15 research outputs found
A model for the atomic-scale structure of a dense, nonequilibrium fluid: the homogeneous cooling state of granular fluids
It is shown that the equilibrium Generalized Mean Spherical Model of fluid
structure may be extended to nonequilibrium states with equation of state
information used in equilibrium replaced by an exact condition on the two-body
distribution function. The model is applied to the homogeneous cooling state of
granular fluids and upon comparison to molecular dynamics simulations is found
to provide an accurate picture of the pair distribution function.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures Revision corrects formatting of the figure
Long-Ranged Correlations in Sheared Fluids
The presence of long-ranged correlations in a fluid undergoing uniform shear
flow is investigated. An exact relation between the density autocorrelation
function and the density-mometum correlation function implies that the former
must decay more rapidly than , in contrast to predictions of simple mode
coupling theory. Analytic and numerical evaluation of a non-perturbative
mode-coupling model confirms a crossover from behavior at ''small''
to a stronger asymptotic power-law decay. The characteristic length scale is
where is the sound damping
constant and is the shear rate.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to PR
Montecarlo simulation of the role of defects as the melting mechanism
We study in this paper the melting transition of a crystal of fcc structure
with the Lennard-Jones potential, by using isobaric-isothermal Monte Carlo
simulations.
Local and collective updates are sequentially used to optimize the
convergence. We show the important role played by defects in the melting
mechanism in favor of modern melting theories.Comment: 6 page, 10 figures included. Corrected version to appear in Phys.
Rev.
Tracer diffusion in granular shear flows
Tracer diffusion in a granular gas in simple shear flow is analyzed. The
analysis is made from a perturbation solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation
through first order in the gradient of the mole fraction of tracer particles.
The reference state (zeroth-order approximation) corresponds to a Sonine
solution of the Boltzmann equation, which holds for arbitrary values of the
restitution coefficients. Due to the anisotropy induced in the system by the
shear flow, the mass flux defines a diffusion tensor instead of a
scalar diffusion coefficient. The elements of this tensor are given in terms of
the restitution coefficients and mass and size ratios. The dependence of the
diffusion tensor on the parameters of the problem is illustrated in the
three-dimensional case. The results show that the influence of dissipation on
the elements is in general quite important, even for moderate values
of the restitution coefficients. In the case of self-diffusion (mechanically
equivalent particles), the trends observed in recent molecular dynamics
simulations are similar to those obtained here from the Boltzmann kinetic
theory.Comment: 5 figure
Diffusion of impurities in a granular gas
Diffusion of impurities in a granular gas undergoing homogeneous cooling
state is studied. The results are obtained by solving the Boltzmann--Lorentz
equation by means of the Chapman--Enskog method. In the first order in the
density gradient of impurities, the diffusion coefficient is determined as
the solution of a linear integral equation which is approximately solved by
making an expansion in Sonine polynomials. In this paper, we evaluate up to
the second order in the Sonine expansion and get explicit expressions for
in terms of the restitution coefficients for the impurity--gas and gas--gas
collisions as well as the ratios of mass and particle sizes. To check the
reliability of the Sonine polynomial solution, analytical results are compared
with those obtained from numerical solutions of the Boltzmann equation by means
of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. In the simulations, the
diffusion coefficient is measured via the mean square displacement of
impurities. The comparison between theory and simulation shows in general an
excellent agreement, except for the cases in which the gas particles are much
heavier and/or much larger than impurities. In theses cases, the second Sonine
approximation to improves significantly the qualitative predictions made
from the first Sonine approximation. A discussion on the convergence of the
Sonine polynomial expansion is also carried out.Comment: 9 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev.
A new approach for the limit to tree height using a liquid nanolayer model
Liquids in contact with solids are submitted to intermolecular forces
inferring density gradients at the walls. The van der Waals forces make liquid
heterogeneous, the stress tensor is not any more spherical as in homogeneous
bulks and it is possible to obtain stable thin liquid films wetting vertical
walls up to altitudes that incompressible fluid models are not forecasting.
Application to micro tubes of xylem enables to understand why the ascent of sap
is possible for very high trees like sequoias or giant eucalyptus.Comment: In the conclusion is a complementary comment to the Continuum
Mechanics and Thermodynamics paper. 21 pages, 4 figures. Continuum Mechanics
and Thermodynamics 20, 5 (2008) to appea