Analysis of the Cooling Mechanism of a Crushed Rock Embankment in Warm and Lower Temperature Permafrost Regions along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway

Based on data monitored in situ and theoretical analysis,the characteristics of the temperature field and mechanism of thermal conduction of a crushed rock embankment were studied along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.The results of experi-ments in the field revealed that the cooling effect of a crushed rock embankment is influenced mainly by the natural con-vection in winter and shield effect in summer,the ventilation of crushed rocks,and the ground temperature regime be-neath the embankment.Consequently,these three factors should be taken into account in numerical simulations,but it is as a result of natural convection only.

Mechanism Interpretation of the Biological Brain Cooling and Its Inspiration on Bionic Engineering

The brain is one of the most important organs in a biological body which can only work in a relatively stable temperature range. However, many environmental factors in biosphere would cause cerebral temperature fluctuations. To sustain and regulate the brain temperature, many mechanisms of biological brain cooling have been evolved, including Selective Brain Cooling （SBC）, cooling through surface water evaporation, respiration, behavior response and using special anatomical ap- pendages. This article is dedicated to present a summarization and systematic interpretation on brain cooling strategies devel- oped in animals by classifying and comparatively analyzing each typical biological brain cooling mechanism from the per- spective of bio-heat transfer. Meanwhile, inspirations from such cooling in nature were proposed for developing advanced bionic engineering technologies especially with two focuses on therapeutic hypothermia and computer chip cooling areas. It is expected that many innovations can be achieved along this way to find out new cooling methodologies for a wide variety of industrial applications which will be highly efficient, energy saving, flexible or even intelligent.

Numerical investigation of unsteady mixing mechanism in plate film cooling

A large-scale large eddy simulation in high performance personal computer clusters is carried out to present unsteady mixing mechanism of film cooling and the development of films. Simulation cases include a single-hole plate with the inclined angle of 30° and blowing ratio of 0.5, and a single-row plate with hole-spacing of 1.5D and 2D （diameters of the hole）. According to the massive simulation results, some new unsteady phenomena of gas films are found. The vortex system is changed in different position with the development of film cooling with the time marching the process of a single-row plate film cooling. Due to the mutual interference effects including mutual exclusion, a certain periodic sloshing and mutual fusion, and the structures of a variety of vortices change between parallel gas films. Macroscopic flow structures and heat transfer behaviors are obtained based on 20 million grids and Reynolds number of 28600.

Experimental Study on the Resistance and Splash Performances of Water Collecting Devices for Mechanical Draft Cooling Towers

In recent years,water collecting systems,with the associated advantages of energy saving and noise reduction,have become the foundation for the development of a scheme to optimize the structure of cooling towers.To explore the feasibility of this approach for mechanical draft cooling towers,a small-scale experimental device has been built to study the resistance and splash performances of three U-type water collecting devices(WCDs)for different water flow rates and wind speeds.The experimental results show that within the considered ranges of wind speed and water flow rate,the pressure drop of the different WCDs can vary significantly.The resistance and local splash performances can also be remarkably different.Some recommendations about the most suitable system are provided.Moreover,a regression analysis of the experimental data is conducted,and the resulting fitting formulas for resistance and splash performance of WCD are reported.

Effects of cooling rate and Al on MnS formation in medium-carbon non-quenched and tempered steels

The effect of Al on the morphology of MnS in medium-carbon non-quenched and tempered steel was investigated at three different cooling rates of 0.24, 0.43, and 200°C·s^-1. The formation mechanisms of three types of MnS were elucidated based on phase diagram information combined with crystal growth models. The morphology of MnS is governed by the precipitation mode and the growth conditions. A monotectic reaction and subsequent fast solidification lead to globular Type I MnS. Type II MnS inclusions with different morphological characteristics form as a result of a eutectic reaction followed by the growth in the Fe matrix. Type III MnS presents a divorced eutectic morphology. At the cooling rate of 0.24°C·s^-1, the precipitation of dispersed Type III MnS is significantly enhanced by the addition of 0.044wt% acid-soluble Al（Als）, while Type II MnS clusters prefer to form in steels with either 0.034wt% or 0.052wt% Als. At the relatively higher cooling rates of 200°C·s^-1 and 0.43°C·s^-1, the formation of Type I and Type II MnS inclusions is promoted, and the influence of Al is negligible. The results of this work are expected to be employed in practice to improve the mechanical properties of non-quenched and tempered steels.

Effects of Cooling Paths on Through-Thickness Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Heavy Gauge X80 Pipeline Steel

The effects of various cooling paths on uniformity of through-thickness microstructure and mechanical properties of X80 pipeline steel of 22.0 mm in thickness were studied. The finite difference method was employed to calculate the temperature field during cooling. It was confirmed by the experimental result and temperature field calculation that the optimizing process was achieved by the ultra-fast cooling with medium cooling capacity（cooling rate of ＊23 K/s）followed by ultimate cooling capacity（cooling rate of ＊50 K/s）. After optimization, the experimental steel displayed much uniform microstructure and the deviation of through-thickness hardness was controlled within 20 HV. In addition,the yield strength, tensile strength and elongation of the experimental steel were 621, 728 MPa and 21.5%, respectively,meeting the requirements of the API standard for X80 pipeline steels.

Thermal-structural analysis of regeneratively-cooled thrust chamber wall in reusable LOX/Methane rocket engines

To predict the thermal and structural responses of the thrust chamber wall under cyclic work,a 3-D fluid-structural coupling computational methodology is developed.The thermal and mechanical loads are determined by a validated 3-D finite volume fluid-thermal coupling computational method.With the specified loads,the nonlinear thermal-structural finite element analysis is applied to obtaining the 3-D thermal and structural responses.The Chaboche nonlinear kinematic hardening model calibrated by experimental data is adopted to predict the cyclic plastic behavior of the inner wall.The methodology is further applied to the thrust chamber of LOX/Methane rocket engines.The results show that both the maximum temperature at hot run phase and the maximum circumferential residual strain of the inner wall appear at the convergent part of the chamber.Structural analysis for multiple work cycles reveals that the failure of the inner wall may be controlled by the low-cycle fatigue when the Chaboche model parameter c3= 0,and the damage caused by the thermal-mechanical ratcheting of the inner wall cannot be ignored when c3〉 0.The results of sensitivity analysis indicate that mechanical loads have a strong influence on the strains in the inner wall.