238 research outputs found
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Kinetic Modeling of Slow Energy Release in Non-Ideal Carbon Rich Explosives
We present here the first self-consistent kinetic based model for long time-scale energy release in detonation waves in the non-ideal explosive LX-17. Non-ideal, insensitive carbon rich explosives, such as those based on TATB, are believed to have significant late-time slow release in energy. One proposed source of this energy is diffusion-limited growth of carbon clusters. In this paper we consider the late-time energy release problem in detonation waves using the thermochemical code CHEETAH linked to a multidimensional ALE hydrodynamics model. The linked CHEETAH-ALE model dimensional treats slowly reacting chemical species using kinetic rate laws, with chemical equilibrium assumed for species coupled via fast time-scale reactions. In the model presented here we include separate rate equations for the transformation of the un-reacted explosive to product gases and for the growth of a small particulate form of condensed graphite to a large particulate form. The small particulate graphite is assumed to be in chemical equilibrium with the gaseous species allowing for coupling between the instantaneous thermodynamic state and the production of graphite clusters. For the explosive burn rate a pressure dependent rate law was used. Low pressure freezing of the gas species mass fractions was also included to account for regions where the kinetic coupling rates become longer than the hydrodynamic time-scales. The model rate parameters were calibrated using cylinder and rate-stick experimental data. Excellent long time agreement and size effect results were achieved
Branching of negative streamers in free flight
We recently have shown that a negative streamer in a sufficiently high
homogeneous field can branch spontaneously due to a Laplacian instability,
rather than approach a stationary mode of propagation with fixed radius. In our
previous simulations, the streamer started from a wide initial ionization seed
on the cathode. We here demonstrate in improved simulations that a streamer
emerging from a single electron branches in the same way. In fact, though the
evolving streamer is much more narrow, it branches after an even shorter
propagation distance.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Integrating virtual reality and gis tools for geological mapping, data collection and analysis: An example from the metaxa mine, santorini (Greece)
In the present work we highlight the effectiveness of integrating different techniques and tools for better surveying, mapping and collecting data in volcanic areas. We use an Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) approach for data collection, integrated with Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis in a well-known volcanological site in Santorini (Metaxa mine), a site where volcanic processes influenced the island’s industrial development, especially with regard to pumice mining. Specifically, we have focused on: (i) three-dimensional (3D) high-resolution IVR scenario building, based on Structure from Motion photogrammetry (SfM) modeling; (ii) subsequent geological survey, mapping and data collection using IVR; (iii) data analysis, e.g., calculation of extracted volumes, as well as production of new maps in a GIS environment using input data directly from the IVR survey; and finally, (iv) presentation of new outcomes that highlight the importance of the Metaxa Mine as a key geological and volcanological geosite
Stability of negative ionization fronts: regularization by electric screening?
We recently have proposed that a reduced interfacial model for streamer
propagation is able to explain spontaneous branching. Such models require
regularization. In the present paper we investigate how transversal Fourier
modes of a planar ionization front are regularized by the electric screening
length. For a fixed value of the electric field ahead of the front we calculate
the dispersion relation numerically. These results guide the derivation of
analytical asymptotes for arbitrary fields: for small wave-vector k, the growth
rate s(k) grows linearly with k, for large k, it saturates at some positive
plateau value. We give a physical interpretation of these results.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
Streamer Propagation as a Pattern Formation Problem: Planar Fronts
Streamers often constitute the first stage of dielectric breakdown in strong
electric fields: a nonlinear ionization wave transforms a non-ionized medium
into a weakly ionized nonequilibrium plasma. New understanding of this old
phenomenon can be gained through modern concepts of (interfacial) pattern
formation. As a first step towards an effective interface description, we
determine the front width, solve the selection problem for planar fronts and
calculate their properties. Our results are in good agreement with many
features of recent three-dimensional numerical simulations.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 3 ps file
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LX-17 and ufTATB Data for Corner-Turning, Failure and Detonation
Data is presented for the size (diameter) effect for ambient and cold confined LX-17, unconfined ambient LX-17, and confined ambient ultrafine TATB. Ambient, cold and hot double cylinder corner-turning data for LX-17, PBX 9502 and ufTATB is presented. Transverse air gap crossing in ambient LX-17 is studied with time delays given for detonations that cross
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Multilayer ultra high gradient insulator technology
We are investigating a novel insulator concept which involves the use of alternating layers of conductors and insulators with periods less than 1 mm. These structures perform many times better (about 1.5 to 4 times higher breakdown electric field) than conventional insulators in long pulse, short pulse, and alternating polarity applications. We present our ongoing studies investigating the degradation of the breakdown electric field resulting from surface roughness, the effect of gas pressure, and the performance of the insulator structure under bi-polar stress. Further, we present our initial modeling studies
A moving boundary problem motivated by electric breakdown: I. Spectrum of linear perturbations
An interfacial approximation of the streamer stage in the evolution of sparks
and lightning can be written as a Laplacian growth model regularized by a
`kinetic undercooling' boundary condition. We study the linear stability of
uniformly translating circles that solve the problem in two dimensions. In a
space of smooth perturbations of the circular shape, the stability operator is
found to have a pure point spectrum. Except for the zero eigenvalue for
infinitesimal translations, all eigenvalues are shown to have negative real
part. Therefore perturbations decay exponentially in time. We calculate the
spectrum through a combination of asymptotic and series evaluation. In the
limit of vanishing regularization parameter, all eigenvalues are found to
approach zero in a singular fashion, and this asymptotic behavior is worked out
in detail. A consideration of the eigenfunctions indicates that a strong
intermediate growth may occur for generic initial perturbations. Both the
linear and the nonlinear initial value problem are considered in a second
paper.Comment: 37 pages, 6 figures, revised for Physica
General relativistic radiation hydrodynamics of accretion flows. I: Bondi-Hoyle accretion
We present a new code for performing general-relativistic
radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of accretion flows onto black holes. The
radiation field is treated in the optically-thick approximation, with the
opacity contributed by Thomson scattering and thermal bremsstrahlung. Our
analysis is concentrated on a detailed numerical investigation of hot
two-dimensional, Bondi-Hoyle accretion flows with various Mach numbers. We find
significant differences with respect to purely hydrodynamical evolutions. In
particular, once the system relaxes to a radiation-pressure dominated regime,
the accretion rates become about two orders of magnitude smaller than in the
purely hydrodynamical case, remaining however super-Eddington as are the
luminosities. Furthermore, when increasing the Mach number of the inflowing
gas, the accretion rates become smaller because of the smaller cross section of
the black hole, but the luminosities increase as a result a stronger emission
in the shocked regions. Overall, our approach provides the first
self-consistent calculation of the Bondi-Hoyle luminosity, most of which is
emitted within r~100 M from the black hole, with typical values L/L_Edd ~ 1-7,
and corresponding energy efficiencies eta_BH ~ 0.09-0.5. The possibility of
computing luminosities self-consistently has also allowed us to compare with
the bremsstrahlung luminosity often used in modelling the electromagnetic
counterparts to supermassive black-hole binaries, to find that in the
optically-thick regime these more crude estimates are about 20 times larger
than our radiation-hydrodynamics results.Comment: With updated bibliographyc informatio
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