The Effect of Convection on Disorder in Primary Cellular and Dendritic Arrays

Directional solidification studies have been carried out to characterize the spatial disorder in the arrays of cells and dendrites. Different factors that cause array disorder are investigated experimentally and analyzed numerically. In addition to the disorder resulting from the fundamental selection of a range of primary spacings under given experimental conditions, a significant variation in primary spacings is shown to occur in bulk samples due to convection effects, especially at low growth velocities. The effect of convection on array disorder is examined through directional solidification studies in two different alloy systems, Pb-Sn and Al-Cu. A detailed analysis of the spacing distribution is carried out, which shows that the disorder in the spacing distribution is greater in the Al-Cu system than in Pb-Sn system. Numerical models are developed which show that fluid motion can occur in both these systems due to the negative axial density gradient or due the radial temperature gradient which is always present in Bridgman growth. The modes of convection have been found to be significantly different in these systems, due to the solute being heavier than the solvent in the Al-Cu system and lighter than it in the Pb-Sn system. The results of the model have been shown to explain experimental observations of higher disorder and greater solute segregation in a weakly convective Al-Cu system than those in a highly convective Pb-Sn system

The Marine Microbial Eukaryote Transcriptome Sequencing Project (MMETSP): Illuminating the Functional Diversity of Eukaryotic Life in the Oceans through Transcriptome Sequencing

Microbial ecology is plagued by problems of an abstract nature. Cell sizes are so small and population sizes so large that both are virtually incomprehensible. Niches are so far from our everyday experience as to make their very definition elusive. Organisms that may be abundant and critical to our survival are little understood, seldom described and/or cultured, and sometimes yet to be even seen. One way to confront these problems is to use data of an even more abstract nature: molecular sequence data. Massive environmental nucleic acid sequencing, such as metagenomics or metatranscriptomics, promises functional analysis of microbial communities as a whole, without prior knowledge of which organisms are in the environment or exactly how they are interacting. But sequence-based ecological studies nearly always use a comparative approach, and that requires relevant reference sequences, which are an extremely limited resource when it comes to microbial eukaryotes

Heat Transfer Enhancement on a Flat Plate Using Delta-Wing Vortex Generators

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center Project 4

Heat Transfer Enhancement Using Tip and Junction Vortices

Single-phase convective heat transfer can be enhanced by modifying the heat transfer surface to passively generate streamwise vortices. The swirling flow of the vortices modifies the temperature field, thinning the thermal boundary layer and increasing surface convection. Tip vortices generated by delta wings and junction vortices generated by hemispherical protuberances were studied in laminar flat-plate and developing channel flows. Local and average convective measurements were obtained, and the structure of the vortices was studied using quantitative flow visualization and vortex strength measurements. The pressure drop penalty associated with the heat transfer enhancement was also investigated. Tip vortices generated by delta wings enhanced local convection by as much as 300% over a flat-plate boundary layer flow. Vortex strength increased with Reynolds number based on chord length, wing aspect ratio, and wing angle of attack. As the vortices were advected downstream, they decayed because of viscous interactions. In the developing channel flow, tip vortices produced a significant local heat transfer enhancement on both sides of the channel. The largest spatially averaged heat transfer enhancement was 55%; it was accompanied by a 100% increase in the pressure drop relative to the same channel flow with no delta-wing vortex generator. Junction vortices created by hemispherical surface protuberances provided local heat transfer enhancements as large as 250%. Vortex strength increased with an increasing ratio of hemisphere radius to local boundary layer thickness on a flat plate. In the developing channel flows, heat transfer enhancements were observed on both sides of the channel. The largest spatially averaged heat transfer enhancement was 50%; it was accompanied by a 90% pressure drop penalty relative to the same channel flow with no hemispherical vortex generator. This research is important in compact heat exchanger design. Enhancing heat transfer can lead to smaller, more efficient heat exchangers in a broad range of applications. A simplified heat exchanger performance evaluation method is considered to explore the heat transfer benefit and pressure-drop penalty of vortex generator enhancements.Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center Project 7