Search

Extracting information about the shape or size of non-spherical aerosol particles from limited optical radar data is a well-known inverse ill-posed problem. The purpose of the study is to figure out a robust and stable regularization method including an appropriate parameter choice rule to address the latter problem. First, we briefly review common regularization methods and investigate a new iterative family of generalized Runge–Kutta filter regularizers. Next, we model a spheroidal particle ensemble and test with it different regularization methods experimenting with artificial data pertaining to several atmospheric scenarios. We found that one method of the newly introduced generalized family combined with the L-curve method performs better compared to traditional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Enhancement of settling velocity is observed for both oblate and prolate tracer spheroids in downward and upward flow. • Slip velocity originating from preferential orientation accounts for the major enhancement of settling velocity. • Particles' preferential sampling of high or low speed flow regions is the result of clustering and influences settling velocity. • Wall-normal distribution of particle is dominated by wall-normal slip velocity. Transport of particles in the wall-normal direction reaches a stable state when the velocity due to sampling and the slip velocity balance each other. The motion of particles settling in turbulence is an intriguing problem, which is relevant to an in-depth understanding of planktons in marine flows or the design of photobioreactors. This work studies the motion, orientation and distribution of inertia-less spheroidal particles settling in vertical channel flows by direct numerical simulations. We show that, compared to spherical tracers, the settling velocity of spheroidal tracers is enhanced due to preferential orientation and local clustering (not due to particle inertia, in the present case). Prolate spheroids tend to align their symmetry axes in the direction of gravity while oblate ones align perpendicular to it. Both kinds of particles attain a larger slip velocity in the direction of gravity and, therefore, settle faster. We also show that particles sample preferentially regions of high fluid velocity in downward flow and regions of low fluid velocity in upward flow. Such preferential sampling, which also contributes to the enhancement of settling, is the result of clustering. Besides, tracer particles are observed to accumulate in the channel center in downward flow and near the wall in upward flow: We show that tracer transport in the wall-normal direction is controlled by the particle-to-fluid slip velocity and by clustering. The slip velocity dominates the transport initially, but tracers increasingly cluster in regions with opposite flow direction as they accumulate either in the channel center or near the wall. Clustering appears to be associate with the coherent structures that characterize wall turbulence, and tracer distribution in the wall-normal direction is found to reach a steady state when the two qualitatively different mechanisms balance each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of this paper is to study the design of isotropic composites reinforced by aligned spheroidal particles made of a transversely isotropic material. The problem is investigated analytically using the framework of mean-field homogenization. Conditions of macroscopic isotropy of particle-reinforced composites are derived for the dilute and Mori–Tanaka's schemes. This leads to a system of three nonlinear equations linking seven material constants and two geometrical constants. A design tool is finally proposed, which permits to determine admissible particles achieving macroscopic isotropy for a given isotropic matrix behavior and a given particle aspect ratio. Correlations between transverse and longitudinal moduli of admissible particles are studied for various particle shapes. Finally, the design of particles is investigated for aluminum and steel matrix composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light scattering by optically soft particles is being theoretically investigated in many radiative studies. An interest is growing up to develop approximate methods when the resolution of Maxwell's equations is impractical due to time and/or memory size problems with objects of complex geometries. The participation of experimental studies is important to assess novel approximations when no reference solution is available. The microwave analogy represents an efficient solution to perform such electromagnetic measurements in controlled conditions. In this paper, we take advantage of the particular features of our microwave device to present an extensive experimental study on the electromagnetic scattering by spheroidal particles analogs with low refractive indices, as a first step toward the assessment of micro-organisms with low refractive index and heterogeneities. The spheroidal analogs are machined from a low density material and they mimic soft particles of interest to the light scattering community. The measurements are confronted to simulations obtained with Finite Element Method and T-Matrix method. A good agreement is obtained even with refractive index as low as 1.13. Scattered signals of low intensities are correctly measured and the position of the targets is precisely controlled. The forward scattering measurements show high sensitivity to noise and require careful extraction. The configuration of the measurement device reveals different technical requirements between forward and backward scattering directions. The results open interesting perspectives about novel measurement procedures as well as about the use of high prototyping technologies to manufacture analogs of precise refractive indices and shapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymptotic expressions for the electrostatic interaction energy between two weakly charged spheroidal particles (prolate and oblate) with uniform surface potential or surface charge density at large separations in an electrolyte solution are derived on the basis of the linear superposition approximation. The electrostatic interaction between two spheroids is found to be the screened Coulomb interaction between two hypothetical point particles with orientation-dependent charges. Explicit interaction energy equations, which are expressed in terms of spheroidal wave functions, are given for four particular configurations of two similar spheroids, that is, side-to-side prolates, end-to-end prolates, side-to-side oblates, and end-to-end oblates. Comparison is also made with results obtained using Derjaguin's approximation. Electrostatic interaction between two spheroids [Display omitted] • Asymptotic expressions for the electrostatic interaction energy between two spheroidal particles are derived. • Constant surface potential and charge density cases are considered. • Side-to-side prolates, end-to-end prolates, side-to-side oblates, and end-to-end oblates are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]