams called the Hermite–Gaussian beams (HGBs) passing through circular apertured and misaligned optical system is obtained in this paper. The result provides more convenience for studying its propagation than the usual way by using diffraction integral directly. Some numerical simulations are also given for illustrating the propagation properties of the HGBs through the circular apertured optical systems.     

Cyclic permutations and evolutionary trees

Given a tree with leaf set X, there are certain ways of arranging the elements of X in a circular order so that can be embedded in the plane and ‘preserve’ this ordering. We investigate some new combinatorial properties of these ‘circular orderings.’ We then use these properties to establish two results concerning dissimilarity maps on X that are induced by edge-weighted trees with leaf set X.     

Closed-form solutions for a rectangular layer with central crack under anti-plane shear stress

We consider the problem of determining the stress distributionin a finite rectangular elastic layer containing a Griffithcrack which is opened by internal shear stress acting alongthe length of the crack. The mode III crack is assumed to belocated in the middle plane of the rectangular layer. The followingtwo problems are considered: (A) the central crack is perpendicularto the two fixed lateral surfaces and parallel to the othertwo stress-free surfaces; (B) all the lateral surfaces of therectangular layer are clamped and the central crack is parallelto the two lateral surfaces. By using Fourier transformations,we reduce the solution of each problem to the solution of dualintegral equations with sine kernels and a weight function whichare solved exactly. Finally, we derive closed-form expressionsfor the stress intensity factor at the tip of the crack andthe numerical values for the stress intensity factor at theedges of the cracks are presented in the form of tables.     

In-Situ Intrinsic Interface Strength Measurement at Elevated Temperatures and its Relationship to Interfacial Structure

A previously developed laser spallation technique has been modified to measure the tensile strength of thin film interfaces in-situ at temperatures up to 1100°C. Tensile strengths of Nb/A-plane sapphire, FeCrAl/A-plane sapphire and FeCrAlY/A-plane sapphire were measured up to 950°C. The measured strengths at high temperatures were substantially lower compared with their corresponding strengths at ambient temperature. For example, at 850°C, the interface tensile strength for the Nb/sapphire (151 ± 17 MPa), FeCrAl/sapphire (62 ± 8 MPa) and FeCrAlY/sapphire (82 ± 11 MPa) interface systems were lower by factors of approximately, 3, 5, and 8, respectively, over their corresponding ambient values. These results underscore the importance of using such in-situ measured values under operating conditions as the failure criterion in any life prediction or reliability models of such coated systems where local interface temperature excursions are expected. The results on alloy film interfaces also demonstrate that the presence of Y increases the strength of FeCrAl/Al₂O₃ interfaces.     

Shape sensitivity of a plane crack front

The 3D‐elasticity model of a solid with a plane crack under the stress‐free boundary conditions at the crack is considered. We investigate variations of a solution and of energy functionals with respect to perturbations of the crack front in the plane. The corresponding expansions at least up to the second‐order terms are obtained. The strong derivatives of the solution are constructed as an iterative solution of the same elasticity problem with specified right‐hand sides. Using the expansion of the potential and surface energy, we consider an approximate quadratic form for local shape optimization of the crack front defined by the Griffith criterion. To specify its properties, a procedure of discrete optimization is proposed, which reduces to a matrix variational inequality. At least for a small load we prove its solvability and find a quasi‐static model of the crack growth depending on the loading parameter. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of the Lazarus-Leblond constants in the asymptotic model of the interfacial wavy crack

The paper addresses the problem of a semi-infinite plane crack along the interface between two isotropic half-spaces. Two methods of solution have been considered in the past: Lazarus and Leblond [1998a. Three-dimensional crack-face weight functions for the semi-infinite interface crack-I: variation of the stress intensity factors due to some small perturbation of the crack front. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 46, 489-511, 1998b. Three-dimensional crack-face weight functions for the semi-infinite interface crack-II: integrodifferential equations on the weight functions and resolution J. Mech. Phys. Solids 46, 513-536] applied the “special” method by Bueckner [1987. Weight functions and fundamental fields for the penny-shaped and the half-plane crack in three space. Int. J. Solids Struct. 23, 57-93] and found the expression of the variation of the stress intensity factors for a wavy crack without solving the complete elasticity problem; their solution is expressed in terms of the physical variables, and it involves five constants whose analytical representation was unknown; on the other hand, the “general” solution to the problem has been recently addressed by Bercial-Velez et al. [2005. High-order asymptotics and perturbation problems for 3D interfacial cracks. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 53, 1128-1162], using a Wiener-Hopf analysis and singular asymptotics near the crack front.The main goal of the present paper is to complete the solution to the problem by providing the connection between the two methods. This is done by constructing an integral representation for Lazarus-Leblond's weight functions and by deriving the closed form representations of Lazarus-Leblond's constants.     

A study of type I intermittency of a circular differential equation under a discontinuous right-hand side

In this paper we study a circular differential equation under a discontinuous periodic input, developing a quadratic differential equations system on S¹ and a linear differential equations system in the Minkowski space M³. The symmetry groups of these two systems are, respectively, PSOo(2,1) and SOo(2,1). The Poincaré circle map is constructed exactly, and a critical value αc of the parameter is identified. Depending on α of the input amplitude the equation may exhibit periodic, subharmonic or quasiperiodic motions. When α varies from α>αc to α<αc, there undergoes an inverse tangent bifurcation; consequently, the resultant Poincaré circle map offers one route to the quasiperiodicity via a type I intermittency. In the parameter range of α<αc the orbit generated by the Poincaré circle map is either m-periodic or quasiperiodic when n/m is a rational or an irrational number.     

Several parameters of generalized Mycielskians

The generalized Mycielskians (also known as cones over graphs) are the natural generalization of the Mycielski graphs (which were first introduced by Mycielski in 1955). Given a graph G and any integer m?0, one can transform G into a new graph μ_m(G), the generalized Mycielskian of G. This paper investigates circular clique number, total domination number, open packing number, fractional open packing number, vertex cover number, determinant, spectrum, and biclique partition number of μ_m(G).     

Flat-top interleavers with chromatic dispersion compensator based on phase dispersive free space Mach-Zehnder interferometer

In this paper, novel interleavers using circular cavities (CC) in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) has been presented and demonstrated for the first time, in which CCs act as phase dispersive mirrors which exhibit a periodic dependence on the frequency of light. Three implementation schemes have been proposed and investigated. Theoretical analysis shows the spectral characteristics of each scheme in a 50-GHz channel spacing application. Furthermore, the chromatic dispersion (CD) of each output comb can be flattened within passband by appending an additional CC. The result shows that the proposed designs with novel interferometer technique can simultaneously provide flat top passbands, high isolation stopband and low CD value as well.