Functionally graded viscoelastic core characteristics on vibroacoustic behavior of double-walled cylindrical shells in a subsonic external flow

The present study is concerned with an analytical solution for calculating sound transmission loss through an infinite double-walled circular cylindrical shell with two isotropic skins and a polymeric foam core. Accordingly, the two-walled cylindrical shell is stimulated applying an acoustic oblique plane wave. The equations of motion are derived according to Hamilton’s principle using the first-order shear deformation theory for every three layers of the construction. Additionally, by the aid of employing the Zener mathematical model for the core of polymeric foam, mechanical properties are determined. To authenticate the results of this study, the damping of the core layer goes to zero. Therefore, the numerical results in this special case are compared with those of isotropic shells. The results prove that the presented model has high accuracy. It is also designated that decreasing the power-law exponent of the core leads to improving the sound transmission loss through the thickness of the construction. Besides, in addition to probe some configurations versus alterations of frequencies and dimensions, the convergence algorithm is provided. Consequently, it is realized that by increasing the excitation frequency, the minimum number of modes to find the convergence conditions is enhanced. The results also contain a comparison between the sound transmission loss coefficient for four different models of a core of a sandwiched cylindrical shell. It is comprehended that the presented model has a transmission loss coefficient more than the other types of the core at high frequencies.

Dynamics of matter-wave solitons in three-component Bose-Einstein condensates with time-modulated interactions and gain or loss effect

The gain or loss effect on the dynamics of the matter-wave solitons in three-component Bose-Einstein condensates with time-modulated interactions trapped in parabolic external potentials are investigated analytically. Some exact matter-wave soliton solutions to the three-coupled Gross-Pitaevskii equation describing the three-component Bose-Einstein condensates are constructed by similarity transformation. The dynamical properties of the matter-wave solitons are analyzed graphically, and the effects of the gain or loss parameter and the frequency of the external potentials on the matter-wave solitons are explored. It is shown that the gain coefficient makes the atom condensate to absorb energy from the background, while the loss coefficient brings about the collapse of the condensate.

Performance Analysis of Organic Rankine Cycle with the Turbine Embedded in a Generator (TEG)

The organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is a thermodynamic cycle in which electrical power is generated using an organic refrigerant as a working fluid at low temperatures with low-grade enthalpy. We propose a turbine embedded in a generator (TEG), wherein the turbine rotor is embedded inside the generator rotor, thus simplifying turbine generator structure using only one bearing. The absence of tip clearance between the turbine rotor blade and casing wall in the TEG eliminates tip clearance loss, enhancing turbine efficiency. A single-stage axial-flow turbine was designed using mean-line analysis based on physical properties, and we conducted a parametric study of turbine performance, and predicted turbine efficiency and power using the tip clearance loss coefficient. When the tip clearance loss coefficient was applied, turbine isentropic efficiency and power were 0.89 and 20.42 kW, respectively, and ORC thermal efficiency was 4.81%. Conversely, the isentropic efficiency and power of the turbine without the tip clearance loss coefficient were 0.94 and 22.03 kW, respectively, and the thermal efficiency of the ORC was 5.08%. Therefore, applying the proposed TEG to the ORC system simplifies the turbine generator, while improving ORC thermal efficiency. A 3D turbine generator assembly with proposed TEG structure was also proposed.

Thermal performance assessment of a cylindrical box solar cooker fitted with decahedron outer reflector

One of the important issues humankind globally faces in recent years is the scarcity of non-renewable energy resources. Solar energy is considered safe and renewable, which can fulfil the demand and supply chain requirements. Solar box cookers (SBCs) are popular in domestic cooking due to their ease of use and handling. The prime objective of the present work is to develop and test the performance of a cylindrical SBC fitted with decahedron-shaped reflector (CSBC-FDR). The CSBC is designed using minimum entropy generation (MEG) method. Through experiments, we observed that absorber plate attains peak temperature of about 138°C–150°C with the aid of decahedron reflector. The first figure of merit (F1) is found to be 0.13, indicating better optical efficiency and low heat loss coefficient for the SBC. The second figure of merit (F2) is obtained as 0.39, which indicates good heat exchange efficiency (F') and less heat capacity for cooker's interior. The average energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, and standardized cooking power values are 21.93%, 3.04%, and 25.28W, respectively. These results show that the present CSBC-FDR is able to cook food in a shorter period with better efficiency. The experimental and numerical values of overall heat loss coefficient of the developed SBC are in close agreement. The experimentally assessed performance parameters reveal superior performance of the present cylindrical SBC in comparison with many conventional rectangular and trapezoidal box solar cookers.

Quantitative Assessment on Navigation Impact of the Controlled Waterway in the Upper Yangtze River Using Queuing Model

As an important transportation link between eastern and western economic zones of China, the Yangtze River waterway has been globally ranked first in relation to freight volume since 2010, and the density of ship traffic has also increased significantly. However, the inland navigation system has been increasingly threatened by traffic congestion, which is more serious in the controlled waterways of the upper Yangtze River. In this study, the distribution laws of ship traffic flow and service time in the controlled waterway were analyzed, indicating that the traffic flow obeys the Poisson distribution, and the service time obeys a negative exponential distribution. Thereafter, by simplifying the queuing processes and rules, the M/M/1 queuing service model was established to calculate ship queuing indicators in a controlled waterway. It was found that the ship queuing indicators varied greatly among different controlled waterways. Compared with downstream ships, upstream ships usually had longer queuing lengths and times, which were also more affected by the increasing number of ship arrivals and service times. Consequently, a dimensionless loss coefficient was proposed to quantify the influence of the controlled waterway on the navigation capacity. As the service time and number of ships increased, the loss coefficient also increased. The results of this study could provide references for understanding the ship queuing problem, and thereby the assessment of navigation capacity and anchorage constructions in a controlled waterway.

Numerical Study on the Biomimetic Trailing Edge of a Turbine Blade Under a Wide Range of Outlet Mach Numbers

This study was carried out to investigate the loss mechanism of a blade with a harbor seal whisker structure on the trailing edge under different Mach numbers. The loss of high-pressure turbine blades with four different trailing edge geometries, including a prototype, an elliptical trailing edge (ETE), a sinusoidal trailing edge (STE), and a biomimetic trailing edge (BTE) at Mach numbers of 0.38–1.21 is studied. The delayed detached-eddy simulation method is used to predict the detailed flow of the four cascades. The result shows that, when the Mach number is less than 0.9, the BTE can effectively reduce the energy loss coefficient compared with the other three cases. As the Mach number increases, the three-dimensional characteristics of the wake behind the BTE weaken. The energy loss coefficient of the blade with the BTE is close to that of the blade with the ETE and STE when the Mach number is greater than 0.9. Besides this, by controlling the wake, the BTE can effectively suppress the dynamic movement of shock waves in the cascade at high Mach numbers.

EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF LOSS CHARACTERISTICS OF COOLED TRANSONIC NOZZLE GUIDE VANES

This paper presents high-fidelity experimental traverse measurements downstream of an annular cascade of transonic nozzle guide vanes (NGVs) from a high-pressure (HP) turbine stage. The components are heavily-cooled real engine components from a modern civil gas turbine engine, operated at scaled engine conditions. Tests were conducted in the high technology readiness level (TRL) Engine Component Aerothermal (ECAT) facility at the University of Oxford. High resolution full-area traverse measurements of local kinetic energy (KE) loss coefficient are presented in several axial planes. In particular, we present: circumferential loss coefficient profiles at several radial heights; full-area traverses at three axial planes; and fully mixed-out loss calculations. Analysis of these data gives insight into particular loss structures, overall aerodynamic performance, and wake mixing rates. The effect of exit Mach number on performance is also considered. The data address a gap in the literature for detailed analysis of traverse measurements downstream of HP NGV engine components. Experimental data are compared with steady and unsteady RANS simulations, allowing benchmarking of typical CFD methods for absolute loss prediction of cooled components. There is relatively limited aerodynamic performance data in the literature for heavily cooled NGVs, and this study represents one of the most comprehensive of its type.

Comparing statistical modeling techniques for heat loss coefficient estimation using in-situ data

The combination of in-situ collected data and statistical modelling techniques proved to be a promising approach in actual building energy performance assessments, such as heat loss coefficient (HLC) evaluation. In this study, based on datasets of co-heating and pseudo-random binary sequence heating tests on a portable site office, the performance of three types of statistical models (i.e. multiple linear regression (MLR), autoregressive with exogenous terms (ARX), and grey-box models) on HLC-determination are examined. It is revealed that a similar HLC estimation outcome (about 115 W/K) is offered by the aforesaid three types of statistical models, but with different confidence intervals (CIs), where the 95% CIs of MLR (±3.1%) and ARX (±2.4%) are relatively narrow and the ones of grey box models are somewhat wider (around ± 9%). Moreover, for the current case study building, with evenly orientation-wise distributed glazed envelope, integrating B-splines into the grey-box model, to characterize the solar aperture (gA) and solar gain dynamics more precisely, imposed insignificant effects on the HLC estimation and corresponding 95% CIs, compared to the grey-box model with a constant gA assumption.