Grain size dependence of barchan dune dynamics

The dependence of the barchan dune dynamics on the size of the grains involved is investigated experimentally. Downsized barchan dune slices are observed in a narrow water flow tube. The relaxation time from an initial symmetric triangular heap towards an asymmetric shape attractor increases with dune mass and decreases with grain size. The dune velocity increases with grain size. In contrast, the velocity scaling and the shape of the barchan dune is independent of the size of the grains

Highly Conductive Wire: Cu Carbon Nanotube Composite Ampacity and Metallic CNT Buckypaper Conductivity

NASA is currently working on developing motors for hybrid electric propulsion applications in aviation. To make electric power more feasible in airplanes higher power to weight ratios are sought for electric motors. One facet to these efforts is to improve (increase) the conductivity and (lower) density of the magnet wire used in motors. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and composites containing CNT are being explored as a possible way to increase wire conductivity and lower density. Presented here are measurements of the current carrying capacity (ampacity) of a composite made from CNT and copper. The ability of CNT to improve the conductivity of such composites is hindered by the presence of semiconductive CNT (s-CNT) that exist in CNT supplies naturally, and currently, unavoidably. To solve this problem, and avoid s-CNT, various preferential growth and sorting methods are being explored. A supply of sorted 95 metallic CNT (m-CNT) was acquired in the form of thick film Buckypaper (BP) as part of this work and characterized using Raman spectroscopy, resistivity, and density measurements. The ampacity (Acm2) of the Cu-5volCNT composite was 3.8 lower than the same gauge pure Cu wire similarly tested. The lower ampacity in the composite wire is believed to be due to the presence of s-CNT in the composite and the relatively low (proper) level of longitudinal cooling employed in the test method. Although Raman spectroscopy can be used to characterize CNT, a strong relation between the ratios of the primary peaks GGand the relative amounts of m-CNT and s-CNT was not observed. The average effective conductivity of the CNT in the sorted, 95 m-CNT BP was 2.5 times higher than the CNT in the similar but un-sorted BP. This is an indication that improvements in the conductivity of CNT composites can be made by the use of sorted, highly conductive m-CNT

Criticality in polar fluids

A model of polar fluid is studied theoretically. The interaction potential, in addition to dipole-dipole term, possesses a dispersion contribution of the van der Waals-London form. It is found that when the dispersion force is comparable to dipole-dipole interaction, the fluid separates into coexisting liquid and gas phases. The calculated critical parameters are in excellent agreement with Monte Carlo simulations. When the strength of dispersion attraction is bellow critical, no phase separation is found.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, references modifie

Consideration of Conductive Motor Winding Materials at Room and Elevated Temperatures

A brief history of conductive motor winding materials is presented, comparing various metal motor winding materials and their properties in terms of conductivity, density and cost. The proposed use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and composites incorporating CNTs is explored as a potential way to improve motor winding conductivity, density, and reduce motor size which are important to electric aircraft technology. The conductivity of pure Cu, a CNT yarn, and a dilute Cu-CNT composite was measured at room temperature and at several temperatures up to 340 C. The conductivity of the Cu-CNT composite was about 3 percent lower than pure copper's at all temperatures measured. The conductivity of the CNT yarn was about 200 times lower than copper's, however, the yarn's conductivity dropped less with increasing temperature compared to Cu. It is believed that the low conductivity of the yarn is due primarily to high interfacial resistances and the presence of CNTs with low, semiconductor like electrical properties (s-CNT). It is believed the conductivity of the CNT-Cu composite could be improved by not using s-CNT, and instead using only CNTs with high, metallic like electrical properties (m-CNT); and by increasing the vol% m-CNTs

Particle dynamics of a cartoon dune

The spatio-temporal evolution of a downsized model for a desert dune is observed experimentally in a narrow water flow channel. A particle tracking method reveals that the migration speed of the model dune is one order of magnitude smaller than that of individual grains. In particular, the erosion rate consists of comparable contributions from creeping (low energy) and saltating (high energy) particles. The saltation flow rate is slightly larger, whereas the number of saltating particles is one order of magnitude lower than that of the creeping ones. The velocity field of the saltating particles is comparable to the velocity field of the driving fluid. It can be observed that the spatial profile of the shear stress reaches its maximum value upstream of the crest, while its minimum lies at the downstream foot of the dune. The particle tracking method reveals that the deposition of entrained particles occurs primarily in the region between these two extrema of the shear stress. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the initial triangular heap evolves to a steady state with constant mass, shape, velocity, and packing fraction after one turnover time has elapsed. Within that time the mean distance between particles initially in contact reaches a value of approximately one quarter of the dune basis length

3D Dune Skeleton Model as a Coupled Dynamical System of 2D Cross-Sections

To analyze theoretically the stability of the shape and the migration process of transverse dunes and barchans, we propose a {\it skeleton model} of 3D dunes described with coupled dynamics of 2D cross-sections. First, 2D cross-sections of a 3D dune parallel to the wind direction are extracted as elements of a skeleton of the 3D dune, hence, the dynamics of each and interaction between them is considered. This model simply describes the essential dynamics of 3D dunes as a system of coupled ordinary differential equations. Using the model we study the stability of the shape of 3D transversal dunes and their deformation to barchans depending on the amount of available sand in the dune field, sand flow in parallel and perpendicular to wind direction.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, lette