QUEUE

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Turbulent flow in an intake-manifold

Three-dimensional, turbulent fluid flow analysis with computational methods has emerged as a viable tool in the design process of engine components for passenger cars. If applied in the early stages of the component development such analysis can help reduce the product development time drastically, and may support the design engineer to evaluate several competing design aspects before product completion. However the grid generation for complex geometries still poses a difficult and time consuming taks which strongly influences the accuracy of the numerical solution. The present paper studies the numerical solution of the flow in an inlet-manifold of a five-cylinder engine with two intake-ports for each cylinder. A fast and reliable grid generation technique is discussed in detail. The finite volume based Navier-Stokes solver with schemes of first and second order accuracy for the convective terms is used. Numerical results at several mass flow rates and different boundary conditions at the intake ports are compared with measurements. Finally, the computational results are discussed with respect to their applicability to support the design process of an inlet-manifold.     

Thermisch induzierter Abbau von Disaccharid-Amadori-Verbindungen in quasi wasserfreiem Reaktionsmilieu

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Response of simulated propellant and explosives to projectile impact—II. Fragmentation

This paper is the second of a series concerned with the penetration and perforation phenomena in two types of propellant and explosive simulant, named Propergol, due to the impact at normal incidence of both blunt and conically-tipped steel strikers. The collision results in fragmentation, plug formation and generation of a cloud of debris that includes particles of measurable dimensions traveling with significant velocities. Both the fragment size and area as well as the ejecta mass are determined experimentally as a function of Propergol specimen thickness and impact velocity or energy. The cumulative number of fragments as a function of size for the Propergol is uniformly found to be a bi-linear semi-logarithmic relationship with the bifurcation occurring at the mean crystal radius. Individual crystals and the crater generated are examined by means of a scanning electron microscope.

A phenomenological model of the fragmentation process is constructed, based on an assumed spherical shape of the fragments and the bi-linear fragment distribution, using energy methods. This is combined with a perforation analysis that considers the process to be sequentially composed of initial indentation, fragmentation, and sliding and deflection of the Propergol disks. An evaluation of this model providing fragment volumes as a function of impact velocity is compared with experimental results and found to be in good agreement.     

Inherent emf relaxation of electrochemical cells with nanocrystalline Ag electrodes

The open circuit voltage of the electrochemical cell Ag (nano)|solid silver electrolyte|Ag (macro) is found to be inherently unstable. Even under conditions which support the morphological stability of the arrangement of nanocrystalline silver, the particles grow significantly as soon as they function as electrodes; i.e. when they are in contact with a silver electrolyte and connected electronically at the same time. The process is shown to be due to electrochemical Ostwald ripening with the interfacial transfer of Ag⁺ through the Ag/electrolyte interface being the rate limiting step. Its activation energy is 0.01 eV. The decay is in good agreement with modelling results.     

Improved accuracy and convergence of discretized population balance for aggregation: The cell average technique

A new discretization method for aggregation equations is developed. It is compared to the fixed pivot technique proposed by Kumar and Ramkrishna (1996a. On the solution of population balance equations by discretization—I. A fixed pivot technique. Chemical Engineering Science 51, 1311-1332). The numerical results for aggregation problems by discretized population balances are consistently overpredicting and diverge before the gelling point in the case of a gelling kernel. The present work establishes a new technique which assigns the particles within the cells more precisely. This is achieved by taking first the average of the newborn particles within the cell and then assigning them to the neighboring nodes such that pre-chosen properties are exactly preserved. The new technique preserves all the advantages of the conventional discretized methods and provides a significant improvement in predicting the particle size distribution (PSD). In addition, it is found that the technique is a powerful tool for the computation of gelling problems. The effectiveness of the technique is illustrated by application to several aggregation problems for suitably selected aggregation kernels including physically relevant kernels.     

Direct Laser Sintering of Al2O3–SiO2 Dental Ceramic Components by Layer-Wise Slurry Deposition

This publication presents a solid freeform fabrication technique for ceramics in the alumina–silica system by layering binder-free, high-loaded ceramic slurries, followed by selective laser sintering. The low melting silica phase and the reaction sintering between silica and alumina favor the rapid prototyping of pure ceramic parts. On the basis of electroacoustic and viscosity measurements, stable slurries from Al₂O₃/SiO₂ powder mixtures and water with a high fluidity have been prepared for the layer deposition with a doctor blade like in tape casting. Layers with a thickness of about 100 μm were processed. It was found in laser parameter studies that ceramic parts can only be obtained using special alumina contents and laser parameters. But the biphasic approach may allow greater flexibility in the processing regime than is afforded by the use of just one material. The microstructure of these parts depends mainly on the temperature gradient induced by the laser absorption and thermal conduction. The wet shaping facilitates laser-sintered parts with a relatively high density, which could be increased by a thermal post-treatment.     

Threshold behavior of the formation of nanometer islands in a Ge/Si(100) system in the presence of Sb

Atomic-force microscopy is used to study the behavior of an array of Ge islands formed by molecular-beam epitaxy on an Si (100) surface in the presence of an antimony flux incident on the surface. It is shown that, as the Sb flux increases to a certain critical level, the surface density of the islands increases; however, if this critical level is exceeded, nucleation of the islands is suppressed and mesoscopic small-height clusters are observed on the surface. This effect is explained qualitatively in the context of a kinetic model of the islands’ formation in heteroepitaxial systems mismatched with respect to their lattice parameters.