Upscaled Lattice Boltzmann Method for simulations of flows in heterogeneous porous media

An upscaled Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for flow simulations in heterogeneous porous media at the Darcy scale is proposed in this paper. In the Darcy scale simulations, the Shan-Chen force model is used to simplify the algorithm. The proposed upscaled LBM uses coarser grids to represent the average effects of the fine-grid simulations. In the upscaled LBM, each coarse grid represents a subdomain of the fine-grid discretization and the effective permeability with the reduced-order models is proposed as we coarsen the grid. The effective permeability is computed using solutions of local problems (e.g., by performing local LBM simulations on the fine grids using the original permeability distribution) and used on the coarse grids in the upscaled simulations. The upscaled LBM that can reduce the computational cost of existing LBM and transfer the information between different scales is implemented. The results of coarse-grid, reduced-order, simulations agree very well with averaged results obtained using a fine grid

Evaluation of oilseed rape seed yield losses caused by Leptosphaeria biglobosa in central China

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Xiang Cai, Yongju Huang, Daohong Jiang, Bruce D. L. Fitt, Guoqing Li, and Long Yang, "Evaluation of oilseed rape seed yield losses caused by Leptosphaeria biglobosa in central China", European Journal of Plant Pathology, first published 9 June 2017. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 9 June 2018. The final publication is available at Springer via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10658-017-1266-x.Phoma stem canker of oilseed rape (Brassica napus), caused by Leptosphaeria maculans/L. biglobosa is a globally important disease. Severe phoma stem canker symptoms have been observed on winter oilseed rape in China but the seed yield loss caused by this disease remains unknown. In May 2012 and May 2013, 17 and 13 crops were surveyed, respectively, in seven counties of Hubei Province, central China. Stems with phoma stem canker disease symptoms were sampled for pathogen isolation and identification. Only L. biglobosa was identified by culture morphology and species-specific PCR; no L. maculans was found. To evaluate the yield losses, yield components (number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, 1000-seed weight, number of seeds per pod) were assessed on healthy and diseased plants sampled from crops in four counties and on plants from inoculated pot experiments (plants of three cultivars were inoculated at the green bud stage by injecting L. biglobosa conidia into the stem between the first and second leaf scars). Results of the field surveys showed that diseased plants had 14–61% less branches and 32–83% less pods than healthy plants, respectively. The estimated seed yield loss varied from 10% to 21% and from 13% to 37% in 2012 and 2013, respectively. In the pot experiments, there were no differences in numbers of branches or pods but there were differences in number of seeds per pod between inoculated and control plants. For the three cultivars tested, the inoculated plants had yield losses of 29–56% compared with the control. This study indicates that L. biglobosa could cause substantial seed yield loss in China.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Reduction of solar photovoltaic resources due to air pollution in China

Solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation is expanding rapidly in China, with total capacity projected to be 400 GW by 2030. However, severe aerosol pollution over China reduces solar radiation reaching the surface. We estimate the aerosol impact on solar PV electricity generation at the provincial and regional grid levels in China. Our approach is to examine the 12-year (2003–2014) average reduction in point-of-array irradiance (POAI) caused by aerosols in the atmosphere. We apply satellite-derived surface irradiance data from the NASA Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) with a PV performance model (PVLIB-Python) to calculate the impact of aerosols and clouds on POAI. Our findings reveal that aerosols over northern and eastern China, the most polluted regions, reduce annual average POAI by up to 1.5 kWh/m2 per day relative to pollution-free conditions, a decrease of up to 35%. Annual average reductions of POAI over both northern and eastern China are about 20–25%. We also evaluate the seasonal variability of the impact and find that aerosols in this region are as important as clouds in winter. Furthermore, we find that aerosols decrease electricity output of tracking PV systems more than those with fixed arrays: over eastern China, POAI is reduced by 21% for fixed systems at optimal angle and 34% for two-axis tracking systems. We conclude that PV system performance in northern and eastern China will benefit from improvements in air quality and will facilitate that improvement by providing emission-free electricity

A Damage Mechanics Approach to Fatigue Assessment in Offshore Structures

This article is intended to describe the development of a fatigue damage model capable of assessing fatigue damage in offshore structures. This is achieved by for mulating a set of damage coupled constitutive and evolution equations which make the for mulation of a unified approach possible under both low and high cycle fatigue damage and consistent with the structural dynamic response of the changing/deteriorating material be haviors. The structural analysis for the whole designed period, say about 30 years, can be carried out with the aid of the proposed analytical procedure, in which the fundamental characteristics of sea wave statistics responsible for the structural dynamic response can be sufficiently considered. An offshore structure subject to complex ocean environment is described by a general stochastic system which embeds a group of stochastic subsystems, each characterizing a duty cycle. An effective analytical method is established by introduc ing the concept of duty strain range with a clear mathematical definition and its analytical solution which covers all possible spectral parameters. The history-dependent damage is also included in the damage model so that the overload effects can be analyzed. It should be pointed out that the whole procedure can be fully computerized such that the practical or engineering significance of varying design variables can be readily highlighted.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67255/2/10.1177_105678959300200405.pd

Study on Selective Laser Sintering of Eucalyptus/PES Blend and Investment Casting Technology

AbstractThe paper studies the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) of Eucalyptus/PES blend and the Investment Casting (IC) technology of the forming part. This blend is suitable for being the raw material of SLS, because not only it has low cost, but also it can be produced by SLS to form the parts with high molding precision and mechanical strength after post processing; also the prototype can be used as the investment pattern.Combining the Eucalyptus/PES blend (which is a kind of Wood Plastic Composite, WPC), SLS with IC can reduce the production cost, also shorten the product development and manufacture cycle. Meanwhile it realizes the application of low-cost WPC in precision casting production. Mould making in investment casting is an extremely important procedure, from analyzing and calculating the physical and chemical characters of the prototypes during melting. It is known that WPC parts can be burnt off by the process of low-temperature dewaxing and high-temperature roasting before investment casting. After blowing the ash off by high-pressure air, the precision of the cavity is similar to one using a wax pattern. So for single and batch production, the WPC can be used as the investment pattern of IC technology instead of wax or resin. This paper studies the investment casting technology which is suitable for patterns produced by Selective Laser Sintering of Eucalyptus/PES blend

Climate, air quality and human health benefits of various solar photovoltaic deployment scenarios in China in 2030

Solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation can greatly reduce both air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuel electricity generation. The Chinese government plans to greatly scale up solar PV installation between now and 2030. However, different PV development pathways will influence the range of air quality and climate benefits. Benefits depend on how much electricity generated from PV is integrated into power grids and the type of power plant displaced. Using a coal-intensive power sector projection as the base case, we estimate the climate, air quality, and related human health benefits of various 2030 PV deployment scenarios. We use the 2030 government goal of 400 GW installed capacity but vary the location of PV installation and the extent of inter-provincial PV electricity transmission. We find that deploying distributed PV in the east with inter-provincial transmission maximizes potential CO2 reductions and air quality-related health benefits (4.2% and 1.2% decrease in national total CO2 emissions and air pollution-related premature deaths compared to the base case, respectively). Deployment in the east with inter-provincial transmission results in the largest benefits because it maximizes displacement of the dirtiest coal-fired power plants and minimizes PV curtailment, which is more likely to occur without inter-provincial transmission. We further find that the maximum co-benefits achieved with deploying PV in the east and enabling inter-provincial transmission are robust under various maximum PV penetration levels in both provincial and regional grids. We find large potential benefits of policies that encourage distributed PV deployment and facilitate inter-provincial PV electricity transmission in China

Corrosion performance of advanced structural materials in sodium.

This report gives a description of the activities in design, fabrication, construction, and assembling of a pumped sodium loop for the sodium compatibility studies on advanced structural materials. The work is the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) portion of the effort on the work project entitled, 'Sodium Compatibility of Advanced Fast Reactor Materials,' and is a part of Advanced Materials Development within the Reactor Campaign. The objective of this project is to develop information on sodium corrosion compatibility of advanced materials being considered for sodium reactor applications. This report gives the status of the sodium pumped loop at Argonne National Laboratory, the specimen details, and the technical approach to evaluate the sodium compatibility of advanced structural alloys. This report is a deliverable from ANL in FY2010 (M2GAN10SF050302) under the work package G-AN10SF0503 'Sodium Compatibility of Advanced Fast Reactor Materials.' Two reports were issued in 2009 (Natesan and Meimei Li 2009, Natesan et al. 2009) which examined the thermodynamic and kinetic factors involved in the purity of liquid sodium coolant for sodium reactor applications as well as the design specifications for the ANL pumped loop for testing advanced structural materials. Available information was presented on solubility of several metallic and nonmetallic elements along with a discussion of the possible mechanisms for the accumulation of impurities in sodium. That report concluded that the solubility of many metals in sodium is low (<1 part per million) in the temperature range of interest in sodium reactors and such trace amounts would not impact the mechanical integrity of structural materials and components. The earlier report also analyzed the solubility and transport mechanisms of nonmetallic elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen in laboratory sodium loops and in reactor systems such as Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, Fast Flux Test Facility, and Clinch River Breeder Reactor. Among the nonmetallic elements discussed, oxygen is deemed controllable and its concentration in sodium can be maintained in sodium for long reactor life by using cold-trap method. It was concluded that among the cold-trap and getter-trap methods, the use of cold trap is sufficient to achieve oxygen concentration of the order of 1 part per million. Under these oxygen conditions in sodium, the corrosion performance of structural materials such as austenitic stainless steels and ferritic steels will be acceptable at a maximum core outlet sodium temperature of {approx}550 C. In the current sodium compatibility studies, the oxygen concentration in sodium will be controlled and maintained at {approx}1 ppm by controlling the cold trap temperature. The oxygen concentration in sodium in the forced convection sodium loop will be controlled and monitored by maintaining the cold trap temperature in the range of 120-150 C, which would result in oxygen concentration in the range of 1-2 ppm. Uniaxial tensile specimens are being exposed to flowing sodium and will be retrieved and analyzed for corrosion and post-exposure tensile properties. Advanced materials for sodium exposure include austenitic alloy HT-UPS and ferritic-martensitic steels modified 9Cr-1Mo and NF616. Among the nonmetallic elements in sodium, carbon was assessed to have the most influence on structural materials since carbon, as an impurity, is not amenable to control and maintenance by any of the simple purification methods. The dynamic equilibrium value for carbon in sodium systems is dependent on several factors, details of which were discussed in the earlier report. The current sodium compatibility studies will examine the role of carbon concentration in sodium on the carburization-decarburization of advanced structural materials at temperatures up to 650 C. Carbon will be added to the sodium by exposure of carbon-filled iron tubes, which over time will enable carbon to diffuse through iron and dissolve into sodium. The method enables addition of dissolved carbon (without carbon particulates) in sodium that is of interest for materials compatibility evaluation. The removal of carbon from the sodium will be accomplished by exposing carbon-gettering alloys such as refractory metals that have a high partitioning coefficient for carbon and also precipitate carbides, thereby decreasing the carbon concentration in sodium

The Large Magellanic Cloud: A power spectral analysis of Spitzer images

We present a power spectral analysis of Spitzer images of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The power spectra of the FIR emission show two different power laws. At larger scales (kpc) the slope is ~ -1.6, while at smaller ones (tens to few hundreds of parsecs) the slope is steeper, with a value ~ -2.9. The break occurs at a scale around 100-200 pc. We interpret this break as the scale height of the dust disk of the LMC. We perform high resolution simulations with and without stellar feedback. Our AMR hydrodynamic simulations of model galaxies using the LMC mass and rotation curve, confirm that they have similar two-component power-laws for projected density and that the break does indeed occur at the disk thickness. Power spectral analysis of velocities betrays a single power law for in-plane components. The vertical component of the velocity shows a flat behavior for large structures and a power law similar to the in-plane velocities at small scales. The motions are highly anisotropic at large scales, with in-plane velocities being much more important than vertical ones. In contrast, at small scales, the motions become more isotropic.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, talk presented at "Galaxies and their Masks", celebrating Ken Freeman's 70-th birthday, Sossusvlei, Namibia, April 2010. To be published by Springer, New York, editors D.L. Block, K.C. Freeman, & I. Puerar

The upstream magnetic field of collisionless GRB shocks: constraint by Fermi-LAT observations

Long-lived >100 MeV emission has been a common feature of most Fermi-LAT detected gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), e.g., detected up to ~10^3s in long GRBs 080916C and 090902B and ~10^2s in short GRB 090510. This emission is consistent with being produced by synchrotron emission of electrons accelerated to high energy by the relativistic collisionless shock propagating into the weakly magnetized medium. Here we show that this high-energy afterglow emission constrains the preshock magnetic field to satisfy 1(n/1cc)^{9/8} mG<B<10^2(n/1cc)^{3/8}mG, where n is the preshock density, more stringent than the previous constraint by X-ray afterglow observations on day scale. This suggests that the preshock magnetic field is strongly amplified, most likely by the streaming of high energy shock accelerated particles.Comment: 9 pages, JCAP accepte