573 research outputs found
Transverse flow in thin superhydrophobic channels
We provide some general theoretical results to guide the optimization of
transverse hydrodynamic phenomena in superhydrophobic channels. Our focus is on
the canonical micro- and nanofluidic geometry of a parallel-plate channel with
an arbitrary two-component (low-slip and high-slip) coarse texture, varying on
scales larger than the channel thickness. By analyzing rigorous bounds on the
permeability, over all possible patterns, we optimize the area fractions, slip
lengths, geometry and orientation of the surface texture to maximize transverse
flow. In the case of two aligned striped surfaces, very strong transverse flows
are possible. Optimized superhydrophobic surfaces may find applications in
passive microfluidic mixing and amplification of transverse electrokinetic
phenomena.Comment: 4 page
Rate-dependent morphology of Li2O2 growth in Li-O2 batteries
Compact solid discharge products enable energy storage devices with high
gravimetric and volumetric energy densities, but solid deposits on active
surfaces can disturb charge transport and induce mechanical stress. In this
Letter we develop a nanoscale continuum model for the growth of Li2O2 crystals
in lithium-oxygen batteries with organic electrolytes, based on a theory of
electrochemical non-equilibrium thermodynamics originally applied to Li-ion
batteries. As in the case of lithium insertion in phase-separating LiFePO4
nanoparticles, the theory predicts a transition from complex to uniform
morphologies of Li2O2 with increasing current. Discrete particle growth at low
discharge rates becomes suppressed at high rates, resulting in a film of
electronically insulating Li2O2 that limits cell performance. We predict that
the transition between these surface growth modes occurs at current densities
close to the exchange current density of the cathode reaction, consistent with
experimental observations.Comment: 8 pages, 6 fig
Nucleation of cracks in a brittle sheet
We use molecular dynamics to study the nucleation of cracks in a two
dimensional material without pre-existing cracks. We study models with zero and
non-zero shear modulus. In both situations the time required for crack
formation obeys an Arrhenius law, from which the energy barrier and pre-factor
are extracted for different system sizes. For large systems, the characteristic
time of rupture is found to decrease with system size, in agreement with
classical Weibull theory. In the case of zero shear modulus, the energy
opposing rupture is identified with the breakage of a single atomic layer. In
the case of non-zero shear modulus, thermally activated fracture can only be
studied within a reasonable time at very high strains. In this case the energy
barrier involves the stretching of bonds within several layers, accounting for
a much higher barrier compared to the zero shear modulus case. This barrier is
understood within adiabatic simulations
Role of disorder in the size-scaling of material strength
We study the sample size dependence of the strength of disordered materials
with a flaw, by numerical simulations of lattice models for fracture. We find a
crossover between a regime controlled by the fluctuations due to disorder and
another controlled by stress-concentrations, ruled by continuum fracture
mechanics. The results are formulated in terms of a scaling law involving a
statistical fracture process zone. Its existence and scaling properties are
only revealed by sampling over many configurations of the disorder. The scaling
law is in good agreement with experimental results obtained from notched paper
samples.Comment: 4 pages 5 figure
Nonlinear Dynamics of Capacitive Charging and Desalination by Porous Electrodes
The rapid and efficient exchange of ions between porous electrodes and
aqueous solutions is important in many applications, such as electrical energy
storage by super-capacitors, water desalination and purification by capacitive
deionization (or desalination), and capacitive extraction of renewable energy
from a salinity difference. Here, we present a unified mean-field theory for
capacitive charging and desalination by ideally polarizable porous electrodes
(without Faradaic reactions or specific adsorption of ions) in the limit of
thin double layers (compared to typical pore dimensions). We illustrate the
theory in the case of a dilute, symmetric, binary electrolyte using the
Gouy-Chapman-Stern (GCS) model of the double layer, for which simple formulae
are available for salt adsorption and capacitive charging of the diffuse part
of the double layer. We solve the full GCS mean-field theory numerically for
realistic parameters in capacitive deionization, and we derive reduced models
for two limiting regimes with different time scales: (i) In the
"super-capacitor regime" of small voltages and/or early times where the porous
electrode acts like a transmission line, governed by a linear diffusion
equation for the electrostatic potential, scaled to the RC time of a single
pore. (ii) In the "desalination regime" of large voltages and long times, the
porous electrode slowly adsorbs neutral salt, governed by coupled, nonlinear
diffusion equations for the pore-averaged potential and salt concentration
Rugged potential of mean force and underscreening of polarizable colloids in concentrated electrolytes
This study uses advanced numerical methods to estimate the mean force
potential (PMF) between charged, polarizable colloidal particles in dense
electrolytes. We observe that when the Debye screening length,
, is below the hydrated ion size, the PMF shows
discernible oscillations, contrasting with the expected decay in DLVO theory.
Our findings provide evidence for the existence of anomalous underscreening in
electrostatically stabilized suspensions, potentially having significant
implications for our understanding of colloidal stability and the forces that
govern the behavior of concentrated charged soft matter systems beyond DLVO
theory
Non local damage model Boundary and evolving boundary effects
International audienceThe present contribution aims at providing a closer insight on boundary effects in non local damage modelling. From micromechanics, we show that on a boundary interaction stress components normal to the surface should vanish. These interaction stresses are at the origin of non locality and therefore the material response of points located on the boundary should be partially local. Then, we discuss a tentative modification of the classical non local damage model aimed at accounting for this effect due to existing boundaries and also boundaries that arise from crack propagation. One-dimensional computations show that the profiles of damage are quite different compared to those obtained with the original formulation. The region in which damage is equal to 1 is small. The modified model performs better at complete failure, with a consistent description of discontinuity of the displacement field after failure
Torsional-flexural buckling of unevenly battened columns under eccentrical compressive loading
In this paper, an analytical model is developed to determine the torsional-flexural buckling load of a channel column braced by unevenly distributed batten plates. Solutions of the critical-buckling loads were derived for three boundary cases using the energy method in which the rotating angle between the adjacent battens was presented in the form of a piecewise cubic Hermite interpolation (PCHI) for unequally spaced battens. The validity of the PCHI method was numerically verified by the classic analytical approach for evenly battened
columns and a finite-element analysis for unevenly battened ones, respectively. Parameter studies were then performed to examine the effects of loading eccentricities on the torsional-flexural buckling capacity of both evenly and unevenly battened columns. Design parameters taken into account were the ratios of pure torsional buckling load to pure flexural–buckling load, the number and position of battens, and the ratio of the relative extent of the eccentricity. Numerical results were summarized into a series of relative curves indicating the combination of the buckling load and corresponding moments for various buckling ratios.National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under grant number (No.) 51175442 and Sichuan International Cooperation Research Project under grant No. 2014HH002
Modeling of Covalent Bonding in Solids by Inversion of Cohesive Energy Curves
We provide a systematic test of empirical theories of covalent bonding in
solids using an exact procedure to invert ab initio cohesive energy curves. By
considering multiple structures of the same material, it is possible for the
first time to test competing angular functions, expose inconsistencies in the
basic assumption of a cluster expansion, and extract general features of
covalent bonding. We test our methods on silicon, and provide the direct
evidence that the Tersoff-type bond order formalism correctly describes
coordination dependence. For bond-bending forces, we obtain skewed angular
functions that favor small angles, unlike existing models. As a
proof-of-principle demonstration, we derive a Si interatomic potential which
exhibits comparable accuracy to existing models.Comment: 4 pages revtex (twocolumn, psfig), 3 figures. Title and some wording
(but no content) changed since original submission on 24 April 199
- …