Time-dependent calculation of the velocity of a yarn launched by the main nozzle of an air-jet loom

In air-jet weaving looms the yarn is initially accelerated by the main nozzle. To obtain a high yarn velocity a high air velocity is required which results in complex flow patterns. Consequently, predicting the influence of a change in geometry or inlet pressure on the yarn velocity is not straightforward. In this research a fast time-dependent fluid-structure interaction framework is used to model the acceleration of a yarn during launch. Initially, the performance of the framework is assessed by considering a smooth monofilament yarn. A suggestion is also madeand tested to deal with the surface texture of hairy/multifilament yarns

Adsorption and absorption of Boron, Nitrogen, Aluminium and Phosphorus on Silicene: stability, electronic and phonon properties

Ab initio calculations within the density-functional theory formalism are performed to investigate the chemical functionalization of a graphene-like monolayer of silicon - silicene - with B, N, Al or P atoms. The structural, electronic, magnetic and vibrational properties are reported. The most preferable adsorption sites are found to be valley, bridge, valley and hill site for B, N, Al and P adatoms, respectively. All the relaxed systems with adsorbed/substituted atoms exhibit metallic behaviour with strongly bonded B, N, Al, and P atoms accompanied by an appreciable electron transfer from silicene to the B, N and P adatom/substituent. The Al atoms exhibit opposite charge transfer, with n-type doping of silicene and weaker bonding. The adatoms/substituents induce characteristic branches in the phonon spectrum of silicene, which can be probed by Raman measurements. Using molecular dynamics we found that the systems under study are stable up to at least T = 500 K. Our results demonstrate that silicene has a very reactive and functionalizable surface.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Autoxidation Chemistry: Bridging the Gap Between Homogeneous Radical Chemistry and (Heterogeneous) Catalysis

During the autoxidation of cyclohexane, abstraction of the αH-atom of the hydroperoxide product by chain-carrying peroxyl radicals produces both the desired alcohol and ketone products, as well as the majority of by-products. Rationalizing the impact of this reaction, one should aim for a (catalytic) destruction of this hydroperoxide without the intervention of peroxyl chain-carriers. Starting from these new insights in the molecular mechanism, attempts for rational catalyst design are initiate

Autoxidation of Hydrocarbons: From Chemistry to Catalysis

This contribution summarizes our recent efforts to unravel the radical chemistry of autoxidations. Abstraction of the weakly bonded αH-atom of the primary hydroperoxide product by chain carrying peroxyl radicals is identified as the source of major end products such as alcohol and ketone/aldehyde. In the case of cyclohexane autoxidation, this reaction is even responsible for the majority of ring-opened by-products. In a second part, different approaches to autoxidation catalysis are discussed, ranging from transition metal ion catalysis to organocatalysis with immobilized N-hydroxyphthalimid

Three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction simulations of a yarn subjected to the main nozzle flow of an air-jet weaving loom using a Chimera technique

In air-jet weaving looms, the main nozzle pulls the yarn from the prewinder by means of a high velocity air flow. The flexible yarn is excited by the flow and exhibits high amplitude oscillations. The motion of the yarn is important for the reliability and the attainable speed of the insertion. Fluid-structure interaction simulations calculate the interaction between the air flow and the yarn motion and could provide additional insight into yarn behavior. However, the use of an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian approach for the deforming fluid domain around a flexible yarn typically results in severe mesh degradation, vastly reducing the accuracy of the calculations or limiting the physical time that can be simulated. In this research, the feasibility of using a Chimera technique to simulate the motion of a yarn interacting with the air flow from a main nozzle was investigated. This methodology combines a fixed background grid with a moving component grid deforming along with the yarn. The component grid is, however, not constrained by the boundaries of the flow domain allowing for large deformations with limited mesh degradation. Two separate cases were investigated. In the first case, the yarn was considered to be clamped at the main nozzle inlet. For the second case, the yarn was allowed to move axially as the main nozzle pulled it from a drum storage system

Development of an iterative procedure with a flow solver for optimizing the yarn speed in a main nozzle of an air jet loom

In this research, a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) framework was established to estimate the velocity of a yarn as it is propelled by the main nozzle. To allow the methodology to be used in an optimization context, the computational time was limited as much as possible. The methodology was first validated on polymer coated yarns to avoid any influence of yarn hairiness. Results from the calculations were compared to experiments and adequate agreement was found without tuning. Subsequently, an extension to hairy yarns was made by representing the hairiness as a wall roughness. The roughness height was determined by matching the simulated to the experimental velocity for a single case. The approach was validated by applying the obtained roughness height to different setups and comparing the simulations to the corresponding experiments. Taking into account some limitations, the methodology can be applied for optimization purposes using either smooth or hairy yarns