405 research outputs found
Feasibility of generating an artificial burst in a turbulent boundary layer
Artificial bursts were generated in laminar and turbulent boundary layers. The burst-like events were produced by withdrawing near-wall fluid from two minute holes separated in the spanwise direction or by pitching a miniature delta wing that was flush-mounted to the wall. Either of these actions generated streamwise vorticity and a low-speed streak that resembled a naturally occurring one. The resulting sequence of events occurred at a given location and at controlled times, allowing detailed examination and comparison with natural, random bursts by means of flow visualization and fast-response probe measurement techniques
Cavity optomechanics with stoichiometric SiN films
We study high-stress SiN films for reaching the quantum regime with
mesoscopic oscillators connected to a room-temperature thermal bath, for which
there are stringent requirements on the oscillators' quality factors and
frequencies. Our SiN films support mechanical modes with unprecedented products
of mechanical quality factor and frequency reaching Hz. The SiN membranes exhibit a low optical absorption
characterized by Im at 935 nm, representing a 15 times
reduction for SiN membranes. We have developed an apparatus to simultaneously
cool the motion of multiple mechanical modes based on a short, high-finesse
Fabry-Perot cavity and present initial cooling results along with future
possibilities.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Suppression of Absolute Instabilities by Appropriate Choice of Rheological Parameters of Anisotropic Viscoelastic Tube Conveying Fluid
The stability of the steady flow of a viscous
liquid through a thick-wall, three-layer, viscoelastic tube
with different rheological parameters for each layer is
studied. It is shown that the system can be in both absolute
and convective unstable states. It is shown that the absolute
instability of the system can be converted into a convective
instability, and in some cases the system can even be
stabilized with an appropriate choice of the rheological
parameters. It is found that an anisotropic tube composed
of layers possessing distinct rheological values can
completely eliminate all absolute instability modes. The
present model can be applied to blood vessels that are
composed of three viscoelastic layers with distinct
rheological properties and to distensible tubes conveying
fluids in different technical devices
The interaction of unidirectional winds with an isolated barchan sand dune
Velocity profile measurements are determined on and around a barchan dune model inserted in the roughness layer on the tunnel floor. A theoretical investigation is made into the factors influencing the rate of sand flow around the dune. Flow visualization techniques are employed in the mapping of streamlines of flow on the dune's surface. Maps of erosion and deposition of sand are constructed for the barchan model, utilizing both flow visualization techniques and friction velocities calculated from the measured velocity profiles. The sediment budget found experimentally for the model is compared to predicted and observed results reported. The comparison shows fairly good agreement between the experimentally determined and predicted sediment budgets
The effect of non-uniform damping on flutter in axial flow and energy harvesting strategies
The problem of energy harvesting from flutter instabilities in flexible
slender structures in axial flows is considered. In a recent study, we used a
reduced order theoretical model of such a system to demonstrate the feasibility
for harvesting energy from these structures. Following this preliminary study,
we now consider a continuous fluid-structure system. Energy harvesting is
modelled as strain-based damping and the slender structure under investigation
lies in a moderate fluid loading range, for which {the flexible structure} may
be destabilised by damping. The key goal of this work is to {analyse the effect
of damping distribution and intensity on the amount of energy harvested by the
system}. The numerical results {indeed} suggest that non-uniform damping
distributions may significantly improve the power harvesting capacity of the
system. For low damping levels, clustered dampers at the position of peak
curvature are shown to be optimal. Conversely for higher damping, harvesters
distributed over the whole structure are more effective.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, to appear in Proc. R. Soc.
Predicting shape and stability of air–water interface on superhydrophobic surfaces with randomly distributed, dissimilar posts
A mathematical framework developed to calculate the shape of the air–water interface and predict the stability of a microfabricated superhydrophobicsurface with randomly distributed posts of dissimilar diameters and heights is presented. Using the Young–Laplace equation, a second-order partial differential equation is derived and solved numerically to obtain the shape of the interface, and to predict the critical hydrostatic pressure at which the superhydrophobicity vanishes in a submersed surface. Two examples are given for demonstration of the method’s capabilities and accuracy
Effect of fiber orientation on shape and stability of air-water interface on submerged superhydrophobic electrospun thin coatings
To better understand the role of fiber orientation on the stability of superhydrophobicelectrospun coatings under hydrostaticpressures, an integro-differential equation is developed from the balance of forces across the air–water interface between the fibers. This equation is solved numerically for a series of superhydrophobicelectrospun coatings comprised of random and orthogonal fiber orientations to obtain the exact 3D shape of the air–water interface as a function of hydrostaticpressure. More important, this information is used to predict the pressure at which the coatings start to transition from the Cassie state to the Wenzel state, i.e., the so-called critical transition pressure. Our results indicate that coatings composed of orthogonal fibers can withstand higher elevated hydrostaticpressures than those made up of randomly orientated fibers. Our results also prove that thin superhydrophobic coatings can better resist the elevated pressures. The modeling methodology presented here can be used to design nanofibrous superhydrophobic coatings for underwater applications
Intrepretation of surface features and surface processes on Mars
Eolian erosion and deposition on earth was studied in order to interpret the eolian land forms of Mars. Emphasis of the wind tunnel studies was on the flow field around models of eolian forms. Areas of the wind tunnel studies include: simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer; velocity profile measurements around different models in the desert boundary layer, and estimating shear stress distributions on the model surfaces; flow visualization techniques; streamline mapping using tuft photographs; and roughness contrasts
Predicting shape and stability of air–water interface on superhydrophobic surfaces comprised of pores with arbitrary shapes and depths
An integro-differential equation for the three dimensional shape of air–water interface on superhydrophobicsurfaces comprised of pores with arbitrary shapes and depths is developed and used to predict the static critical pressure under which such surfaces depart from the non-wetting state. Our equation balances the capillary forces with the pressure of the air entrapped in the pores and that of the water over the interface. Stability of shallow and deep circular, elliptical, and polygonal pores is compared with one another and a general conclusion is drawn for designing pore shapes for superhydrophobicsurfaces with maximum stability
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