Phase field simulation of grain refinement in silver-based filler metal

Numerical simulation is one of the important auxiliary methods for studying materials-related problems. In this study, phase field simulation was employed to investigate the refinement behavior of BAg55CuZn-x B brazing alloys. Simulation and experimental studies were conducted for B contents ranging from 0 wt.% to 0.2 wt.%. The results demonstrated that the addition of 0.05 wt.% B in the brazing alloy leads to a significant refinement effect. As the B content increases, the grain size further reduces, and a refinement stagnation phenomenon occurs after exceeding 0.15 wt.%. The solidification process of brazing alloys with different B content was predicted by simulation, and the simulation results showed that with the increase of B content, the initial number of nucleation increased, and the radius of the dendrite tip decreased. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental findings, providing further evidence of the refining effect of the B element and the reliable predictive capability of the phase field model.

Flow field simulation and establishment for mathematical models of flow area of spool valve with sloping U-shape notch machined by different methods

Precise function expression of the flow area for the sloping U-shape notch orifice versus the spool stroke was derived. The computational fluid dynamics was used to analyze the flow features of the sloping U-shape notch on the spool, such as mass flow rates, flow coefficients, effiux angles and steady state flow forces under different operating conditions. At last, the reliability of the mathematical model of the flow area for the sloping U-shape notch orifice on the spool was demonstrated by the comparison between the orifice area curve derived and the corresponding experimental data provided by the test. It is presented that the bottom arc of sloping U-shape notch （ABU） should not be omitted when it is required to accurately calculate the orifice area of ABU. Although the theoretical flow area of plain bottom sloping U-shape notch （PBU） is larger than that of ABU at the same opening, the simulated mass flow and experimental flow area of ABU are both larger than these of PBU at the same opening, while the simulated flow force of PBU is larger than that of ABU at the same opening. Therefore, it should be prior to adapt the ABU when designing the spool with proportional character.

Coherency matrix-based proper orthogonal decomposition with application to wind field simulation

Proper Orthogonal Decomposition （POD） provides a powerful modal transformation tool for stochastic dynamics. In this paper, coherency matrix-based proper orthogonal decomposition （CPOD） is presented as an innovative form of the POD based on cross power spectral density matrices. By introducing a discretizing scheme, the CPOD-based spectral representation method is obtained for use in stochastic simulation. Moreover, some criteria are proposed that allow the truncation order of CPOD to be conveniently determined. A numerical example to illustrate the application of the proposed method for the simulation of a wind velocity field is provided.

Structure optimization and flow field simulation of plate type high speed on-off valve

There is a relatively complex flow state inside the high speed on-off valve,which often produces low pressure area and oil reflux in the high-speed opening and closing process of the spool,causing cavitation and vortex and other phenomena.These phenomena will affect the stability of the internal flow field of the plate valve and the flow characteristics of the high speed on-off valve.Aiming at the problems of small flow rate and instability of internal flow field,a new spool structure was designed.The flow field models of two-hole and three-hole plate spools with different openings were established,and software ANSYS Workbench was chosen to mesh the model.The standard k−εturbulence model was selected for numerical simulation using FLUENT software.The pressure distribution and velocity distribution under the same pressure and different opening degree were obtained.The structure and parameters of the optimization model were also obtained.The stability analysis of flow field under different pressure was carried out.The results demonstrate that the three-hole spool has a similar flow field change with the two-hole spool,but it does not create a low pressure zone,and the three-hole spool can work stably at 2 MPa or less.This method improves the appearance of low pressure area and oil backflow in the process of high speed opening and closing of spool.The stability of flow field and the flow rate of high speed switch valve are improved.Finally,the products designed in this paper are compared with existing hydraulic valve products.The results show that the three-hole plate type high speed on-off valve designed in this paper maintains the stability of the internal flow field under the condition of 200 Hz and large opening degree,and realizes the increase of flow rate.

Unconventional phase field simulations of transforming materials with evolving microstructures

Transforming materials with evolving microstructures is one of the most important classes of smart materials that have many potential technological applications, and an unconventional phase field approach based on the characteristic functions of transforming variants has been developed to simulate the formation and evolution of their microstructures. This approach is advantageous in its explicit material symmetry and energy well structure, minimal number of ma- terial coefficients, and easiness in coupling multiple physical processes and order parameters, and has been applied successfully to study the microstructures and macroscopic prop- erties of shape memory alloys, ferroelectrics, ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, and multiferroic magnetoelectric crys- tals and films with increased complexity. In this topical re- view, the formulation of this unconventional phase field approach will be introduced in details, and its applications to various transforming materials will be discussed. Some ex- amples of specific microstructures will also be presented.

Phase field simulation of the 180°domain-switching process in PbTiO_3 single crystal under an antiparallel electric field

The process of 180°domain switching in PbTiO_3 single crystal under an antiparallel electric field was investigated by the three-dimensional phase field simulation,especially the effect of electric field on the type and duration of domain switching.It is found that the polarization reversal of domains takes place under an antiparallel electric field in PbTiO_3 single crystal.The results of the phase field simulation indicate that there is only 90°domain switching under a weak electric field.With the rise of the electric field,180°domain switching appears.If the electric field is strengthened further,90°domain switching disappears and the duration of domain switching is shortened.

Non-Gaussian Lagrangian Stochastic Model for Wind Field Simulation in the Surface Layer

Wind field simulation in the surface layer is often used to manage natural resources in terms of air quality,gene flow(through pollen drift),and plant disease transmission(spore dispersion).Although Lagrangian stochastic(LS)models describe stochastic wind behaviors,such models assume that wind velocities follow Gaussian distributions.However,measured surface-layer wind velocities show a strong skewness and kurtosis.This paper presents an improved model,a non-Gaussian LS model,which incorporates controllable non-Gaussian random variables to simulate the targeted non-Gaussian velocity distribution with more accurate skewness and kurtosis.Wind velocity statistics generated by the non-Gaussian model are evaluated by using the field data from the Cooperative Atmospheric Surface Exchange Study,October 1999 experimental dataset and comparing the data with statistics from the original Gaussian model.Results show that the non-Gaussian model improves the wind trajectory simulation by stably producing precise skewness and kurtosis in simulated wind velocities without sacrificing other features of the traditional Gaussian LS model,such as the accuracy in the mean and variance of simulated velocities.This improvement also leads to better accuracy in friction velocity(i.e.,a coupling of three-dimensional velocities).The model can also accommodate various non-Gaussian wind fields and a wide range of skewness–kurtosis combinations.Moreover,improved skewness and kurtosis in the simulated velocity will result in a significantly different dispersion for wind/particle simulations.Thus,the non-Gaussian model is worth applying to wind field simulation in the surface layer.

Dynamic self-adaptive ANP algorithm and its application to electric field simulation of aluminum reduction cell

Region partition(RP) is the key technique to the finite element parallel computing(FEPC),and its performance has a decisive influence on the entire process of analysis and computation.The performance evaluation index of RP method for the three-dimensional finite element model(FEM) has been given.By taking the electric field of aluminum reduction cell(ARC) as the research object,the performance of two classical RP methods,which are Al-NASRA and NGUYEN partition(ANP) algorithm and the multi-level partition(MLP) method,has been analyzed and compared.The comparison results indicate a sound performance of ANP algorithm,but to large-scale models,the computing time of ANP algorithm increases notably.This is because the ANP algorithm determines only one node based on the minimum weight and just adds the elements connected to the node into the sub-region during each iteration.To obtain the satisfied speed and the precision,an improved dynamic self-adaptive ANP(DSA-ANP) algorithm has been proposed.With consideration of model scale,complexity and sub-RP stage,the improved algorithm adaptively determines the number of nodes and selects those nodes with small enough weight,and then dynamically adds these connected elements.The proposed algorithm has been applied to the finite element analysis(FEA) of the electric field simulation of ARC.Compared with the traditional ANP algorithm,the computational efficiency of the proposed algorithm has been shortened approximately from 260 s to 13 s.This proves the superiority of the improved algorithm on computing time performance.

Analysis of flowout gas field simulations and ignition methods for sulphuric gas wells

To avoid potential human casualties and environmental pollution,flowout gas from sulphuric gas wells showing high concentrations of volatile gas must be neutralized by controlled ignition.Simulation model is built by using CFD software for flowout gas,and ignition methods are analyzed.The simulation results indicate that the optimal ignition zone is located between 150mm and 570mm above the gas flowout device.Two ignition methods,electronical and chemical,are developed.12 and 6 experimental tests are performed respectively for these two methods.Results from the above tests verify that both approaches are successful in igniting the gas promptly and safely.In addition,our experience proves that the former way is more suitable for the fixed position ignition case,while the latter is more suitable for the long-distance or emergent ignition case.These two approaches can potentially be applied to a wide range of situations other than the fixed position ignition case and long distance ignition case.

Research on buffer structure and flow field simulation of swash plate plunger type hydraulic transformer

In order to solve the problem of excessive noise and vibration during the operation of the hydraulic transformer,an optimization method of valve plate damping hole structure is proposed to alleviate the phenomenon of pressure shock.Firstly,the mathematical model of oil pressure gradient in the plunger cavity is established,and the incremental equation of pressure change is derived.Secondly,a kind of buffering structure is proposed,the corresponding relationship between the pressure change and the envelopment angle of the buffering hole and the aperture size is determined by analyzing the oil pressure change curve in the plunger cavity.Finally,the flow field models with buffering holes are established,and the transient simulation of the pressure change process under the optimal solution is carried out with ANSYS software and the flow field pressure distribution contours are obtained.Through the analysis of simulation results,it is concluded that the optimal envelope angle of the three buffer holes ofA-T-B-Ais 5°,and the optimal aperture is 1.8 mm,1.6 mm,and 1.7 mm,respectively.The buffer hole can achieve a better-buffering effect in the range of variable pressure angle[0°,101°].The buffer hole structure can effectively alleviate the pressure shock and reduce the noise level,which lays a foundation for the design and theoretical research of hydraulic transformers.

Three-Dimensional Phase Field Simulations of Hysteresis and Butterfly Loops by the Finite Volume Method

Three-dimensional simulations of ferroelectric hysteresis and butterfly loops are carried out based on solving the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations using a finite volume method. The influence of externally mechanical loadings with a tensile strain and a compressive strain on the hysteresis and butterfly loops is studied numerically. Different from the traditional finite element and finite difference methods, the finite volume method is applicable to simulate the ferroelectric phase transitions and properties of ferroelectric materials even for more realistic and physical problems.

GPU-accelerated phase field simulation of directional solidification

The phase field simulation has been actively studied as a powerful method to investigate the microstructural evolution during the solidification.However,it is a great challenge to perform the phase field simulation in large length and time scale.The developed graphics processing unit(GPU)calculation is used in the phase filed simulation,greatly accelerating the calculation efficiency.The results show that the computation with GPU is about 36 times faster than that with a single Central Processing Unit(CPU)core.It provides the feasibility of the GPU-accelerated phase field simulation on a desktop computer.The GPU-accelerated strategy will bring a new opportunity to the application of phase field simulation.

Solvent Property Induced Morphological Changes of ABA Amphiphilic Triblock Copolymer Micelles in Dilute Solution: A Self-consistent Field Simulation Study

The morphological changes of ABA amphiphilic triblock copolymer micelles in dilute solution were systematically studied by tuning the solvent property using self-consistent field simulation. The solvent property was tuned by changing the Flory-Huggins interaction parameters between each type of blocks and solvent, respectively. The simulation results show that by changing the solvent properties, a series of micelle morphologies such as vesicle, cage-like, ring-shaped, rod-like and spherical micelle morphologies can be obtained. Variations of the free energy of the solution system and the surface area of micelles with the Flory-Huggins interaction parameters were calculated to better understand the effect of solvent property on micelle morphologies. In addition, a phase diagram showing the morphological changes of micelles with the Flory-Huggins interaction parameters is provided.

Phase field simulation of solidification under supergravity

In order to understand the influence of supergravity on the microstructure of materials,crystal nucleation,dendritic growth,and polycrystal solidification under supergravity are investigated by using the modified nucleation theory and phase field models.Firstly,supergravity is considered in the nucleation theory by using pressure-dependent Gibbs free energy.It is found that the critical radius decreases and the nucleation rate increases when supergravity rises.Secondly,anisotropic heat transport is proposed in the phase field model to investigate the influence of supergravity on dendritic growth.Phase field simulations show that supergravity promotes the secondary dendritic growth in the direction parallel to supergravity.Finally,a multiply phase field model with pressure-dependent interfacial energy is employed to simulate the polycrystalline solidification under supergravity.Due to the depth-dependent pressure by supergravity,crystal grains are significantly refined by high pressure.In addition,gradient distribution of grain size is obtained in the solidification morphology of polycrystalline,which is consistent with previous experimental observations.Results of this work suggest that supergravity can be used to tune the microstructures and properties of materials.

Simulation and analysis of point-source surface wave fields

The complexity of near surface intensifies the diversity of seismic wave fields, which makes study on near surface wavefields important in many aspects. The strong absorption of low velocity layer can affect the resolution of seismic data, and free boundary can cause surface wave. Considering the above problems, we focus on the Rayleigh wavefields simulation using finite-difference wave equation of higher-order staggered grids and PML boundary conditions. Free boundary, buried source and overlying low velocity layer are taken into consideration and point explosion source is adopted. Through some numerical simulation with different parameters, we quantitatively analyze relationship between wave intensity and source depth, as well as the energy variation with propagation and obtain some practical knowledge and conclusions.

Flow field fusion simulation method based on model features and its application in CRDM

The control rod drive mechanism(CRDM)is an essential part of the control and safety protection system of pressurized water reactors.Current CRDM simulations are mostly performed collectively using a single method,ignoring the influence of multiple motion units and the differences in various features among them,which strongly affect the efficiency and accuracy of the simulations.In this study,we constructed a flow field fusion simulation method based on model features by combining key motion unit analysis and various simulation methods and then applied the method to the CRDM simulation process.CRDM performs motion unit decomposition through the structural hierarchy of function-movement-action method,and the key meta-actions are identified as the nodes in the flow field simulation.We established a fused feature-based multimethod simulation process and processed the simulation methods and data according to the features of the fluid domain space and the structural complexity to obtain the fusion simulation results.Compared to traditional simulation methods and real measurements,the simulation method provides advantages in terms of simulation efficiency and accuracy.

Simulation of phased array S-scan acoustic field in FSW joint of aluminum alloy extrudate with complex shape

The shape of aluminum alloy extrudate used in high-speed train is complex, structural noises from the surfaces of the extrudate will be received when using ultrasonic phased array to detect the flaws in FSW. To solve this problem, ultrasonic phased array acoustic field model and propagation simulation of acoustic waves were introduced to simulate the acoustic pressure distribution and the propagation of the acoustic waves. With the methods above, the detection parameters can be optimized and as a result, the experimental process can be simplified and the detection efficiency can be improved. Meanwhile, the echoes in the S-scan images can be predicted, which can help analyze the detection results and judge the defects.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF TEMPERATURE FIELDS FOR WELD METAL SOLIDIFICATION CRACKING IN STAINLESS STEELS

This paper has analyzed the influences of the heat input of welding arc, the latent heat of solidifica- tion,fluid flow of liquid metal on the heat conductivity pertaining to welding solidification crack of stainless steels. As a result,two - dimensional heat conduction models with prescribed heat flux mov- ing along the the have been developed that can simulate welding arc, convection and radiation heat loss from top and bottom surfaces of the workpiece. Finally, the finite element model was used to ana- lyze and calculate the temperature field.

Simulation of electromagnetic-flow fields in Mg melt under pulsed magnetic field

The effects of a pulsed magnetic field on the solidified microstructure of pure Mg were investigated.The results show that microstructure of pure Mg is considerably refined via columnar-to-equiaxed growth under the pulsed magnetic field and the average grain size is refined to 260？？ under the optimal processing conditions.A mathematical model was built to describe the interaction of the electromagnetic-flow fields during solidification with ANSYS software.The pulsed electric circuit was first solved and then it is substituted into the magnetic field model.The fluid flow model was solved with the acquired electromagnetic force.The effects of pulse voltage frequency on the current wave and on the distribution of magnetic and flow fields were numerically studied.The pulsed magnetic field increases melt convection,which stirs and fractures the dendritic arms into pieces.These broken pieces are transported into the bulk liquid by the liquid flow and act as nuclei to enhance grain refinement.The Joule heat effect produced by the electric current also participates in the microstructural refinement.

Petrel2ANSYS: Accessible software for simulation of crustal stress fields using constraints provided by multiple 3D models employing different types of grids

Crustal stresses play an important role in both exploration and development in the oil and gas industry.However,it is difficult to simulate crustal stress distributions accurately,because of the incompatibilities that exist among different software.Here,a series of algorithms is developed and integrated in the Petrel2ANSYS to carry out two-way conversions between the 3D attribute models that employ corner-point grids used in Petrel and the 3D finite-element grids used in ANSYS.Furthermore,a modified method of simulating stress characteristics and analyzing stress fields using the finite-element method and multiple finely resolved 3D models is proposed.Compared to the traditional finite-element simulation-based approach,which involves describing the heterogeneous within a rock body or sedimentary facies in detail and simulating the stress distribution,the single grid cell-based approach focuses on a greater degree on combining the rock mechanics described by 3D corner-point grid models with the finely resolved material characteristics of 3D finite-element models.Different models that use structured and unstructured grids are verified in Petrel2ANSYS to assess the feasibility.In addition,with minor modifications,platforms based on the present algorithms can be extended to other models to convert corner-point grids to the finite-element grids constructed by other software.