Experimental study of thermally-driven micro-pump using stepped laser

The stepped pulse-laser is used to heat the fluid in a micro-tube with the diameter less than 1 mm, and a phase change and a directional flow of the fluid are induced. Based on many experimental observations, the mechanism of thermally-driven MEMS is studied and the technical approaches of the efficient and steady thermally-driven flow is given. The experimental results show that the hypostasis of the thermally-driven micro-pump is a kind of erratic liquid-vapor two-phase flow, and the liquid movement and the change rate of the pressure is closely related to the bubbles' behavior in the micro-tube.     

Simulation on Dynamic Bending Features of Fabric Based on Fluid-Solid Interaction Technique

This paper is devoted to the two-dimensional nonlinear modeling of the fluid-solid interaction (FSI) between fabric and air flow, which is based on the Automatic Incremental Dynamic Nonlinear Analysis (AIDNA)-FSI program in order to study the dynamic bending features of fabrics in a specific air flow filed. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for flow and the finite element model (FEM) for fabric was set up to constitute an FSI model in which the geometric nonlinear behavior and the dynamic stress-strain variation of the relatively soft fabric material were taken into account. Several FSI cases with different time-dependent wind load and the model frequency analysis for fabric were carried out. The dynamic response of fabric and the distribution of fluid variables were investigated. The results of numerical simulation and experiments fit quite well. Hence, this work contributes to the research of modeling the dynamic bending behavior of fabrics in air field.     

Theoretical and experimental study on magnetic-fluid-based flow sensors

The dependence of flow volume on the pressure difference between the ports of a U-tube was determined for both laminar and turbulent flows of a magnetic fluid.The results showed that the dependence was linear in the case of laminar flow but was non-linear in the case of turbulent flow.In addition,the inductance and the voltage difference across two coils around the arms of the U-tube were calculated.The voltage difference was proportional to the flow volume and inversely proportional to the square of the coil length.These theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the design of magnetic-fluid-based flow sensors is feasible.     

Fluid Flow in Tundish Due to Different Type Arrangement of Weir and Dam

Tundish is an important metallurgical reactor in the continuous casting process. In order to control the fluid flow in tundish and thus take full advantage of the residencetime available for the removal of inclusions from molten steel, the effect of weir and dam on the fluid flow has been studied in a water model based on the characteristic number Froude and Reynold number similarity criteria. The residence time distribution curves of the flow were measured by SG800. The optimum arrangement of darn and weir and the nonstationary flow in tundish were discussed. The results show that the combination of weir and dam is benefit for the flow pattern in tundish, weir can prevent the upper recirculating flow, dam can cut off the bottom flow and turn to upwards, it is advantageous to separate the nonmetallic inclusions. Furthermore, it is important to exceed the critical depth of bath during exchange ladles, not only for the inclusion floatation but also for avoiding tundish slag drainage earlier.     

Multiscale coupling:challenges and opportunities

Multiscale coupling is ubiquitous in nature and attracts broad interests of scientists from mathematicians, physicists, machinists, chemists to biologists. However, much less attention has been paid to its intrinsic implication. In this paper, multiscale coupling is introduced by studying two typical examples in classic mechanics: fluid turbulence and solid failure. The nature of multiscale coupling in the two examples lies in their physical diversities and strong coupling over wide-range scales. The theories of dynamical system and statistical mechanics provide fundamental methods for the multiscale coupling problems. The diverse multiscale couplings call for unified approaches and might expedite new concepts, theories and disciplines.     

A fingerprint feature extraction algorithm based on curvature of Bezier curve

Fingerprint feature extraction is a key step of fingerprint identification. A novel feature extraction algorithm is proposed in this paper, which describes fingerprint feature with the bending information of fingerprint ridges. Ridges in the specific region of fingerprint images are traced firstly in the algorithm, and then these ridges are fit with Bezier curve. Finally, the point that has the maximal curvature on Bezier curve is defined as a feature point. Experimental results demonstrate that this kind of feature points characterize the bending trend of fingerprint ridges effectively, and they are robust to noise, in addition, the extraction precision of this algorithm is also better than the conventional approaches.     

Fluid flow field synergy principle and its application to drag reduction

The concept of field synergy for fluid flow is introduced, which refers to the synergy of the velocity field and the velocity gradient field in an entire flow domain. Analyses show that the flow drag depends not only on the velocity and the velocity gradient fields but also on their synergy. The principle of minimum dissipation of mechanical energy is developed, which may be stated as follows： the worse the synergy between the velocity and velocity gradient fields is, the smaller the resistance becomes. Furthermore, based on the principle of minimum dissipation of mechanical energy together with conservation equations, a field synergy equation with a set of specified constraints has been established for optimizing flow processes. The optimal flow field can be obtained by solving the field synergy equation, which leads to the minimum resistance to fluid flow in the fixed flow domain. Finally, as an example, the field synergy analysis for duct flow with two parallel branches is presented. The optimized velocity distributor nearby the fork, which was designed based on the principle of minimum dissipation of mechanical energy, may reduce the drag of duct flow with two parallel branches.     

Fluid Flow Behavior of Liquid in Cylindrical Vessels Stirred by One or Two Air Jets

Based on the two-phase model (Eulerian-Eulerian model), the three dimensional fluid flow in water and that liquid steel systems stirred by one or two multiple gas jets are simulated. In the Eulerian-Eulerian two-phase model, the gas and the liquid phase are considered to be two different continuous fluids interacting with each other through the finite inter-phase areas. The exchange between the phases is represented by source terms in conversation equations. Turbulence is assumed to be a property of the liquid phase. A new turbulence modification k-ε model is introduced to consider the bubbles movement contribution to k and ε. The dispersion of phases due to turbulence is represented by introducing a diffusion term in mass conservation equation. The mathematical simulation agrees well with the experiment results. The study results indicate that the distance of two nozzles has big effect on fluid flow behavior in the vessel. Using two gas injection nozzles at the half radii of one diameter of the bottom generates a much better mixing than with one nozzle under the condition of the same total gas flow rate.     

Space experimental studies of microgravity fluid science in China

Microgravity fluid physics is an important part of microgravity sciences, which consists of simple fluids of many new systems, gas-liquid two-phase flow and heat transfer, and complex fluid mechanics. In addition to the importance of itself in sciences and applications, microgravity fluid physics closely relates to microgravity combustion, space biotechnology and space materials science, and promotes the developments of interdisciplinary fields. Many space microgravity experiments have been performed on board the recoverable satellites and space ships of China and pushed the rapid development of microgravity sciences in China. In the present paper, space experimental studies and the main results of the microgravity fluid science in China in the last 10 years or so are introduced briefly.     

Dissymmetric flow phenomenon in a multistrand tundish

The dissymmetric flow phenomenon exists in a symmetric multistrand tundish. It was studied by the physical simulation experiment. The fundamental flow characteristic of dissymmetry was analyzed. The asymmetry of the flow field, the temperature field, and the inclusions distribution without flow-control devices (FCDs) were compared with those with FCDs. It is proved that the asymmetry of the flow and temperature field along the outlets at the long range is more obvious. The symmetric FCDs installation has a slight effect on the dissymmetric temperature field, simultaneously, the symmetry of the average residence time and the fluid flow pattern has improved, and the fluid flow in the tundish has been more reasonable. In case of a symmetric multistrand tundish having a large volume, the influence of the dissymmetric phenomenon should be considered and the flow behaviors in the whole tundish should be studied completely.     

Optimization of mixing time in a ladle with dual plugs

Based on the two-phase fluid (Eulerian-Eulerian) model, a mathematical model about the gas-liquid flow and mixing behavior was developed to investigate the effect of the offset of dual plugs, the included angle of dual plugs with a center point, and gas flow rate on the mixing time in a ladle with dual plugs. Numerical results indicate that two types of recirculation zones exist in the ladle. One is the middle recirculation between gas and liquid plumes, and the other is the sidewall recirculation between plumes and the ladle sidewall. The correction shows that the mixing time is in proportion to -0.2676 power of gas flow rate. There is a unique optimum offset of dual plugs with a particular included angle, in turn, a unique optimum included angle of dual plugs exits with a particular offset.     

Design optimization of flow control device for multi-strand tundish

The fluid flow phenomena in tundish have a strong influence not only on the uniform of composition and temperature of bath, but also on the separation of non-metallic inclusions, especially for the multi-strand tundish. A water model of a multi-strandtundish has been set up based on the Froude number and Reynold number similarity criteria. The effect of dam+weir and baffle on the uniform of composition and temperature of bath for different nozzles has been studied. The residence time distribution curves of the fluid flow were measured by SG800. Comparing the photos of the flow pattern in tundish, the optimum arrangement of baffle+dam was obtained. This new structure is benefit not only to uniform the temperature among different SENs (submerge entry nozzles) but also to separate the non-inclusions from the liquid steel, it can be widely used in multi-strand tundish.     

The study of slip line field and upper bound method based on associated flow and non associated flow rules

At present, associated flow rule of traditional plastic theory is adopted in the slip line field theory and upper bound method of geotechnical materials. So the stress characteristic line conforms to the velocity line. It is proved that geotechnical materials do not abide by the associated flow rule. It is impossible for the stress characteristic line to conform to the velocity line. Generalized plastic mechanics theoretically proved that plastic potential surface intersects the M-C yield surface with an angle, so that the velocity line must be studied by non-associated flow rule. According to limit analysis theory, the theory of slip line field is put forward in this paper, and then the ultimate bearing capacity of strip footing is obtained based on associated flow rule and the non-associated flow rule individually. These two results are identical since the ultimate bearing capacity is independent of flow rule. On the contrary, the velocity fields of associated and non-associated flow are different which shows the velocity field based on the associated flow rule is incorrect.     

Turbulent Flow Action of Pulp in Wet - Laid Non - Woven Processes

The paper deals with the fluid field of web forming in wet-laid non-woven production.The influence of the turbulent flow on blending fiber and occluded fluid produced in pulp flow has been discussed in theory and practice.The suitable use of the imported velocity of pulp is very important in producing wet-laid products of good quality.     

Experimental study on moving boundaries of fluid flow in porous media

Researches on the boundary shape of fluid flow in porous media play an important role in engineering practices, such as petroleum exploitation, nuclear waste disposal and groundwater contamination. In this paper, six types of artificial porous samples （emery jade） with different porosities are manufactured. With the background of slow flow in porous media, laboratory experiments are carried out by observing the movement of five types of fluids with different dynamic viscosities in various types of porous media. A digital video recorder is employed to record the complete process of the fluid flow in the porous media. Based on the digital photos of the moving boundaries of fluid flow in porous media, the average displacement and fractal dimension of the moving boundary are estimated for different combinations of porosity and dynamic viscosity. Moreover, the evolution behavior of the average velocity and fractal dimension of the moving boundary with time is known. The statistical relations of the average velocity, the fractal dimension of the moving boundary and the porosity of porous media and the dynamic viscosity of fluids are proposed in this paper. It is shown that the front shape of the moving boundary of fluid flow in porous media is an integrated result of the porosity of porous media and the dynamic viscosity of fluids.     

Study on constant-pressure specific heat of non-equilibrium phase change process in gas-liquid two-phase flow system

In this paper,the air-water vapor-water system is taken as an example,and the formula of constant-pressure specific heat during non-equilibrium phase change process in the two-phase flow system is deduced using the theory of two-phase flow and thermophysics. The constant-pressure specific heat of non-equilibrium phase change process is calculated with the corresponding numerical model,and the numerical results are compared to those of the equilibrium phase change process. It is shown that in evaporation process,the variational rate of the non-equilibrium specific heat increases with increasing initial fluid temperature and particle mass fraction. The smaller particle radius is,the faster the varia-tional rate is. Meanwhile,the constant-pressure specific heat of equilibrium process is higher than that of the non-equilibrium process all the time.     

Basic equations of channel model for underground coal gasification

The underground coal gasification has advantages of zero rubbish, nonpollution, low cost and high safety. According to the characteristics of the gasification, the channel model of chemical fluid mechanics is used to set up the fluid equations and chemical equations by some reasonable suppositions in this paper, which lays a theoretical foundation on requirements of fluid movement rules in the process of underground coal gasification.     

Investigation of Coolant Fluid through Grinding Zone in High-Speed Precision Grinding

In the grinding process,grinding fluid is delivered for the purposes of chip flushing,cooling,lubrication,and chemical protection of the work surface.Due to the high-speed rotation of the grinding wheel,a boundary layer of air forms around the grinding wheel and moves most of the grinding fluid away from the grinding zone.Hence,the conventional method of delivering coolant fluid that floods delivery with high fluid pressure and nozzle fluid rare supply coolant fluid to achieve high performance grinding.The flood grinding typically delivering large volumes of grinding fluid is ineffective,especially under high speed grinding conditions.In the paper,a theoretical model is presented for flow of grinding fluid through the grinding zone in high-speed precision grinding.The model shows that the flow rate through the grinding zone between the wheel and the workpiece surface not only depends on wheel porosity and wheel speed,but also depends on nozzle volumetric flow rate and fluid jet velocity.Furthermore,the model is tested by a surface grinding machine in order to correlate between experiment and theory.Consequently,the useful flow-rate model is found to give a good agreement with the experimental results and the model can well forecast the useful flow-rate in high-speed precision grinding.     

Mathematical modeling of fluid flow,heat transfer and inclusion transport in a four strand tundish

Mathematical simulation was used for trouble-shooting and optimization. By the mathematical simulation, fluid flow and beat transfer of molten-steel in a four-strand tundish of a billet caster under different conditions (bare tundish and tundish with flow control device) were analyzed, The results showed that (1) the tundish with flow control device (FCD) has an important effect on the fluid pattern and temperature distribution; (2) the unsteady, solving method was used to model the inclusion motions at different time perthds, and it showed that the FCD is advantageous to separate the nonmetallic inclusions. According to the simulation results, the main problem existing in the industry preduction was found, and some helpful rneasurements were executed. Consequently, the large nonmetallic inclusions were separated, and the content of total oxygen was reduced. The qualily of steel was greatly improved.     

Mathematical Model of Fluid Flow and Solidification in Mold Region of Continuous Slab Casting

To simulate the phenomena in the mold region of continuous casting by coupling fluid flow and solidification, a three-dimensional mathematical model has been developed based on the K-ε turbulence equations and the SIMPLER algorithm. A pseudo source term was introduced into the energy equation to account for the latent heat and kinetic energy. The fluid flow in the mushy zone was calculated by defining the fluid viscosity as a function of the solid fraction in the mushy zone. Fine meshes in the solid region improve convergence and reduce iteration time. Comparison of the fluid flow and temperature distribution with and without solidification shows that although the solid shell in the mold is thin, it still greatly affects the flow pattern. The numerical results obtained provide details of the fluid flow and solidification phenomena which can be used to optimize the nozzle structure and other process parameters in continuous casting.