Space-time finite elements for a simplified thermo-metallurgical problem relevant to casting

The non-linear thermo-metallurgical problem, relevant for the cooling of a molten metal including the macro-segregation that occurs during the cooling process, is studied here. Due to the strong non-linearities involved in phase transformations, it is necessary to use a fine resolution in space-time in a finite element approximation in order to meet accuracy requirements. We derive space-time FE-methods based on the discontinuous and continuous Galerkin method in time for the energy equation. This formulation integrates the stored energy exactly for a given heat flux. When macro-segregation is incorporated into the model, the problem can be formulated in such a way that the phase-transition drives a flow of species. In addition, diffusion is possible throughout the domain. The model can be further rewritten using a potential approach. By this approach for modelling macro-segregation, we are able to obtain discretizations that guarantee that the balance equations are satisfied, and it is possible to solve the phase-transition problem either as a field problem or as a local problem (defined by a local evolution rule).     

Heat transport and void fraction in granulated debris

The paper discusses the boiling heat transfer from a porous bed with internal heat sources and refers to the configuration in a nuclear reactor after a partial core melt. The flow of coolant, the temperature and the local liquid/vapor distribution were investigated in a two-dimensional configuration. Experiments were conducted using monodisperse beds as well as a mixture of two different particle sizes with a total porosity below 20%. In some tests the bed was supported by a shell of porous material to create a gap along the bottom of the test container. Water was used for tests up to 9% of the critical pressure, while other tests were made with R134a up to 44% of the critical pressure. The maximum heating rate realized inductively was 730 kW/m². The experiments have been compared to analytical results with a one-dimensional approach.It is shown that in contrary to the situation in small cylindrical configurations the heat transfer was increased by large buoyancy driven convective flows. If there was a gap along the container bottom an additional flow of liquid improved the coolability of the bottom region even if the upper part of the particle bed was already overheated. In case of high density ratios (water at low pressure), the measurements indicated a strong enhancement of the coolant flow above a certain minimum heating rate resulting in decreasing vapor fraction values which were nearly independent of the system pressure. This was assumed to be caused by the appearance of vertical channels through which the vapor could flow through the particle bed.     

“Technically Unavoidable” in Terms of Genetically Modified Organisms – an Approach for Food Control

In case of findings of authorized genetically modified (gm) plant ingredients below the 0.9 per cent threshold, exceptions from labelling requirements according to regulation (EC) No. 1829/2003 can only be made, “provided that this presence is adventitious or technically unavoidable”. The authors describe factors that should be considered regarding contaminations by gm plant ingredients as technically unavoidable or not. A practical approach for interpretation, taking into account quality control measures and documentation as well as present findings in comparable products is proposed. Received: February 23, 2007     

Assessment of Capillary Rise from Shallow Groundwater by the Simulation Model SIMWASER Using Either Estimated Pedotransfer Functions or Measured Hydraulic Parameters

The performance of the water balance and crop growth model SIMWASER to estimate the water supply of a lawn by capillary rise from shallow ground water was investigated by using lysimeter measurements with a sandy and a clayey soil. Moreover the robustness of the model was evaluated by running it either with measured hydraulic soil parameters or with estimated pedotransfer functions (PTFs) derived from texture and bulk density. Simulations were performed for the years 1996–1998 with input data from the lysimeter station Berlin-Dahlem (Germany) for lysimeters containing undisturbed sandy or clayey soil monoliths, with groundwater at 135 cm depth. Simulated evapotranspiration and percolation/capillary rise were in good agreement with the measured data for all variants, while simulated soil water storage was acceptable only for the variants using hydraulic soil data based on laboratory measurements or using PTFs derived from known soil class and bulk density. PTFs based on mean total pore volume of the respective soil classes yielded soil water storages which were evidently too high; therefore they should be used with care and must be avoided at all in simulating the soil water balance of arid sites with shallow groundwater.     

Learn to Design Attractive Web Sites

A review of The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird. The book aims to cover the demand to build Web sites by targeting designers who want to learn how to make Web sites look more attractive.     

Scaled model measurements of embedding impedances for SIS waveguide mixers

Several scaled models have been used to determine the contributions of various waveguide mount parameters to the embedding impedance of a mm-wave SIS mixer. Measured effects of waveguide height, substrate orientation and width, junction location, lead inductance and RF-filter impedance are presented and discussed.     

Semantic Web Mining: State of the art and future directions

Semantic Web Mining aims at combining the two fast-developing research areas Semantic Web and Web Mining. This survey analyzes the convergence of trends from both areas: More and more researchers are working on improving the results of Web Mining by exploiting semantic structures in the Web, and they make use of Web Mining techniques for building the Semantic Web. Last but not least, these techniques can be used for mining the Semantic Web itself.The Semantic Web is the second-generation WWW, enriched by machine-processable information which supports the user in his tasks. Given the enormous size even of today’s Web, it is impossible to manually enrich all of these resources. Therefore, automated schemes for learning the relevant information are increasingly being used. Web Mining aims at discovering insights about the meaning of Web resources and their usage. Given the primarily syntactical nature of the data being mined, the discovery of meaning is impossible based on these data only. Therefore, formalizations of the semantics of Web sites and navigation behavior are becoming more and more common. Furthermore, mining the Semantic Web itself is another upcoming application. We argue that the two areas Web Mining and Semantic Web need each other to fulfill their goals, but that the full potential of this convergence is not yet realized. This paper gives an overview of where the two areas meet today, and sketches ways of how a closer integration could be profitable.