The prismatic Sigma 3 (10-10) twin bounday in alpha-Al2O3 investigated by density functional theory and transmission electron microscopy

The microscopic structure of a prismatic $\Sigma 3$ $(10\bar{1}0)$ twin boundary in \aal2o3 is characterized theoretically by ab-initio local-density-functional theory, and experimentally by spatial-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), measuring energy-loss near-edge structures (ELNES) of the oxygen $K$-ionization edge. Theoretically, two distinct microscopic variants for this twin interface with low interface energies are derived and analysed. Experimentally, it is demonstrated that the spatial and energetical resolutions of present high-performance STEM instruments are insufficient to discriminate the subtle differences of the two proposed interface variants. It is predicted that for the currently developed next generation of analytical electron microscopes the prismatic twin interface will provide a promising benchmark case to demonstrate the achievement of ELNES with spatial resolution of individual atom columns

Thin-Film Thermal Conductivity Measurements Using Superconducting Nanowires

We present a simple experimental scheme for estimating the cryogenic thermal transport properties of thin films using superconducting nanowires. In a parallel array of nanowires, the heat from one nanowire in the normal state changes the local temperature around adjacent nanowires, reducing their switching current. Calibration of this change in switching current as a function of bath temperature provides an estimate of the temperature as a function of displacement from the heater. This provides a method of determining the contribution of substrate heat transport to the cooling time of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. Understanding this process is necessary for successful electrothermal modeling of superconducting nanowire systems

Objective Function and Constraints for Robust Transonic Aerofoil Optimization

Construction of the aerodynamic optimization problem is considered within the context of robustness. The most common aerodynamic optimization problem considered is a lift-constrained drag minimization problem (also subject to geometric constraints), however, point-design at transonic flow conditions can produce shock-free solutions and therefore the result is highly localised, where the gains obtained at the design point are outweighed by the losses at off-design conditions. As such, a range optimization problem subject to a constraint on fixed non-dimensional lift with a varying design point is considered to mitigate this issue. It is shown, first from an analytical treatment of the problem, and second from inviscid optimizations, that more robust solutions are obtainable when considering range optimization against drag minimization. Furthermore, to effectively capture the trade-offs that exist in three-dimensional aircraft design between range, lift, drag and speed, it is shown that an induced drag factor is required and this is suffcient to produce optimal solutions exhibiting shocks

Numerical Capture and Validation of a Massively Separated Bluff-Body Wake

A flow over a bluff-body is numerically investigated and validated using a Detached-Eddy Simulation (DES) technique at Re=21,400. An incompressible solver that is nominally second-order accurate employing an implicit constant backward time-stepping scheme with blended upwind-central differencing spatial discretization is used to study the massively separated wake that is generated. Measurements are taken up to 6 downstream characteristic lengths, evaluating the wake time-averaged first- and second-moment statistics alongside near-wall boundary layer quantities and surface-force integrals. Results advocate the use of DES methods, which are found to be significantly more accurate for capturing wake statistics, compared to two different Reynolds-Averaged (RANS) models calibrated with an identical grid. Although comparative accuracy can be obtained with the RANS techniques for the boundary layer and surface-forces, these techniques are unsuitable for modeling wake statistics as they are inherently dissipative, evident through early velocity recovery when evaluated against experimental data

Fano fluctuations in superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors

Because of their universal nature, Fano fluctuations are expected to influence the response of superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). We predict that photon counting rate (PCR) as a function of bias current (IB) in SNSPDs is described by an integral over a transverse coordinate-dependent complementary error function. Fano fluctuations in the amount of energy deposited into the electronic system contribute to the finite width of this error function ΔIB. The local response of an SNSPD can also affect this width: the location of the initial photon absorption site across the width of the wire can impact the probability of vortex-antivortex unbinding and vortex entry from the edges. In narrow-nanowire SNSPDs, the local responses are uniform, and Fano fluctuations dominate ΔIB. We demonstrate good agreement between theory and experiments for a series of bath temperatures and photon energies in narrow-wire WSi SNSPDs. In a wide-nanowire device, the strong local dependence will introduce a finite width to the PCR curve, but with sharp cusps. We show how Fano fluctuations can smooth these features to produce theoretical curves that better match experimental data. We also show that the time-resolved hotspot relaxation curves predicted by Fano fluctuations match the previously measured Lorentzian shapes (except for their tails) over the entire range of bias currents investigated experimentally

Flow characterisation for a validation study in high-speed aerodynamics

Validation studies are becoming increasingly relevant when investigating complex flow problems in high-speed aerodynamics. These investigations require calibration of numerical models with accurate data from the physical wind tunnel being studied. This paper presents the characterisation process for a joint experimental-computational study to investigate the streamwise corners of a Mach 2.5 channel flow. As well as checks of flow quality typically performed for phenomenological investigations, additional quantitative tests are conducted. The extra care to obtain high quality data and eliminate any systematic errors reveal useful information about the wind tunnel flow. Further important physical insights are gained from designing and conducting wind tunnel tests in conjunction with numerical simulations. Crucially, the close experimental-computational collaboration enabled the identification of secondary flows in the sidewall boundary-layers; these strongly influence the flow in the corner regions, the target of the validation study

Experimental validation of the quadratic constitutive relation in supersonic streamwise corner flows

The quadratic constitutive relation is a simple extension to the linear eddy-viscosity hypothesis and has shown some promise in improving the computation of flow along streamwise corner geometries. In order to further investigate these improvements, the quadratic model is validated by comparing RANS simulations of a Mach 2.5 wind tunnel flow with high-quality experimental velocity data. Careful set up and assessment of computations using detailed characterisation data of the overall flow field suggests a minimum expected discrepancy of approximately 3% for any experimental–computational velocity comparisons. The corner regions of the rectangular cross-section wind tunnel exhibit velocity differences of 7% between experimental data and computations with linear eddy-viscosity models, but these discrepancies are reduced to 4–5% when the quadratic constitutive relation is used. This improvement can be attributed to a better prediction of the corner boundary-layer structure, due to computations reproducing the stress-induced streamwise vortices which are known to exist in this flow field. However, the strength and position of these vortices do not correspond exactly with those in the measured flow. A further observation from this study is the appearance of additional, non-physical vortices when the value of the quadratic coefficient in the relation exceeds the recommended value of 0.3.This material is based upon work supported by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research under award number FA9550–16–1–0430

Thin-Film Thermal Conductivity Measurements Using Superconducting Nanowires

We present a simple experimental scheme for estimating the cryogenic thermal transport properties of thin films using superconducting nanowires. In a parallel array of nanowires, the heat from one nanowire in the normal state changes the local temperature around adjacent nanowires, reducing their switching current. Calibration of this change in switching current as a function of bath temperature provides an estimate of the temperature as a function of displacement from the heater. This provides a method of determining the contribution of substrate heat transport to the cooling time of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. Understanding this process is necessary for successful electrothermal modeling of superconducting nanowire systems