NURBS based least‐squares finite element methods for fluid and solid mechanics

This contribution investigates the performance of a least‐squares finite element method based on non‐uniform rational B‐splines (NURBS) basis functions. The least‐squares functional is formulated directly in terms of the strong form of the governing equations and boundary conditions. Thus, the introduction of auxiliary variables is avoided, but the order of the basis functions must be higher or equal to the order of the highest spatial derivatives. The methodology is applied to the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations and to linear as well as nonlinear elastic solid mechanics. The numerical examples presented feature convective effects and incompressible or nearly incompressible material. The numerical results, which are obtained with equal‐order interpolation and without any stabilisation techniques, are smooth and accurate. It is shown that for p and h refinement, the theoretical rates of convergence are achieved. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sintering Characteristics of Al–Pb/Fly-Ash Metal Matrix Composites

Aluminum–lead/10 wt% fly-ash powder mixtures containing 0–20 wt% lead (Pb) were prepared. These powder mixes were compacted in the pressure range of 200–400 MPa by single action die compaction process. The prepared compacts were sintered in the temperature range of 500, 530, 560 and 590 °C in an argon gas atmosphere for duration of 45 min. For the sintered compacts, the sintered density, hardness and compressive strength were reported. Sintered density, hardness and compressive strength increased with the increase in compaction pressure. Sintered density increased whereas the hardness and the compressive strength decreased with the addition of Pb.     

Influence of ageing, inclusions and voids on ductile fracture mechanism in commercial Al-alloys

The objective of the paper is to study the effect of ageing, inclusions and voids on the mechanism of fracture and resultant toughness. It has been found that the voids are initiated at only a fraction of the larger inclusions present. The initiation of voids at small particles in the ductile fracture process appears to have little effect on fracture toughness. The strain hardening capacity has a marked effect on void size, and is an indicator of fracture toughness in the commercial Al alloy.     

Novel quadratic Bézier triangular and tetrahedral elements using existing mesh generators: Extension to nearly incompressible implicit and explicit elastodynamics in finite strains

We present a novel unified finite element framework for performing computationally efficient large strain implicit and explicit elastodynamic simulations using triangular and tetrahedral meshes that can be generated using the existing mesh generators. For the development of a unified framework, we use Bézier triangular and tetrahedral elements that are directly amenable for explicit schemes using lumped mass matrices and employ a mixed displacement-pressure formulation for dealing with the numerical issues arising due to volumetric and shear locking. We demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed scheme by studying several challenging benchmark problems in finite strain elastostatics and nonlinear elastodynamics modelled with nearly incompressible hyperelastic and von Mises elastoplastic material models. We show that Bézier elements, in combination with the mixed formulation, help in developing a simple unified finite element formulation that is accurate, robust, and computationally very efficient for performing a wide variety of challenging nonlinear elastostatic and implicit and explicit elastodynamic simulations.     

Novel quadratic Bézier triangular and tetrahedral elements using existing mesh generators: Applications to linear nearly incompressible elastostatics and implicit and explicit elastodynamics

In this paper, we present novel techniques of using quadratic Bézier triangular and tetrahedral elements for elastostatic and implicit/explicit elastodynamic simulations involving nearly incompressible linear elastic materials. A simple linear mapping is proposed for developing finite element meshes with quadratic Bézier triangular/tetrahedral elements from the corresponding quadratic Lagrange elements that can be easily generated using the existing mesh generators. Numerical issues arising in the case of nearly incompressible materials are addressed using the consistent B -bar formulation, thus reducing the finite element formulation to one consisting only of displacements. The higher-order spatial discretization and the nonnegative nature of Bernstein polynomials are shown to yield significant computational benefits. The optimal spatial convergence of the B -bar formulation for the quadratic triangular and tetrahedral elements is demonstrated by computing error norms in displacement and stresses. The applicability and computational efficiency of the proposed elements for elastodynamic simulations are demonstrated by studying several numerical examples involving real-world geometries with complex features. Numerical results obtained with the standard linear triangular and tetrahedral elements are also presented for comparison.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer enhancement using impingement of multiple water jets

The problem of cooling electronic components has become a subject of special interest in recent years due to the increasing capacity and rapidly decreasing size of electronic components. Direct contact cooling using multiple jet impingement is considered the most effective method. The heat transfer problem is complex and a better understanding of the jet impingement method is essential for the proper application of this method for electronic cooling. Investigations were carried out using an electrically heated test plate. Heat flux in the range of 25 to $200 \ \hbox{W/cm}^{2}$ , which is a typical requirement for cooling high power electronic components was dissipated using 0.5‐mm diameter water jets arranged in a 7×7 array with a pitch of 3 mm. Temperature difference between the test plate and water was within $30 \ ^{\circ}\hbox{C}$ . Tests were performed in the flow rate range of 22 to 40 ml/min, resulting in a Reynolds number range of 1100 to 1750. Results show a significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient or Nusselt number with an increase in heat flux. The effect of the flow rate or Reynolds number on the heat transfer coefficient is found to be negligible. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20291     

Mode investigation of parasitic annular ring loaded dual band coplanar waveguide antenna with polarization diversity characteristics

This document presents a dual band dual polarized coplanar waveguide (CPW) antenna with single port feed. Lower resonating band is circular polarized, while the upper band is linear polarized. A novel concept of realizing dual polarization by suppressing the undesired modes is introduced in this work. Orthogonal Even/Odd modes are excited at lower band and a phase difference of 90° is maintained between them. Hence, circular polarization behavior is realized for lower operating band. For upper band, Odd mode is suppressed by introducing step shaped modifications in the ground plane at left side of the feed line, resulting in linear polarized upper band. Dual band nature of the antenna is confirmed by 10 dB impedance bandwidth extending from 3.91‐5.31 GHz to 7.51‐8.72 GHz. Circular polarized nature of lower band is confirmed by enclosure of lower band by 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth extending from 4.01 to 5.59 GHz. Advantages of proposed antenna involves the use of single port feed for generating dual polarization performance along with compact antenna size.(30 × 30 × 1.6 mm³).