Numerical experiments of preconditioned Krylov subspace methods solving the dense non-symmetric systems arising from BEM

Discretization of boundary integral equations leads, in general, to fully populated non-symmetric linear systems of equations. An inherent drawback of boundary element method (BEM) is that, the non-symmetric dense linear systems must be solved. For large-scale problems, the direct methods require expensive computational cost and therefore the iterative methods are perhaps more preferable. This paper studies the comparative performances of preconditioned Krylov subspace solvers as bi-conjugate gradient (Bi-CG), generalized minimal residual (GMRES), conjugate gradient squared (CGS), quasi-minimal residual (QMR) and bi-conjugate gradient stabilized (Bi-CGStab) for the solution of dense non-symmetric systems. Several general preconditioners are also considered and assessed. The results of numerical experiments suggest that the preconditioned Krylov subspace methods are effective approaches solving the large-scale dense non-symmetric linear systems arising from BEM.     

Superfluid Contributions to General Turbulence Theory

We analyse a numerical solution of a mathematical model of thermal superfluid turbulence. We elaborate on key points of the statistical phenomenology and point out their impact on fundamental issues of general turbulence theory.     

Hydrodynamics of Superfluid Bose Gases in an Optical Lattice at Finite Temperatures

Starting from an effective action for the order parameter field, we derive a coupled set of generalized hydrodynamic equations for a Bose condensate in an optical lattice at finite temperatures. Using the linearized hydrodynamic equations, we study the microscopic mechanism of the Landau instability due to the collisional damping process between the condensate and noncondensate atoms. It is shown that the Landau criterion for the stability of a superfluid in a uniform system is modified due to the presence of the periodic optical lattice potential.     

Dynamics of Vortex Lattice Formation in a Rotating Bose-Einstein Condensate with an Optical Lattice Potential

We study dynamics of quantized vortex lattice formation in a rotating Bose-Einstein condensate with a square blue-detuned optical lattice by solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This dynamics depends on the depth of the optical lattice. Vortices tend to form a triangular lattice under the rotation, while an optical lattice likes to pin vortices at their peaks. Such a competition of two effects makes this system more interesting and complicated.     

Logarithmic Singularity of Specific Heat in Liquid Helium II at the λ Point

The experimental width of the second sound peak in Brillouin scattering is less than the instrumental width. It is also less than the width of the first sound peak near the λ point. The theoretical width of the second sound peak becomes infinitely large at the λ point in the traditional viewpoint. This discrepancy suggests that the second sound peak detected in Brillouin scattering is an elementary excitation. We calculate the specific heat of liquid helium near the λ point by considering the second sound peak. The calculated temperature-dependence of the specific heat has a logarithmic divergence at the λ point. Furthermore, the calculated values of the specific heat agree well with data derived from experiments.     

Polyamide-6/vegetal fiber composite prepared by extrusion and injection molding

The interest for the use of vegetal fibers as polymers reinforcement has recently increased because of their unique environmental and technological advantages. This work evaluated the use of Curauá fibers in polyamide-6 composites aiming at glass fiber replacement. Fiber content of 20, 30 or 40 wt% and fiber lengths of 0.1 or 10 mm were studied. Fibers were treated with N₂ plasma or washed with NaOH solution, to improve their adhesion to PA-6. Samples with 20 wt% of short or long fibers, with or without pre-treatment, were compounded in two different co-rotating intermeshing twin-screw extruders. These samples were submitted to mechanical and thermal tests. In conclusion, non-dried raw materials improved fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion. Tensile and flexural properties of this composite are better than unfilled, but lower than glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6. However, its impact resistance and heat deflection temperature are similar to the glass fiber reinforced polyamide-6 and its lower density, enable it to replace this latter in specific non-critical applications.     

Techniques and Apparatus for Measuring Rotational Core Losses of Soft Magnetic Materials

In many situations such as the cores of a rotating electrical machine and the T joints of a multiphase transformer, the local flux density varies with time in terms of both magnitude and direction, i.e. the flux density vector is rotating. Therefore, the magnetic properties of the core materials under the rotating flux density vector excitation should be properly measured, modeled and applied in the design and analysis of these electromagnetic devices. This paper presents an extensive review on the development of techniques and apparatus for measuring the rotational core losses of soft magnetic materials based on the experiences of various researchers in the last hundred years.     

Photoelectrical properties of In/n-CuIn5Se8 Schottky barriers

CuIn₅Se₈ homogeneous crystals of n-type conductivity have been grown. Donor centers activation energy has been estimated. In/n-CuIn₅Se₈ Schottky barriers have been created and the first spectral dependencies of quantum efficiency of photoconversion of these structures have been derived. The nature of interband optical transitions has been interpreted and the band gap values for direct and indirect transitions in CuIn₅Se₈ crystals have been determined on the results of analysis of the Schottky barriers photoactive edge absorption. A possibility of utilization of CuIn₅Se₈ crystals in wide-band photoconverters of the optical radiation has been established.     

Improvement of photon collection in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells and modules by fluorescent frequency conversion

Fluorescent photon down conversion for the improvement of the blue response of ZnO/CdS/Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ heterojunction solar cells and modules is investigated. Fluorescent dyes of the series Lumogen® F are analyzed by optical transmission and reflection as well as by photoluminescence measurements. A spectral transfer matrix formalism is introduced that allows to predict the suitability of a luminescent dye as a down-converter for a given solar cell from its absorption/emission properties. We find that Lumogen® F Violet 570 and Lumogen® F Yellow 083 as well as a combination of both yields improvements for Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar modules. Particularly, we find that the short circuit current density of a Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ mini-module is improved by 1.5 mA cm^− 2 when applying a varnish with a combination of Lumogen® F Violet and Yellow. About 0.5 mA cm^− 2 of this improvement is due to a reduced overall reflectance and an improvement of 1 mA cm^− 2 results from the frequency conversion by the dyes.     

Study of the effective parameters on mechanical and electrical properties of carbon black filled PP/PA6 microfibrillar composites

In this study the electrical and mechanical properties of microfibrillar polypropylene (PP)/polyamide6 (PA6) blend filled with super conductive carbon black (CB) have been investigated. In situ microfibrillar PP/PA6 composites filled with CB are produced using a single screw extruder equipped with a spinneret. Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) grafted polypropylene (PP-g-GMA) is used as the compatibilizer. To investigate the effects of extensional flow on the microstructure, electrical and mechanical properties, three adaptors with various convergence angles were designed, prepared and applied between the extruder and the spinneret. To optimize the effects of processing and material parameters on the electrical and mechanical properties, the Taguchi method of experimental design is used. Material and processing factors which are studied include: concentration of PA6, compatibilizer level, CB concentration, drawing speed of melt spinning line, adaptor angle, order of mixing and temperature profile along the extruder. The results show an increase in DC conductivity of up to 10¹¹ times in comparison with pure PA6, by increasing the concentration of CB, drawing speed, adaptor angle and optimizing other parameters. By optimizing processing and material factors studied here, strength of microfibrillar structured composites is increased of up to 80% in comparison to pure PP.