Energy minimizers for an asymptotic MEMS model with heterogeneous dielectric properties

A model for a MEMS device, consisting of a fixed bottom plate and an elastic plate, is studied. It was derived in a previous work as a reinforced limit when the thickness of the insulating layer covering the bottom plate tends to zero. This asymptotic model inherits the dielectric properties of the insulating layer. It involves the electrostatic potential in the device and the deformation of the elastic plate defining the geometry of the device. The electrostatic potential is given by an elliptic equation with mixed boundary conditions in the possibly non-Lipschitz region between the two plates. The deformation of the elastic plate is supposed to be a critical point of an energy functional which, in turn, depends on the electrostatic potential due to the force exerted by the latter on the elastic plate. The energy functional is shown to have a minimizer giving the geometry of the device. Moreover, the corresponding Euler–Lagrange equation is computed and the maximal regularity of the electrostatic potential is established.

Gravity-driven film flow down a uniformly heated smoothly corrugated rigid substrate

Gravity induced film flow over a rigid smoothly corrugated substrate heated uniformly from below, is explored. This is achieved by reducing the governing equations of motion and energy conservation to a manageable form within the mathematical framework of the well-known long-wave approximation; leading to an asymptotic model of reduced dimensionality. A key feature of the approach and to solving the problem of interest, is proof that the leading approximation of the temperature field inside the film must be nonlinear to accurately resolve the thermodynamics beyond the trivial case of ‘a flat film flowing down a planar uniformly heated incline.’ Superior predictions are obtained compared with earlier work and reinforced via a series of corresponding solutions to the full governing equations using a purpose written finite element analogue, enabling comparisons to be made between free-surface disturbance and temperature predictions, as well as the streamline pattern and temperature contours inside the film. In particular, the free-surface temperature is captured extremely well at moderate Prandtl numbers. The stability characteristics of the problem are examined using Floquet theory, with the interaction between the substrate topography and thermo-capillary instability modes investigated as a set of neutral stability curves. Although there are no relevant experimental data currently available for the heated film problem, recent existing predictions and experimental data concerning the behaviour of corresponding isothermal flow cases are taken as a reference point from which to explore the effect of both heating and cooling.

Mathematical modelling of thermoelasticity problems for thin biperiodic cylindrical shells

The objects of consideration are thin linearly thermoelastic Kirchhoff-Love-type circular cylindrical shells having a periodically microheterogeneous structure in circumferential and axial directions (biperiodic shells). The aim of this contribution is to formulate and discuss two new averaged mathematical models for the analysis of selected dynamic thermoelasticity problems for the shells under consideration: the non-asymptotictolerance and the consistent asymptotic models. The starting equations are the well-known governing equations of linear Kirchhoff-Love theory of thin elastic cylindrical shells combined with Duhamel–Neumann thermoelastic constitutive relations and coupled with the known linearized Fourier heat conduction equation in which the heat sources are neglected. For the microperiodic shells under consideration, the starting equations mentioned above have highly oscillating, non-continuous and periodic coefficients. The tolerance model is derived applying the tolerance averaging technique and a certain extension of the known stationary action principle. It has constant coefficients depending also on a cell size. Hence, this model makes it possible to study the effect of a microstructure size on the global shell thermoelasticity (the length-scale effect). The consistent asymptotic model is obtained using the consistent asymptotic approach. It has constant coefficients being independent of the period lengths. Moreover, the comparison between the tolerance model for biperiodic shells proposed here and the known tolerance model for cylindrical shells with a periodic structure in the circumferential direction only (uniperiodic shells) is presented.

Experimental Research on the Thresholds of Scale-Dependent Dispersivity of Solute Transport

The conventional advection-dispersion equation (ADE) has been widely used to describe the solute transport in porous media. However, it cannot interpret the phenomena of the early arrival and long tailing in breakthrough curves (BTCs). In this study, we aim to experimentally investigate the behaviors of the solute transport in both homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media. The linear-asymptotic model (LAF solution) with scale-dependent dispersivity was used to fit the BTCs, which was compared with the results of the ADE model and the conventional truncated power-law (TPL) model. Results indicate that (1) the LAF model with linear scale-dependent dispersivity could better capture the evolution of BTCs than the ADE model; (2) dispersivity initially increases linearly with the travel distance and is stable at some limited value over a large distance, and a threshold value of the travel distance is provided to reflect the constant dispersivity; and (3) compared with the TPL model, both the LAF and ADE models can capture the behavior of solute transport as a whole. For fitting the early arrival, the LAF model is less than the TPL; however, the LAF model is more concise in mathematics and its application will be studied in the future.

Dynamic asymptotic model of rolling bearings with a single fault in the inner raceway

In the previous models of rolling bearings with a single fault, the displacement deviation caused by the collision of the fault to the rolling element changes instantly. However, the displacement deviation should change gradually. Here, the asymptotic idea is introduced to describe the change of the displacement deviation. The calculation method of the deviation is given. An asymptotic model of rolling bearings with an inner raceway fault is constructed. Then, the simulation of the SKF6205 bearing with a single fault is carried out. The differences between the previous model and the asymptotic model for the responses and the displacement deviation are compared. The effects of the speed and fault size on the dynamic characteristics are analyzed. Finally, the experiments are carried out to corroborate the rationality of the constructed model. The research results can provide theoretical support for the dynamic analysis, fault diagnosis, and reliability analysis of rolling bearings.

Viscoplastic plates

An asymptotic model is constructed to describe the bending of thin sheets, or plates, of viscoplastic fluid described by the Herschel–Bulkley constitutive law, which incorporates the von Mises yield condition and a nonlinear viscous stress. The model reduces to a number of previous ones from plasticity theory and viscous fluid mechanics in various limits. It is characterized by a yield criterion proposed by Ilyushin which compactly combines the effect of the bending moment and in-plane stress tensors through three particular invariants. The model is used to explore the bending of loaded flat plates, the deflection of impulsively driven circular plates, and the tension-controlled deflection of loaded beams.

Phenomics data processing: Extracting temperature dose-response curves from repeated measurements

Temperature is a main driver of plant growth and development. New phenotyping tools enable quantifying the temperature response of hundreds of genotypes. Yet, particularly for field-derived data, the process of temperature response modelling bears potential flaws and pitfalls with regard to the interpretation of derived parameters. In this study, climate data from three growing seasons with differing temperature distributions served as starting point for a wheat stem elongation growth simulation, based on a four-parametric Wang-Engel temperature response function. To extract dose-responses from the simulated data, a novel approach to use temperature courses with high temporal resolution was developed. Linear and asymptotic parametric modelling approaches to predict the cardinal temperatures were investigated. An asymptotic model extracted the base and optimum temperature of growth and the maximum growth rate with high precision, whereas simpler, linear models failed to do so. However, when including seasonally changing cardinal temperatures, the prediction accuracy of the asymptotic model was strongly reduced. We conclude that using an asymptotic model based on temperature courses with high temporal resolution is suitable to extract meaningful parameters from field-based data. Consequently, applying the presented modelling approach to high-throughput phenotyping data of breeding nurseries may help selecting for climate suitability.