1,916 research outputs found
Analytic study of the urn model for separation of sand
We present an analytic study of the urn model for separation of sand recently
introduced by Lipowski and Droz (Phys. Rev. E 65, 031307 (2002)). We solve
analytically the master equation and the first-passage problem. The analytic
results confirm the numerical results obtained by Lipowski and Droz. We find
that the stationary probability distribution and the shortest one among the
characteristic times are governed by the same free energy. We also analytically
derive the form of the critical probability distribution on the critical line,
which supports their results obtained by numerically calculating Binder
cumulants (cond-mat/0201472).Comment: 6 pages including 3 figures, RevTe
Analytic study of the three-urn model for separation of sand
We present an analytic study of the three-urn model for separation of sand.
We solve analytically the master equation and the first-passage problem. We
find that the stationary probability distribution obeys the detailed balance
and is governed by the {\it free energy}. We find that the characteristic
lifetime of a cluster diverges algebraically with exponent 1/3 at the limit of
stability.Comment: 5pages, 4 figures include
Jet pumps for thermoacoustic applications: design guidelines based on a numerical parameter study
The oscillatory flow through tapered cylindrical tube sections (jet pumps) is
characterized by a numerical parameter study. The shape of a jet pump results
in asymmetric hydrodynamic end effects which cause a time-averaged pressure
drop to occur under oscillatory flow conditions. Hence, jet pumps are used as
streaming suppressors in closed-loop thermoacoustic devices. A two-dimensional
axisymmetric computational fluid dynamics model is used to calculate the
performance of a large number of conical jet pump geometries in terms of
time-averaged pressure drop and acoustic power dissipation. The investigated
geometrical parameters include the jet pump length, taper angle, waist diameter
and waist curvature. In correspondence with previous work, four flow regimes
are observed which characterize the jet pump performance and dimensionless
parameters are introduced to scale the performance of the various jet pump
geometries. The simulation results are compared to an existing quasi-steady
theory and it is shown that this theory is only applicable in a small operation
region. Based on the scaling parameters, an optimum operation region is defined
and design guidelines are proposed which can be directly used for future jet
pump design.Comment: The following article has been accepted by the Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America. After it is published, it will be found at
http://scitation.aip.org/JAS
The friction factor of two-dimensional rough-boundary turbulent soap film flows
We use momentum transfer arguments to predict the friction factor in
two-dimensional turbulent soap-film flows with rough boundaries (an analogue of
three-dimensional pipe flow) as a function of Reynolds number Re and roughness
, considering separately the inverse energy cascade and the forward
enstrophy cascade. At intermediate Re, we predict a Blasius-like friction
factor scaling of in flows dominated by the
enstrophy cascade, distinct from the energy cascade scaling of
. For large Re, in the enstrophy-dominated case.
We use conformal map techniques to perform direct numerical simulations that
are in satisfactory agreement with theory, and exhibit data collapse scaling of
roughness-induced criticality, previously shown to arise in the 3D pipe data of
Nikuradse.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Breakdown of Burton-Prim-Slichter approach and lateral solute segregation in radially converging flows
A theoretical study is presented of the effect of a radially converging melt
flow, which is directed away from the solidification front, on the radial
solute segregation in simple solidification models. We show that the classical
Burton-Prim-Slichter (BPS) solution describing the effect of a diverging flow
on the solute incorporation into the solidifying material breaks down for the
flows converging along the solidification front. The breakdown is caused by a
divergence of the integral defining the effective boundary layer thickness
which is the basic concept of the BPS theory. Although such a divergence can
formally be avoided by restricting the axial extension of the melt to a layer
of finite height, radially uniform solute distributions are possible only for
weak melt flows with an axial velocity away from the solidification front
comparable to the growth rate. There is a critical melt velocity for each
growth rate at which the solution passes through a singularity and becomes
physically inconsistent for stronger melt flows. To resolve these
inconsistencies we consider a solidification front presented by a disk of
finite radius subject to a strong converging melt flow and obtain an
analytic solution showing that the radial solute concentration depends on the
radius as and close to the rim and
at large distances from it. The logarithmic increase of concentration is
limited in the vicinity of the symmetry axis by the diffusion becoming
effective at a distance comparable to the characteristic thickness of the
solute boundary layer. The converging flow causes a solute pile-up forming a
logarithmic concentration peak at the symmetry axis which might be an
undesirable feature for crystal growth processes.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Steady state representation of the homogeneous cooling state of a granular gas
The properties of a dilute granular gas in the homogeneous cooling state are
mapped to those of a stationary state by means of a change in the time scale
that does not involve any internal property of the system. The new
representation is closely related with a general property of the granular
temperature in the long time limit. The physical and practical implications of
the mapping are discussed. In particular, simulation results obtained by the
direct simulation Monte Carlo method applied to the scaled dynamics are
reported. This includes ensemble averages and also the velocity autocorrelation
function, as well as the self-diffusion coefficient obtained from the latter by
means of the Green-Kubo representation. In all cases, the obtained results are
compared with theoretical predictions
Cavitation inception of a van der Waals fluid at a sack-wall obstacle
Cavitation in a liquid moving past a constraint is numerically investigated
by means of a free-energy lattice Boltzmann simulation based on the van der
Waals equation of state. The fluid is streamed past an obstacle and, depending
on the pressure drop between inlet and outlet, vapor formation underneath the
corner of the sack-wall is observed. The circumstances of cavitation formation
are investigated and it is found that the local bulk pressure and mean stress
are insufficient to explain the phenomenon. Results obtained in this study
strongly suggest that the viscous stress, interfacial contributions to the
local pressure, and the Laplace pressure are relevant to the opening of a vapor
cavity. This can be described by a generalization of Joseph's criterion that
includes these contributions. A macroscopic investigation measuring mass flow
rate behavior and discharge coefficient was also performed. As theoretically
predicted, mass flow rate increases linearly with the square root of the
pressure drop. However, when cavitation occurs, the mass flow growth rate is
reduced and eventually it collapses into a choked flow state. In the cavitating
regime, as theoretically predicted and experimentally verified, the discharge
coefficient grows with the Nurick cavitation number
Travelling waves in pipe flow
A family of three-dimensional travelling waves for flow through a pipe of
circular cross section is identified. The travelling waves are dominated by
pairs of downstream vortices and streaks. They originate in saddle-node
bifurcations at Reynolds numbers as low as 1250. All states are immediately
unstable. Their dynamical significance is that they provide a skeleton for the
formation of a chaotic saddle that can explain the intermittent transition to
turbulence and the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in this shear
flow.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
CHIMERA: a wide-field, multi-colour, high-speed photometer at the prime focus of the Hale telescope
The Caltech HIgh-speed Multi-colour camERA (CHIMERA) is a new instrument that has been developed for use at the prime focus of the Hale 200-inch telescope. Simultaneous optical imaging in two bands is enabled by a dichroic beam splitter centred at 567 nm, with Sloan u′ and g′ bands available on the blue arm and Sloan r′, i′ and z_s bands available on the red arm. Additional narrow-band filters will also become available as required. An electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD) detector is employed for both optical channels, each capable of simultaneously delivering sub-electron effective read noise under multiplication gain and frame rates of up to 26 fps full frame (several 1000 fps windowed), over a fully corrected 5 × 5 arcmin field of view. CHIMERA was primarily developed to enable the characterization of the size distribution of sub-km Kuiper Belt Objects via stellar occultation, a science case that motivates the frame-rate, the simultaneous multi-colour imaging and the wide field of view of the instrument. In addition, it also has unique capability in the detection of faint near-Earth asteroids and will be used for the monitoring of short-duration transient and periodic sources, particularly those discovered by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF), and the upcoming Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)
Roughness-induced critical phenomena in a turbulent flow
I present empirical evidence that turbulent flows are closely analogous to
critical phenomena, from a reanalysis of friction factor measurements in rough
pipes. The data collapse found here corresponds to Widom scaling near critical
points, and implies that a full understanding of turbulence requires explicit
accounting for boundary roughness
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