Momentum transfer of ice slurry flows in tubes, modeling

In this paper we present results of the studies of ice slurry flow in horizontal tubes. The possibility of treating the rheological parameters of ice slurry as being those of Bingham fluid was confirmed. The values of parameters (mass fraction, flow velocity) corresponding to the laminar, intermediate and turbulent flow were determined which permits to optimize the flow in the systems working with this cooling agent. Critical flow velocity and mass fraction of ice values were determined thereby; they correspond to a change in character of an ice slurry flow from a laminar to turbulent motion. Experimental results were compared to the analytical results, based on the Hedström and Tomita algorithms (the laminar and turbulent flow, respectively). The comparison showed a very good agreement between these data.     

Controlling a re-entrant manufacturing line via the push–pull point

A reduced model of a re-entrant semiconductor factory exhibiting all the important features is simulated, applying a push dispatch policy at the beginning of the line and a pull dispatch policy at the end of the line. A commonly used dispatching policy that deals with short-term fluctuations in demand involves moving the transition point between both policies, the push–pull point (PPP), around. It is shown that, with a mean demand starts policy, moving the PPP by itself does not improve the performance of the production line significantly over policies that use a pure push or a pure pull dispatch policy, or a CONWIP starts policy with pure pull dispatch policy. However, when the PPP control is coupled with a CONWIP starts policy, then for high demand with high variance, the improvement becomes approximately a factor of 4. The unexpected success of a PPP policy with CONWIP is explained using concepts from fluid dynamics that predict that this policy will not work for perishable demand. The prediction is verified through additional simulations.     

Modelling network constrained economic dispatch problems

The behavior of DC load flow formulations when they are used in economic dispatch and nodal pricing models is discussed. It is demonstrated that non-negative prices in these models are sufficient to guarantee global optimality of any local optimum, even if the feasible region is not convex, and so a negative nodal price is an indicator of a possible loss in optimality. We also discuss the possible effect that negative prices might have on algorithms that assume this convexity.     

Cycle time estimation for wafer fab with engineering lots

Due to the interaction between the process complexity and equipment diversity in a wafer fab, it is rather difficult to estimate the material flow time of wafer lots. Facing competition, it is common for a wafer fab to produce a certain quantity of engineering lots. However, introducing engineering lots into the factory will increase the complexity of the material flow control and the difficulty in cycle time estimation. The purpose of this paper is to develop cycle time estimation algorithms for a wafer fab by analyzing the material flow characteristics. Simulation results have shown that the algorithm is capable of generating satisfactory cycle time estimations with or without existing engineering lots.     

基于声源识别及声场模拟的工厂通风系统降噪研究

工厂厂房为了实现进气、排气及集尘的目的,需布设通风系统。由于其分布范围广泛,使得通风系统的噪声成为工厂厂房室内噪声中除机电设备之外的另一主要噪声源,对厂房内员工的作业声环境造成很大的冲击。通风系统的噪声源主要来自风管的固定支架振动、风管进排气噪声、管道壁振动以及管道噪声通过管壁的透射。文章建立了一套针对工厂通风系统噪声的声源与声场测量、频谱分析、诊断排序与降噪模拟评估技术,利用声场模拟,给出三种降噪方案。应用此技术对工厂噪声进行治理,可大大提高业主选择降噪方案的信心及成效预期心理。     

Specific features of wall free convection in a temperature-stratified medium

A flow in the near-wall region with free convection in a temperature-stratified medium is analyzed. A laminar flow in a plane square domain and laminar and turbulent flows near a plate are considered in the cases of linear and nonlinear stratifications. Different nonstationary stages of the flow and a local self-similar regime with criterion for its realization are distinguished. General characteristics for the laminar and turbulent regimes are formulated.     

An improved artificial bee colony algorithm for addressing distributed flow shop with distance coefficient in a prefabricated system

This paper proposes an improved artificial bee colony (IABC) algorithm for addressing the distributed flow shop considering the distance coefficient found in precast concrete production system, with the minimisation of the makespan. In the proposed algorithm, each solution is first represented by a two-dimensional vector, where the first dimensional vector is the factory and the second dimensional vector lists the operation scheduling sequence of each factory. Second, considering the distributed problem feature, a distributed iterated greedy heuristic (DIG) is developed where destruction and construction processes are designed in detail while considering the distributed structures. Third, an efficient population initialisation method that considers the factory workload balance is presented. Then, a local search approach that randomly replaces two factories with two randomly selected jobs and that finds an optimal position for the two inserted operations via the DIG method is proposed. For the canonical ABC algorithm, using the DIG approach, the main three parts are improved, namely, the employee, onlooker, and scout bees. Finally, the proposed algorithm is tested on sets of extended instances based on the well-known benchmarks. Through an analysis of the experimental results, the highly effective proposed IABC algorithm is compared to several efficient algorithms drawn from the literature.     

Solving multi-objective optimal power flow using differential evolution

A differential evolution approach to solve optimal power flow problem with multiple and competing objectives is presented. Two sub-problems of optimal power flow namely active power dispatch and reactive power dispatch are considered. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear constrained true multi-objective optimisation problem with competing objectives. Constrain-domination approach have been used to handle inequality constraints, which eliminates the use of penalty factors. The performance of the proposed approach was tested on standard IEEE 30-bus system and is compared with a conventional method. The result demonstrates the capability of the proposed approach to generate diverse and well-distributed Pareto-optimal solutions.     

Laminar and Turbulent Transition of Fine-Grained Slurries

An experimental investigation of flow behavior of fine-grained highly concentrated slurries, i.e., water mixtures of kaolin and fly ash from a fluidic-type combustion chamber produced during the process of desulphurization, in horizontal straight pipes is presented. A pipe loop with hydraulically smooth stainless steel pipes was used to measure the slurry flow parameters. Kaolin slurry has time-independent, yield pseudo-plastic response for volume concentrations higher than about 6%. In contrast, fluidic fly ash-gypsum water mixture is time dependent and showed substantial decrease of flow resistance due to the effect of shearing during the initial period of pumping. An intensive shearing of concentrated fluidic fly ash-gypsum slurry results in a substantial reduction of the hydraulic gradient in the laminar region and in a marked shift of the laminar/turbulent transition point towards a lower velocity value. After shearing in a turbulent regime a reduction in the hydraulic gradient at the transition point reached about 50% of its original value. The transition from laminar to turbulent regime results in an abrupt increase of flow resistance. The flow patterns become fundamentally different for the two regimes. It was found that pressure fluctuation could well indicate the laminar/turbulent transition. The transition from laminar to turbulent flow is very important for accurate and efficient design and operation of dense slurry pipelining. The optimum operational condition is slightly above the laminar/turbulent transition point, where flow conditions are often very attractive from an economic point of view.     

Laminar and Turbulent Transition of Fine-Grained Slurries

An experimental investigation of flow behavior of fine-grained highly concentrated slurries, i.e., water mixtures of kaolin and fly ash from a fluidic-type combustion chamber produced during the process of desulphurization, in horizontal straight pipes is presented. A pipe loop with hydraulically smooth stainless steel pipes was used to measure the slurry flow parameters. Kaolin slurry has time-independent, yield pseudo-plastic response for volume concentrations higher than about 6%. In contrast, fluidic fly ash-gypsum water mixture is time dependent and showed substantial decrease of flow resistance due to the effect of shearing during the initial period of pumping. An intensive shearing of concentrated fluidic fly ash-gypsum slurry results in a substantial reduction of the hydraulic gradient in the laminar region and in a marked shift of the laminar/turbulent transition point towards a lower velocity value. After shearing in a turbulent regime a reduction in the hydraulic gradient at the transition point reached about 50% of its original value. The transition from laminar to turbulent regime results in an abrupt increase of flow resistance. The flow patterns become fundamentally different for the two regimes. It was found that pressure fluctuation could well indicate the laminar/turbulent transition. The transition from laminar to turbulent flow is very important for accurate and efficient design and operation of dense slurry pipelining. The optimum operational condition is slightly above the laminar/turbulent transition point, where flow conditions are often very attractive from an economic point of view.     

FT-IR spectroscopic imaging of reactions in multiphase flow in microfluidic channels

Rapid, in situ, and label-free chemical analysis in microfluidic devices is highly desirable. FT-IR spectroscopic imaging has previously been shown to be a powerful tool to visualize the distribution of different chemicals in flows in a microfluidic device at near video rate imaging speed without tracers or dyes. This paper demonstrates the possibility of using this imaging technology to capture the chemical information of all reactants and products at different points in time and space in a two-phase system. Differences in the rates of chemical reactions in laminar flow and segmented flow systems are also compared. Neutralization of benzoic acid in decanol with disodium phosphate in water has been used as the model reaction. Quantitative information, such as concentration profiles of reactant and products, can be extracted from the imaging data. The same feed flow rate was used in both the laminar flow and segmented flow systems. The laminar flow pattern was achieved using a plain wide T-junction, whereas the segmented flow was achieved by introducing a narrowed section and a nozzle at the T-junction. The results show that the reaction rate is limited by diffusion and is much slower with the laminar flow pattern, whereas the reaction is completed more quickly in the segmented flow due to better mixing.     

A constraint consensus memetic algorithm for solving constrained optimization problems

Constraint handling is an important aspect of evolutionary constrained optimization. Currently, the mechanism used for constraint handling with evolutionary algorithms mainly assists the selection process, but not the actual search process. In this article, first a genetic algorithm is combined with a class of search methods, known as constraint consensus methods, that assist infeasible individuals to move towards the feasible region. This approach is also integrated with a memetic algorithm. The proposed algorithm is tested and analysed by solving two sets of standard benchmark problems, and the results are compared with other state-of-the-art algorithms. The comparisons show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other similar algorithms. The algorithm has also been applied to solve a practical economic load dispatch problem, where it also shows superior performance over other algorithms.     

缝合复合材料弹性性能分析的新方法——流场模型Ⅰ:缝合单层板弹性常数计算

为了求解缝合层合板中单层的弹性常数, 基于单层面内纤维走向与绕流流场中流线形状的相似性, 建立了与缝合单胞相对应的有限空间定常二维无粘性不可压理想流体的无旋绕流流场模型, 流场的几何边界与单胞的边界一致, 绕流物面与缝线截面形状一致。用该流场的速度变化描述单胞面内纤维体积含量的变化, 用流线形状描述缝线周围面内纤维的变形。以流场模型为基础, 用细观力学方法和均匀化方法求得缝合单层的弹性常数,结果与实验值吻合。最后用流场模型分析了缝合参数对缝合单层弹性常数的影响。      

Modern Approaches for Calculating Flow Parameters during a Laminar–Turbulent Transition in a Boundary Layer

We analyze modern methods for calculating heat and hydrodynamic flow parameters in a boundary layer during the laminar–turbulent transition. The main approaches for describing the phenomenon of laminar–turbulent transition are examined. Each approach is analyzed. The manner in which different factors influence the laminar–turbulent transition is studied. An engineering model of the laminar–turbulent transition in a high-velocity flow is presented.     

Intermittent Switching Between Potential Flow and Turbulence in Superfluid Helium at mK Temperatures

Superfluid flow around an oscillating microsphere is investigated at temperatures down to 25 mK. Stable laminar flow below a critical velocity and turbulence at large drives are found to be separated below 0.5 K by an intermediate range of driving forces where the flow is unstable, intermittently switching between laminar and turbulent phases. We have recorded time series of this switching phenomenon and have made a statistical analysis of the switching probability. The mean lifetime of the turbulent phases grows with increasing drive and becomes infinite at a critical value. Stability of the laminar phases above the critical velocity is limited by natural background radioactivity or cosmic rays.     

A Laminar Flow Nebulizer for Aerosol MALDI

A laminar flow nebulizer was developed for use with aerosol matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. The nebulizer consists of a glass pneumatic nebulizer combined with a laminar flow tube. Particles formed at the pneumatic nebulizer are entrained in an auxiliary gas stream that dries the particles in the laminar flow tube. The mass range of the reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been extended to greater than 5000 Da: a mass spectrum of bovine insulin is reported at a mass resolution of 100. Mass spectra of bovine insulin and the peptides bradykinin and angiotensin II contain features resulting from prompt analyte dissociation prior to ion acceleration.     

Meta-heuristics for the distributed two-stage assembly scheduling problem with bi-criteria of makespan and mean completion time

This paper focuses on the distributed two-stage assembly flowshop scheduling problem for minimising a weighted sum of makespan and mean completion time. This problem involves two inter-dependent decision sub-problems: (1) how to allocate jobs among factories and (2) how to schedule the assigned jobs at each factory. A mathematical model is formulated for solving the small-sized instances of the problem. Since the NP-hardness of the problem, we also proposed a variable neighbourhood search (VNS) algorithm and a hybrid genetic algorithm combined with reduced variable neighbourhood search (GA-RVNS) to solve the distributed two-stage assembly flowshop scheduling problems and approximately optimise makespan and mean completion time simultaneously. Computational experiments have been conducted to compare the performances of the model and proposed algorithms. For a set of small-sized instances, both the model and the proposed algorithms are effective. The proposed algorithms are further evaluated on a set of large-sized instances. The results statistically show that both GA-RVNS and VNS obtain much better performances than the GA without RVNS-based local search step (GA-NOV). For the instances with small numbers of jobs, VNS achieves better performances than GA-RVNS. However, for the instances with large numbers of jobs, GA-RVNS yields better performances than the VNS. It is also shown that the overall performances of VNS are very close to GA-RVNS with different numbers of factories, weights given to makespan and numbers of machines at the first stage.     

Convective heat transfer coefficients for near-horizontal two-phase flow of nitrogen and hydrogen at low mass and heat flux

Correlations for convective heat transfer coefficients are reported for two-phase flow of nitrogen and hydrogen under low mass and heat flux conditions. The range of flowrates, heat flux and tube diameter are representative of thermodynamic vent systems (TVSs) planned for propellant tank pressure control in spacecraft operating over long durations in microgravity environments. Experiments were conducted in normal gravity with a 1.5° upflow configuration. The Nusselt number exhibits peak values near transition from laminar to turbulent flow based on the vapor Reynolds number. This transition closely coincides with a flow pattern transition from plug to slug flow. The Nusselt number was correlated using components of the Martinelli parameter and a liquid-only Froude number. Separate correlating equations were fitted to the laminar liquid/laminar vapor and laminar liquid/turbulent vapor flow data. The correlations give root-mean-squared (rms) prediction errors within 15%.     

直径30cm圆柱的气动力参数和绕流特性研究

为研究光滑圆柱的气动力系数和绕流特性,在均匀流中进行不同风速下的测压风洞试验,试验获得了阻力系数、升力系数、表面风压分布、风压相关性系数、斯托罗哈数等随雷诺数的变化特征,并将试验结果与以往结果进行比较。研究表明:升力系数的脉动值大于阻力系数的脉动值,说明涡脱造成的横风向激励比顺风向紊流激励剧烈;雷诺数位于临界区域时,圆柱表面风压分布呈现出对称-不对称-对称的变化过程,反映了由层流分离转化为湍流分离的全过程;在雷诺数为352000时呈现一侧为层流分离、另一侧为湍流分离的临界流态,风压呈现出左右不对称的单边泡形式;获得层流分离和湍流分离时的表面风压相关性分布特征,层流分离时圆柱同一侧的风压测点均呈较强的正相关,而湍流分离时在分离点前的区域相关性较强,分离点之后的区域相关性较弱;层流分离的升力系数谱有显著的峰值,表明尾流是规则的漩涡脱落,而湍流分离的升力系数谱没有明显峰值,表明尾流是随机的漩涡脱落。     

A criterion of similarity and transition to turbulence for electric arc flows

A method is suggested for determining the similarity criterion and the criterion of transition of an electric arc flow in a plasmatron channel from a laminar regime to a turbulent one (equivalent Reynolds number) that does not require using any reference temperature. Application of this method to the available experimental data on the transition to turbulence demonstrates its correctness and efficiency. The critical value of the proposed similarity criterion corresponding to the boundary of the transition from a laminar regime to a turbulent one has been revealed. A marginal curve separating the regions of the laminar and turbulent regimes of the plasma flow has been plotted in the space of the operating plasmatron parameters. A phenomenon of a double change of the electric arc flow regime with electric current rise upon constant plasma-forming gas flow rate has been discovered.