Physics

Using a dipole interaction model, we derive generalized sheet transition conditions (GSTCs) for electromagnetic fields at the surface of a metascreen consisting of an array of arbitrarily shaped apertures in a perfectly conducting screen of zero thickness. Use of the GSTCs permits modeling of structures containing perforated surfaces much more rapidly than is possible with full-wave numerical simulations. These conditions require that the period of the array be smaller than about a third of a wavelength in the surrounding media, and generalize many results previously presented in the literature. They are validated by comparison with results of finite-element modeling, and show excellent agreement when conditions of their derivation are satisfied.

We propose two models of the Boltzmann equation (BGK and Fokker-Planck models) for rarefied flows of diatomic gases in vibrational non-equilibrium. These models take into account the discrete repartition of vibration energy modes, which is required for high temperature flows, like for atmospheric re-entry problems. We prove that these models satisfy conservation and entropy properties (H-theorem), and we derive their corresponding compressible Navier-Stokes asymptotics.

The Lagrange formalism is developed for Bateman oscillators, which include both damped and amplified systems, and a novel method to derive the Caldirola-Kanai and null Lagrangians is presented. For the null Lagrangians, corresponding gauge functions are obtained. It is shown that the gauge functions can be used to convert the undriven Bateman oscillators into the driven ones. Applications of the obtained results to quantizatation of the Bateman oscillators are briefly discussed.

The paper describes the beamforming procedures in an acoustic waveguide based on representing the field on the antenna as a superposition of several stable components formed by narrow beams of rays [A.L. Virovlyansky, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 141 , 1180-1189 (2017)]. A modification of the matched field processing method is proposed, based on the transition from comparing the measured and calculated fields on the antenna to comparing their stable components. The modified approach becomes less sensitive to the inevitable inaccuracies of the environmental model. In the case of a pulsed source, the stable components carry signals whose arrival times can be taken as input parameters in solving the inverse problems. The use of the stable components as the initial fields on the aperture of the emitting antenna makes it possible to excite narrow continuous wave beams propagating along given ray paths.

In this paper, we show that bending of spaghetti beams and columns exposed to hot steam reveals the time evolution of young modulus, the diffusion coefficient of water molecules penetrating the spaghetti, the partial Fickian behavior of water diffusion, and a logistic-like evolution of column bending angle. The bending geometries were timely recorded and the Young moduli were obtained by processing the images. We applied two equations proposed by us previously, one equation was applied for beam bending and the other for column bending, to estimate the Young moduli. The experiment was conducted by exposing the freely-hung cantilever spaghetti beams and columns using hot steam from boiling water so that the images were recorded in realtime while the beam or column bent undisturbedly. Surprisingly, the estimated diffusion coefficient of water molecules matched well the experimental data reported by others. This method may become an alternative for estimating the diffusion coefficient of vapor molecules penetrating the materials.

Lubricated sliding contact between soft solids is an interesting topic in biomechanics and for the design of small-scale engineering devices. As a model of this mechanical set-up, two elastic nonlinear solids are considered jointed through a frictionless and bilateral surface, so that continuity of the normal component of the Cauchy traction holds across the surface, but the tangential component is null. Moreover, the displacement can develop only in a way that the bodies in contact do neither detach, nor overlap. Surprisingly, this finite strain problem has not been correctly formulated until now, so that this formulation is the objective of the present paper. The incremental equations are shown to be non-trivial and different from previously (and erroneously) employed conditions. In particular, an exclusion condition for bifurcation is derived to show that previous formulations based on frictionless contact or 'spring-type' interfacial conditions are not able to predict bifurcations in tension, while experiments -- one of which, ad hoc designed, is reported -- show that these bifurcations are a reality and become possible when the correct sliding interface model is used. The presented results introduce a methodology for the determination of bifurcations and instabilities occurring during lubricated sliding between soft bodies in contact.

Diffraction of elastic waves is considered for a system consisting of two parallel arrays of thin (subwavelength) cylinders that are arranged periodically. The embedding media supports waves with all polarizations, one longitudinal and two transverse, having different dispersion relations. An interaction with scatters mixes longitudinal and one of the transverse modes. It is shown that the system supports bound states in the continuum (BSC) that have no specific polarization, that is, there are standing waves localized in the scattering structure whose wave numbers lies in the first open diffraction channels for both longitudinal and transverse modes. BSCs are shown to exists only for specific distances between the arrays and for specific values of the wave vector component along the array. An analytic solution is obtained for such BSCs. For distances between the parallel arrays much larger than the wavelength, BSCs is proved to exist due to destructive interference of the far field resonance radiation, similar to the interference in a Fabry-Perot interferometer, that can occur simultaneously for both propagating modes.

This work is concerned with the purely dissipative version of a well-established model of rate-independent strain-gradient plasticity. In the conventional theory of plasticity the approach to determining plastic flow is local, and based on the stress distribution in the body. For the dissipative problem of strain-gradient plasticity such an approach is not valid as the yield function depends on microstresses that are not known in the elastic region. Instead, yield and plastic flow must be considered at the global level. This work addresses the problem of determining the elastic threshold by formulating primal and dual versions of the global problem and, motivated by techniques used in limit analysis for perfect plasticity, establishing conditions for lower and upper bounds to the threshold. The general approach is applied to two examples: of a plate under plane stress, and subjected to a prescribed displacement; and of a bar subjected to torsion.

We employ Dirac's bra-ket notation to define the inertia tensor operator that is independent of the choice of bases or coordinate system. The principal axes and the corresponding principal values for the elliptic plate are determined only based on the geometry. By making use of a general symmetric tensor operator, we develop a method of diagonalization that is convenient and intuitive in determining the eigenvector. We demonstrate that the bra-ket approach greatly simplifies the computation of the inertia tensor with an example of an N -dimensional ellipsoid. The exploitation of the bra-ket notation to compute the inertia tensor in classical mechanics should provide undergraduate students with a strong background necessary to deal with abstract quantum mechanical problems.

We recently introduced a new family of processes which describe particles which only can move at the speed of light c in the ordinary 3D physical space. The velocity, which randomly changes direction, can be represented as a point on the surface of a sphere of radius c and its trajectories only may connect the points of this variety. A process can be constructed both by considering jumps from one point to another (velocity changes discontinuously) and by continuous velocity trajectories on the surface. We followed this second new strategy assuming that the velocity is described by a Wiener process (which is isotropic only in the 'rest frame') on the surface of the sphere. Using both Ito calculus and Lorentz boost rules, we succeed here in characterizing the entire Lorentz-invariant family of processes. Moreover, we highlight and describe the short-term ballistic behavior versus the long-term diffusive behavior of the particles in the 3D physical space.