9,063 research outputs found
Indeterminacy, Memory, and Motion in a Simple Granular Packing
We apply two theoretical and two numerical methods to the problem of a disk
placed in a groove and subjected to gravity and a torque. Methods assuming
rigid particles are indeterminate -- certain combinations of forces cannot be
calculated, but only constrained by inequalities. In methods assuming
deformable particles, these combinations of forces are determined by the
history of the packing. Thus indeterminacy in rigid particles becomes memory in
deformable ones. Furthermore, the torque needed to rotate the particle was
calculated. Two different paths to motion were identified. In the first,
contact forces change slowly, and the indeterminacy decreases continuously to
zero, and vanishes precisely at the onset of motion, and the torque needed to
rotate the disk is independent of method and packing history. In the second
way, this torque depends on method and on the history of the packing, and the
forces jump discontinuously at the onset of motion.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys Rev
Stress-strain behavior and geometrical properties of packings of elongated particles
We present a numerical analysis of the effect of particle elongation on the
quasistatic behavior of sheared granular media by means of the Contact Dynamics
method. The particle shapes are rounded-cap rectangles characterized by their
elongation. The macroscopic and microstructural properties of several packings
subjected to biaxial compression are analyzed as a function of particle
elongation. We find that the shear strength is an increasing linear function of
elongation. Performing an additive decomposition of the stress tensor based on
a harmonic approximation of the angular dependence of branch vectors, contact
normals and forces, we show that the increasing mobilization of friction force
and the associated anisotropy are key effects of particle elongation. These
effects are correlated with partial nematic ordering of the particles which
tend to be oriented perpendicular to the major principal stress direction and
form side-to-side contacts. However, the force transmission is found to be
mainly guided by cap-to-side contacts, which represent the largest fraction of
contacts for the most elongated particles. Another interesting finding is that,
in contrast to shear strength, the solid fraction first increases with particle
elongation, but declines as the particles become more elongated. It is also
remarkable that the coordination number does not follow this trend so that the
packings of more elongated particles are looser but more strongly connected.Comment: Submited to Physical Review
Trailing Edge Noise Reduction by Passive and Active Flow Controls
This paper presents the results on the use of porous metal foams (passive control) and dielectric barrier surface plasma actuations (active control) for the reduction of vortex shedding tonal noises from the nonflat plate type trailing edge serration in a NACA0012 airfoil previously discussed in Chong et al. (AIAA J. Vol. 51, 2013, pp. 2665-2677). The use of porous metal foams to fill the interstices between adjacent members of the sawtooth can almost completely suppress the vortex shedding tonal noise, whilst the serration effect on the broadband noise reduction is retained. This concept will promote the nonflat plate type serrated trailing edge to become a genuine alternative to the conventional flat plate type serrated trailing edge, which is known to have drawbacks in the structural stability, aerodynamic performances and implementation issues. For the plasma actuators, configuration which produces electric wind in a tangential direction is found to be not very effective in suppressing the vortices emanated from the serration blunt root. On the other hand, for the plasma configuration which produces electric wind in a vertical direction, good level of vortex shedding tonal noise reduction has been demonstrated. However, the self noise produced by the plasma actuators negates the noise benefits on the tonal noise reduction. This characteristic illustrates the need to further develop the plasma actuators in a two pronged approach. First is to increase the electric wind speed, thereby allowing the plasma actuators to be used in a higher free jet velocity which naturally produces a larger level of jet noise. Second, the self noise radiated by the plasma actuators should be reduced
The Breakdown of Kinetic Theory in Granular Shear Flows
We examine two basic assumptions of kinetic theory-- binary collisions and
molecular chaos-- using numerical simulations of sheared granular materials. We
investigate a wide range of densities and restitution coefficients and
demonstrate that kinetic theory breaks down at large density and small
restitution coefficients. In the regimes where kinetic theory fails, there is
an associated emergence of clusters of spatially correlated grains
Force transmission in a packing of pentagonal particles
We perform a detailed analysis of the contact force network in a dense
confined packing of pentagonal particles simulated by means of the contact
dynamics method. The effect of particle shape is evidenced by comparing the
data from pentagon packing and from a packing with identical characteristics
except for the circular shape of the particles. A counterintuitive finding of
this work is that, under steady shearing, the pentagon packing develops a lower
structural anisotropy than the disk packing. We show that this weakness is
compensated by a higher force anisotropy, leading to enhanced shear strength of
the pentagon packing. We revisit "strong" and "weak" force networks in the
pentagon packing, but our simulation data provide also evidence for a large
class of "very weak" forces carried mainly by vertex-to-edge contacts. The
strong force chains are mostly composed of edge-to-edge contacts with a marked
zig-zag aspect and a decreasing exponential probability distribution as in a
disk packing
Contaminant hydrogeology of solvents, gasoline, and salt
Guidebook for field trips in southwestern Maine: New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference, 78th annual meeting, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, October 17, 18, and 19, 1986: Trip B-
Force indeterminacy in the jammed state of hard disks
Granular packings of hard discs are investigated by means of contact dynamics
which is an appropriate technique to explore the allowed force-realizations in
the space of contact forces. Configurations are generated for given values of
the friction coefficient, and then an ensemble of equilibrium forces is found
for fixed contacts. We study the force fluctuations within this ensemble. In
the limit of zero friction the fluctuations vanish in accordance with the
isostaticity of the packing. The magnitude of the fluctuations has a
non-monotonous friction dependence. The increase for small friction can be
attributed to the opening of the angle of the Coulomb cone, while the decrease
as friction increases is due to the reduction of connectivity of the
contact-network, leading to local, independent clusters of indeterminacy. We
discuss the relevance of indeterminacy to packings of deformable particles and
to the mechanical response properties.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes, journal reference adde
Dynamic Provenance for SPARQL Update
While the Semantic Web currently can exhibit provenance information by using
the W3C PROV standards, there is a "missing link" in connecting PROV to storing
and querying for dynamic changes to RDF graphs using SPARQL. Solving this
problem would be required for such clear use-cases as the creation of version
control systems for RDF. While some provenance models and annotation techniques
for storing and querying provenance data originally developed with databases or
workflows in mind transfer readily to RDF and SPARQL, these techniques do not
readily adapt to describing changes in dynamic RDF datasets over time. In this
paper we explore how to adapt the dynamic copy-paste provenance model of
Buneman et al. [2] to RDF datasets that change over time in response to SPARQL
updates, how to represent the resulting provenance records themselves as RDF in
a manner compatible with W3C PROV, and how the provenance information can be
defined by reinterpreting SPARQL updates. The primary contribution of this
paper is a semantic framework that enables the semantics of SPARQL Update to be
used as the basis for a 'cut-and-paste' provenance model in a principled
manner.Comment: Pre-publication version of ISWC 2014 pape
Optimal estimation for Large-Eddy Simulation of turbulence and application to the analysis of subgrid models
The tools of optimal estimation are applied to the study of subgrid models
for Large-Eddy Simulation of turbulence. The concept of optimal estimator is
introduced and its properties are analyzed in the context of applications to a
priori tests of subgrid models. Attention is focused on the Cook and Riley
model in the case of a scalar field in isotropic turbulence. Using DNS data,
the relevance of the beta assumption is estimated by computing (i) generalized
optimal estimators and (ii) the error brought by this assumption alone. Optimal
estimators are computed for the subgrid variance using various sets of
variables and various techniques (histograms and neural networks). It is shown
that optimal estimators allow a thorough exploration of models. Neural networks
are proved to be relevant and very efficient in this framework, and further
usages are suggested
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