1,851 research outputs found
Bleed-induced distortion in axial compressors
In this paper, the influence of nonuniform bleed extraction on the stability of an axial flow compressor is quantified. Nonuniformity can be caused by several geometric factors (for example, plenum chamber size or number of off-take ducts), and a range of configurations is examined experimentally in a single stage compressor. It is shown that nonuniform bleed leads to a circumferential distribution of flow coefficient and swirl angle at inlet to the downstream stage. The resultant distribution of rotor incidence causes stall to occur at a higher flow coefficient than if the same total bleed rate had been extracted uniformly around the circumference. A connection is made between the analysis of nonuniform bleed extraction and the familiar DCθ criterion used to characterize inlet total pressure distortion. The loss of operating range caused by the nonuniform inlet flow correlates with the peak sector-averaged bleed nonuniformity for all the bleed configurations tested.This is a metadata record relating to an article that cannot be shared due to publisher copyright
New periodic orbits in the solar sail three-body problem
We identify displaced periodic orbits in the circular restricted three-body problem, wher the third (small) body is a solar sail. In particular, we consider solar sail orbits in the earth-sun system which are high above the exliptic plane. It is shown that periodic orbits about surfaces of artificial equilibria are naturally present at linear order. Using the method of Lindstedt-Poincare, we construct nth order approximations to periodic solutions of the nonlinear equations of motion. In the second part of the paper we generalize to the solar sail elliptical restricted three-body problem. A numerical continuation, with the eccentricity, e, as the varying parameter, is used to find periodic orbits above the ecliptic, starting from a known orbit at e=0 and continuing to the requied eccentricity of e=0.0167. The stability of these periodic orbits is investigated
The Modulation of Multiple Phases Leading to the Modified KdV Equation
This paper seeks to derive the modified KdV (mKdV) equation using a novel
approach from systems generated from abstract Lagrangians that possess a
two-parameter symmetry group. The method to do uses a modified modulation
approach, which results in the mKdV emerging with coefficients related to the
conservation laws possessed by the original Lagrangian system. Alongside this,
an adaptation of the method of Kuramoto is developed, providing a simpler
mechanism to determine the coefficients of the nonlinear term. The theory is
illustrated using two examples of physical interest, one in stratified
hydrodynamics and another using a coupled Nonlinear Schr\"odinger model, to
illustrate how the criterion for the mKdV equation to emerge may be assessed
and its coefficients generated.Comment: 35 pages, 5 figure
Language and the development of intercultural competence in an 'internationalised' university: staff and student perspectives
Within the currently diverse UK higher education environment, one important aspect of learning is the development of intercultural competence. The study that informs this paper investigated the ways intercultural competence was perceived as being enhanced or inhibited through current language and educational practices at a university that positions itself as internationally engaged and globally recognised. The project employed a multiple-case study design, examining eight academic programmes drawn from four different broad disciplinary groupings: social sciences, science, engineering, and management. Data were collected through individual, focus group and stimulated recall interviews, the latter using class observation recordings as a stimulus. The study revealed the ways in which language was exploited by both staff and students to convey particular meanings within an intercultural context. It was found that language choices, register and style were perceived as contributing to the pragmatic impact of either reinforcing barriers to or promoting intercultural competence development
Transcritical flow of a stratified fluid over topography: analysis of the forced Gardner equation
Transcritical flow of a stratified fluid past a broad localised topographic
obstacle is studied analytically in the framework of the forced extended
Korteweg--de Vries (eKdV), or Gardner, equation. We consider both possible
signs for the cubic nonlinear term in the Gardner equation corresponding to
different fluid density stratification profiles. We identify the range of the
input parameters: the oncoming flow speed (the Froude number) and the
topographic amplitude, for which the obstacle supports a stationary localised
hydraulic transition from the subcritical flow upstream to the supercritical
flow downstream. Such a localised transcritical flow is resolved back into the
equilibrium flow state away from the obstacle with the aid of unsteady coherent
nonlinear wave structures propagating upstream and downstream. Along with the
regular, cnoidal undular bores occurring in the analogous problem for the
single-layer flow modeled by the forced KdV equation, the transcritical
internal wave flows support a diverse family of upstream and downstream wave
structures, including solibores, rarefaction waves, reversed and trigonometric
undular bores, which we describe using the recent development of the nonlinear
modulation theory for the (unforced) Gardner equation. The predictions of the
developed analytic construction are confirmed by direct numerical simulations
of the forced Gardner equation for a broad range of input parameters.Comment: 34 pages, 24 figure
RELIABILITY ASSESMENT OF KINEMATIC VARIABLES IN THE MOTION ANALYSIS OF FEMALE SPRINT HURDLES
INTRODUCTION: There has been very little attention paid to the reliability of motion analysis in sport applications. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of kinematic variables in practical applied sports research utilising sprint hurdles.
METHODS: Eight sprint hurdle clearances each from four national level female athletes were videotaped and digitised. The 3-D measurement set-up follows the procedure reported by Salo et al. (1997). Following the calculation of 28 kinematic variables, the reliability of the mean of eight trials was determined by using the ANOVA method (Vincent, 1995). The reliability of a certain number of measurements were estimated using the equation presented in Baumgartner (1989).
RESULTS: The range of the reliability values across the eight trials [R(8)] and a single trial [R(1)] as well as the number of variables to gain different reliability levels when estimated from a different number of measurements are presented in table 1.
{Table 1.}
DISCUSSION: There are no absolute categories or significance test for reliability. However, the estimated R(1) showed that a single trial is not particularly representative for the kinematic analysis of sport events such as sprint hurdles. Athletes were not able to repeat all the specifics of the demanding skill in every trial and although motion analysis can be regarded as an objective method, the manual digitising involves a subjective evaluation.
Finally, it is possible that homogenous performance at a group level may bias reliability values and closer examination of the results showed that this may have been the case in two variables.
REFERENCES:
Baumgartner, T.A. (1989). Norm-referenced Measurement: Reliability. In:
Safrit, M.J. and Wood, T.M. (eds.). Measurement Concepts in Physical
Education and Exercise Science. Champaign, Illinois, pp. 45-67, 1989.
Salo, A., Grimshaw, P.N., Viitasalo, J.T. (1997). Reliability of Variables in the
Kinematic Analysis of Sprint Hurdles. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 29, 383-389,
1997.
Vincent, W.J. (1995). Statistics in Kinesiology. Champaign, Illinois, pp. 168-
181, 1995
Soliton formation from a pulse passing the zero-dispersion point in a nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation
We consider in detail the self-trapping of a soliton from a wave pulse that
passes from a defocussing region into a focussing one in a spatially
inhomogeneous nonlinear waveguide, described by a nonlinear Schrodinger
equation in which the dispersion coefficient changes its sign from normal to
anomalous. The model has direct applications to dispersion-decreasing nonlinear
optical fibers, and to natural waveguides for internal waves in the ocean. It
is found that, depending on the (conserved) energy and (nonconserved) mass of
the initial pulse, four qualitatively different outcomes of the pulse
transformation are possible: decay into radiation; self-trapping into a single
soliton; formation of a breather; and formation of a pair of counterpropagating
solitons. A corresponding chart is drawn on a parametric plane, which
demonstrates some unexpected features. In particular, it is found that any kind
of soliton(s) (including the breather and counterpropagating pair) eventually
decays into pure radiation with the increase of the energy, the initial mass
being kept constant. It is also noteworthy that a virtually direct transition
from a single soliton into a pair of symmetric counterpropagating ones seems
possible. An explanation for these features is proposed. In two cases when
analytical approximations apply, viz., a simple perturbation theory for broad
initial pulses, or the variational approximation for narrow ones, comparison
with the direct simulations shows reasonable agreement.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Phys. Rev. E, in pres
Cuspons, peakons and regular gap solitons between three dispersion curves
A general wave model with the cubic nonlinearity is introduced to describe a
situation when the linear dispersion relation has three branches, which would
intersect in the absence of linear couplings between the three waves. Actually,
the system contains two waves with a strong linear coupling between them, to
which a third wave is then coupled. This model has two gaps in its linear
spectrum. Realizations of this model can be made in terms of temporal or
spatial evolution of optical fields in, respectively, a planar waveguide or a
bulk-layered medium resembling a photonic-crystal fiber. Another physical
system described by the same model is a set of three internal wave modes in a
density-stratified fluid. A nonlinear analysis is performed for solitons which
have zero velocity in the reference frame in which the group velocity of the
third wave vanishes. Disregarding the self-phase modulation (SPM) term in the
equation for the third wave, we find two coexisting families of solitons:
regular ones, which may be regarded as a smooth deformation of the usual gap
solitons in a two-wave system, and cuspons with a singularity in the first
derivative at their center. Even in the limit when the linear coupling of the
third wave to the first two vanishes, the soliton family remains drastically
different from that in the linearly uncoupled system; in this limit, regular
solitons whose amplitude exceeds a certain critical value are replaced by
peakons. While the regular solitons, cuspons, and peakons are found in an exact
analytical form, their stability is tested numerically, which shows that they
all may be stable. If the SPM terms are retained, we find that there again
coexist two different families of generic stable soliton solutions, namely,
regular ones and peakons.Comment: a latex file with the text and 10 pdf files with figures. Physical
Review E, in pres
The cascade structure of linear instability in collapsible channel flows
This paper studies the unsteady behaviour and linear stability of the flow in a collapsible channel using a fluid–beam model. The solid mechanics is analysed in a plane strain configuration, in which the principal stretch is defined with a zero initial strain. Two approaches are employed: unsteady numerical simulations solving the nonlinear fully coupled fluid–structure interaction problem; and the corresponding linearized eigenvalue approach solving the Orr–Sommerfeld equations modified by the beam. The two approaches give good agreement with each other in predicting the frequencies and growth rates of the perturbation modes, close to the neutral curves. For a given Reynolds number in the range of 200–600, a cascade of instabilities is discovered as the wall stiffness (or effective tension) is reduced. Under small perturbation to steady solutions for the same Reynolds number, the system loses stability by passing through a succession of unstable zones, with mode number increasing as the wall stiffness is decreased. It is found that this cascade structure can, in principle, be extended to many modes, depending on the parameters. A puzzling ‘tongue’ shaped stable zone in the wall stiffness–Re space turns out to be the zone sandwiched by the mode-2 and mode-3 instabilities. Self-excited oscillations dominated by modes 2–4 are found near their corresponding neutral curves. These modes can also interact and form period-doubling oscillations. Extensive comparisons of the results with existing analytical models are made, and a physical explanation for the cascade structure is proposed
Transcritical flow of a stratified fluid: The forced extended Korteweg-de Vries model
Transcritical, or resonant, flow of a stratified fluid over an obstacle is studied using a forced extended Korteweg-de Vries model. This model is particularly relevant for a two-layer fluid when the layer depths are near critical, but can also be useful in other similar circumstances. Both quadratic and cubic nonlinearities are present and they are balanced by third-order dispersion. We consider both possible signs for the cubic nonlinear term but emphasize the less-studied case when the cubic nonlinear term and the dispersion term have the same-signed coefficients. In this case, our numerical computations show that two kinds of solitary waves are found in certain parameter regimes. One kind is similar to those of the well-known forced Korteweg-de Vries model and occurs when the cubic nonlinear term is rather small, while the other kind is irregularly generated waves of variable amplitude, which may continually interact. To explain this phenomenon, we develop a hydraulic theory in which the dispersion term in the model is omitted. This theory can predict the occurence of upstream and downstream undular bores, and these predictions are found to agree quite well with the numerical computations. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio
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