Numerical Investigation of the Aerodynamic Performance Affected by Spiral Inlet and Outlet in a Positive Displacement Blower

The flow in the positive displacement blower is very complex.The existing two-dimensional numerical simulation cannot provide the detailed flow information,especially flow characteristics along the axial direction,which is unfavorable to improve the performance of positive displacement blower.To investigate the effects of spiral inlet and outlet on the aerodynamic performance of positive displacement blower,three-dimensional unsteady flow characteristics in a three-lobe positive displacement blower with and without the spiral inlet and outlet are simulated by solving Navier-Stokes equations coupled with RNG k-ε turbulent model.In the numerical simulation,the dynamic mesh technique and overset mesh updating method are used.The computational results are compared with the experimental measurements on the variation of flow rate with the outlet pressure to verify the validity of the numerical method presented.The results show that the mass flow rate with the change of pressure is slightly affected by the application of spiral inlet and outlet,but the internal flow state is largely affected.In the exhaust region,the fluctuations of pressure,velocity and temperature as well as the average values of velocity are significantly reduced.This illustrates that the spiral outlet can effectively suppress the fluctuations of pressure,thus reducing reflux shock and energy dissipation.In the intake area,the average value of pressure,velocity and temperature are slightly declined,but the fluctuations of them are significantly reduced,indicating that the spiral inlet plays the role in making the flow more stable.The numerical results obtained reveal the three-dimensional flow characteristics of the positive displacement blower with spiral inlet and outlet,and provide useful reference to improve performance and empirical correction in the noise-reduction design of the positive displacement blowers.

Unsteady Flow Simulations in a Three-lobe Positive Displacement Blower

To improve the performance of the positive displacement blower, it is imperative to understand the detailed internal flow characteristics or enable a visualization of flow status. However, the existing two-dimensional unsteady, three-dimensional steady or quasi-unsteady numerical simulation and theoretical analysis cannot provide the detailed flow information, which is unfavorable to improve the performance of positive displacement blower. Therefore, the unsteady flow characteristics in a three-lobe positive displacement blower are numerically investigated by solving the three-dimensional, unsteady, compressible Navier-Stokes equations coupled with RNG k-e turbulent model. In the numerical simulation, the dynamic mesh technique and overset mesh updating method are adopted. Due to the air being compressed in the process of the rotors rotating, the variation of the temperature field in the positive displacement blower is considered. By comparing the experimental measurements and the numerical results on the variation of flow rate with the outlet pressure, the maximum relative error of the flow rate is less than 2.15% even at the maximum outlet pressure condition, which means that the calculation model and numerical computational method used are effective. The numerical results show that in the intake region, the fluctuations of the inlet flow are greatly affected by the direction of the velocity vectors. In the exhaust region, the temperature changes significantly, which leads to the increase of the airflow pulsation. Through analysis on the velocity, pressure and temperature fields obtained from the numerical simulations, three-dimensional unsteady flow characteristics in the positive displacement blower are revealed. The studied results will provide useful reference for improving the performance and empirical correction in the design of the positive displacement blower.

Coseismic gravity and displacement changes of Japan Tohoku earthquake(Mw 9.0)

The greatest earthquake in the modern history of Japan and probably the fourth greatest in the last 100 years in the world occurred on March 11, 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku.Large tsunami and ground motions caused severe damage in wide areas, particularly many towns along the Pacific coast. So far, gravity change caused by such a great earthquake has been reported for the 1964 Alaska and the 2010 Maule events. However, the spatial-temporal resolution of the gravity data for these cases is insufficient to depict a co-seismic gravity field variation in a spatial scale of a plate subduction zone. Here, we report an unequivocal co-seismic gravity change over the Japanese Island, obtained from a hybrid gravity observation（combined absolute and relative gravity measurements）. The time interval of the observation before and after the earthquake is within 1 year at almost all the observed sites, including 13 absolute and 16 relative measurement sites, which deduced tectonic and environmental contributions to the gravity change. The observed gravity agrees well with the result calculated by a dislocation theory based on a self-gravitating and layered spherical earth model. In this computation, a co-seismic slip distribution is determined by an inversion of Global Positioning System（GPS） data. Of particular interest is that the observed gravity change in some area is negative where a remarkable subsidence is observed by GPS, which can not be explained by simple vertical movement of the crust. This indicated that the mass redistribution in the underground affects the gravity change. This result supports the result that Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment（GRACE） satellites detected a crustal dilatation due to the 2004 Sumatra earthquake by the terrestrial observation with a higher spatial and temporal resolution.

Quantitative analysis of the Nepal earthquake on 25 April, 2015 in the perspective of future earthquake hazard

The earthquake that occurred in Nepal on 25 April, 2015 was followed by about 256 aftershocks which continued for another 20-25 days. The Coulomb stress change due to the main shock has been estimated at depths 10 km, 15 km and 22 km which justify the occurrence of about 218 aftershocks of magnitudes 4 to 5 mostly at 10 km depth and the rest of magnitudes 5 to 7.3 mostly at 15-30 km depth. The western, southern and northern fringes of the fault plane that slipped on 25 April, 2015 show a high value of positive Coulomb stress change estimated at the above mentioned depths and yet these parts of the fault remained devoid of any aftershock epicentre and therefore must be treated as seats for possible future events. Co-seismic displacement of 5 GPS stations located in Nepal after the devastating earthquake of MwZ8 on 25 April, 2015 and its largest aftershock of MwZ3 on 12 May, 2015 have been separately estimated and analysed.