NONLINEAR BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF HYPERBOLIC COOLING TOWER SHELL WITH RING-STIFFENERS

This paper is concerned with a numerical solution of hyperbolic cooling tower shell, a class of full nonlinear problems in solid mechanics of considerable interest in engineering applications. In this analysis, the post-buckling analysis of cooling tower shell with discrete fixed support and under the action of wind loads and dead load is studied. The influences of ring-stiffener on instability load are also discussed. In addition, a new solution procedure for nonlinear problems which is the combination of load increment iteration with modified R-C are-length method is suggested. Finally, some conclusions having important significance for practice engineering are given.

Assessment of solidification characteristics of carbon-inoculated Mg-3%Al melt by thermal analysis

The Mg-3%Al melt was inoculated by carbon with different holding time.The effect of holding time on grain refining efficiency was evaluated.The solidification characteristics of the carbon-inoculated Mg-3%Al melt with different holding time were assessed by computer-aided cooling curve analysis.The results showed that Mg-3%Al alloy could be effectively refined by carbon inoculation.Slight fading phenomenon occurred with increasing the holding time to 60 min.Carbon inoculation could significantly influence the shape of cooling curves of Mg-3%Al melt.The nucleation starting and minimum temperatures increased.The recalescence undercooling and duration decreased to almost zero after carbon inoculation.The grain refining efficiency of carbon inoculation could be assessed by the shape of the cooling curve and solidification characteristic parameters including nucleation starting and minimum temperatures,recalescence undercooling and duration.

Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics in Rotating Two-pass Channels Cooled by Superheated Steam

In a modern gas turbine,using superheated steam to cool the vane and blade for internal convection cooling is a promising alternative to traditional compressor air.However,further investigations of steam cooling need to be performed.In this paper,the three-dimensional flow and heat transfer characteristics of steam are numerically investigated in two-pass square channels with 45° ribbed walls under stationary and rotating conditions.The investigated rotation numbers are 0 and 0.24.The simulation is carried out by solving the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations employing the Reynolds stress turbulence model,especially considering two additional terms for Coriolis and rotational buoyancy forces caused by the rotating effect.For comparison,calculations for the air-cooled channels are done first at a Reynolds number of 25 000 and inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio of 0.13.The results are compared with the experiment data.Then the flow and heat transfer in steam-cooled channels are analyzed under the same operating conditions.The results indicate that the superheated steam has better heat transfer performance than air.Due to the combined effect of rotation,skewed ribs and 180° sharp turn,the secondary flow pattern in steam-cooled rotating two-pass channels is quite complex.This complex secondary flow pattern leads to strong anisotropic turbulence and high level of anisotropy of Reynolds stresses,which have a significant impact on the local heat transfer coefficient distributions.