Simultaneous measurement of velocity profile and liquid film thickness in horizontal gas–liquid slug flow by using ultrasonic Doppler method

Horizontal gas-liquid two-phase flows widely exist in chemical engineering,oil/gas production and other important industrial processes.Slug flow pattern is the main form of horizontal gas-liquid flows and characterized by intermittent motion of film region and slug region.This work aims to develop the ultrasonic Doppler method to realize the simultaneous measurement of the velocity profile and liquid film thickness of slug flow.A single-frequency single-channel transducer is adopted in the design of the field-programmable gate array based ultrasonic Doppler system.A multiple echo repetition technology is used to improve the temporal-spatial resolution for the velocity profile.An experiment of horizontal gas-liquid two-phase flow is implemented in an acrylic pipe with an inner diameter of 20 mm.Considering the aerated characteristics of the liquid slug,slug flow is divided into low-aerated slug flow,high-aerated slug flow and pseudo slug flow.The temporal-spatial velocity distributions of the three kinds of slug flows are reconstructed by using the ultrasonic velocity profile measurement.The evolution characteristics of the average velocity profile in slug flows are investigated.A novel method is proposed to derive the liquid film thickness based on the instantaneous velocity profile.The liquid film thickness can be effectively measured by detecting the position and the size of the bubbles nearly below the elongated gas bubble.Compared with the time of flight method,the film thickness measured by the Doppler system shows a higher accuracy as a bubble layer occurs in the film region.The effect of the gas distribution on the film thickness is uncovered in three kinds of slug flows.

Modeling of liquid film thickness around Taylor bubbles rising in vertical stagnant and co-current slug flowing liquids

The hydrodynamic study of the liquid film around Taylor bubbles in slug flow has great significance for understanding parallel flow and interaction between Taylor bubbles.The prediction models for liquid film thickness mainly focus on stagnant flow,and some of them remain inaccurate performance.However,in the industrial process,the slug flow essentially is co-current flow.Therefore,in this paper,the liquid film thickness is studied by theoretical analysis and experimental methods under two conditions of stagnant and co-current flow.Firstly,under the condition of stagnant flow,the present work is based on Batchelor's theory,and modifies Batchelor's liquid film thickness model,which effectively improves its prediction accuracy.Under the condition of co-current flow,the prediction model of average liquid film thickness in slug flow is established by force and motion analysis.Taylor bubble length is introduced into the model as an important parameter.Dynamic experiments were carried out in the pipe with an inner diameter of 20 mm.The liquid film thickness,Taylor bubble velocity and length were measured by distributed ultrasonic sensor and intrusive cross-correlation conductivity sensor.Comparing the predicted value of the model with the measured results,the relative error is controlled within 10%.

Method of measuring one-dimensional photonic crystal period-structure-film thickness based on Bloch surface wave enhanced Goos–H?nchen shift

This paper puts forward a novel method of measuring the thin period-structure-film thickness based on the Bloch surface wave(BSW) enhanced Goos–Hanchen(GH) shift in one-dimensional photonic crystal(1DPC). The BSW phenomenon appearing in 1DPC enhances the GH shift generated in the attenuated total internal reflection structure. The GH shift is closely related to the thickness of the film which is composed of layer-structure of 1DPC. The GH shifts under multiple different incident light conditions will be obtained by varying the wavelength and angle of the measured light, and the thickness distribution of the entire structure of 1DPC is calculated by the particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm.The relationship between the structure of a 1DPC film composed of TiO_(2) and SiO_(2) layers and the GH shift, is investigated.Under the specific photonic crystal structure and incident conditions, a giant GH shift, 5.1 × 10^(3) times the wavelength of incidence, can be obtained theoretically. Simulation and calculation results show that the thickness of termination layer and periodic structure bilayer of 1DPC film with 0.1-nm resolution can be obtained by measuring the GH shifts. The exact structure of a 1DPC film is innovatively measured by the BSW-enhanced GH shift.

Effect of Mg-Film Thickness on the Formation of Semiconductor Mg_2Si Films Prepared by Resistive Thermal Evaporation Method

Mg films of various thicknesses were deposited on Si（111） substrates at room temperature by resistive thermal evaporation method, and then the Mg/Si samples were annealed at 40 ℃ for 4 h. The effects of Mg film thickness on the formation and structure of Mg2Si films were investigated. The results showed that the crystallization quality of Mg2Si films was strongly influenced by the thickness of Mg film. The XRD peak intensity of Mg2Si （220） gradually increased initially and then decreased with increasing Mg film thickness. The XRD peak intensity of Mg2Si （220） reached its maximum when the Mg film of 380 um was used. The thickness of the Mg2Si film annealed at 400℃ for 4 h was approximately 3 times of the Mg film.

Determination of the solvation film thickness of dispersed particles with the method of Einstein viscosity equation

The dispersion of a solid particle in a liquid may lead to the formation of solvation film on the particle surface, which can strongly increase the repulsive force between particles and thus strongly affect the stability of dispersions. The solvation film thickness, which varies with the variation of the property of suspension particles and solutions, is one of the most important parameters of the solvation film, and is also one of the most difficult parameters that can be measured accurately. In this paper, a method, based on the Einstein viscosity equation of dispersions, for determining the solvation film thickness of particles is developed. This method was tested on two kinds of silica spherical powders （namely M1 and M2） dispersed in ethyl alcohol, in water, and in a water-ethyl alcohol mixture （1：1 by volume） through measuring the relative viscosity of dispersions of the particles as a function of the volume fraction of the dry particles in the dispersion, and of the specific surface area and the density of the particles. The calculated solvation film thicknesses on M1 are 7.48, 18.65 and 23.74 nm in alcohol, water and the water-ethyl alcohol mixture, 12.41, 12.71 and 13.13 nm on M2 in alcohol, water and the water-ethyl alcohol mixture, respectively.

Erratum to “Accurate determination of film thickness by low-angle x-ray reflection”

Equation(6)in Chin.Phys.090833(2000)is corrected.All subsequent derivations were given based on the correct Eq.(6),so the conclusions in the paper are not ffected by the rrata.

Effects of Film Thickness and Ar/O2 Ratio on Resistive Switching Characteristics of HfOx-Based Resistive-Switching Random Access Memories

Cu/HfOx/n^＋Si devices are fabricated to investigate the influence of technological parameters including film thickness and Ar/02 ratio on the resistive switching （RS） characteristics of HfOx films, in terms of switch ratio, endurance properties, retention time and multilevel storage. It is revealed that the RS characteristics show strong dependence on technological parameters mainly by altering the defects （oxygen vacancies） in the film. The sample with thickness of 2Onto and Ar/O2 ratio of 12：3 exhibits the best RS behavior with the potential of multilevel storage. The conduction mechanism of all the films is interpreted based on the filamentary model.

Predicting EHL film thickness parameters by machine learning approaches

Non-dimensional similarity groups and analytically solvable proximity equations can be used to estimate integral fluid film parameters of elastohydrodynamically lubricated(EHL)contacts.In this contribution,we demonstrate that machine learning(ML)and artificial intelligence(AI)approaches(support vector machines,Gaussian process regressions,and artificial neural networks)can predict relevant film parameters more efficiently and with higher accuracy and flexibility compared to sophisticated EHL simulations and analytically solvable proximity equations,respectively.For this purpose,we use data from EHL simulations based upon the full-system finite element(FE)solution and a Latin hypercube sampling.We verify that the original input data are required to train ML approaches to achieve coefficients of determination above 0.99.It is revealed that the architecture of artificial neural networks(neurons per layer and number of hidden layers)and activation functions influence the prediction accuracy.The impact of the number of training data is exemplified,and recommendations for a minimum database size are given.We ultimately demonstrate that artificial neural networks can predict the locally-resolved film thickness values over the contact domain 25-times faster than FE-based EHL simulations(R^(2) values above 0.999).We assume that this will boost the use of ML approaches to predict EHL parameters and traction losses in multibody system dynamics simulations.

Asphalt pavement water film thickness detection and prediction model:A review

Over the course of storm or rainfall event,water thickness builds up on road surface resulting in a loss of contact between vehicle tires and road surface and puts drivers into immediate danger especially at high speeds.Therefore this is a considerably dangerous condition of the road and the realistic measurements and prediction model of water film thickness(WFT)on pavement surface is crucial for determining the road friction coefficient and evaluating the impact of rainfall on traffic safety.A review of the principle as well as critical evaluation of current detection methods of pavement WFT were compared for consistency and accuracy in this paper.The method selection guidelines are given for different road surface water film thickness detection requirements.This paper also introduces the latest development of WFT detection and prediction models for asphalt pavement,and gives the calculation elements and conditions of different WFT prediction models from different modeling ideas,which provides a basis for the selection and optimization of WFT models for future researchers.This article also suggests a few insights as further research directions on this topic.(1)The research can consider the influencing factors of WFT to conduct research on the delineation standard of pavement WFT.(2)In order to meet the future traffic safety dynamic early warning needs,road factors of different material types,disease conditions and linear conditions should be studied,as well as a comprehensive and accurate real-time water film thickness detection and evaluation method considering meteorological factors of rainfall timing,scale and intensity.(3)The prediction model of WFT should be further studied by the analytical method to clarify the influence of the pavement WFT on the driving safety.

Thickness effect on solar-blind photoelectric properties of ultrathinβ-Ga_(2)O_(3)films prepared by atomic layer deposition

Theβ-Ga_(2)O_(3)films with different thicknesses are prepared by an atomic layer deposition system.The influence of film thickness on the crystal quality is obvious,indicating that the thicker films perform better crystal quality,which is verified from x-ray diffraction(XRD)and scanning electron microscope(SEM)results.The Ga_(2)O_(3)-based solar blind photodetectors with different thicknesses are fabricated and studied.The experimental results show that the responsivity of the photodetectors increases exponentially with the increase of the film thickness.The photodetectors with inter-fingered structure based on 900 growth cyclesβ-Ga_(2)O_(3)active layers(corresponding film thickness of 58 nm)exhibit the best performances including a low dark current of 134 fA,photo-to-dark current ratio of 1.5×10^(7),photoresponsivity of 1.56 A/W,detectivity of 2.77×10^(14)Jones,and external quantum efficiency of 764.49%at a bias voltage of 10 V under 254-nm DUV illumination.The photoresponse rejection ratio(R_(254)/R_(365))is up to 1.86×10^(5).In addition,we find that the photoelectric characteristics also depend on the finger spacing of the MSM structure.As the finger spacing decreases from 50μm to10μW,the photoresponsivity,detectivity,and external quantum efficiency increase significantly.

Novel method for simultaneous measurement of film thickness and mass fraction of urea–water solution

Quantitative knowledge of the film thickness and mass fraction of the urea-water solution is very crucial in many practical applications. Film thickness or mass fraction can only be determined individually by conventional measurement techniques. We develop a novel measurement method to measure the film thickness and mass fraction of ure^water solution simultaneously. The absorption coefficients of urea-water solution （5 50 wt%） are measured, a pair of optimized wavelengths is then chosen to achieve high measurement sensitivity. Cross validation is also performed and uncertainties of the technique are smaller than 0.68% for thickness measurements and 1.86% for mass fractions.

Influences of Film Thickness on the Electrical Properties of TaN_x Thin Films Deposited by Reactive DC Magnetron Sputtering

TaNx thin films were deposited on commercial polished Al2O3 ceramic substrates by reactive dc magnetron sputtering. The influences of the film thickness on the electrical properties of the samples were examined in detail. It is found that the film thickness does not influence the phase structures of the TaNx thin films. The sheet resistances of the samples shift from 173 Ω/sq. to 7.5 Ω/sq. with the film thickness shifting from 30 nm to 280 nm. With the increase of the film thickness from 30 nm to 280 nm, the temperature coefficient of resistance （TCR） of the samples shifts from negative value to positive value. When the film thickness is about 100 nm, TaNx thin films exhibits a near-zero TCR value （approximately -15×10^-6/℃）. This fact implies that TaNx thin films with a null TCR can be obtained by adjusting the film thickness. The variation in the electrical properties of the TaNx thin films with the film thickness can be qualitatively explained by the parallel connection of surface layer with high resistivity and negative TCR and TaNx layer with low resistivity and positive TCR.

Effects of chromophore concentration and film thickness on thermo-optic properties of electro-optic fluorinated polyimide films

Electro-optic （EO） effect and thermo-optic （TO） effect are jointly considered on the basis of field-induced and temperature-affected perturbations of the operating point in waveguide components. TO coefficients of EO fluorinated polyimide films with side-chain azobenzene chromophore were measured by attenuated- total-reflection （ATR） technique at different temperatures with TE- and TM-polarized lights, respectively. It is found that the absolute values of TO coefficients increase with the increments of both chromophore concentration and film thickness, but the polarization dependence of TO coefficients increases with the increment of chromophore concentration and decreases with the increment of film thickness.

The effect of the film thickness and doping content of SnO2:F thin films prepared by the ultrasonic spray method

This paper reports on the effects of film thickness and doping content on the optical and electrical properties of fluorine-doped tin oxide. Tin （Ⅱ） chloride dehydrate, ammonium fluoride dehydrate, ethanol and HC1 were used as the starting materials, dopant source, solvent and stabilizer, respectively. The doped films were deposited on a glass substrate at different concentrations varying between 0 and 5 wt% using an ultrasonic spray technique. The SnO2：F thin films were deposited at a 350 ℃ pending time （5, 15, 60 and 90 s）. The average transmission was about 80%, and the films were thus transparent in the visible region. The optical energy gap of the doped films with 2.5 wt% F was found to increase from 3.47 to 3.89 eV with increasing film thickness, and increased after doping at 5 wt%. The decrease in the Urbach energy of the SnO2：F thin films indicated a decrease in the defects. The increase in the electrical conductivity of the films reached maximum values of 278.9 and 281.9 （Ω.cm）-1 for 2.5 and 5 wt% F, respectively, indicating that the films exhibited an n-type semiconducting nature. A systematic study on the influence of film thickness and doping content on the properties of SnO2：F thin films deposited by ultrasonic spray was reported.

Influence of Spray Gun Position and Orientation on Liquid Film Development along a Cylindrical Surface

A method combining computationalfluid dynamics(CFD)and an analytical approach is proposed to develop a prediction model for the variable thickness of the spray-induced liquidfilm along the surface of a cylindrical workpiece.The numerical method relies on an Eulerian-Eulerian technique.Different cylinder diameters and positions and inclinations of the spray gun are considered and useful correlations for the thickness of the liquidfilm and its distribution are determined using various datafitting algorithms.Finally,the reliability of the pro-posed method is verified by means of experimental tests where the robot posture is changed.The provided cor-relation are intended to support the optimization of spray-based coating applications.

EFFECT OF MOLECULAR WEIGHT AND FILM THICKNESS ON THE CRYSTALLIZATION AND MICROPHASE SEPARATION IN POLYSTYRENE-BLOCK-POLY(L-LACTIC ACID) THIN FILMS AT THE EARLY STAGE

We investigated the effects of molecular weight and film thickness on the crystallization and microphase separation in semicrystalline block copolymer polystyrene-block-poly（L-lactic acid） （PS-b-PLLA） thin films, at the early stage of film evolution （when Tg 〈 T 〈 TODT） by in situ hot stage atomic force microscopy. For PS-b-PLLA 1 copolymer which had lower molecular weight and higher PLLA fraction, diffusion-controlled break-out crystallization started easily. For PS-b-PLLA 2 with higher molecular weight, crystallization in nanometer scales occurs in local area. After melting of the two copolymer films, islands were observed at the film surface： PS-b-PLLA 1 film was in a disordered phase mixed state while PS-b-PLLA 2 film formed phase-separated lamellar structure paralleling to the substrate. Crystallization-melting and van der Waals forces drove the island formation in PS-b-PLLA 1 film. Film thickness affected the crystallization rate. Crystals grew very slowly in much thinner film of PS-b-PLLA 1 and remained almost unchanged at long time annealing. The incompatibility between PS and PLLA blocks drove the film fluctuation which subsequently evolved into spinodal-like morphology.

Determining polymer film thickness during manufacturing with broadband transmission

A novel broadband transmission method to determine polymer film thickness during manufacturing is pro- posed, and a measurement system is developed based on this method. The relationship between broadband optical power and film thickness is deduced according to the Lambert-Beer law. The system is composed of a halogen light and an optical power meter. Results show that the measurement error of this method is approximately 1 tim, and the resolution of the system is below 0.4 μm for polymer films with less than 100-μm thickness.

Effect of substrate curvature on thickness distribution of polydimethylsiloxane thin film in spin coating process

The polymer spin coating is critical in flexible electronic manufaction and micro-electro-mechanical system（MEMS）devices due to its simple operation, and uniformly coated layers. Some researchers focus on the effects of spin coating parameters such as wafer rotating speed, the viscosity of the coating liquid and solvent evaporation on final film thickness.In this work, the influence of substrate curvature on film thickness distribution is considered. A new parameter which represents the edge bead effect ratio（re） is proposed to investigate the influence factor of edge bead effect. Several operation parameters including the curvature of the substrate and the wafer-spin speed are taken into account to study the effects on the film thickness uniformity and edge-bead ratio. The morphologies and film thickness values of the spin-coated PDMS films under various substrate curvatures and coating speeds are measured with laser confocal microscopy. According to the results, both the convex and concave substrate will help to reduce the edge-bead effect significantly and thin film with better surface morphology can be obtained at high spin speed. Additionally, the relationship between the edge-bead ratio and the thin film thickness is like parabolic curve instead of linear dependence. This work may contribute to the mass production of flexible electronic devices.

Origin of the tribofilm from MoS_(2) nanoparticle oil additives: Dependence of oil film thickness on particle aggregation in rolling point contact

The lubrication effectiveness of MoS_(2) nanoparticles as an oil additive remains unclear,restricting its application in industry to reduce friction.The goal of this work was to explore the lubrication mechanism of MoS_(2) nanoparticles as an oil additive.In this study,the oil film thickness behaviors of MoS_(2) nanoparticles in poly-alpha olefin(PAO4)base oil,PAO4 with 3 wt%dispersant(polyisobutyleneamine succinimide,PIBS),and 0W20 engine oil were investigated using an elastohydrodynamic lubrication(EHL)testing machine.Following the EHL tests,the flow patterns around the contact area and the tribofilm covering rate on contact area were studied using optical microscopy to understand the lubrication mechanism.The results indicate that both the dispersant and nanoparticle aggregation significantly affected the oil film thickness.The expected oil film thickness increase in the case of 0.1 wt%MoS_(2) in PAO4 base oil was obtained,with an increase from 30 to 60 nm over 15 min at a velocity of 50 mm/s.Flow pattern analysis revealed the formation of particle aggregation on the rolling path when lubricated with 0.1 wt%MoS_(2),which is associated with a tribofilm coverage rate of 41.5%on the contact area.However,an oil film thickness increase and particle aggregation were not observed during the tests with 0.1 wt%MoS_(2) blended with 3 wt%PIBS as the dispersant in PAO4 base oil,and for 0.75 wt%MoS_(2) in 0W20 engine oil.The results suggest that nanoparticles responsible for tribofilm formation originated from aggregates,but not the well-dispersed nanoparticles in point contact.This understanding should aid the advancement of novel lubricant additive design.

Influences of fiber length and water film thickness on fresh properties of basalt fiber-reinforced mortar

In plain mortar,the water film thickness(WFT)has been found to play a key role in the fresh properties.However,in fiber-reinforced mortar,the role of WFT has not been investigated yet.In this research,basalt fibers of different lengths were added to the mortar,and the dynamic and static flowability,cohesiveness,adhesiveness,and packing density were tested to study the effects of fiber length on the packing density and WFT,and the combined effects of fiber length and WFT on the fresh properties.The results showed that in fiber-reinforced mortar,the WFT also plays a key role,whereas the fiber length exerts its influences through the indirect effects on the packing density and WFT and the direct effect on fiber-mortar interaction.Basically,an increase in fiber length decreases the packing density and WFT,decreases the dynamic and static flowability needed for placing,increases the cohesiveness needed for avoiding segregation,and,quite unexpectedly,decreases the adhesiveness needed for rendering and spraying applications.Regression analysis yielded good correlation of the fresh properties to fiber length and WFT,and best-fit formulas for the mix design for basalt fiber-reinforced mortar were obtained.