Volume 21 (2016): Issue 1 (February 2016)

In this study, the influence of temperature and wall slip conditions on the unsteady flow of a viscous, incompressible and electrically conducting nanofluid squeezed between two parallel disks in the presence of an applied magnetic field is investigated numerically. Using the similarity transformation, the governing coupled partial differential equations are transformed into similarity non-linear ordinary differential equations which are solved numerically using the Nachtsheim and Swigert shooting iteration technique together with the sixth order Runge-Kutta integration scheme. The effects of various emerging parameters on the flow characteristics are determined and discussed in detail. To check the reliability of the method, the numerical results for the skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number in the absence of slip conditions are compared with the results reported by the predecessors and an excellent agreement is observed between the two sets of results.

The article is presented to enhance our knowledge about the propagation of Lamb waves in the layer of a viscoelastic transversely isotropic medium in the context of thermoelasticity with GN theory of type-II and III. Secular equations for symmetric and skew-symmetric modes of wave propagation in completely separate terms are derived. The amplitudes of displacements and temperature distribution were also obtained. Finally, the numerical solution was carried out for cobalt and the dispersion curves, amplitudes of displacements and temperature distribution for symmetric and skew-symmetric wave modes are presented to evince the effect of anisotropy. Some particular cases are also deduced.

It is widely known that lateral-torsional buckling of a member under bending and warping restraints of its cross-sections in the steel structures are crucial for estimation of their safety and durability. Although engineering codes for steel and aluminum structures support the designer with the additional analytical expressions depending even on the boundary conditions and internal forces diagrams, one may apply alternatively the traditional Finite Element or Finite Difference Methods (FEM, FDM) to determine the so-called critical moment representing this phenomenon. The principal purpose of this work is to compare three different ways of determination of critical moment, also in the context of structural sensitivity analysis with respect to the structural element length. Sensitivity gradients are determined by the use of both analytical and the central finite difference scheme here and contrasted also for analytical, FEM as well as FDM approaches. Computational study is provided for the entire family of the steel I- and H - beams available for the practitioners in this area, and is a basis for further stochastic reliability analysis as well as durability prediction including possible corrosion progress.

In this paper the reflection and transmission at a plane interface in modified couple stress generalized thermoelastic solid half spaces in the context of Loard-Shulman (LS) and Green-Lindsay (GL) theories in welded contact are investigated. Amplitude ratios of various reflected and transmitted waves are obtained due to incidence of a set of coupled longitudinal waves and coupled transverse waves. It is found that the amplitude ratios of various reflected and transmitted waves are functions of the angle of incidence, frequency and are affected by the couple stress properties of the media. Some special cases are deduced from the present formulation.

An investigation is made on the effect of Hall currents on thermal instability of a compressible couple-stress fluid in the presence of a horizontal magnetic field saturated in a porous medium. The analysis is carried out within the framework of the linear stability theory and normal mode technique. A dispersion relation governing the effects of viscoelasticity, Hall currents, compressibility, magnetic field and porous medium is derived. For the stationary convection a couple-stress fluid behaves like an ordinary Newtonian fluid due to the vanishing of the viscoelastic parameter. Compressibility, the magnetic filed and couple-stress parameter have stabilizing effects on the system whereas Hall currents and medium permeability have a destabilizing effect on the system, but in the absence of Hall current couple-stress has a destabilizing effect on the system. It has been observed that oscillatory modes are introduced due to the presence of viscoelasticity, magnetic field porous medium and Hall currents which were non-existent in their absence.

The problem of MHD free convection flow with a parabolic starting motion of an infinite isothermal vertical plate in the presence of thermal radiation and chemical reaction has been examined in detail in this paper. The fluid considered here is a gray, absorbing emitting radiation but a non-scattering medium. The dimensionless governing coupled linear partial differential equations are solved using the Laplace transform technique. A parametric study is performed to illustrate the influence of the radiation parameter, magnetic parameter, chemical reaction parameter, thermal Grashof number, mass Grashof number, Schmidt number and time on the velocity, temperature, concentration. The results are discussed graphically and qualitatively. The numerical results reveal that the radiation induces a rise in both the velocity and temperature, and a decrease in the concentration. The model finds applications in solar energy collection systems, geophysics and astrophysics, aerospace and also in the design of high temperature chemical process systems.

Multivariate techniques are used in this study to analyze the monitoring data displacements of a concrete dam, measured by means of pendulums, extensometer bases and multiple rod extensometers, taking into account the action of environmental conditions, bounded by the surface temperature of the concrete at ambient temperature and the tank water level. The canonical correlation analysis is used to evaluate the influence of environmental variables in the displacement of structures and dam foundations. The factor analysis is used to identify data sources of variability and order the sensors according to the action of factors. The dates of the measurements are grouped according to similarities in the present observations, by applying the cluster analysis. Then the discriminant analysis is used to assess the groups as to their homogeneity. The results demonstrate that the techniques used for distinguishing the dam responses and identify the effects of changes in environmental conditions on the displacements of the structures and dam foundations.

The present analysis is focused on the study of the magnetic effect on coupled heat and mass transfer by mixed convection boundary layer flow over a slender cylinder in the presence of a chemical reaction. The buoyancy effect due to thermal diffusion and species diffusion is investigated. Employing suitable similarity transformations, the governing equations are transformed into a system of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations and are solved numerically via the implicit, iterative, second order finite difference method. The numerical results obtained are compared with the available results in the literature for some special cases and the results are found to be in excellent agreement. The velocity, temperature, and the concentration profiles are presented graphically and analyzed for several sets of the pertinent parameters. The pooled effect of the thermal and mass Grashof number is to enhance the velocity and is quite the opposite for temperature and the concentration fields.

In this paper, a numerical solution of mass transfer effects on an unsteady free convection flow of an incompressible electrically conducting viscous dissipative fluid past an infinite vertical porous plate under the influence of a uniform magnetic field considered normal to the plate has been obtained. The non-dimensional governing equations for this investigation are solved numerically by using the Ritz finite element method. The effects of flow parameters on the velocity, temperature and concentration fields are presented through the graphs and numerical data for the skin-friction, Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are presented in tables and then discussed.

This paper presents an analysis of the effects of magnetohydrodynamic force and buoyancy on convective heat and mass transfer flow past a moving vertical porous plate in the presence of thermal radiation and chemical reaction. The governing partial differential equations are reduced to a system of self-similar equations using the similarity transformations. The resultant equations are then solved numerically using the fourth order Runge-Kutta method along with the shooting technique. The results are obtained for the velocity, temperature, concentration, skin-friction, Nusselt number and Sherwood number. The effects of various parameters on flow variables are illustrated graphically, and the physical aspects of the problem are discussed.

The unsteady laminar boundary layer characteristics of mixed convection flow past a vertical wedge have been investigated numerically. The free-stream velocity and surface temperature are assumed to be oscillating in the magnitude but not in the direction of the oncoming flow velocity. The governing equations have been solved by two distinct methods, namely, the straightforward finite difference method for the entire frequency range, and the extended series solution for low frequency range and the asymptotic series expansion method for high frequency range. The results demonstrate the effects of the Richardson number, Ri, introduced to quantify the influence of mixed convection and the Prandtl number, Pr, on the amplitudes and phase angles of the skin friction and heat transfer. In addition, the effects of these parameters are examined in terms of the transient skin friction and heat transfer.

An investigation of unsteady hydromagnetic free convection flow of a viscous, incompressible and electrically conducting fluid past an impulsively moving vertical plate with Newtonian surface heating embedded in a porous medium taking into account the effects of Hall current is carried out. The governing partial differential equations are first subjected to the Laplace transformation and then inverted numerically using INVLAP routine of Matlab. The governing partial differential equations are also solved numerically by the Crank-Nicolson implicit finite difference scheme and a comparison has been provided between the two solutions. The numerical solutions for velocity and temperature are plotted graphically whereas the numerical results of skin friction and the Nusselt number are presented in tabular form for various parameters of interest. The present solution in special case is compared with a previously obtained solution and is found to be in excellent agreement.

In this study an eigen value approach has been employed to examine the mechanical force applied along with a transverse magnetic field in a two dimensional generalized magneto micropolar thermoelastic infinite space. Results have been obtained by treating rotational velocity to be invariant. Integral transforms have been applied to solve the system of partial differential equations. Components of displacement, normal stress, tangential couple stress, temperature distribution, electric field and magnetic field have been obtained in the transformed domain. Finally numerical inversion technique has been used to invert the result in the physical domain. Graphical analysis has been done to described the study.

The instability of the plane interface between two uniform, superposed and streaming Rivlin-Ericksen elastico-viscous fluids through porous media, including the ‘effective interfacial tension’ effect, is considered. In the absence of the ‘effective interfacial tension’ stability/instability of the system as well as perturbations transverse to the direction of streaming are found to be unaffected by the presence of streaming if perturbations in the direction of streaming are ignored, whereas for perturbation in all other directions, there exists instability for a certain wave number range. The ‘effective interfacial tension’ is able to suppress this Kelvin-Helmholtz instability for small wavelength perturbations, the medium porosity reduces the stability range given in terms of a difference in streaming velocities.

The following research focuses on the dynamic analysis of impact of the high-speed train induced vibrations on the structures located near railway tracks. The office complex chosen as the subject of calculations is located in the northern part of Poland, in Gdańsk, in the proximity of Pendolino, the high speed train route. The high speed trains are the response for the growing needs for a more efficient railway system. However, with a higher speed of the train, the railway induced vibrations might cause more harmful resonance in the structures of the nearby buildings. The damage severity depends on many factors such as the duration of said resonance and the presence of additional loads. The studies and analyses helped to determinate the method of evaluating the impact of railway induced vibrations on any building structure. The dynamic analysis presented in the research is an example of a method which allows an effective calculation of the impact of vibrations via SOFISTIK program.