205 research outputs found
Capillary wave turbulence on a spherical fluid surface in low gravity
We report the observation of capillary wave turbulence on the surface of a
fluid layer in a low-gravity environment. In such conditions, the fluid covers
all the internal surface of the spherical container which is submitted to
random forcing. The surface wave amplitude displays power-law spectrum over two
decades in frequency, corresponding to wavelength from to a few . This
spectrum is found in roughly good agreement with wave turbulence theory. Such a
large scale observation without gravity waves has never been reached during
ground experiments. When the forcing is periodic, two-dimensional spherical
patterns are observed on the fluid surface such as subharmonic stripes or
hexagons with wavelength satisfying the capillary wave dispersion relation
Observation of gravity-capillary wave turbulence
We report the observation of the cross-over between gravity and capillary
wave turbulence on the surface of mercury. The probability density functions of
the turbulent wave height are found to be asymmetric and thus non Gaussian. The
surface wave height displays power-law spectra in both regimes. In the
capillary region, the exponent is in fair agreement with weak turbulence
theory. In the gravity region, it depends on the forcing parameters. This can
be related to the finite size of the container. In addition, the scaling of
those spectra with the mean energy flux is found in disagreement with weak
turbulence theory for both regimes
A numerical model of the VKS experiment
We present numerical simulations of the magnetic field generated by the flow
of liquid sodium driven by two counter-rotating impellers (VKS experiment).
Using a dynamo kinematic code in cylindrical geometry, it is shown that
different magnetic modes can be generated depending on the flow configuration.
While the time averaged axisymmetric mean flow generates an equatorial dipole,
our simulations show that an axial field of either dipolar or quadrupolar
symmetry can be generated by taking into account non-axisymmetric components of
the flow. Moreover, we show that by breaking a symmetry of the flow, the
magnetic field becomes oscillatory. This leads to reversals of the axial dipole
polarity, involving a competition with the quadrupolar component.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Chaotic magnetic field reversals in turbulent dynamos
We present direct numerical simulations of reversals of the magnetic field
generated by swirling flows in a spherical domain. In agreement with a recent
model, we observe that coupling dipolar and quadrupolar magnetic modes by an
asymmetric forcing of the flow generates field reversals. In addition, we show
that this mechanism strongly depends on the value of the magnetic Prandtl
number.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Observation of intermittency in wave turbulence
We report the observation of intermittency in gravity-capillary wave
turbulence on the surface of mercury. We measure the temporal fluctuations of
surface wave amplitude at a given location. We show that the shape of the
probability density function of the local slope increments of the surface waves
strongly changes across the time scales. The related structure functions and
the flatness are found to be power laws of the time scale on more than one
decade. The exponents of these power laws increase nonlinearly with the order
of the structure function. All these observations show the intermittent nature
of the increments of the local slope in wave turbulence. We discuss the
possible origin of this intermittency.Comment: new version to Phys. Rev. Let
A simple mechanism for the reversals of Earth's magnetic field
We show that a model, recently used to describe all the dynamical regimes of
the magnetic field generated by the dynamo effect in the VKS experiment [1],
also provides a simple explanation of the reversals of Earth's magnetic field,
despite strong differences between both systems.Comment: update version, with new figure
On the magnetic fields generated by experimental dynamos
We review the results obtained by three successful fluid dynamo experiments
and discuss what has been learnt from them about the effect of turbulence on
the dynamo threshold and saturation. We then discuss several questions that are
still open and propose experiments that could be performed to answer some of
them.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figure
Convective Motion in a Vibrated Granular Layer
Experimental results are presented for a vertically shaken granular layer. In
the range of accelerations explored, the layer develops a convective motion in
the form of one or more rolls. The velocity of the grains near the wall has
been measured. It grows linearly with the acceleration, then the growing rate
slows down. A rescaling with the amplitude of the wall velocity and the height
of the granular layer makes all data collapse in a single curve. This can
provide insights on the mechanism driving the motion.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
ITER LHe Plants Parallel Operation
AbstractThe ITER Cryogenic System includes three identical liquid helium (LHe) plants, with a total average cooling capacity equivalent to 75kW at 4.5K.The LHe plants provide the 4.5 K cooling power to the magnets and cryopumps. They are designed to operate in parallel and to handle heavy load variations.In this proceedingwe will describe the presentstatusof the ITER LHe plants with emphasis on i) the project schedule, ii) the plantscharacteristics/layout and iii) the basic principles and control strategies for a stable operation of the three LHe plants in parallel
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