THE INTERACTION BETWEEN SHOCK WAVES AND FOAM IN A SHOCK TUBE

An experimental study and a numerical simulation were conducted to investigate the mechanical and thermodynamic processes involved in the interaction between shock waves and low density foam. The experiment was done in a stainless shock tube (80 mm in inner diameter, 10 mm in wall thickness and 5 360 mm in length). The velocities of the incident and reflected compression waves in the foam were measured by using piezo-ceramic pressure sensors. The end-wall peak pressure behind the reflected wave in the foam was measured by using a crystal piezoelectric sensor. It is suggested that the high end-wall pressure may be caused by a rapid contact between the foam and the end-wall surface. Both open-cell and closed-cell foams with different length and density were tested. Through comparing the numerical and experimental end-wall pressure, the permeability coefficients α and β are quantitatively determined.

Determination of blast-induced ground vibration equations for rocks using mechanical and geological properties

In the recent decades, effects of blast loads on natural and man-made structures have gained considerable attention due to increase in threat from various man-made activities. Site-specific empirical relationships for calculation of blast-induced vibration parameters like peak particle velocity （PPV） and peak particle displacement （PPD） are commonly used for estimation of blast loads in design. However, these relation- ships are not able to consider the variation in rock parameters and uncertainty of in situ conditions. In this paper, a total of 1089 published blast data of various researchers in different rock sites have been collected and used to propose generalized empirical model for PPV by considering the effects of rock parameters like unit weight, rock quality designation （ROD）, geological strength index （GSI）, and uniaxial compressive strength （UCS）. The proposed PPV model has a good correlation coefficient and hence it can be directly used in prediction of blast-induced vibrations in rocks. Standard errors and coefficient of correlations of the predicted blast-induced vibration parameters are obtained with respect to the observed field data. The proposed empirical model for PPV has also been compared with the empirical models available for blast vibrations predictions given by other researchers and found to be in good agreement with specific cases.

Anterior subcutaneous transposition of the ulnar nerve improves neurological function in patients with cubital tunnel syndrome

Although several surgical procedures exist for treating cubital tunnel syndrome, the best surgical option remains controversial. To evaluate the efficacy of anterior subcutaneous transposition of the ulnar nerve in patients with moderate to severe cubital tunnel syndrome and to analyze prognostic factors, we retrospectively reviewed 62 patients（65 elbows） diagnosed with cubital tunnel syndrome who underwent anterior subcutaneous transposition. Preoperatively, the initial severity of the disease was evaluated using the Mc Gowan scale as modified by Goldberg： 18 patients（28%） had grade IIA neuropathy, 20（31%） had grade IIB, and 27（42%） had grade III. Postoperatively, according to the Wilson ＆ Krout criteria, treatment outcomes were excellent in 38 patients（58%）, good in 16（25%）, fair in 7（11%）, and poor in 4（6%）, with an excellent and good rate of 83%. A negative correlation was found between the preoperative Mc Gowan grade and the postoperative Wilson ＆ Krout score. The patients having fair and poor treatment outcomes had more advanced age, lower nerve conduction velocity, and lower action potential amplitude compared with those having excellent and good treatment outcomes. These results suggest that anterior subcutaneous transposition of the ulnar nerve is effective and safe for the treatment of moderate to severe cubital tunnel syndrome, and initial severity, advancing age, and electrophysiological parameters can affect treatment outcome.

Self-sustained oscillation for compressible cylindrical cavity flows

The presence of a cavity changes the mean and fluctuating pressure distributions. Similarities are observed between a cylindrical cavity and a rectangular cavity for a compressible flow.The type of cavity flow field depends on the diameter-to-depth ratio and the length-to-depth ratio.The feedback loop is responsible for the generation of discrete acoustic tones. In this study, the selfsustained oscillation for a compressible cylindrical cavity flow was investigated experimentally. For open-type cavities, the power spectra show that the strength of resonance depends on the diameterto-depth ratio（4.43–43.0） and the incoming boundary layer thickness-to-depth ratio（0.72–7.0）. The effective streamwise length is used as the characteristic length to estimate the Strouhal number. At higher modes, there is a large deviation from Rossiter＇s formula for rectangular cavities. The gradient-based searching method was used to evaluate the values of the empirical parameters. Less phase lag and a lower convection velocity are observed.

Analysis of shock wave reflection from fixed and moving boundaries using a stabilized particle method

In the present paper, the efficiency of an enhanced formulation of the stabilized corrective smoothed particle method （CSPM） for simulation of shock wave propagation and reflection from fixed and moving solid boundaries in compressible fluids is investigated. The Lagrangian nature and its accuracy for imposing the boundary conditions are the two main reasons for adoption of CSPM. The governing equations are further modified for imposition of moving solid boundary conditions. In addition to the traditional artificial viscosity, which can remove numerically induced abnormal jumps in the field values, a velocity field smoothing technique is introduced as an efficient method for stabilizing the solution. The method has been implemented for one- and two-dimensional shock wave propagation and reflection from fixed and moving boundaries and the results have been compared with other available solutions. The method has also been adopted for simulation of shock wave propagation and reflection from infinite and finite solid boundaries.

Blowup Criteria for Full Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations with Vacuum State

This paper deals with the global strong solution to the three-dimensional(3D)full compressible Navier-Stokes systems with vacuum. The authors provide a sufficient condition which requires that the Sobolev norm of the temperature and some norm of the divergence of the velocity are bounded, for the global regularity of strong solution to the 3D compressible Navier-Stokes equations. This result indicates that the divergence of velocity fields plays a dominant role in the blowup mechanism for the full compressible Navier-Stokes equations in three dimensions.