17,778 research outputs found
Liquid acrobatics
We experiment with injecting a continuous stream of gas into a shallow
liquid, similar to how one might blow into a straw placed at the bottom of a
near-empty drink. By varying the angle of the straw (here a metal needle), we
observe a variety of dynamics, which we film using a high-speed camera. Most
noteworthy is an intermediate regime in which cyclical jets erupt from the
air-liquid interface and breakup into air-born droplets. These droplets trace
out a parabolic trajectory and bounce on the air-liquid interface before
eventually coalescing. The shape of each jet, as well as the time between jets,
is remarkably similar and leads to droplets with nearly identical trajectories.
The following article accompanies the linked fluid dynamics video submitted to
the Gallery of Fluid Motion in 2008.Comment: Accompanies video submission to APS DFD 2008 Gallery of Fluid Motion,
low
http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/11469/3/Bird_DFD2008_mpeg1.mpg
, and high resolution
http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/11469/2/Bird_DFD2008_mpeg2.mp
Controlling Tokamak Geometry with 3D Magnetic Perturbations
It is shown that small externally applied magnetic perturbations can
significantly alter important geometric properties of magnetic flux surfaces in
tokamaks. Through 3D shaping, experimentally relevant perturbation levels are
large enough to influence turbulent transport and MHD stability in the pedestal
region. It is shown that the dominant pitch-resonant flux surface deformations
are primarily induced by non-resonant 3D fields, particularly in the presence
of significant axisymmetric shaping. The spectral content of the applied 3D
field can be used to control these effects
Ultrasonic wave propagation in heterogenous media
The non-destructive testing of austenitic steel welds using ultrasound is of vital importance for assessing safety critical structures such as those found in the nuclear industry. The internal geometry of these welds is heterogeneous and highly scattering and this makes it dicult to detect and characterise any defects within them. To help overcome these diculties the use of ultrasound transducer arrays and the associated Full Matrix Capture is becoming more widespread. There is a need therefore to develop post-processing algorithms that best utilise the data from such devices. This paper considers the use of a time-frequency domain method known as the Decomposition of the Time Reversal Operator (DORT) method. To develop this method and to demonstrate its ecacy in tackling this problem a series of simulated data sets are used. The simulated data is generated using a finite element method (PZFLEX) with the heterogeneous internal microstructure of the weld being given by previous Electron Backscatter Diraction measurements. A range of artificial flaws are then inserted into this geometry. By varying the flaw size and type a comparison is conducted between the DORT method and the Total Focusing Method (TFM) and their relative ability to perform flaw detection assessed. Importantly, however, the DORT method relies on a Singular Value Decomposition in time and frequency space and this spectral information contains information about the flaw size and shape
Flow transitions in two-dimensional foams
For sufficiently slow rates of strain, flowing foam can exhibit inhomogeneous
flows. The nature of these flows is an area of active study in both
two-dimensional model foams and three dimensional foam. Recent work in
three-dimensional foam has identified three distinct regimes of flow [S. Rodts,
J. C. Baudez, and P. Coussot, Europhys. Lett. {\bf 69}, 636 (2005)]. Two of
these regimes are identified with continuum behavior (full flow and
shear-banding), and the third regime is identified as a discrete regime
exhibiting extreme localization. In this paper, the discrete regime is studied
in more detail using a model two dimensional foam: a bubble raft. We
characterize the behavior of the bubble raft subjected to a constant rate of
strain as a function of time, system size, and applied rate of strain. We
observe localized flow that is consistent with the coexistence of a power-law
fluid with rigid body rotation. As a function of applied rate of strain, there
is a transition from a continuum description of the flow to discrete flow when
the thickness of the flow region is approximately 10 bubbles. This occurs at an
applied rotation rate of approximately
Is resilience a normative concept?
In this paper, we engage with the question of the normative content of the resilience concept. The issues are approached in two consecutive steps. First, we proceed from a narrow construal of the resilience concept – as the ability of a system to absorb a disturbance – and show that under an analysis of normative concepts as evaluative concepts resilience comes out as descriptive. In the second part of the paper, we argue that (1) for systems of interest (primarily social systems or system with a social component) we seem to have options with respect to how they are described and (2) that this matters for what is to be taken as a sign of resilience as opposed to a sign of the lack of resilience for such systems. We discuss the implications of this for how the concept should be applied in practice and suggest that users of the resilience concept face a choice between versions of the concept that are either ontologically or normatively charged
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