Aerodynamics and motor control of ultrasonic vocalizations for social communication in mice and rats

Background Rodent ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are crucial to their social communication and a widely used translational tool for linking gene mutations to behavior. To maximize the causal interpretation of experimental treatments, we need to understand how neural control affects USV production. However, both the aerodynamics of USV production and its neural control remain poorly understood. Results Here, we test three intralaryngeal whistle mechanisms—the wall and alar edge impingement, and shallow cavity tone—by combining in vitro larynx physiology and individual-based 3D airway reconstructions with fluid dynamics simulations. Our results show that in the mouse and rat larynx, USVs are produced by a glottal jet impinging on the thyroid inner wall. Furthermore, we implemented an empirically based motor control model that predicts motor gesture trajectories of USV call types. Conclusions Our results identify wall impingement as the aerodynamic mechanism of USV production in rats and mice. Furthermore, our empirically based motor control model shows that both neural and anatomical components contribute to USV production, which suggests that changes in strain specific USVs or USV changes in disease models can result from both altered motor programs and laryngeal geometry. Our work provides a quantitative neuromechanical framework to evaluate the contributions of brain and body in shaping USVs and a first step in linking descending motor control to USV production.

Mixing Performance of a Passive Micro-Mixer with Mixing Units Stacked in Cross Flow Direction

A new passive micro-mixer with mixing units stacked in the cross flow direction was proposed, and its performance was evaluated numerically. The present micro-mixer consisted of eight mixing units. Each mixing unit had four baffles, and they were arranged alternatively in the cross flow and transverse direction. The mixing units were stacked in four different ways: one step, two step, four step, and eight step stacking. A numerical study was carried out for the Reynolds numbers from 0.5 to 50. The corresponding volume flow rate ranged from 6.33 μL/min to 633 μL/min. The mixing performance was analyzed in terms of the degree of mixing (DOM) and relative mixing energy cost (MEC). The numerical results showed a noticeable enhancement of the mixing performance compared with other micromixers. The mixing enhancement was achieved by two flow characteristics: baffle wall impingement by a stream of high concentration and swirl motion within the mixing unit. The baffle wall impingement by a stream of high concentration was observed throughout all Reynolds numbers. The swirl motion inside the mixing unit was observed in the cross flow direction, and became significant as the Reynolds number increased to larger than about five. The eight step stacking showed the best performance for Reynolds numbers larger than about two, while the two step stacking was better for Reynolds numbers less than about two.

Investigation on Film Formation Characteristics of Pressure-Swirl Nozzle

The film formation during the spray/wall impingement has attracted more attention. The present study investigated the film formation characteristics of the pressure-swirl nozzle by applying the contact-free optical method. According to experimental results, the impingement distance had a slightly more significant effect on the actual spray angle than the mass flow rate, and the maximum changing value was 34.6°. The bulge at the center of the surface became insignificant with the impingement distance. The liquid film was divided into the raised zone, annular zone, and free flow zone. The maximum time-average thickness at the central position was 2.84 mm, and correlations for predicting the time-average thickness and surface roughness were fitted. The time-average thickness of the annular zone was 0.38–0.59 mm, relatively thinner than other zones. When the impingement distance was lower than 10 mm, the time-average film thickness and surface roughness in the annular zone and free flow zone decreased first and then increased with the impingement distance. However, effects of mass flow rates and impingement distance on the liquid film were negligible when the impingement distance was higher than 10 mm. The experimental findings are helpful to fundamentally understand the film formation during the spray/wall impingement.

Experimental Investigations on Fuel Spray and Impingement for Gasoline Direct Injection Engines

Spray-wall impingement is a widespread phenomenon applied in many fields, including spray-wall cooling system, spray coating process and fuel spray and atomization in internal combustion engines. In direct-injection spark ignition (DISI), it is difficult to avoid the fuel film on the piston head and cylinder surfaces. The wet wall caused by impingement affects the air-fuel mixture formation process, which finally influence the subsequent combustion efficiency and performance. Therefore, the fuel spray and impingement under gasoline engine-like conditions were characterized. Mie scattering technique was applied to visualize the spray evolution and impingement processes in a high-pressure and high-temperature constant chamber. Meanwhile, the adhered fuel film on the wall was measured by refractive index matching (RIM) under non-evaporation and evaporation conditions considering the effects of different injection pressures, ambient pressures and ambient temperatures. Additionally, the fuel film formation and evaporation evolution models were proposed with the help of these mechanisms.

Study of Visualization Experiment on the Influence of Injector Nozzle Diameter on Diesel Engine Spray Ignition and Combustion Characteristics

The elementary research of spray and combustion is of great significance to the development of compactness of modern diesel engines. In this paper, three injectors with different nozzle orifice diameters (0.23 mm, 0.27 mm and 0.31 mm) were used to study the diesel spray, ignition and flame-wall impingement visualization experiment. This paper studied the influence of different nozzle sizes on the trends of spray, ignition and flame diffusion under the flame-wall impinging combustion and used the flame luminosity to characterize the soot generation in combustion. By analyzing the quantitative data, such as spray penetration, ignition delay, flame area and flame luminosity systematically, it was shown that the smaller nozzle benefitted diesel combustion to some extent. The 0.23 mm nozzle injector in these experiments had the best fuel-air mixing effect under 800 K. The length of the spray liquid under the 0.23 mm nozzle condition was 19% and 23% shorter than that of 0.27 and 0.31 mm, respectively. Smaller orifice size of the nozzle can help to reach the gas ignition conditions more effectively. Without liquid fuel impingement, the simple flame-wall impingement will not change the trend of the nozzle influence on combustion. The total amount of accumulated soot according to the approximate luminosity spatial integral calculation in the combustion process was reduced by 37% and 43% under 0.27 mm and 0.23 mm nozzles, respectively, which is favorable for the clean combustion of diesel engines.