THE NONLINEAR STABILITY OF PLANE PARALLEL SHEAR FLOWS WITH RESPECT TO TILTED PERTURBATIONS

The nonlinear stability of plane parallel shear flows with respect to tilted perturbations is studied by energy methods.Tilted perturbation refers to the fact that perturbations form an angleθ∈(0,π/2)with the direction of the basic flows.By defining an energy functional,it is proven that plane parallel shear flows are unconditionally nonlinearly exponentially stable for tilted streamwise perturbation when the Reynolds number is below a certain critical value and the boundary conditions are either rigid or stress-free.In the case of stress-free boundaries,by taking advantage of the poloidal-toroidal decomposition of a solenoidal field to define energy functionals,it can be even shown that plane parallel shear flows are unconditionally nonlinearly exponentially stable for all Reynolds numbers,where the tilted perturbation can be either spanwise or streamwise.

NONLINEAR STABILITY OF RAREFACTION WAVES TO THE COMPRESSIBLE NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS FOR A REACTING MIXTURE WITH ZERO HEAT CONDUCTIVITY

In this paper,we study the time-asymptotically nonlinear stability of rarefaction waves for the Cauchy problem of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations for a reacting mixture with zero heat conductivity in one dimension.If the corresponding Riemann problem for the compressible Euler system admits the solutions consisting of rarefaction waves only,it is shown that its Cauchy problem has a unique global solution which tends time-asymptotically towards the rarefaction waves,while the initial perturbation and the strength of rarefaction waves are suitably small.

The Impact of Nonlinear Stability and Instability on the Validity of the Tangent Linear Model

The impact of nonlinear stability and instability on the validity of tangent linear model (TLM) is investigated by comparing its results with those produced by the nonlinear model (NLM) with the identical initial perturbations. The evolutions of different initial perturbations superposed on the nonlinearly stable and unstable basic flows are examined using the two-dimensional quasi-geostrophic models of double periodic-boundary condition and rigid boundary condition. The results indicate that the valid time period of TLM, during which TLM can be utilized to approximate NLM with given accuracy, varies with the magnitudes of the perturbations and the nonlinear stability and instability of the basic flows. The larger the magnitude of the perturbation is, the shorter the valid time period. The more nonlinearly unstable the basic flow is, the shorter the valid time period of TLM. With the double—periodic condition the valid period of the TLM is shorter than that with the rigid—boundary condition. Key words Nonlinear stability and instability - Tangent linear model (TLM) - Validity This work was supported by the National Key Basic Research Project “Research on the Formation Mechanism and Prediction Theory of Severe Synoptic Disasters in China” (No.G1998040910) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.49775262 and No.49823002).

Geometrical nonlinear stability analyses of cable-truss domes

The nonlinear finite element method is used to analyze the geometrical nonlinear stability of cable truss domes with different cable distributions. The results indicate that the critical load increases evidently when cables, especially diagonal cables, are distributed in the structure. The critical loads of the structure at different rise span ratios are also discussed in this paper. It was shown that the effect of the tensional cable is more evident at small rise span ratio. The buckling of the structure is characterized by a global collapse at small rise span ratio; that the torsional buckling of the radial truss occurs at big rise span ratio; and that at proper rise span ratio, the global collapse and the lateral buckling of the truss occur nearly simultaneously.

Nonlinear Stability Analysis of Long Span Continuous Rigid Frame Bridge with Thin Wall High Piers

By utilizing the current finite element program ANSYS, two types of finite element models (FEM), the beam model (BM) and shell model (SM), are established for the nonlinear stability analysis of a practical rigid frame bridge—Longtanhe Great Bridge. In these analyses, geometrical and material nonlinearities are simultaneously taken into account. For geometrical nonlinearity, updated Lagrangian formulations are adopted to derive the tangent stiffness matrix. In order to simulate the nonlinear behavior of the plastic hinge of the piers, the multi lines spring element COMBIN39 is used in the SM while the bilinear rotational spring element COMBIN40 is employed in the BM. Numerical calculations show that satisfying results can be obtained in the stability analysis of the bridge when the double coupling nonlinearity effects are considered. In addition, the conclusion is significant for practical engineering.

THE NONLINEAR STABILITY OF TRAVELLING WAVE SOLUTIONS FOR A REACTING FLOW MODEL WITH SOURCE TERM

In this paper, author considers a 3 x 3 system for a reacting flow model propesed by [9]. Since this model has source term, it can be considered as a relaxation approximation to 2 x 2 systems of conservation laws, which include the well-known p-system. From this viewpoint, the author establishes the global existence and the nonlinear stability of travelling wave solutions by L-2 energy method.

A Study on the Nonlinear Stability of Fronts in the Ocean on a Sloping Continental Shelf

The baroclinic nonlinear stability of fronts in the ocean on a sloping continental shelf is studied, the model equations, called the frontal geostrophic model, developed by Cushman—Roisin et al.(1992) for describing the dynamics of surface density fronts in the ocean are developed and the two—layer frontal geostrophic model for fronts on a sloping continental shelf is first obtained. The nonlinear stability criteria for the fronts on a sloping bottom are obtained by using Arnol’d (1965, 1969) variational principle and a prior estimate method. It is shown that our result is better than the former works. Key words Fronts in the ocean - Frontal geostrophic model - Nonlinear stability This Work was supported by “ the National Key Programme for Developing Basic Sciences” G199804901-1 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China “ Research Programme for Excellent State Key Laboratory” under Grant No. 49823002 and No. 49805002.

Nonlinear Stability Analysis of the Zonal Flows at Middle and High Latitudes

An attempt has been made to apply Arnold type nonlinear stability criteria to the diagnostic study of the persistence (stability) or breakdown (instability) of the atmospheric flows. In the case of the blocking high, the cut-off low and the zonal flow, the relationships of the geostrophic stream function versus the potential vorticity of the observed atmosphere are analyzed, which indicates that Arnold second type nonlinear stability theorem is more relevant to the observed atmosphere than the first one. For both the stable and unstable zonal flows, Arnold second type nonlinear stability criteria are applied to the diagnosis. The primary results show that our analyses correspond well to the evolution of the atmospheric motions. The synoptically stable zonal flows satisfy Arnol′d second type nonlinear stability criteria; while the synoptically unstable ones violate the nonlinear stability criteria.

Criteria for the Nonlinear Stability of Three-Dimensional Quasi-Geostrophic Motions

Some more proper criteria for the nonlinear stability of three-dimensional quasi-geostrophic motions are given by combining variational principle with a prior estimates method. The criteria are suitable for perturbations of initial condition as well as parameters in the model. The basic flow can be steady or unsteady. Particularly the difficulty due to the nonlinear boundary condition is completely overcome by the use of our method.

NONLINEAR STABILITY OF PLANAR SHOCK PROFILES FOR THE GENERALIZED KdV-BURGERS EQUATION IN SEVERAL DIMENSIONS

This paper is concerned with the nonlinear stability of planar shock profiles to the Cauchy problem of the generalized KdV-Burgers equation in two dimensions. Our analysis is based on the energy method developed by Goodman [5] for the nonlinear stability of scalar viscous shock profiles to scalar viscous conservation laws and some new decay estimates on the planar shock profiles of the generalized KdV-Burgers equation.

On Nonlinear Stability Theorems of 3D Quasi-geostrophic Flow

Nonlinear stability criteria for quasi-geostrophic zonally symmetric flow are improved by establishing an optimal Poincard inequality. The inequality is derived by a variational calculation considering the additional invariant of zonal momentum. When applied to the Eady model in a periodic channel with finite zonal length, the improved nonlinear stability criterion is identical to the linear normal-mode stability criterion provided the channel meridional width is no greater than 0.8605... times its channel length （which is the geophysically relevant case）.

NONLINEAR STABILITY OF VISCOUS SHOCK WAVES FOR ONE-DIMENSIONAL NONISENTROPIC COMPRESSIBLE NAVIER–STOKES EQUATIONS WITH A CLASS OF LARGE INITIAL PERTURBATION

We study the nonlinear stability of viscous shock waves for the Cauchy problem of one-dimensional nonisentropic compressible Navier–Stokes equations for a viscous and heat conducting ideal polytropic gas. The viscous shock waves are shown to be time asymptotically stable under large initial perturbation with no restriction on the range of the adiabatic exponent provided that the strengths of the viscous shock waves are assumed to be sufficiently small.The proofs are based on the nonlinear energy estimates and the crucial step is to obtain the positive lower and upper bounds of the density and the temperature which are uniformly in time and space.

NONLINEAR STABILITY AND BIFURCATIONS OF SYMMETRIC HEAVY GYROSCOPE

The complete solutions of the upright and oblique permanent rotations of a symmetric heavy gyroscope with perfect dissipation are given.The asymptotic stability criteria and unstability criteria for these rotations in the sense of Liapunov and the sense of Movchan are also given on the basis of exact nonlinear motion equations respectively.The related oblique rotations are non-isolated.The main subdomains of the re- gions of asymptotic stability are obtained.The related bifurcation phenomena are discussed in detail.

Analysis of nonlinear stability and post-buckling for Euler-type beam-column structure

Based on the assumption of finite deformation, the Hamilton variational principle is extended to a nonlinear elastic Euler-type beam-column structure located on a nonlinear elastic foundation. The corresponding three-dimensional （3D） mathematical model for analyzing the nonlinear mechanical behaviors of structures is established, in which the effects of the rotation inertia and the nonlinearity of material and geometry are considered. As an application, the nonlinear stability and the post-buckling for a linear elastic beam with the equal cross-section located on an elastic foundation are analyzed. One end of the beam is fully fixed, and the other end is partially fixed and subjected to an axial force. A new numerical technique is proposed to calculate the trivial solution, bifurcation points, and bifurcation solutions by the shooting method and the Newton- Raphson iterative method. The first and second bifurcation points and the corresponding bifurcation solutions are calculated successfully. The effects of the foundation resistances and the inertia moments on the bifurcation points are considered.

Nonlinear stability of double-deck reticulated circular shallow spherical shell

Based on the variational equation of the nonlinear bending theory of doubledeck reticulated shallow shells, equations of large deflection and boundary conditions for a double-deck reticulated circular shallow spherical shell under a uniformly distributed pressure are derived by using coordinate transformation means and the principle of stationary complementary energy. The characteristic relationship and critical buckling pressure for the shell with two types of boundary conditions are obtained by taking the modified iteration method. Effects of geometrical parameters on the buckling behavior are also discussed.

NONLINEAR STABILITY FOR EADY'S MODEL

Poincaré type integral inequality plays an important role in the study of nonlinear stability (in the sense of (Arnold's) second theorem) for three-dimensional quasi-geostophic flow. The nonlinear stability of (Eady's) model is one of the most important cases in the application of the method. But the best nonlinear stability criterion obtained so far and the linear stability criterion are not coincident. The two criteria coincide only when the period of the channel is infinite. To fill this gap, the enhanced Poincaré inequality was obtained by considering the additional conservation law of momentum and by rigorous estimate of integral inequality. So the new nonlinear stability criterion was obtained, which shows that for (Eady's) model in the periodic channel, the linear stable implies the nonlinear stable.

THE METHOD OF MULTIPLE SCALES APPLIED TO THE NONLINEAR STABILITY PROBLEM OF A TRUNCATED SHALLOW SPHERICAL SHELL OF VARIABLE THICKNESS WITH THE LARGE GEOMETRICAL PARAMETER

Using the modified method of multiple scales, the nonlinear stability of a truncated shallow spherical shell of variable thickness with a nondeformable rigid body at the center under compound loads is investigated. When the geometrical parameter k is larger, the uniformly valid asymptotic solutions of this problem are obtained and the remainder terms are estimated.

NONLINEAR STABILITY OF TRUNCATED SHALLOW CONICAL SANDWICH SHELL WITH VARIABLE THICKNESS

The theory of nonlinear stability for a truncated shallow conical shell with variable thickness under the action of uniform pressure was presented. The fundamental equations and boundary conditions were derived by means of calculus of variations. An analytic solution for the critical buckling pressure of the shell with a hyperbolically varying thickness is obtained by use of modified iteration method. The results of numerical calculations are presented in diagrams, which show the influence of geometrical and physical parameters on the buckling behavior.

Existence and Nonlinear Stability of Stationary Solutions to the Viscous Two-Phase Flow Model in a Half Line

The outflow problem for the viscous two-phase flow model in a half line is investigated in the present paper.The existence and uniqueness of the stationary solution is shown for both supersonic state and sonic state at spatial far field,and the nonlinear time stability of the stationary solution is also established in the weighted Sobolev space with either the exponential time decay rate for supersonic flow or the algebraic time decay rate for sonic flow.

NONLINEAR STABILITY ANALYSIS OF A SANDWICH SHALLOW CYLINDRICAL PANEL WITH ORTHOTROPIC SURFACES

In this paper, the large deflection theory is adopted to analyse the geometrical nonlinear stability of a sandwich shallow cylindrical panel with orthoiropic surfaces. The critical point is determined and the postbitckling behaviour of the panel is studied.