125,527 research outputs found
Surface flow profiles for dry and wet granular materials by Particle Tracking Velocimetry; the effect of wall roughness
Two-dimensional Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) is a promising technique
to study the behaviour of granular flows. The aim is to experimentally
determine the free surface width and position of the shear band from the
velocity profile to validate simulations in a split-bottom shear cell geometry.
The position and velocities of scattered tracer particles are tracked as they
move with the bulk flow by analyzing images. We then use a new technique to
extract the continuum velocity field, applying coarse-graining with the
postprocessing toolbox MercuryCG on the discrete experimental PTV data. For
intermediate filling heights, the dependence of the shear (or angular) velocity
on the radial coordinate at the free surface is well fitted by an error
function. From the error function, we get the width and the centre position of
the shear band. We investigate the dependence of these shear band properties on
filling height and rotation frequencies of the shear cell for dry glass beads
for rough and smooth wall surfaces. For rough surfaces, the data agrees with
the existing experimental results and theoretical scaling predictions. For
smooth surfaces, particle-wall slippage is significant and the data deviates
from the predictions. We further study the effect of cohesion on the shear band
properties by using small amount of silicon oil and glycerol as interstitial
liquids with the glass beads. While silicon oil does not lead to big changes,
glycerol changes the shear band properties considerably. The shear band gets
wider and is situated further inward with increasing liquid saturation, due to
the correspondingly increasing trend of particles to stick together
Numerical investigation of the energy performance of a guideless irregular heat and mass exchanger with corrugated heat transfer surface for dew point cooling
© 2016 The Author(s) The paper presents an investigation into the energy performance of a novel irregular heat and mass exchanger for dew point cooling which, compared to the existing flat-plate heat exchangers, removed the use of the channel supporting guides and implemented the corrugated heat transfer surface, thus expecting to achieve the reduced air flow resistance, increased heat transfer area, and improved energy efficiency (i.e. Coefficient of Performance (COP)) of the air cooling process. CFD simulation was carried out to determine the flow resistance (K) factors of various elements within the dry and wet channels of the exchanger, while the ‘finite-element’ based ‘Newton-iteration’ numerical simulation was undertaken to investigate its cooling capacity, cooling effectiveness and COP at various geometrical and operational conditions. Compared to the existing flat-plate heat and mass exchangers with the same geometrical dimensions and operational conditions, the new irregular exchanger could achieve 32.9%–37% higher cooling capacity, dew-point and wet-bulb effectiveness, 29.7%–33.3% higher COP, and 55.8%–56.2% lower pressure drop. While undertaking dew point air cooling, the irregular heat and mass exchanger had the optimum air velocity of 1 m/s within the flow channels and working-to-intake air ratio of 0.3, which allowed the highest cooling capacity and COP to be achieved. In terms of the exchanger dimensions, the optimum height of the channel was 5 mm while its length was in the range 1–2 m. Overall, the proposed irregular heat and mass exchanger could lead to significant enhanced energy performance compared to the existing flat-plate dew point cooling heat exchanger of the same geometrical dimensions. To achieve the same amount cooling output, the irregular heat and mass exchanger had the reduced size and cost against the flat-plate ones
A statistical technique for determining rainfall over land employing Nimbus-6 ESMR measurements
An empirical method was employed to delineate synoptic scale rainfall over land utilizing Nimbus-6 ESMR measurements
Diagnosis of Local Land-Atmosphere Feedbacks in India
Following the convective triggering potential (CTP)–humidity index (HIlow) framework by Findell and Eltahir, the sensitivity of atmospheric convection to soil moisture conditions is studied for India. Using the same slab model as Findell and Eltahir, atmospheric conditions in which the land surface state affects convective precipitation are determined. For India, CTP–HIlow thresholds for land surface–atmosphere feedbacks are shown to be slightly different than for the United States. Using atmospheric sounding data from 1975 to 2009, the seasonal and spatial variations in feedback strength have been assessed. The patterns of feedback strengths thus obtained have been analyzed in relation to the monsoon timing. During the monsoon season, atmospheric conditions where soil moisture positively influences precipitation are present about 25% of the time. During onset and retreat of the monsoon, the south and east of India show more potential for feedbacks than the north. These feedbacks suggest that large-scale irrigation in the south and east may increase local precipitation. To test this, precipitation data (from 1960 to 2004) for the period about three weeks just before the monsoon onset date have been studied. A positive trend in the precipitation just before the monsoon onset is found for irrigated stations. It is shown that for irrigated stations, the trend in the precipitation just before the monsoon onset is positive for the period 1960–2004. For nonirrigated stations, there is no such upward trend in this period. The precipitation trend for irrigated areas might be due to a positive trend in the extent of irrigated areas, with land–atmosphere feedbacks inducing increased precipitation
Capillary Condensation in Confined Media
We review here the physics of capillary condensation of liquids in confined
media, with a special regard to the application in nanotechnologies. The
thermodynamics of capillary condensation and thin film adsorption are first
exposed along with all the relevant notions. The focus is then shifted to the
modelling of capillary forces, to their measurements techniques (including SFA,
AFM and crack tips) and to their influence on AFM imaging techniques as well as
on the static and dynamic friction properties of solids (including granular
heaps and sliding nanocontacts). A great attention is spent in investigating
the delicate role of the surface roughness and all the difficulties involved in
the reduction of the probe size to nanometric dimensions. Another major
consequence of capillary condensation in nanosystems is the activation of
several chemical and corrosive processes that can significantly alter the
surface properties, such as dissolution/redeposition of solid materials and
stress-corrosion crack propagation.Comment: 28 pages - To appear in 2010 in the Handbook of Nanophysics - Vol 1 -
Edited by Klaus Sattler - CRC Pres
Wheel/Rail Contact Isolation Due to Track Contamination
An experimental study has been carried out to
investigate the effect of sanding on the electrical
isolation of a wheel/rail contact. Sand is applied to the
wheel/rail interface to increase adhesion in both braking
and traction. Train detection, for signalling purposes,
can be by means of track circuits. Signalling block
occupancy is triggered by the wheelset of the train
‘shorting out’ the track circuit. Sand in the wheel/rail
interface means that contact between the wheelsets and
the track may be compromised, inhibiting train
identification.
Static tests were performed using sections cut
from wheels and rail and dynamic tests on a twin disc
machine where rail and wheel steel discs are loaded
together and driven under controlled conditions of
rolling and slip. The electrical circuit used was a
simplified simulation of the TI21 track circuit.
The application of sand was carried out under a
range of mild and severe test conditions. The results
indicated that a transition exists in the amount of sand
applied, below which there is a measurable, but not
severe, change in voltage, but above which the contact
conductance decreases by an order of magnitude. A
model of electrical isolation has been developed
assuming either full disc separation by a sand layer or
partial disc contact with some sand present.
Idealisations inherent in both test methods mean
that they represent a severe case. Given these
limitations, it is likely that the test methods, at their
present stage of development, should be used as a
means to qualitatively assess the relative effects on
electrical isolation of different contaminants
Understanding the friction mechanisms between the human finger and flat contacting surfaces in moist conditions
Human hands sweat in different circumstances and the presence of sweat can alter the friction between the hand and contacting surface. It is, therefore, important to understand how hand moisture varies between people, during different activities and the effect of this on friction. In this study, a survey of fingertip moisture was done. Friction tests were then carried out to investigate the effect of moisture. Moisture was added to the surface of the finger, the finger was soaked in water, and water was added to the counter-surface; the friction of the contact was then measured. It was found that the friction increased, up until a certain level of moisture and then decreased. The increase in friction has previously been explained by viscous shearing, water absorption and capillary adhesion. The results from the experiments enabled the mechanisms to be investigated analytically. This study found that water absorption is the principle mechanism responsible for the increase in friction, followed by capillary adhesion, although it was not conclusively proved that this contributes significantly. Both these mechanisms increase friction by increasing the area of contact and therefore adhesion. Viscous shearing in the liquid bridges has negligible effect. There are, however, many limitations in the modelling that need further exploration
Survey on awareness and understanding on goods and services tax
The purpose of this study is to determine the level of public awareness on the implementation of good and services tax (GST) and public understanding on issues of GST. The data was collected from citizens in Parit Raja, Batu Pahat. The methods applied for this study are descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Cramer’s Contingency Coefficient test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The results from this study show that majority of the respondents, aware about the GST but their understanding about GST is low
Preparation and attachment of liquid-infused porous supra-particles to liquid interfaces
© 2016 The Royal Society of Chemistry. We prepared model porous composite supra-particles and investigated the effect of the initial infused fluid phase on their attachment at the liquid-fluid interface. We used a simple method for fabrication of millimetre-sized spherical porous supra-particles from much smaller monodisperse latex microparticles as building blocks by evaporation of a polystyrene sulphate latex suspension on a hot super-hydrophobic surface. We annealed the dried supra-particles at the polymer's glass transition temperature to fuse partially their latex particle building blocks. Spherical porous supra-particles were produced above 40 wt% initial concentration of the latex particles in the suspension, which had a rough surface, with a porous and amorphous structure. We controlled the supra-particle size by varying the initial volume of the latex suspension drop, the latex particle concentration and the drop evaporation temperature. This preparation technique allowed limited control over the porosity of the supra-particles by varying the initial concentration of the latex particle suspension, the rate of evaporation and the annealing temperature. We characterised the surface morphology and the inner structure of supra-particles by SEM imaging. We report for the first time results of an MRI study of supra-particles attached to an air-water or an oil-water interface, which indicated that only the surface layer of the building block particles attaches to the liquid interface while the pore fluid was not displaced by the outer fluid. We observed that supra-particles infused with water had different wettability and attachment positions at the oil-water interface compared with the same particles infused with oil. Similarly, the infusion of the porous supra-particles with water led to a different attachment at the air-water interface compared to the attachment of the same supra-particle when dry. The fundamental importance of this result is that the porous particles (or colloid particle agglomerates) may give an oil-in-water or water-in-oil Pickering emulsion depending on whether they are initially impregnated with oil or water. The results of this study are relevant for particle-stabilised emulsions and foams in a range of pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic formulations as well as ore flotation
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