Self-channelisation and levee formation in monodisperse granular flows

Dense granular flows can spontaneously self-channelise by forming a pair of parallel-sided static levees on either side of a central flowing channel. This process prevents lateral spreading and maintains the flow thickness, and hence mobility, enabling the grains to run out considerably further than a spreading flow on shallow slopes. Since levees commonly form in hazardous geophysical mass flows, such as snow avalanches, debris flows, lahars and pyroclastic flows, this has important implications for risk management in mountainous and volcanic regions. In this paper an avalanche model that incorporates frictional hysteresis, as well as depth-averaged viscous terms derived from the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$-rheology, is used to quantitatively model self-channelisation and levee formation. The viscous terms are crucial for determining a smoothly varying steady-state velocity profile across the flowing channel, which has the important property that it does not exert any shear stresses at the levee–channel interfaces. For a fixed mass flux, the resulting boundary value problem for the velocity profile also uniquely determines the width and height of the channel, and the predictions are in very good agreement with existing experimental data for both spherical and angular particles. It is also shown that in the absence of viscous (second-order gradient) terms, the problem degenerates, to produce plug flow in the channel with two frictionless contact discontinuities at the levee–channel margins. Such solutions are not observed in experiments. Moreover, the steady-state inviscid problem lacks a thickness or width selection mechanism and consequently there is no unique solution. The viscous theory is therefore a significant step forward. Fully time-dependent numerical simulations to the viscous model are able to quantitatively capture the process in which the flow self-channelises and show how the levees are initially emplaced behind the flow head. Both experiments and numerical simulations show that the height and width of the channel are not necessarily fixed by these initial values, but respond to changes in the supplied mass flux, allowing narrowing and widening of the channel long after the initial front has passed by. In addition, below a critical mass flux the steady-state solutions become unstable and time-dependent numerical simulations are able to capture the transition to periodic erosion–deposition waves observed in experiments.

Defining the Limits of Spectrally Based Bathymetric Mapping on a Large River

Remote sensing has emerged as a powerful method of characterizing river systems but is subject to several important limitations. This study focused on defining the limits of spectrally based mapping in a large river. We used multibeam echosounder (MBES) surveys and hyperspectral images from a deep, clear-flowing channel to develop techniques for inferring the maximum detectable depth, d m a x , directly from an image and identifying optically deep areas that exceed d m a x . Optimal Band Ratio Analysis (OBRA) of progressively truncated subsets of the calibration data provided an estimate of d m a x by indicating when depth retrieval performance began to deteriorate due to the presence of depths greater than the sensor could detect. We then partitioned the calibration data into shallow and optically deep ( d > d m a x ) classes and fit a logistic regression model to estimate the probability of optically deep water, P r ( O D ) . Applying a P r ( O D ) threshold value allowed us to delineate optically deep areas and thus only attempt depth retrieval in relatively shallow locations. For the Kootenai River, d m a x reached as high as 9.5 m at one site, with accurate depth retrieval ( R 2 = 0.94 ) in areas with d < d m a x . As a first step toward scaling up from short reaches to long river segments, we evaluated the portability of depth-reflectance relations calibrated at one site to other sites along the river. This analysis highlighted the importance of calibration data spanning a broad range of depths. Due to the inherent limitations of passive optical depth retrieval in large rivers, a hybrid field- and remote sensing-based approach would be required to obtain complete bathymetric coverage.

A Novel PZT Pump with Built-in Compliant Structures

Different to the traditionally defined valved piezoelectric (PZT) pump and valveless PZT pump, two groups of PZT pumps with built-in compliant structures—with distances between the free ends of 0.2 mm (Group A) and 0 mm (Group B)—were designed, fabricated, and experimentally tested. This type of pump mainly contains a chamber 12 mm in diameter and 1.1 mm in height, a PZT vibrator, and two pairs of compliant structures arranged on the flowing channel. The flow-resistance differences between these two groups of PZT pumps were theoretically and experimentally verified. The relationships between the amplitude, applied voltage and frequency of the PZT vibrators were obtained experimentally, with results illustrating that the amplitude linearly and positively correlates with the voltage, while nonlinearly and negatively correlating to the frequency. The flow rate performance of these two groups was experimentally tested from 110–160 Vpp and 10–130 Hz. Results showed that the flow rate positively correlates to the voltage, and the optimum flow rate frequency centers around 90 Hz for Group A and 80 Hz for Group B, respectively. The flow rate performances of Group B were further measured from 60–100 Hz and 170–210 Vpp, and obtained optimal flow rates of 3.6 mL/min at 210 Vpp and 80 Hz when ignoring the siphon-caused backward flow rate. As the compliant structures are not prominently limited by the channel’s size, and the pump can be minimized by Micro-electromechanical Systems (MEMS) processing methods, it is a suitable candidate for microfluidic applications like closed-loop cooling systems and drug delivery systems.

Investigation of working processes in a flowing channel of ramjet engine

The technique and results of experimental-theoretical study of gas-dynamics, heat transfer and the structure of gas-flow in the flowing channel of a ramjet engine in Mach number range M = (5-7) are presented. The temperature distribution along the flowing channel of a ramjet engine was experimentally obtained. The temperature along the wall of the flowing channel of the axisymmetric model was measured using the developed thermo-probe. Distributions of Mach number and temperature along the symmetry axis of the flowing channel of the model are obtained numerically. Comparison of the numerical and experimentally obtained values of the Mach number showed their qualitative agreement.

Study of heat transfer processes in the flowing part of hypersonic air-ramjet engine

The technique and results of the experimental-theoretical study of gas dynamics, heat transfer and the structure of gas flow in the flowing channel of a model hypersonic air-ramjet engine are presented for Mach numbers M = (5; 6).

A New Type of Joint and its Numerical Analysis

In order to intelligently switch the working status of production string between oil production and testing in the heavy oil thermal recovery, as well as to improve oil exploit efficiency and reduce the exploitation cost, a new transformation joint was designed. Based on the hydraulic fluid controlling principle, caused by the one-way valve opening and closing, the positive and reverse pressure pushed the sealing cylinder to the left or the right. And the transformation between the two states could be achieved. The K-ε model of CFX software was used to simulate the internal flow field of the device under four different opening status of the one-way valve. By analyzing the distributions of pressure and velocity, the energy loss of the device in the oil state was gotten, and the method were found to optimize the design of the flowing channel for reducing the energy consumption. The results show that the design of the device satisfies the operation requirements of thermal recovery, the means to further improve the device is obtained, and it significantly improves the efficiency of measuring oil reservoir parameters.

Study on Defect of 304 Stainless Steel Industrial Condensation Board in CO2 Laser Welding

Based on the welding problems of 304 stainless steel serpentine flow industrial condensation plate, the three kinds of CO2 laser welding procedures are adopted to manufacture the condensation plate. The optical microscope, SEM, EDS, micro-hardness and tensile tests are used to analyze the microstructure and micro-hardness of 304 stainless steel sheet joint. The relationships between the generated defects and carbide separation in the welding joint are discussed. Due to the grain refinement, the micro-hardness of welding seam is increased. Therefore, it is reasonable factors that the heat input, cooling velocity and temperature gradient to improve the defects of 304 stainless steel serpentine flowing channel industrial condensation board in CO2 laser welding.

A Thermopneumatic Valveless Micropump With PDMS-Based Nozzle/Diffuser Structure for Microfluidic System

A thermopneumatic valveless micropump with a PDMS-based nozzle/diffuser structure was firstly designed and realized herein by stacking three layers of PDMS on a glass slide. Unlike the conventional peristaltic pumping configuration, the new structure of the micropump consists of only one set of heater on the glass slide, a thermopneumatic actuation chamber, and an actuation diaphragm. Additionally, it includes a flowing channel with nozzle/diffuser structure and inlet/outlet ports. In this valveless microchannel, fluid is driven by asymmetric flow resistance produced from the nozzle and diffuser configuration. The actuation diaphragm between the gas-pneumatic chamber and the flowing channel can bend up and down due to the gas expansion as well as the thermal buckling of the PDMS diaphragm imposed from the heating in the gas-pneumatic actuation chamber.