Discrete Element Simulation of Elastoplastic Shock Wave Propagation in Spherical Particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Shoaib

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Elastoplastic shock wave propagation in a one-dimensional assembly of spherical metal particles is presented by extending well-established quasistatic compaction models. The compaction process is modeled by a discrete element method while using elastic and plastic loading, elastic unloading, and adhesion at contacts with typical dynamic loading parameters. Of particular interest is to study the development of the elastoplastic shock wave, its propagation, and reflection during entire loading process. Simulation results yield information on contact behavior, velocity, and deformation of particles during dynamic loading. Effects of shock wave propagation on loading parameters are also discussed. The elastoplastic shock propagation in granular material has many practical applications including the high-velocity compaction of particulate material.

Particle-in-cell Simulations with Kinetic Electrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewandowski, J.L.V.

2004-01-01

A new scheme, based on an exact separation between adiabatic and nonadiabatic electron responses, for particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of drift-type modes is presented. The (linear and nonlinear) elliptic equations for the scalar fields are solved using a multi-grid solver. The new scheme yields linear growth rates in excellent agreement with theory and it is shown to conserve energy well into the nonlinear regime. It is also demonstrated that simulations with few electrons are reliable and accurate, suggesting that large-scale, PIC simulations with electron dynamics in toroidal geometry (e.g., tokamaks and stellarators plasmas) are within reach of present-day massively parallel supercomputers

A fast sorting algorithm for a hypersonic rarefied flow particle simulation on the connection machine

Science.gov (United States)

Dagum, Leonardo

1989-01-01

The data parallel implementation of a particle simulation for hypersonic rarefied flow described by Dagum associates a single parallel data element with each particle in the simulation. The simulated space is divided into discrete regions called cells containing a variable and constantly changing number of particles. The implementation requires a global sort of the parallel data elements so as to arrange them in an order that allows immediate access to the information associated with cells in the simulation. Described here is a very fast algorithm for performing the necessary ranking of the parallel data elements. The performance of the new algorithm is compared with that of the microcoded instruction for ranking on the Connection Machine.

Monte Carlo particle simulation and finite-element techniques for tandem mirror transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rognlien, T.D.; Cohen, B.I.; Matsuda, Y.; Stewart, J.J. Jr.

1987-01-01

A description is given of numerical methods used in the study of axial transport in tandem mirrors owing to Coulomb collisions and rf diffusion. The methods are Monte Carlo particle simulations and direct solution to the Fokker-Planck equations by finite-element expansion. (author)

Monte Carlo particle simulation and finite-element techniques for tandem mirror transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rognlien, T.D.; Cohen, B.I.; Matsuda, Y.; Stewart, J.J. Jr.

1985-12-01

A description is given of numerical methods used in the study of axial transport in tandem mirrors owing to Coulomb collisions and rf diffusion. The methods are Monte Carlo particle simulations and direct solution to the Fokker-Planck equations by finite-element expansion. 11 refs

Optimization of Particle Search Algorithm for CFD-DEM Simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Baryshev

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Discrete element method has numerous applications in particle physics. However, simulating particles as discrete entities can become costly for large systems. In time-driven DEM simulation most computation time is taken by contact search stage. We propose an efficient collision detection method which is based on sorting particles by their coordinates. Using multiple sorting criteria allows minimizing number of potential neighbours and defines fitness of this approach for simulation of massive systems in 3D. This method is compared to a common approach that consists of placing particles onto a grid of cells. Advantage of the new approach is independence of simulation parameters upon particle radius and domain size.

Parallel treatment of simulation particles in particle-in-cell codes on SUPRENUM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seldner, D.

1990-02-01

This report contains the program documentation and description of the program package 2D-PLAS, which has been developed at the Nuclear Research Center Karlsruhe in the Institute for Data Processing in Technology (IDT) under the auspices of the BMFT. 2D-PLAS is a parallel program version of the treatment of the simulation particles of the two-dimensional stationary particle-in-cell code BFCPIC which has been developed at the Nuclear Research Center Karlsruhe. This parallel version has been designed for the parallel computer SUPRENUM. (orig.) [de

Implementing particle-in-cell plasma simulation code on the BBN TC2000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sturtevant, J.E.; Maccabe, A.B.

1990-01-01

The BBN TC2000 is a multiple instruction, multiple data (MIMD) machine that combines a physically distributed memory with a logically shared memory programming environment using the unique Butterfly switch. Particle-In-Cell (PIC) plasma simulations model the interaction of charged particles with electric and magnetic fields. This paper describes the implementation of both a 1-D electrostatic and a 2 1/2-D electromagnetic PIC (particle-in-cell) plasma simulation code on a BBN TC2000. Performance is compared to implementations of the same code on the shared memory Sequent Balance and distributed memory Intel iPSC hypercube

Electromagnetic ''particle-in-cell'' plasma simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langdon, A.B.

1985-01-01

''PIC'' simulation tracks particles through electromagnetic fields calculated self-consistently from the charge and current densities of the particles themselves, external sources, and boundaries. Already used extensively in plasma physics, such simulations have become useful in the design of accelerators and their r.f. sources. 5 refs

Optimized Loading for Particle-in-cell Gyrokinetic Simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewandowski, J.L.V.

2004-01-01

The problem of particle loading in particle-in-cell gyrokinetic simulations is addressed using a quadratic optimization algorithm. Optimized loading in configuration space dramatically reduces the short wavelength modes in the electrostatic potential that are partly responsible for the non-conservation of total energy; further, the long wavelength modes are resolved with good accuracy. As a result, the conservation of energy for the optimized loading is much better that the conservation of energy for the random loading. The method is valid for any geometry and can be coupled to optimization algorithms in velocity space

Two-way coupling of magnetohydrodynamic simulations with embedded particle-in-cell simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Makwana, K. D.; Keppens, R.; Lapenta, G.

2017-12-01

We describe a method for coupling an embedded domain in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation with a particle-in-cell (PIC) method. In this two-way coupling we follow the work of Daldorff et al. (2014) [19] in which the PIC domain receives its initial and boundary conditions from MHD variables (MHD to PIC coupling) while the MHD simulation is updated based on the PIC variables (PIC to MHD coupling). This method can be useful for simulating large plasma systems, where kinetic effects captured by particle-in-cell simulations are localized but affect global dynamics. We describe the numerical implementation of this coupling, its time-stepping algorithm, and its parallelization strategy, emphasizing the novel aspects of it. We test the stability and energy/momentum conservation of this method by simulating a steady-state plasma. We test the dynamics of this coupling by propagating plasma waves through the embedded PIC domain. Coupling with MHD shows satisfactory results for the fast magnetosonic wave, but significant distortion for the circularly polarized Alfvén wave. Coupling with Hall-MHD shows excellent coupling for the whistler wave. We also apply this methodology to simulate a Geospace Environmental Modeling (GEM) challenge type of reconnection with the diffusion region simulated by PIC coupled to larger scales with MHD and Hall-MHD. In both these cases we see the expected signatures of kinetic reconnection in the PIC domain, implying that this method can be used for reconnection studies.

Modeling Fragment Simulating Projectile Penetration into Steel Plates Using Finite Elements and Meshfree Particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James O’Daniel

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Simulating fragment penetration into steel involves complicated modeling of severe behavior of the materials through multiple phases of response. Penetration of a fragment-like projectile was simulated using finite element (FE and meshfree particle formulations. Extreme deformation and failure of the material during the penetration event were modeled with several approaches to evaluate each as to how well it represents the actual physics of the material and structural response. A steel Fragment Simulating Projectile (FSP – designed to simulate a fragment of metal from a weapon casing – was simulated for normal impact into a flat square plate. A range of impact velocities was used to examine levels of exit velocity ranging from relatively small to one on the same level as the impact velocity. The numerical code EPIC, used for all the simulations presented herein, contains the element and particle formulations, as well as the explicit methodology and constitutive models needed to perform these simulations. These simulations were compared against experimental data, evaluating the damage caused to the projectile and the target plates, as well as comparing the residual velocity when the projectile perforated the target.

Particle-in-cell simulations of plasma accelerators and electron-neutral collisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David L. Bruhwiler

2001-10-01

Full Text Available We present 2D simulations of both beam-driven and laser-driven plasma wakefield accelerators, using the object-oriented particle-in-cell code XOOPIC, which is time explicit, fully electromagnetic, and capable of running on massively parallel supercomputers. Simulations of laser-driven wakefields with low \\(∼10^{16} W/cm^{2}\\ and high \\(∼10^{18} W/cm^{2}\\ peak intensity laser pulses are conducted in slab geometry, showing agreement with theory and fluid simulations. Simulations of the E-157 beam wakefield experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, in which a 30 GeV electron beam passes through 1 m of preionized lithium plasma, are conducted in cylindrical geometry, obtaining good agreement with previous work. We briefly describe some of the more significant modifications to XOOPIC required by this work, and summarize the issues relevant to modeling relativistic electron-neutral collisions in a particle-in-cell code.

Ef: Software for Nonrelativistic Beam Simulation by Particle-in-Cell Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Boytsov, A. Yu.; Bulychev, A. A.

2018-04-01

Understanding of particle dynamics is crucial in construction of electron guns, ion sources and other types of nonrelativistic beam devices. Apart from external guiding and focusing systems, a prominent role in evolution of such low-energy beams is played by particle-particle interaction. Numerical simulations taking into account these effects are typically accomplished by a well-known particle-in-cell method. In practice, for convenient work a simulation program should not only implement this method, but also support parallelization, provide integration with CAD systems and allow access to details of the simulation algorithm. To address the formulated requirements, development of a new open source code - Ef - has been started. It's current features and main functionality are presented. Comparison with several analytical models demonstrates good agreement between the numerical results and the theory. Further development plans are discussed.

Ef: Software for Nonrelativistic Beam Simulation by Particle-in-Cell Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boytsov A. Yu.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Understanding of particle dynamics is crucial in construction of electron guns, ion sources and other types of nonrelativistic beam devices. Apart from external guiding and focusing systems, a prominent role in evolution of such low-energy beams is played by particle-particle interaction. Numerical simulations taking into account these effects are typically accomplished by a well-known particle-in-cell method. In practice, for convenient work a simulation program should not only implement this method, but also support parallelization, provide integration with CAD systems and allow access to details of the simulation algorithm. To address the formulated requirements, development of a new open source code - Ef - has been started. It's current features and main functionality are presented. Comparison with several analytical models demonstrates good agreement between the numerical results and the theory. Further development plans are discussed.

Particle-in-cell simulations on spontaneous thermal magnetic field fluctuations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simões, F. J. R. Jr.; Pavan, J. [Instituto de Física e Matemática, UFPel, Pelotas, RS (Brazil); Gaelzer, R.; Ziebell, L. F. [Instituto de Física, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Yoon, P. H. [Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States)

2013-10-15

In this paper an electromagnetic particle code is used to investigate the spontaneous thermal emission. Specifically we perform particle-in-cell simulations employing a non-relativistic isotropic Maxwellian particle distribution to show that thermal fluctuations are related to the origin of spontaneous magnetic field fluctuation. These thermal fluctuations can become seed for further amplification mechanisms and thus be considered at the origin of the cosmological magnetic field, at microgauss levels. Our numerical results are in accordance with theoretical results presented in the literature.

Particle-in-Cell laser-plasma simulation on Xeon Phi coprocessors

Science.gov (United States)

Surmin, I. A.; Bastrakov, S. I.; Efimenko, E. S.; Gonoskov, A. A.; Korzhimanov, A. V.; Meyerov, I. B.

2016-05-01

This paper concerns the development of a high-performance implementation of the Particle-in-Cell method for plasma simulation on Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors. We discuss the suitability of the method for Xeon Phi architecture and present our experience in the porting and optimization of the existing parallel Particle-in-Cell code PICADOR. Direct porting without code modification gives performance on Xeon Phi close to that of an 8-core CPU on a benchmark problem with 50 particles per cell. We demonstrate step-by-step optimization techniques, such as improving data locality, enhancing parallelization efficiency and vectorization leading to an overall 4.2 × speedup on CPU and 7.5 × on Xeon Phi compared to the baseline version. The optimized version achieves 16.9 ns per particle update on an Intel Xeon E5-2660 CPU and 9.3 ns per particle update on an Intel Xeon Phi 5110P. For a real problem of laser ion acceleration in targets with surface grating, where a large number of macroparticles per cell is required, the speedup of Xeon Phi compared to CPU is 1.6 ×.

Object-Oriented Parallel Particle-in-Cell Code for Beam Dynamics Simulation in Linear Accelerators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiang, J.; Ryne, R.D.; Habib, S.; Decky, V.

1999-01-01

In this paper, we present an object-oriented three-dimensional parallel particle-in-cell code for beam dynamics simulation in linear accelerators. A two-dimensional parallel domain decomposition approach is employed within a message passing programming paradigm along with a dynamic load balancing. Implementing object-oriented software design provides the code with better maintainability, reusability, and extensibility compared with conventional structure based code. This also helps to encapsulate the details of communications syntax. Performance tests on SGI/Cray T3E-900 and SGI Origin 2000 machines show good scalability of the object-oriented code. Some important features of this code also include employing symplectic integration with linear maps of external focusing elements and using z as the independent variable, typical in accelerators. A successful application was done to simulate beam transport through three superconducting sections in the APT linac design

Load management strategy for Particle-In-Cell simulations in high energy particle acceleration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beck, A., E-mail: beck@llr.in2p3.fr [Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, École polytechnique, CNRS-IN2P3, Palaiseau 91128 (France); Frederiksen, J.T. [Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 København Ø (Denmark); Dérouillat, J. [CEA, Maison de La Simulation, 91400 Saclay (France)

2016-09-01

In the wake of the intense effort made for the experimental CILEX project, numerical simulation campaigns have been carried out in order to finalize the design of the facility and to identify optimal laser and plasma parameters. These simulations bring, of course, important insight into the fundamental physics at play. As a by-product, they also characterize the quality of our theoretical and numerical models. In this paper, we compare the results given by different codes and point out algorithmic limitations both in terms of physical accuracy and computational performances. These limitations are illustrated in the context of electron laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). The main limitation we identify in state-of-the-art Particle-In-Cell (PIC) codes is computational load imbalance. We propose an innovative algorithm to deal with this specific issue as well as milestones towards a modern, accurate high-performance PIC code for high energy particle acceleration.

GPU accelerated Discrete Element Method (DEM) molecular dynamics for conservative, faceted particle simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spellings, Matthew [Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Marson, Ryan L. [Materials Science & Engineering, University of Michigan, 2300 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Anderson, Joshua A. [Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Glotzer, Sharon C., E-mail: sglotzer@umich.edu [Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Materials Science & Engineering, University of Michigan, 2300 Hayward St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)

2017-04-01

Faceted shapes, such as polyhedra, are commonly found in systems of nanoscale, colloidal, and granular particles. Many interesting physical phenomena, like crystal nucleation and growth, vacancy motion, and glassy dynamics are challenging to model in these systems because they require detailed dynamical information at the individual particle level. Within the granular materials community the Discrete Element Method has been used extensively to model systems of anisotropic particles under gravity, with friction. We provide an implementation of this method intended for simulation of hard, faceted nanoparticles, with a conservative Weeks–Chandler–Andersen (WCA) interparticle potential, coupled to a thermodynamic ensemble. This method is a natural extension of classical molecular dynamics and enables rigorous thermodynamic calculations for faceted particles.

Development of Modeling and Simulation for Magnetic Particle Inspection Using Finite Elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jun-Youl [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

2003-01-01

Magnetic particle inspection (MPI) is a widely used nondestructive inspection method for aerospace applications essentially limited to experiment-based approaches. The analysis of MPI characteristics that affect sensitivity and reliability contributes not only reductions in inspection design cost and time but also improvement of analysis of experimental data. Magnetic particles are easily attracted toward a high magnetic field gradient. Selection of a magnetic field source, which produces a magnetic field gradient large enough to detect a defect in a test sample or component, is an important factor in magnetic particle inspection. In this work a finite element method (FEM) has been employed for numerical calculation of the MPI simulation technique. The FEM method is known to be suitable for complicated geometries such as defects in samples. This thesis describes the research that is aimed at providing a quantitative scientific basis for magnetic particle inspection. A new FEM solver for MPI simulation has been developed in this research for not only nonlinear reversible permeability materials but also irreversible hysteresis materials that are described by the Jiles-Atherton model. The material is assumed to have isotropic ferromagnetic properties in this research (i.e., the magnetic properties of the material are identical in all directions in a single crystal). In the research, with a direct current field mode, an MPI situation has been simulated to measure the estimated volume of magnetic particles around defect sites before and after removing any external current fields. Currently, this new MPI simulation package is limited to solving problems with the single current source from either a solenoid or an axial directional current rod.

Output power fluctuations due to different weights of macro particles used in particle-in-cell simulations of Cerenkov devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bao, Rong; Li, Yongdong; Liu, Chunliang; Wang, Hongguang

2016-01-01

The output power fluctuations caused by weights of macro particles used in particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of a backward wave oscillator and a travelling wave tube are statistically analyzed. It is found that the velocities of electrons passed a specific slow-wave structure form a specific electron velocity distribution. The electron velocity distribution obtained in PIC simulation with a relative small weight of macro particles is considered as an initial distribution. By analyzing this initial distribution with a statistical method, the estimations of the output power fluctuations caused by different weights of macro particles are obtained. The statistical method is verified by comparing the estimations with the simulation results. The fluctuations become stronger with increasing weight of macro particles, which can also be determined reversely from estimations of the output power fluctuations. With the weights of macro particles optimized by the statistical method, the output power fluctuations in PIC simulations are relatively small and acceptable.

Understanding the discrete element method simulation of non-spherical particles for granular and multi-body systems

CERN Document Server

Matuttis, Hans-Georg

2014-01-01

Gives readers a more thorough understanding of DEM and equips researchers for independent work and an ability to judge methods related to simulation of polygonal particles Introduces DEM from the fundamental concepts (theoretical mechanics and solidstate physics), with 2D and 3D simulation methods for polygonal particlesProvides the fundamentals of coding discrete element method (DEM) requiring little advance knowledge of granular matter or numerical simulationHighlights the numerical tricks and pitfalls that are usually only realized after years of experience, with relevant simple experiment

The effects of particle recycling on the divertor plasma: A particle-in-cell with Monte Carlo collision simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Mingyu; Sang, Chaofeng; Sun, Zhenyue; Hu, Wanpeng; Wang, Dezhen

2018-05-01

A Particle-In-Cell (PIC) with Monte Carlo Collision (MCC) model is applied to study the effects of particle recycling on divertor plasma in the present work. The simulation domain is the scrape-off layer of the tokamak in one-dimension along the magnetic field line. At the divertor plate, the reflected deuterium atoms (D) and thermally released deuterium molecules (D2) are considered. The collisions between the plasma particles (e and D+) and recycled neutral particles (D and D2) are described by the MCC method. It is found that the recycled neutral particles have a great impact on divertor plasma. The effects of different collisions on the plasma are simulated and discussed. Moreover, the impacts of target materials on the plasma are simulated by comparing the divertor with Carbon (C) and Tungsten (W) targets. The simulation results show that the energy and momentum losses of the C target are larger than those of the W target in the divertor region even without considering the impurity particles, whereas the W target has a more remarkable influence on the core plasma.

Progress of laser-plasma interaction simulations with the particle-in-cell code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakagami, Hitoshi; Kishimoto, Yasuaki; Sentoku, Yasuhiko; Taguchi, Toshihiro

2005-01-01

As the laser-plasma interaction is a non-equilibrium, non-linear and relativistic phenomenon, we must introduce a microscopic method, namely, the relativistic electromagnetic PIC (Particle-In-Cell) simulation code. The PIC code requires a huge number of particles to validate simulation results, and its task is very computation-intensive. Thus simulation researches by the PIC code have been progressing along with advances in computer technology. Recently, parallel computers with tremendous computational power have become available, and thus we can perform three-dimensional PIC simulations for the laser-plasma interaction to investigate laser fusion. Some simulation results are shown with figures. We discuss a recent trend of large-scale PIC simulations that enable direct comparison between experimental facts and computational results. We also discharge/lightning simulations by the extended PIC code, which include various atomic and relaxation processes. (author)

On Using Particle Finite Element for Hydrodynamics Problems Solving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Davidova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present research is to develop software for the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM and its verification on the model problem of viscous incompressible flow simulation in a square cavity. The Lagrangian description of the medium motion is used: the nodes of the finite element mesh move together with the fluid that allows to consider them as particles of the medium. Mesh cells deform when in time-stepping procedure, so it is necessary to reconstruct the mesh to provide stability of the finite element numerical procedure.Meshing algorithm allows us to obtain the mesh, which satisfies the Delaunay criteria: it is called \\the possible triangles method". This algorithm is based on the well-known Fortune method of Voronoi diagram constructing for a certain set of points in the plane. The graphical representation of the possible triangles method is shown. It is suitable to use generalization of Delaunay triangulation in order to construct meshes with polygonal cells in case of multiple nodes close to be lying on the same circle.The viscous incompressible fluid flow is described by the Navier | Stokes equations and the mass conservation equation with certain initial and boundary conditions. A fractional steps method, which allows us to avoid non-physical oscillations of the pressure, provides the timestepping procedure. Using the finite element discretization and the Bubnov | Galerkin method allows us to carry out spatial discretization.For form functions calculation of finite element mesh with polygonal cells, \

Spheronization process particle kinematics determined by discrete element simulations and particle image velocimentry measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Koester, Martin; García, R Edwin; Thommes, Markus

2014-12-30

Spheronization is an important pharmaceutical manufacturing technique to produce spherical agglomerates of 0.5-2mm diameter. These pellets have a narrow size distribution and a spherical shape. During the spheronization process, the extruded cylindrical strands break in short cylinders and evolve from a cylindrical to a spherical state by deformation and attrition/agglomeration mechanisms. Using the discrete element method, an integrated modeling-experimental framework is presented, that captures the particle motion during the spheronization process. Simulations were directly compared and validated against particle image velocimetry (PIV) experiments with monodisperse spherical and dry γ-Al2O3 particles. demonstrate a characteristic torus like flow pattern, with particle velocities about three times slower than the rotation speed of the friction plate. Five characteristic zones controlling the spheronization process are identified: Zone I, where particles undergo shear forces that favors attrition and contributes material to the agglomeration process; Zone II, where the static wall contributes to the mass exchange between particles; Zone III, where gravitational forces combined with particle motion induce particles to collide with the moving plate and re-enter Zone I; Zone IV, where a subpopulation of particles are ejected into the air when in contact with the friction plate structure; and Zone V where the low poloidal velocity favors a stagnant particle population and is entirely controlled by the batch size. These new insights in to the particle motion are leading to deeper process understanding, e.g., the effect of load and rotation speed to the pellet formation kinetics. This could be beneficial for the optimization of a manufacturing process as well as for the development of new formulations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cell-element simulations to optimize the performance of osmotic processes in porous membranes

KAUST Repository

Calo, Victor M.

2018-05-11

We present a new module of the software tool PoreChem for 3D simulations of osmotic processes at the cell-element scale. We consider the most general fully coupled model (see e.g., Sagiv and Semiat (2011)) in 3D to evaluate the impact on the membrane performance of both internal and external concentration polarization, which occurs in a cell-element for different operational conditions. The model consists of the Navier–Stokes–Brinkman system to describe the free fluid flow and the flow within the membrane with selective and support layers, a convection–diffusion equation to describe the solute transport, and nonlinear interface conditions to fully couple these equations. First, we briefly describe the mathematical model and discuss the discretization of the continuous model, the iterative solution, and the software implementation. Then, we present the analytical and numerical validation of the simulation tool. Next, we perform and discuss numerical simulations for a case study. The case study concerns the design of a cell element for the forward osmosis experiments. Using the developed software tool we qualitatively and quantitatively investigate the performance of a cell element that we designed for laboratory experiments of forward osmosis, and discuss the differences between the numerical solutions obtained with the full 3D and reduced 2D models. Finally, we demonstrate how the software enables investigating membrane heterogeneities.

Particle beam dynamics simulations using the POOMA framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humphrey, W.; Ryne, R.; Cleland, T.; Cummings, J.; Habib, S.; Mark, G.; Ji Qiang

1998-01-01

A program for simulation of the dynamics of high intensity charged particle beams in linear particle accelerators has been developed in C++ using the POOMA Framework, for use on serial and parallel architectures. The code models the trajectories of charged particles through a sequence of different accelerator beamline elements such as drift chambers, quadrupole magnets, or RF cavities. An FFT-based particle-in-cell algorithm is used to solve the Poisson equation that models the Coulomb interactions of the particles. The code employs an object-oriented design with software abstractions for the particle beam, accelerator beamline, and beamline elements, using C++ templates to efficiently support both 2D and 3D capabilities in the same code base. The POOMA Framework, which encapsulates much of the effort required for parallel execution, provides particle and field classes, particle-field interaction capabilities, and parallel FFT algorithms. The performance of this application running serially and in parallel is compared to an existing HPF implementation, with the POOMA version seen to run four times faster than the HPF code

Electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations of Applied-B proton diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slutz, S.A.; Seidel, D.B.; Coats, R.S.

1986-01-01

Fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations of Applied-B ion diodes have been performed using the magic code. These calculations indicate that Applied-B diodes can be nearly 100% efficient. Furthermore, the simulations exhibit an impedance relaxation phenomenon due to the buildup of electron space charge near the anode which causes a time-dependent enhancement of the ion emission above the Child--Langmuir value. This phenomenon may at least partially explain the rapidly decreasing impedance that has been observed in Applied-B ion diode experiments. The results of our numerical simulations will be compared to experimental data on Applied-B ion diodes and to analytic theories of their operation

Numerical simulation of a flow-like landslide using the particle finite element method

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xue; Krabbenhoft, Kristian; Sheng, Daichao; Li, Weichao

2015-01-01

In this paper, an actual landslide process that occurred in Southern China is simulated by a continuum approach, the particle finite element method (PFEM). The PFEM attempts to solve the boundary-value problems in the framework of solid mechanics, satisfying the governing equations including momentum conservation, displacement-strain relation, constitutive relation as well as the frictional contact between the sliding mass and the slip surface. To warrant the convergence behaviour of solutions, the problem is formulated as a mathematical programming problem, while the particle finite element procedure is employed to tackle the issues of mesh distortion and free-surface evolution. The whole procedure of the landslide, from initiation, sliding to deposition, is successfully reproduced by the continuum approach. It is shown that the density of the mass has little influence on the sliding process in the current landslide, whereas both the geometry and the roughness of the slip surface play important roles. Comparative studies are also conducted where a satisfactory agreement is obtained.

A general concurrent algorithm for plasma particle-in-cell simulation codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liewer, P.C.; Decyk, V.K.

1989-01-01

We have developed a new algorithm for implementing plasma particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation codes on concurrent processors with distributed memory. This algorithm, named the general concurrent PIC algorithm (GCPIC), has been used to implement an electrostatic PIC code on the 33-node JPL Mark III Hypercube parallel computer. To decompose at PIC code using the GCPIC algorithm, the physical domain of the particle simulation is divided into sub-domains, equal in number to the number of processors, such that all sub-domains have roughly equal numbers of particles. For problems with non-uniform particle densities, these sub-domains will be of unequal physical size. Each processor is assigned a sub-domain and is responsible for updating the particles in its sub-domain. This algorithm has led to a a very efficient parallel implementation of a well-benchmarked 1-dimensional PIC code. The dominant portion of the code, updating the particle positions and velocities, is nearly 100% efficient when the number of particles is increased linearly with the number of hypercube processors used so that the number of particles per processor is constant. For example, the increase in time spent updating particles in going from a problem with 11,264 particles run on 1 processor to 360,448 particles on 32 processors was only 3% (parallel efficiency of 97%). Although implemented on a hypercube concurrent computer, this algorithm should also be efficient for PIC codes on other parallel architectures and for large PIC codes on sequential computers where part of the data must reside on external disks. copyright 1989 Academic Press, Inc

Particle in cell simulation of peaking switch for breakdown evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Umbarkar, Sachin B.; Bindu, S.; Mangalvedekar, H.A.; Saxena, A.; Singh, N.M., E-mail: sachin.b.umbarkar@gmail.com [Department of Electric Engineering, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, Mumbai (India); Sharma, Archana; Saroj, P.C.; Mittal, K.C. [Accelerator Pulse Power Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India)

2014-07-01

Marx generator connected to peaking capacitor and peaking switch can generate Ultra-Wideband (UWB) radiation. A new peaking switch is designed for converting the existing nanosecond Marx generator to a UWB source. The paper explains the particle in cell (PIC) simulation for this peaking switch, using MAGIC 3D software. This peaking switch electrode is made up of copper tungsten material and is fixed inside the hermitically sealed derlin material. The switch can withstand a gas pressure up to 13.5 kg/cm{sup 2}. The lower electrode of the switch is connected to the last stage of the Marx generator. Initially Marx generator (without peaking stage) in air; gives the output pulse with peak amplitude of 113.75 kV and pulse rise time of 25 ns. Thus, we design a new peaking switch to improve the rise time of output pulse and to pressurize this peaking switch separately (i.e. Marx and peaking switch is at different pressure). The PIC simulation gives the particle charge density, current density, E counter plot, emitted electron current, and particle energy along the axis of gap between electrodes. The charge injection and electric field dependence on ionic dissociation phenomenon are briefly analyzed using this simulation. The model is simulated with different gases (N{sub 2}, H{sub 2}, and Air) under different pressure (2 kg/cm{sup 2}, 5 kg/cm{sup 2}, 10 kg/cm{sup 2}). (author)

Wavenumber spectrum of whistler turbulence: Particle-in-cell simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, S.; Gary, S. Peter; Narita, Y.

2010-01-01

The forward cascade of decaying whistler turbulence is studied in low beta plasma to understand essential properties of the energy spectrum at electron scales, by using a two-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. This simulation demonstrates turbulence in which the energy cascade rate is greater than the dissipation rate at the electron inertial length. The PIC simulation shows that the magnetic energy spectrum of forward-cascaded whistler turbulence at electron inertial scales is anisotropic and develops a very steep power-law spectrum which is consistent with recent solar wind observations. A comparison of the simulated spectrum with that predicted by a phenomenological turbulence scaling model suggests that the energy cascade at the electron inertial scale depends on both magnetic fluctuations and electron velocity fluctuations, as well as on the whistler dispersion relation. Thus, not only kinetic Alfven turbulence but also whistler turbulence may explain recent solar wind observations of very steep magnetic spectra at short scales.

Discrete element modeling of deformable particles in YADE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Haustein

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we describe the open-source discrete element framework YADE and the implementation of a new deformation engine. YADE is a highly expandable software package that allows the simulation of current industrial problems in the field of granular materials using particle-based numerical methods. The description of the compaction of powders and granular material like metal pellets is now possible with a pure and simple discrete element approach in a modern DEM-framework. The deformation is realized by expanding the radius of the spherical particles, depending on their overlap, so that the volume of the material is kept constant.

Comparison of GPU-Based Numerous Particles Simulation and Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sang Wook; Jun, Chul Woong; Sohn, Jeong Hyun; Lee, Jae Wook

2014-01-01

The dynamic behavior of numerous grains interacting with each other can be easily observed. In this study, this dynamic behavior was analyzed based on the contact between numerous grains. The discrete element method was used for analyzing the dynamic behavior of each particle and the neighboring-cell algorithm was employed for detecting their contact. The Hertzian and tangential sliding friction contact models were used for calculating the contact force acting between the particles. A GPU-based parallel program was developed for conducting the computer simulation and calculating the numerous contacts. The dam break experiment was performed to verify the simulation results. The reliability of the program was verified by comparing the results of the simulation with those of the experiment

Development of 2D particle-in-cell code to simulate high current, low ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Abstract. A code for 2D space-charge dominated beam dynamics study in beam trans- port lines is developed. The code is used for particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of z-uniform beam in a channel containing solenoids and drift space. It can also simulate a transport line where quadrupoles are used for focusing the beam.

Numerical Simulation of the Motion of Aerosol Particles in Open Cell Foam Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Solovev, S. A.; Soloveva, O. V.; Popkova, O. S.

2018-03-01

The motion of aerosol particles in open cell foam material is studied. The porous medium is investigated for a three-dimensional case with detailed simulation of cellular structures within an ordered geometry. Numerical calculations of the motion of particles and their deposition due to inertial and gravitational mechanisms are performed. Deposition efficiency curves for a broad range of particle sizes are constructed. The effect deposition mechanisms have on the efficiency of the porous material as a filter is analyzed.

Thrust calculation of electric solar wind sail by particle-in-cell simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoshi, Kento [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Electrical Engineering; Kojima, Hirotsugu; Yamakawa, Hiroshi [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Research Inst. for Sustainable Humanosphere; Muranaka, Takanobu [Chukyo Univ., Nagoya (Japan). Dept. of Electrical Engineering

2016-07-01

In this study, thrust characteristics of an electric solar wind sail were numerically evaluated using full threedimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The thrust obtained from the PIC simulation was lower than the thrust estimations obtained in previous studies. The PIC simulation indicated that ambient electrons strongly shield the electrostatic potential of the tether of the sail, and the strong shield effect causes a greater thrust reduction than has been obtained in previous studies. Additionally, previous expressions of the thrust estimation were modified by using the shielded potential structure derived from the present simulation results. The modified thrust estimation agreed very well with the thrust obtained from the PIC simulation.

Thrust calculation of electric solar wind sail by particle-in-cell simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshi, Kento; Kojima, Hirotsugu; Yamakawa, Hiroshi; Muranaka, Takanobu

2016-01-01

In this study, thrust characteristics of an electric solar wind sail were numerically evaluated using full threedimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. The thrust obtained from the PIC simulation was lower than the thrust estimations obtained in previous studies. The PIC simulation indicated that ambient electrons strongly shield the electrostatic potential of the tether of the sail, and the strong shield effect causes a greater thrust reduction than has been obtained in previous studies. Additionally, previous expressions of the thrust estimation were modified by using the shielded potential structure derived from the present simulation results. The modified thrust estimation agreed very well with the thrust obtained from the PIC simulation.

ASPEN: A fully kinetic, reduced-description particle-in-cell model for simulating parametric instabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vu, H.X.; Bezzerides, B.; DuBois, D.F.

1999-01-01

A fully kinetic, reduced-description particle-in-cell (RPIC) model is presented in which deviations from quasineutrality, electron and ion kinetic effects, and nonlinear interactions between low-frequency and high-frequency parametric instabilities are modeled correctly. The model is based on a reduced description where the electromagnetic field is represented by three separate temporal envelopes in order to model parametric instabilities with low-frequency and high-frequency daughter waves. Because temporal envelope approximations are invoked, the simulation can be performed on the electron time scale instead of the time scale of the light waves. The electrons and ions are represented by discrete finite-size particles, permitting electron and ion kinetic effects to be modeled properly. The Poisson equation is utilized to ensure that space-charge effects are included. The RPIC model is fully three dimensional and has been implemented in two dimensions on the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) parallel computer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the resulting simulation code has been named ASPEN. The authors believe this code is the first particle-in-cell code capable of simulating the interaction between low-frequency and high-frequency parametric instabilities in multiple dimensions. Test simulations of stimulated Raman scattering, stimulated Brillouin scattering, and Langmuir decay instability are presented

Particle-in-cell plasma simulations of the modified two-stream instability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Schlegel

1994-08-01

Full Text Available We model the modified two-stream plasma instability occurring in the ionospheric E-region using a 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell code. Compared to previous similar work we concentrate on simulated quantities that can easily be measured in the real ionosphere by coherent radars or rockets, such as the Doppler velocity, the backscattered power, backscattered spectra, aspect angle behaviour and electron temperature enhancement. Despite using a relatively small simulation model, we obtain remarkably good agreement between actual observed and simulated plasma parameters. The advantage of such a small system is that we were able to perform (other than in previous related work many simulation runs with different sets of input parameters, thus studying the unstable plasma under various conditions.

A particle-based model to simulate the micromechanics of single-plant parenchyma cells and aggregates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Liedekerke, P; Tijskens, E; Smeedts, B; Ramon, H; Ghysels, P; Samaey, G; Roose, D

2010-01-01

This paper is concerned with addressing how plant tissue mechanics is related to the micromechanics of cells. To this end, we propose a mesh-free particle method to simulate the mechanics of both individual plant cells (parenchyma) and cell aggregates in response to external stresses. The model considers two important features in the plant cell: (1) the cell protoplasm, the interior liquid phase inducing hydrodynamic phenomena, and (2) the cell wall material, a viscoelastic solid material that contains the protoplasm. In this particle framework, the cell fluid is modeled by smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), a mesh-free method typically used to address problems with gas and fluid dynamics. In the solid phase (cell wall) on the other hand, the particles are connected by pairwise interactions holding them together and preventing the fluid to penetrate the cell wall. The cell wall hydraulic conductivity (permeability) is built in as well through the SPH formulation. Although this model is also meant to be able to deal with dynamic and even violent situations (leading to cell wall rupture or cell–cell debonding), we have concentrated on quasi-static conditions. The results of single-cell compression simulations show that the conclusions found by analytical models and experiments can be reproduced at least qualitatively. Relaxation tests revealed that plant cells have short relaxation times (1 µs–10 µs) compared to mammalian cells. Simulations performed on cell aggregates indicated an influence of the cellular organization to the tissue response, as was also observed in experiments done on tissues with a similar structure

Numerical simulation of particle settling and cohesion in liquid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johno, Y; Nakashima, K; Shigematsu, T; Ono, B [SASEBO National College of Technology, 1-1 Okishin, Sasebo, Nagasaki, 857-1193 (Japan); Satomi, M, E-mail: yjohno@post.cc.sasebo.ac.j [Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation, Kikuchigun, Kumamoto (Japan)

2009-02-01

In this study, the motions of particles and particle clusters in liquid were numerically simulated. The particles of two sizes (Dp=40mum and 20mum) settle while repeating cohesion and dispersion, and finally the sediment of particles are formed at the bottom of a hexahedron container which is filled up with pure water. The flow field was solved with the Navier-Stokes equations and the particle motions were solved with the Lagrangian-type motion equations, where the interaction between fluid and particles due to drag forces were taken into account. The collision among particles was calculated using Distinct Element Method (DEM), and the effects of cohesive forces by van der Waals force acting on particle contact points were taken into account. Numerical simulations were performed under conditions in still flow and in shear flow. It was found that the simulation results enable us to know the state of the particle settling and the particle condensation.

Possibilities of Particle Finite Element Methods in Industrial Forming Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, J.; Cante, J. C.; Weyler, R.; Hernandez, J.

2007-04-01

The work investigates the possibilities offered by the particle finite element method (PFEM) in the simulation of forming problems involving large deformations, multiple contacts, and new boundaries generation. The description of the most distinguishing aspects of the PFEM, and its application to simulation of representative forming processes, illustrate the proposed methodology.

Particle-in-Cell Code BEAMPATH for Beam Dynamics Simulations in Linear Accelerators and Beamlines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batygin, Y.

2004-01-01

A code library BEAMPATH for 2 - dimensional and 3 - dimensional space charge dominated beam dynamics study in linear particle accelerators and beam transport lines is developed. The program is used for particle-in-cell simulation of axial-symmetric, quadrupole-symmetric and z-uniform beams in a channel containing RF gaps, radio-frequency quadrupoles, multipole lenses, solenoids and bending magnets. The programming method includes hierarchical program design using program-independent modules and a flexible combination of modules to provide the most effective version of the structure for every specific case of simulation. Numerical techniques as well as the results of beam dynamics studies are presented

Particle-in-Cell Code BEAMPATH for Beam Dynamics Simulations in Linear Accelerators and Beamlines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Batygin, Y.

2004-10-28

A code library BEAMPATH for 2 - dimensional and 3 - dimensional space charge dominated beam dynamics study in linear particle accelerators and beam transport lines is developed. The program is used for particle-in-cell simulation of axial-symmetric, quadrupole-symmetric and z-uniform beams in a channel containing RF gaps, radio-frequency quadrupoles, multipole lenses, solenoids and bending magnets. The programming method includes hierarchical program design using program-independent modules and a flexible combination of modules to provide the most effective version of the structure for every specific case of simulation. Numerical techniques as well as the results of beam dynamics studies are presented.

Systemic characterization and evaluation of particle packings as initial sets for discrete element simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Morfa, Carlos Recarey; Cortés, Lucía Argüelles; Farias, Márcio Muniz de; Morales, Irvin Pablo Pérez; Valera, Roberto Roselló; Oñate, Eugenio

2018-07-01

A methodology that comprises several characterization properties for particle packings is proposed in this paper. The methodology takes into account factors such as dimension and shape of particles, space occupation, homogeneity, connectivity and isotropy, among others. This classification and integration of several properties allows to carry out a characterization process to systemically evaluate the particle packings in order to guarantee the quality of the initial meshes in discrete element simulations, in both the micro- and the macroscales. Several new properties were created, and improvements in existing ones are presented. Properties from other disciplines were adapted to be used in the evaluation of particle systems. The methodology allows to easily characterize media at the level of the microscale (continuous geometries—steels, rocks microstructures, etc., and discrete geometries) and the macroscale. A global, systemic and integral system for characterizing and evaluating particle sets, based on fuzzy logic, is presented. Such system allows researchers to have a unique evaluation criterion based on the aim of their research. Examples of applications are shown.

Systemic characterization and evaluation of particle packings as initial sets for discrete element simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Morfa, Carlos Recarey; Cortés, Lucía Argüelles; Farias, Márcio Muniz de; Morales, Irvin Pablo Pérez; Valera, Roberto Roselló; Oñate, Eugenio

2017-10-01

A methodology that comprises several characterization properties for particle packings is proposed in this paper. The methodology takes into account factors such as dimension and shape of particles, space occupation, homogeneity, connectivity and isotropy, among others. This classification and integration of several properties allows to carry out a characterization process to systemically evaluate the particle packings in order to guarantee the quality of the initial meshes in discrete element simulations, in both the micro- and the macroscales. Several new properties were created, and improvements in existing ones are presented. Properties from other disciplines were adapted to be used in the evaluation of particle systems. The methodology allows to easily characterize media at the level of the microscale (continuous geometries—steels, rocks microstructures, etc., and discrete geometries) and the macroscale. A global, systemic and integral system for characterizing and evaluating particle sets, based on fuzzy logic, is presented. Such system allows researchers to have a unique evaluation criterion based on the aim of their research. Examples of applications are shown.

Comparisons of Particle Tracking Techniques and Galerkin Finite Element Methods in Flow Simulations on Watershed Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, D.; Yeh, G.

2009-12-01

This paper applies two numerical approximations, the particle tracking technique and Galerkin finite element method, to solve the diffusive wave equation in both one-dimensional and two-dimensional flow simulations. The finite element method is one of most commonly approaches in numerical problems. It can obtain accurate solutions, but calculation times may be rather extensive. The particle tracking technique, using either single-velocity or average-velocity tracks to efficiently perform advective transport, could use larger time-step sizes than the finite element method to significantly save computational time. Comparisons of the alternative approximations are examined in this poster. We adapt the model WASH123D to examine the work. WASH123D is an integrated multimedia, multi-processes, physics-based computational model suitable for various spatial-temporal scales, was first developed by Yeh et al., at 1998. The model has evolved in design capability and flexibility, and has been used for model calibrations and validations over the course of many years. In order to deliver a locally hydrological model in Taiwan, the Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute (TTFRI) is working with Prof. Yeh to develop next version of WASH123D. So, the work of our preliminary cooperationx is also sketched in this poster.

Realistic simulations of a cyclotron spiral inflector within a particle-in-cell framework

Science.gov (United States)

Winklehner, Daniel; Adelmann, Andreas; Gsell, Achim; Kaman, Tulin; Campo, Daniela

2017-12-01

We present an upgrade to the particle-in-cell ion beam simulation code opal that enables us to run highly realistic simulations of the spiral inflector system of a compact cyclotron. This upgrade includes a new geometry class and field solver that can handle the complicated boundary conditions posed by the electrode system in the central region of the cyclotron both in terms of particle termination, and calculation of self-fields. Results are benchmarked against the analytical solution of a coasting beam. As a practical example, the spiral inflector and the first revolution in a 1 MeV /amu test cyclotron, located at Best Cyclotron Systems, Inc., are modeled and compared to the simulation results. We find that opal can now handle arbitrary boundary geometries with relative ease. Simulated injection efficiencies and beam shape compare well with measured efficiencies and a preliminary measurement of the beam distribution after injection.

Computational plasticity algorithm for particle dynamics simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Krabbenhoft, K.; Lyamin, A. V.; Vignes, C.

2018-01-01

The problem of particle dynamics simulation is interpreted in the framework of computational plasticity leading to an algorithm which is mathematically indistinguishable from the common implicit scheme widely used in the finite element analysis of elastoplastic boundary value problems. This algorithm provides somewhat of a unification of two particle methods, the discrete element method and the contact dynamics method, which usually are thought of as being quite disparate. In particular, it is shown that the former appears as the special case where the time stepping is explicit while the use of implicit time stepping leads to the kind of schemes usually labelled contact dynamics methods. The framing of particle dynamics simulation within computational plasticity paves the way for new approaches similar (or identical) to those frequently employed in nonlinear finite element analysis. These include mixed implicit-explicit time stepping, dynamic relaxation and domain decomposition schemes.

Particle-in-cell simulations of electron transport from plasma turbulence: recent progress in gyrokinetic particle simulations of turbulent plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Z; Rewoldt, G; Ethier, S; Hahm, T S; Lee, W W; Lewandowski, J L V; Nishimura, Y; Wang, W X

2005-01-01

Recent progress in gyrokinetic particle-in-cell simulations of turbulent plasmas using the gyrokinetic toroidal code (GTC) is surveyed. In particular, recent results for electron temperature gradient (ETG) modes and their resulting transport are presented. Also, turbulence spreading, and the effects of the parallel nonlinearity, are described. The GTC code has also been generalized for non-circular plasma cross-section, and initial results are presented. In addition, two distinct methods of generalizing the GTC code to be electromagnetic are described, along with preliminary results. Finally, a related code, GTC-Neo, for calculating neoclassical fluxes, electric fields, and velocities, are described

Nonequilibrium Gyrokinetic Fluctuation Theory and Sampling Noise in Gyrokinetic Particle-in-cell Simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krommes, John A.

2007-01-01

The present state of the theory of fluctuations in gyrokinetic (GK) plasmas and especially its application to sampling noise in GK particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations is reviewed. Topics addressed include the Δf method, the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for both classical and GK many-body plasmas, the Klimontovich formalism, sampling noise in PIC simulations, statistical closure for partial differential equations, the theoretical foundations of spectral balance in the presence of arbitrary noise sources, and the derivation of Kadomtsev-type equations from the general formalism

Nonequilibrium Gyrokinetic Fluctuation Theory and Sampling Noise in Gyrokinetic Particle-in-cell Simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

John A. Krommes

2007-10-09

The present state of the theory of fluctuations in gyrokinetic GK plasmas and especially its application to sampling noise in GK particle-in-cell PIC simulations is reviewed. Topics addressed include the Δf method, the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for both classical and GK many-body plasmas, the Klimontovich formalism, sampling noise in PIC simulations, statistical closure for partial differential equations, the theoretical foundations of spectral balance in the presence of arbitrary noise sources, and the derivation of Kadomtsev-type equations from the general formalism.

Extended particle-based simulation for magnetic-aligned compaction of hard magnetic particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soda, Rikio; Takagi, Kenta; Ozaki, Kimihiro, E-mail: r-soda@aist.go.jp

2015-12-15

In order to understand the magnetic-aligned compaction process, we develop a three-dimensional (3D) discrete element method for simulating the motion of hard magnetic particles subjected to strong compression and magnetic fields. The proposed simulation model also considers the exact magnetic force involved via the calculation of the magnetic moment. First, to validate the simulation model, single-action compaction in the absence of a magnetic field was calculated. The calculated compaction curves are in good quantitative agreement with experimental ones. Based on this simulation model, the alignment behavior of Nd–Fe–B particles during compression under the application of a static magnetic field. The developed simulation model enables the visualization of particle behavior including the misorientation of the magnetization easy axis, which provided the quantitative relationships between applied pressure and particle misorientation. - Highlights: • A practical 3D DEM simulation technique for magnetic-aligned compaction was developed. • An extended simulation model was introduced for hard magnetic particles. • Magnetic-aligned compaction was simulated using the developed simulation model.

Modelling and simulation of particle-particle interaction in a magnetophoretic bio-separation chip

Science.gov (United States)

Alam, Manjurul; Golozar, Matin; Darabi, Jeff

2018-04-01

A Lagrangian particle trajectory model is developed to predict the interaction between cell-bead particle complexes and to track their trajectories in a magnetophoretic bio-separation chip. Magnetic flux gradients are simulated in the OpenFOAM CFD software and imported into MATLAB to obtain the trapping lengths and trajectories of the particles. A connector vector is introduced to calculate the interaction force between cell-bead complexes as they flow through a microfluidic device. The interaction force calculations are performed for cases where the connector vector is parallel, perpendicular, and at an angle of 45° with the applied magnetic field. The trajectories of the particles are simulated by solving a system of eight ordinary differential equations using a fourth order Runge-Kutta method. The model is then used to study the effects of geometric positions and angles of the connector vector between the particles as well as the cell size, number of beads per cell, and flow rate on the interaction force and trajectories of the particles. The results show that the interaction forces may be attractive or repulsive, depending on the orientation of the connector vector distance between the particle complexes and the applied magnetic field. When the interaction force is attractive, the particles are observed to merge and trap sooner than a single particle, whereas a repulsive interaction force has little or no effect on the trapping length.

Particle-in-cell simulations of anomalous transport in a Penning discharge

Science.gov (United States)

Carlsson, Johan; Kaganovich, Igor; Powis, Andrew; Raitses, Yevgeny; Romadanov, Ivan; Smolyakov, Andrei

2018-06-01

Electrostatic particle-in-cell simulations of a Penning discharge are performed in order to investigate azimuthally asymmetric, spoke-like structures previously observed in experiments. Two-dimensional simulations show that for Penning-discharge conditions, a persistent nonlinear spoke-like structure forms readily and rotates in the direction of E × B and electron diamagnetic drifts. The azimuthal velocity is within about a factor of 2 of the ion acoustic speed. The spoke frequency follows the experimentally observed scaling with ion mass, which indicates the importance of ion inertia in spoke formation. The spoke provides enhanced (anomalous) radial electron transport, and the effective cross-field conductivity is several times larger than the classical (collisional) value. The level of anomalous current obtained in the simulations is in good agreement with the experimental data. The rotating spoke channels most of the radial current, observable by an edge probe as short pulses.

Particle-in-cell simulations of plasma opening switch with external magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yulan; Zeng Zhengzhong; Sun Fengju

2003-01-01

Fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations are performed to study the effects of an external magnetic field on coaxial plasma opening switch (POS). The simulation results show that POS opening performance can be significantly improved only when external longitudinal magnetic field coils are placed at the cathode side, and an additional azimuthal magnetic field is effective whether the central electrode is of positive or negative polarity. Voltage multiplication coefficient K rises with the additional magnetic field increasing till the electron current is completely magnetically insulated during the opening of POS

Particle-in-cell numerical simulations of a cylindrical Hall thruster with permanent magnets

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Rodrigo A.; Martins, Alexandre A.; Ferreira, José L.

2017-10-01

The cylindrical Hall thruster (CHT) is a propulsion device that offers high propellant utilization and performance at smaller dimensions and lower power levels than traditional Hall thrusters. In this paper we present first results of a numerical model of a CHT. This model solves particle and field dynamics self-consistently using a particle-in-cell approach. We describe a number of techniques applied to reduce the execution time of the numerical simulations. The specific impulse and thrust computed from our simulations are in agreement with laboratory experiments. This simplified model will allow for a detailed analysis of different thruster operational parameters and obtain an optimal configuration to be implemented at the Plasma Physics Laboratory at the University of Brasília.

Axisymmetric particle-in-cell simulations of diamagnetic-cavity formation in vacuum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gisler, G.

1989-01-01

Axisymmetric simulations of the expansion of a hot plasma suddenly introduced into a vacuum containing a weak magnetic field were performed using an electromagnetic particle-in-cell code. Both uniform and gradient fields have been used, with the simulation axis along the principle field direction. The formation of a diamagnetic cavity requires an initial plasma β > 1; as the expansion proceeds, β diminishes, and the field eventually recovers. The maximum spatial extent of the cavity and its duration can be obtained from simple dynamical considerations. Field-aligned ion acceleration behind the electron front is observed in all field geometries and strengths. In the case of expansion into a divergent field, the plasma is found to move down the field gradient by ambipolar diffusion. These simulations are relevant to active release experiments in the Earth's magnetosphere, to pellet ablation experiments, and to the naturally occurring diamagnetic bubbles observed at the Earth's foreshock

A parallel electrostatic Particle-in-Cell method on unstructured tetrahedral grids for large-scale bounded collisionless plasma simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Averkin, Sergey N.; Gatsonis, Nikolaos A.

2018-06-01

An unstructured electrostatic Particle-In-Cell (EUPIC) method is developed on arbitrary tetrahedral grids for simulation of plasmas bounded by arbitrary geometries. The electric potential in EUPIC is obtained on cell vertices from a finite volume Multi-Point Flux Approximation of Gauss' law using the indirect dual cell with Dirichlet, Neumann and external circuit boundary conditions. The resulting matrix equation for the nodal potential is solved with a restarted generalized minimal residual method (GMRES) and an ILU(0) preconditioner algorithm, parallelized using a combination of node coloring and level scheduling approaches. The electric field on vertices is obtained using the gradient theorem applied to the indirect dual cell. The algorithms for injection, particle loading, particle motion, and particle tracking are parallelized for unstructured tetrahedral grids. The algorithms for the potential solver, electric field evaluation, loading, scatter-gather algorithms are verified using analytic solutions for test cases subject to Laplace and Poisson equations. Grid sensitivity analysis examines the L2 and L∞ norms of the relative error in potential, field, and charge density as a function of edge-averaged and volume-averaged cell size. Analysis shows second order of convergence for the potential and first order of convergence for the electric field and charge density. Temporal sensitivity analysis is performed and the momentum and energy conservation properties of the particle integrators in EUPIC are examined. The effects of cell size and timestep on heating, slowing-down and the deflection times are quantified. The heating, slowing-down and the deflection times are found to be almost linearly dependent on number of particles per cell. EUPIC simulations of current collection by cylindrical Langmuir probes in collisionless plasmas show good comparison with previous experimentally validated numerical results. These simulations were also used in a parallelization

Numerical simulation of particle jet formation induced by shock wave acceleration in a Hele-Shaw cell

Science.gov (United States)

Osnes, A. N.; Vartdal, M.; Pettersson Reif, B. A.

2018-05-01

The formation of jets from a shock-accelerated cylindrical shell of particles, confined in a Hele-Shaw cell, is studied by means of numerical simulation. A number of simulations have been performed, systematically varying the coupling between the gas and solid phases in an effort to identify the primary mechanism(s) responsible for jet formation. We find that coupling through drag is sufficient for the formation of jets. Including the effect of particle volume fraction and particle collisions did not alter the general behaviour, but had some influence on the length, spacing and number of jets. Furthermore, we find that the jet selection process starts early in the dispersal process, during the initial expansion of the particle layer.

Novel Discrete Element Method for 3D non-spherical granular particles.

Science.gov (United States)

Seelen, Luuk; Padding, Johan; Kuipers, Hans

2015-11-01

Granular materials are common in many industries and nature. The different properties from solid behavior to fluid like behavior are well known but less well understood. The main aim of our work is to develop a discrete element method (DEM) to simulate non-spherical granular particles. The non-spherical shape of particles is important, as it controls the behavior of the granular materials in many situations, such as static systems of packed particles. In such systems the packing fraction is determined by the particle shape. We developed a novel 3D discrete element method that simulates the particle-particle interactions for a wide variety of shapes. The model can simulate quadratic shapes such as spheres, ellipsoids, cylinders. More importantly, any convex polyhedron can be used as a granular particle shape. These polyhedrons are very well suited to represent non-rounded sand particles. The main difficulty of any non-spherical DEM is the determination of particle-particle overlap. Our model uses two iterative geometric algorithms to determine the overlap. The algorithms are robust and can also determine multiple contact points which can occur for these shapes. With this method we are able to study different applications such as the discharging of a hopper or silo. Another application the creation of a random close packing, to determine the solid volume fraction as a function of the particle shape.

Numerical simulations of negatively buoyant jets in an immiscible fluid using the Particle Finite Element Method

Science.gov (United States)

Mier-Torrecilla, Monica; Geyer, Adelina; Phillips, Jeremy C.; Idelsohn, Sergio R.; Oñate, Eugenio

2010-05-01

In this work we investigate numerically the injection of a negatively buoyant jet into a homogenous immiscible ambient fluid using the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM), a newly developed tool that combines the flexibility of particle-based methods with the accuracy of the finite element discretization. In order to test the applicability of PFEM to the study of negatively buoyant jets, we have compared the two-dimensional numerical results with experiments investigating the injection of a jet of dyed water through a nozzle in the base of a cylindrical tank containing rapeseed oil. In both simulations and experiments, the fountain inlet flow velocity and nozzle diameter were varied to cover a wide range of Reynolds Re and Froude numbers Fr, such that 0.1 < Fr < 30, reproducing both weak and strong fountains in a laminar regime (8 < Re < 1350). Numerical results, together with the experimental observations, allow us to describe three different fountain behaviors that have not been previously reported. Based on the Re and Fr values for the numerical and experimental simulations, we have built a regime map to define how these values may control the occurrence of each of the observed flow types. Whereas the Fr number itself provides a prediction of the maximum penetration height of the jet, its combination with the Re number provides a prediction of the flow behavior for a specific nozzle diameter and injection velocity. Conclusive remarks concerning the dynamics of negatively buoyant jets may be applied later on to several geological situations, e.g. the flow structure of a fully submerged subaqueous eruptive vent discharging magma or the replenishment of magma chambers in the Earth's crust.

Comparison Elements on STG DICE cell for Content-Addressable Memory and Simulation of Single-Event Transients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Ya. Stenin

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Comparison elements on base the STG DICE cell and the logical element “Exclusive OR” for a content-addressable memory were designed and simulated. The comparison element contains two identical joint groups of transistors that are spaced on the chip by the distance of four micrometers, so the loss of data in STG DICE cell practically excluded. On the characteristics of the new 65-nm CMOS comparison element, we predict the hardness of these item to single event rate (SER more to hundred times compared to elements on 6-transistors cells and the standard DICE cell with distances 0.5-0.6 μm between mutually sensitive nodes.

Particle-in-cell simulation of Trichel pulses in pure oxygen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soria-Hoyo, C; Pontiga, F; Castellanos, A

2007-01-01

The development and propagation of Trichel pulses in oxygen have been numerically simulated using an improved fluid particle-in-cell (PIC) method. The numerical method has been optimized to accurately reproduce sequences of about 100 Trichel pulses (∼1 ms). A classical one-dimensional model of negative corona in sphere-to-plane geometry has been used to formulate the continuity equations for electrons and ions. The effects of ionization, attachment and secondary-electron emission from the cathode have all been considered. The electric field has been obtained from the solution of Poisson's equation in two dimensions. Using this model, the temporal and electrical characteristics of Trichel pulses have been investigated, in particular, the relation between applied voltage, pulse frequency and time-averaged current intensity and charge

PAM: Particle automata model in simulation of Fusarium graminearum pathogen expansion.

Science.gov (United States)

Wcisło, Rafał; Miller, S Shea; Dzwinel, Witold

2016-01-21

The multi-scale nature and inherent complexity of biological systems are a great challenge for computer modeling and classical modeling paradigms. We present a novel particle automata modeling metaphor in the context of developing a 3D model of Fusarium graminearum infection in wheat. The system consisting of the host plant and Fusarium pathogen cells can be represented by an ensemble of discrete particles defined by a set of attributes. The cells-particles can interact with each other mimicking mechanical resistance of the cell walls and cell coalescence. The particles can move, while some of their attributes can be changed according to prescribed rules. The rules can represent cellular scales of a complex system, while the integrated particle automata model (PAM) simulates its overall multi-scale behavior. We show that due to the ability of mimicking mechanical interactions of Fusarium tip cells with the host tissue, the model is able to simulate realistic penetration properties of the colonization process reproducing both vertical and lateral Fusarium invasion scenarios. The comparison of simulation results with micrographs from laboratory experiments shows encouraging qualitative agreement between the two. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Loading relativistic Maxwell distributions in particle simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Zenitani, S.

2015-12-01

In order to study energetic plasma phenomena by using particle-in-cell (PIC) and Monte-Carlo simulations, we need to deal with relativistic velocity distributions in these simulations. However, numerical algorithms to deal with relativistic distributions are not well known. In this contribution, we overview basic algorithms to load relativistic Maxwell distributions in PIC and Monte-Carlo simulations. For stationary relativistic Maxwellian, the inverse transform method and the Sobol algorithm are reviewed. To boost particles to obtain relativistic shifted-Maxwellian, two rejection methods are newly proposed in a physically transparent manner. Their acceptance efficiencies are 􏰅50% for generic cases and 100% for symmetric distributions. They can be combined with arbitrary base algorithms.

Concurrent particle-in-cell plasma simulation on a multi-transputer parallel computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khare, A.N.; Jethra, A.; Patel, Kartik

1992-01-01

This report describes the parallelization of a Particle-in-Cell (PIC) plasma simulation code on a multi-transputer parallel computer. The algorithm used in the parallelization of the PIC method is described. The decomposition schemes related to the distribution of the particles among the processors are discussed. The implementation of the algorithm on a transputer network connected as a torus is presented. The solutions of the problems related to global communication of data are presented in the form of a set of generalized communication functions. The performance of the program as a function of data size and the number of transputers show that the implementation is scalable and represents an effective way of achieving high performance at acceptable cost. (author). 11 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs., appendices

Numerical heating in Particle-In-Cell simulations with Monte Carlo binary collisions

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, E. Paulo; Mori, Warren; Fiuza, Frederico

2017-10-01

The binary Monte Carlo collision (BMCC) algorithm is a robust and popular method to include Coulomb collision effects in Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations of plasmas. While a number of works have focused on extending the validity of the model to different physical regimes of temperature and density, little attention has been given to the fundamental coupling between PIC and BMCC algorithms. Here, we show that the coupling between PIC and BMCC algorithms can give rise to (nonphysical) numerical heating of the system, that can be far greater than that observed when these algorithms operate independently. This deleterious numerical heating effect can significantly impact the evolution of the simulated system particularly for long simulation times. In this work, we describe the source of this numerical heating, and derive scaling laws for the numerical heating rates based on the numerical parameters of PIC-BMCC simulations. We compare our theoretical scalings with PIC-BMCC numerical experiments, and discuss strategies to minimize this parasitic effect. This work is supported by DOE FES under FWP 100237 and 100182.

Particle-in-cell simulation of Trichel pulses in pure oxygen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soria-Hoyo, C [Dpto. Electronica y Electromagnetismo, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, Sevilla 41012 (Spain); Pontiga, F [Dpto. Fisica Aplicada II, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, Sevilla 41012 (Spain); Castellanos, A [Dpto. Electronica y Electromagnetismo, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, Sevilla 41012 (Spain)

2007-08-07

The development and propagation of Trichel pulses in oxygen have been numerically simulated using an improved fluid particle-in-cell (PIC) method. The numerical method has been optimized to accurately reproduce sequences of about 100 Trichel pulses ({approx}1 ms). A classical one-dimensional model of negative corona in sphere-to-plane geometry has been used to formulate the continuity equations for electrons and ions. The effects of ionization, attachment and secondary-electron emission from the cathode have all been considered. The electric field has been obtained from the solution of Poisson's equation in two dimensions. Using this model, the temporal and electrical characteristics of Trichel pulses have been investigated, in particular, the relation between applied voltage, pulse frequency and time-averaged current intensity and charge.

Electrostatic plasma simulation by Particle-In-Cell method using ANACONDA package

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blandón, J S; Grisales, J P; Riascos, H

2017-01-01

Electrostatic plasma is the most representative and basic case in plasma physics field. One of its main characteristics is its ideal behavior, since it is assumed be in thermal equilibrium state. Through this assumption, it is possible to study various complex phenomena such as plasma oscillations, waves, instabilities or damping. Likewise, computational simulation of this specific plasma is the first step to analyze physics mechanisms on plasmas, which are not at equilibrium state, and hence plasma is not ideal. Particle-In-Cell (PIC) method is widely used because of its precision for this kind of cases. This work, presents PIC method implementation to simulate electrostatic plasma by Python, using ANACONDA packages. The code has been corroborated comparing previous theoretical results for three specific phenomena in cold plasmas: oscillations, Two-Stream instability (TSI) and Landau Damping(LD). Finally, parameters and results are discussed. (paper)

Particle-in-cell Simulations of Raman Laser Amplification in Ionizing Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, Daniel S.; Fisch, Nathaniel J.

2003-01-01

By using the amplifying laser pulse in a plasma-based backward Raman laser amplifier to generate the plasma by photo-ionization of a gas simultaneous with the amplification process, possible instabilities of the pumping laser pulse can be avoided. Particle-in-cell simulations are used to study this amplification mechanism, and earlier results using more elementary models of the Raman interaction are verified [D.S. Clark and N.J. Fisch, Phys. Plasmas, 9 (6): 2772-2780, 2002]. The effects (unique to amplification in ionizing plasmas and not included in previous simulations) of blue-shifting of the pump and seed laser pulses and the generation of a wake are observed not significantly to impact the amplification process. As expected theoretically, the peak output intensity is found to be limited to I ∼ 10 17 W/cm 2 by forward Raman scattering of the amplifying seed. The integrity of the ionization front of the seed pulse against the development of a possible transverse modulation instability is also demonstrated

Post-arc current simulation based on measurement in vacuum circuit breaker with a one-dimensional particle-in-cell model

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Shenli; Mo, Yongpeng; Shi, Zongqian; Li, Junliang; Wang, Lijun

2017-10-01

The post-arc dielectric recovery process has a decisive effect on the current interruption performance in a vacuum circuit breaker. The dissipation of residual plasma at the moment of current zero under the transient recovery voltage, which is the first stage of the post-arc dielectric recovery process and forms the post-arc current, has attracted many concerns. A one-dimensional particle-in-cell model is developed to simulate the measured post-arc current in the vacuum circuit breaker in this paper. At first, the parameters of the residual plasma are estimated roughly by the waveform of the post-arc current which is taken from measurements. After that, different components of the post-arc current, which are formed by the movement of charged particles in the residual plasma, are discussed. Then, the residual plasma density is adjusted according to the proportion of electrons and ions absorbed by the post-arc anode derived from the particle-in-cell simulation. After this adjustment, the post-arc current waveform obtained from the simulation is closer to that obtained from measurements.

Multi-Algorithm Particle Simulations with Spatiocyte.

Science.gov (United States)

Arjunan, Satya N V; Takahashi, Koichi

2017-01-01

As quantitative biologists get more measurements of spatially regulated systems such as cell division and polarization, simulation of reaction and diffusion of proteins using the data is becoming increasingly relevant to uncover the mechanisms underlying the systems. Spatiocyte is a lattice-based stochastic particle simulator for biochemical reaction and diffusion processes. Simulations can be performed at single molecule and compartment spatial scales simultaneously. Molecules can diffuse and react in 1D (filament), 2D (membrane), and 3D (cytosol) compartments. The implications of crowded regions in the cell can be investigated because each diffusing molecule has spatial dimensions. Spatiocyte adopts multi-algorithm and multi-timescale frameworks to simulate models that simultaneously employ deterministic, stochastic, and particle reaction-diffusion algorithms. Comparison of light microscopy images to simulation snapshots is supported by Spatiocyte microscopy visualization and molecule tagging features. Spatiocyte is open-source software and is freely available at http://spatiocyte.org .

Discrete Element Simulations and Experiments on the Deformation of Cohesive Powders in a Bi-Axial Box

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Imole, Olukayode Isaiah; Kumar, Nishant; Magnanimo, Vanessa; Luding, Stefan

2012-01-01

We compare element test experiments and simulations on the deformation of frictional, cohesive particles in a bi-axial box. We show that computer simulations with the Discrete Element Method qualitatively reproduce a uniaxial compression element test in the true bi-axial tester. We highlight the

Discrete Element Modeling Results of Proppant Rearrangement in the Cooke Conductivity Cell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Earl Mattson; Hai Huang; Michael Conway; Lisa O' Connell

2014-02-01

The study of propped fracture conductivity began in earnest with the development of the Cooke cell which later became part of the initial API standard. Subsequent developments included a patented multicell design to conduct 4 tests in a press at the same time. Other modifications have been used by various investigators. Recent studies by the Stim-Lab proppant consortium have indicated that the flow field across a Cooke proppant conductivity testing cell may not be uniform as initially believed which resulted is significantly different conductivity results. Post test analysis of low temperature metal alloy injections at the termination of proppant testing prior to the release of the applied stress suggest that higher flow is to be expected along the sides and top of the proppant pack than compared to the middle of the pack. To evaluate these experimental findings, a physics-based two-dimensional (2-D) discrete element model (DEM) was developed and applied to simulate proppant rearrangement during stress loading in the Cooke conductivity cell and the resulting porosity field. Analysis of these simulations are critical to understanding the impact of modification to the testing cell as well as understanding key proppant conductivity issues such as how these effects are manifested in proppant concentration testing results. The 2-D DEM model was constructed to represent a realistic cross section of the Cooke cell with a distribution of four material properties, three that represented the Cooke cell (steel, sandstone,square rings), and one representing the proppant. In principle, Cooke cell materials can be approximated as assemblies of independent discrete elements (particles) of various sizes and material properties that interact via cohesive interactions, repulsive forces, and frictional forces. The macroscopic behavior can then be modeled as the collective behavior of many interacting discrete elements. This DEM model is particularly suitable for modeling proppant

High performance stream computing for particle beam transport simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Appleby, R; Bailey, D; Higham, J; Salt, M

2008-01-01

Understanding modern particle accelerators requires simulating charged particle transport through the machine elements. These simulations can be very time consuming due to the large number of particles and the need to consider many turns of a circular machine. Stream computing offers an attractive way to dramatically improve the performance of such simulations by calculating the simultaneous transport of many particles using dedicated hardware. Modern Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are powerful and affordable stream computing devices. The results of simulations of particle transport through the booster-to-storage-ring transfer line of the DIAMOND synchrotron light source using an NVidia GeForce 7900 GPU are compared to the standard transport code MAD. It is found that particle transport calculations are suitable for stream processing and large performance increases are possible. The accuracy and potential speed gains are compared and the prospects for future work in the area are discussed

Particle-In-Cell Simulations of Asymmetric Dual Frequency Capacitive Discharge Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Alan; Lichtenberg, A. J.; Lieberman, M. A.; Verboncoeur, J. P.

2003-10-01

Dual frequency capacitive discharges are finding increasing use for etching in the microelectronics industry. In the ideal case, the high frequency power (typically 27.1-160 MHz) controls the plasma density and the low frequency power (typically 2-13.56 MHz) controls the ion energy. The electron power deposition and the dynamics of dual frequency rf sheaths are not well understood. We report on particle-in-cell computer simulations of an asymmetric dual frequency argon discharge. The simulations are performed in 1D (radial) geometry using the bounded electrostatic code XPDP1. Operating parameters are 27.1/2 MHz high/low frequencies, 10/13 cm inner/outer radii, 3-200 mTorr pressures, and 10^9-10^11 cm-3 densities. We determine the power deposition and sheath dynamics for the high frequency power alone, and with various added low frequency powers. We compare the simulation results to simple global models of dual frequency discharges. Support provided by Lam Research, NSF Grant ECS-0139956, California industries, and UC-SMART Contract SM99-10051.

photon-plasma: A modern high-order particle-in-cell code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haugbølle, Troels; Frederiksen, Jacob Trier; Nordlund, Åke

2013-01-01

We present the photon-plasma code, a modern high order charge conserving particle-in-cell code for simulating relativistic plasmas. The code is using a high order implicit field solver and a novel high order charge conserving interpolation scheme for particle-to-cell interpolation and charge deposition. It includes powerful diagnostics tools with on-the-fly particle tracking, synthetic spectra integration, 2D volume slicing, and a new method to correctly account for radiative cooling in the simulations. A robust technique for imposing (time-dependent) particle and field fluxes on the boundaries is also presented. Using a hybrid OpenMP and MPI approach, the code scales efficiently from 8 to more than 250.000 cores with almost linear weak scaling on a range of architectures. The code is tested with the classical benchmarks particle heating, cold beam instability, and two-stream instability. We also present particle-in-cell simulations of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, and new results on radiative collisionless shocks

Numerical sedimentation particle-size analysis using the Discrete Element Method

Science.gov (United States)

Bravo, R.; Pérez-Aparicio, J. L.; Gómez-Hernández, J. J.

2015-12-01

Sedimentation tests are widely used to determine the particle size distribution of a granular sample. In this work, the Discrete Element Method interacts with the simulation of flow using the well known one-way-coupling method, a computationally affordable approach for the time-consuming numerical simulation of the hydrometer, buoyancy and pipette sedimentation tests. These tests are used in the laboratory to determine the particle-size distribution of fine-grained aggregates. Five samples with different particle-size distributions are modeled by about six million rigid spheres projected on two-dimensions, with diameters ranging from 2.5 ×10-6 m to 70 ×10-6 m, forming a water suspension in a sedimentation cylinder. DEM simulates the particle's movement considering laminar flow interactions of buoyant, drag and lubrication forces. The simulation provides the temporal/spatial distributions of densities and concentrations of the suspension. The numerical simulations cannot replace the laboratory tests since they need the final granulometry as initial data, but, as the results show, these simulations can identify the strong and weak points of each method and eventually recommend useful variations and draw conclusions on their validity, aspects very difficult to achieve in the laboratory.

Loading relativistic Maxwell distributions in particle simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zenitani, Seiji, E-mail: seiji.zenitani@nao.ac.jp [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

2015-04-15

Numerical algorithms to load relativistic Maxwell distributions in particle-in-cell (PIC) and Monte-Carlo simulations are presented. For stationary relativistic Maxwellian, the inverse transform method and the Sobol algorithm are reviewed. To boost particles to obtain relativistic shifted-Maxwellian, two rejection methods are proposed in a physically transparent manner. Their acceptance efficiencies are ≈50% for generic cases and 100% for symmetric distributions. They can be combined with arbitrary base algorithms.

Loading relativistic Maxwell distributions in particle simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zenitani, Seiji

2015-01-01

Numerical algorithms to load relativistic Maxwell distributions in particle-in-cell (PIC) and Monte-Carlo simulations are presented. For stationary relativistic Maxwellian, the inverse transform method and the Sobol algorithm are reviewed. To boost particles to obtain relativistic shifted-Maxwellian, two rejection methods are proposed in a physically transparent manner. Their acceptance efficiencies are ≈50% for generic cases and 100% for symmetric distributions. They can be combined with arbitrary base algorithms

Electron and ion heating by whistler turbulence: Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hughes, R. Scott; Gary, S. Peter; Wang, Joseph

2014-01-01

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of decaying whistler turbulence are carried out on a collisionless, homogeneous, magnetized, electron-ion plasma model. In addition, the simulations use an initial ensemble of relatively long wavelength whistler modes with a broad range of initial propagation directions with an initial electron beta β e = 0.05. The computations follow the temporal evolution of the fluctuations as they cascade into broadband turbulent spectra at shorter wavelengths. Three simulations correspond to successively larger simulation boxes and successively longer wavelengths of the initial fluctuations. The computations confirm previous results showing electron heating is preferentially parallel to the background magnetic field B o , and ion heating is preferentially perpendicular to B o . The new results here are that larger simulation boxes and longer initial whistler wavelengths yield weaker overall dissipation, consistent with linear dispersion theory predictions of decreased damping, stronger ion heating, consistent with a stronger ion Landau resonance, and weaker electron heating

Value for money in particle-mesh plasma simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eastwood, J.W.

1976-01-01

The established particle-mesh method of simulating a collisionless plasma is discussed. Problems are outlined, and it is stated that given constraints on mesh size and particle number, the only way to adjust the compromise between dispersive forces, collision time and heating time is by altering the force calculating cycle. In 'value for money', schemes, matching of parts of the force calculation cycle is optimized. Interparticle forces are considered. Optimized combinations of elements of the force calculation cycle are compared. Following sections cover the dispersion relation, and comparisons with other schemes. (U.K.)

Particle-in-cell simulations of high energy electron production by intense laser pulses in underdense plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susumu, Kato; Eisuke, Miura; Kazuyoshi, Koyama; Mitsumori, Tanimoto; Masahiro, Adachi

2004-01-01

The propagation of intense laser pulses and the generation of high energy electrons from underdense plasmas are investigated using two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When the ratio of the laser power to the critical power of relativistic self-focusing gets the optimal value, the laser pulse propagates in a steady way and electrons have maximum energies. (author)

Particle-in-cell simulations of high energy electron production by intense laser pulses in underdense plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Susumu, Kato; Eisuke, Miura; Kazuyoshi, Koyama [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Mitsumori, Tanimoto [Meisei Univ., Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Hino, Tokyo (Japan); Masahiro, Adachi [Hiroshima Univ., Graduate school of Advanced Science of Matter, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima (Japan)

2004-07-01

The propagation of intense laser pulses and the generation of high energy electrons from underdense plasmas are investigated using two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. When the ratio of the laser power to the critical power of relativistic self-focusing gets the optimal value, the laser pulse propagates in a steady way and electrons have maximum energies. (author)

Wavelet-Based Poisson Solver for Use in Particle-in-Cell Simulations

CERN Document Server

Terzic, Balsa; Mihalcea, Daniel; Pogorelov, Ilya V

2005-01-01

We report on a successful implementation of a wavelet-based Poisson solver for use in 3D particle-in-cell simulations. One new aspect of our algorithm is its ability to treat the general (inhomogeneous) Dirichlet boundary conditions. The solver harnesses advantages afforded by the wavelet formulation, such as sparsity of operators and data sets, existence of effective preconditioners, and the ability simultaneously to remove numerical noise and further compress relevant data sets. Having tested our method as a stand-alone solver on two model problems, we merged it into IMPACT-T to obtain a fully functional serial PIC code. We present and discuss preliminary results of application of the new code to the modelling of the Fermilab/NICADD and AES/JLab photoinjectors.

Wavelet-based Poisson Solver for use in Particle-In-Cell Simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terzic, B.; Mihalcea, D.; Bohn, C.L.; Pogorelov, I.V.

2005-01-01

We report on a successful implementation of a wavelet based Poisson solver for use in 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. One new aspect of our algorithm is its ability to treat the general(inhomogeneous) Dirichlet boundary conditions (BCs). The solver harnesses advantages afforded by the wavelet formulation, such as sparsity of operators and data sets, existence of effective preconditioners, and the ability simultaneously to remove numerical noise and further compress relevant data sets. Having tested our method as a stand-alone solver on two model problems, we merged it into IMPACT-T to obtain a fully functional serial PIC code. We present and discuss preliminary results of application of the new code to the modeling of the Fermilab/NICADD and AES/JLab photoinjectors

Discrete element simulation of crushable rockfill materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Shao

2013-04-01

Full Text Available A discrete element method was used to study the evolution of particle crushing in a rockfill sample subjected to triaxial shear. A simple procedure was developed to generate clusters with arbitrary shapes, which resembled real rockfill particles. A theoretical method was developed to define the failure criterion for an individual particle subjected to an arbitrary set of contact forces. Then, a series of numerical tests of large-scale drained triaxial tests were conducted to simulate the behaviors of the rockfill sample. Finally, we examined the development of micro-characteristics such as particle crushing, contact characteristics, porosity, deformation, movement, and energy dissipation. The simulation results were partially compared with the laboratory experiments, and good agreement was achieved, demonstrating that the particle crushing model proposed can be used to simulate the drained triaxial test of rockfill materials. Based on a comparison of macro behaviors of the rockfill sample and micro structures of the particles, the microscopic mechanism of the rockfill materials subjected to triaxial shear was determined qualitatively. It is shown that the crushing rate, rather than the number of crushed particles, can be used to reflect the relationship between macro- and micro-mechanical characteristics of rockfill materials. These research results further develop our understanding of the deformation mechanism of rockfill materials.

The Particle-in-Cell and Kinetic Simulation Software Center

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, W. B.; Decyk, V. K.; Tableman, A.; Fonseca, R. A.; Tsung, F. S.; Hu, Q.; Winjum, B. J.; An, W.; Dalichaouch, T. N.; Davidson, A.; Hildebrand, L.; Joglekar, A.; May, J.; Miller, K.; Touati, M.; Xu, X. L.

2017-10-01

The UCLA Particle-in-Cell and Kinetic Simulation Software Center (PICKSC) aims to support an international community of PIC and plasma kinetic software developers, users, and educators; to increase the use of this software for accelerating the rate of scientific discovery; and to be a repository of knowledge and history for PIC. We discuss progress towards making available and documenting illustrative open-source software programs and distinct production programs; developing and comparing different PIC algorithms; coordinating the development of resources for the educational use of kinetic software; and the outcomes of our first sponsored OSIRIS users workshop. We also welcome input and discussion from anyone interested in using or developing kinetic software, in obtaining access to our codes, in collaborating, in sharing their own software, or in commenting on how PICKSC can better serve the DPP community. Supported by NSF under Grant ACI-1339893 and by the UCLA Institute for Digital Research and Education.

Parallel-vector algorithms for particle simulations on shared-memory multiprocessors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishiura, Daisuke; Sakaguchi, Hide

2011-01-01

Over the last few decades, the computational demands of massive particle-based simulations for both scientific and industrial purposes have been continuously increasing. Hence, considerable efforts are being made to develop parallel computing techniques on various platforms. In such simulations, particles freely move within a given space, and so on a distributed-memory system, load balancing, i.e., assigning an equal number of particles to each processor, is not guaranteed. However, shared-memory systems achieve better load balancing for particle models, but suffer from the intrinsic drawback of memory access competition, particularly during (1) paring of contact candidates from among neighboring particles and (2) force summation for each particle. Here, novel algorithms are proposed to overcome these two problems. For the first problem, the key is a pre-conditioning process during which particle labels are sorted by a cell label in the domain to which the particles belong. Then, a list of contact candidates is constructed by pairing the sorted particle labels. For the latter problem, a table comprising the list indexes of the contact candidate pairs is created and used to sum the contact forces acting on each particle for all contacts according to Newton's third law. With just these methods, memory access competition is avoided without additional redundant procedures. The parallel efficiency and compatibility of these two algorithms were evaluated in discrete element method (DEM) simulations on four types of shared-memory parallel computers: a multicore multiprocessor computer, scalar supercomputer, vector supercomputer, and graphics processing unit. The computational efficiency of a DEM code was found to be drastically improved with our algorithms on all but the scalar supercomputer. Thus, the developed parallel algorithms are useful on shared-memory parallel computers with sufficient memory bandwidth.

Particle-in-cell simulation of x-ray wakefield acceleration and betatron radiation in nanotubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaomei Zhang

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Though wakefield acceleration in crystal channels has been previously proposed, x-ray wakefield acceleration has only recently become a realistic possibility since the invention of the single-cycled optical laser compression technique. We investigate the acceleration due to a wakefield induced by a coherent, ultrashort x-ray pulse guided by a nanoscale channel inside a solid material. By two-dimensional particle-in-cell computer simulations, we show that an acceleration gradient of TeV/cm is attainable. This is about 3 orders of magnitude stronger than that of the conventional plasma-based wakefield accelerations, which implies the possibility of an extremely compact scheme to attain ultrahigh energies. In addition to particle acceleration, this scheme can also induce the emission of high energy photons at ∼O(10–100  MeV. Our simulations confirm such high energy photon emissions, which is in contrast with that induced by the optical laser driven wakefield scheme. In addition to this, the significantly improved emittance of the energetic electrons has been discussed.

Enhanced quasi-static particle-in-cell simulation of electron cloud instabilities in circular accelerators

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Bing

Electron cloud instabilities have been observed in many circular accelerators around the world and raised concerns of future accelerators and possible upgrades. In this thesis, the electron cloud instabilities are studied with the quasi-static particle-in-cell (PIC) code QuickPIC. Modeling in three-dimensions the long timescale propagation of beam in electron clouds in circular accelerators requires faster and more efficient simulation codes. Thousands of processors are easily available for parallel computations. However, it is not straightforward to increase the effective speed of the simulation by running the same problem size on an increasingly number of processors because there is a limit to domain size in the decomposition of the two-dimensional part of the code. A pipelining algorithm applied on the fully parallelized particle-in-cell code QuickPIC is implemented to overcome this limit. The pipelining algorithm uses multiple groups of processors and optimizes the job allocation on the processors in parallel computing. With this novel algorithm, it is possible to use on the order of 102 processors, and to expand the scale and the speed of the simulation with QuickPIC by a similar factor. In addition to the efficiency improvement with the pipelining algorithm, the fidelity of QuickPIC is enhanced by adding two physics models, the beam space charge effect and the dispersion effect. Simulation of two specific circular machines is performed with the enhanced QuickPIC. First, the proposed upgrade to the Fermilab Main Injector is studied with an eye upon guiding the design of the upgrade and code validation. Moderate emittance growth is observed for the upgrade of increasing the bunch population by 5 times. But the simulation also shows that increasing the beam energy from 8GeV to 20GeV or above can effectively limit the emittance growth. Then the enhanced QuickPIC is used to simulate the electron cloud effect on electron beam in the Cornell Energy Recovery Linac

Stochastic plasma heating by electrostatic waves: a comparison between a particle-in-cell simulation and a laboratory experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fivaz, M.; Fasoli, A.; Appert, K.; Trans, T.M.; Tran, M.Q.; Skiff, F.

1993-08-01

Dynamical chaos is produced by the interaction between plasma particles and two electrostatic waves. Experiments performed in a linear magnetized plasma and a 1D particle-in-cell simulation agree qualitatively: above a threshold wave amplitude, ion stochastic diffusion and heating occur on a fast time scale. Self-consistency appears to limit the extent of the heating process. (author) 5 figs., 18 refs

Particle-in-cell simulations of the lasertron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, M.E.; Peter, W.K.

1985-01-01

The lasertron is a device (either rf or dc) for producing intense, very short, pulsed electron beams (tens of picoseconds). In the dc lasertron, a laser is pulsed repetitively onto a photoemissive cathode. In general, the current is not space-charge limited and follows the laser intensity. The electron pulse is then accelerated out of the device by a constant voltage. By using the laser the need for a subharmonic buncher is eliminated. In the rf lasertron, the diode becomes an rf cavity. This improves the breakdown characteristics of the device, allowing higher voltages to be applied and hence higher currents to be obtained. The calculations are aimed at producing a 10 nC electron beam with an emittance of less than 40π mm-mrad for use in free-electron laser experiments at Los Alamos. Other applications of the lasertron include efficient microwave or rf generation. A class of electrode shapes has been obtained which in the absence of space charge produces no emittance growth. These shapes have been studied with the particle-in-cell simulation model ISIS, and the electrodes which produce minimum emittance including the effect of space charge have been determined. Unique emittance problems associated with the time dependence of the beam pulse are studied and conditions for reducing these effects are discussed. 5 refs., 5 figs

Natural tracer test simulation by stochastic particle tracking method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ackerer, P.; Mose, R.; Semra, K.

1990-01-01

Stochastic particle tracking methods are well adapted to 3D transport simulations where discretization requirements of other methods usually cannot be satisfied. They do need a very accurate approximation of the velocity field. The described code is based on the mixed hybrid finite element method (MHFEM) to calculated the piezometric and velocity field. The random-walk method is used to simulate mass transport. The main advantages of the MHFEM over FD or FE are the simultaneous calculation of pressure and velocity, which are considered as unknowns; the possibility of interpolating velocities everywhere; and the continuity of the normal component of the velocity vector from one element to another. For these reasons, the MHFEM is well adapted for particle tracking methods. After a general description of the numerical methods, the model is used to simulate the observations made during the Twin Lake Tracer Test in 1983. A good match is found between observed and simulated heads and concentrations. (Author) (12 refs., 4 figs.)

Elemental compositions of suspended particles released in glass manufacture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mamuro, T; Mizohata, A; Kubota, T [Radiation Center of Osaka Prefecture, Sakai (Japan)

1980-03-01

Suspended particles released in glass manufacture were subjected to multielement analysis by means of instrumental neutron activation method and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Suspended particles emitted from glass manufacture generally consist of both particles emitted from glass fusion and those produced through fuel combustion (mainly oil combustion). Elemental compositions of suspended particles emitted from glass fusion were found to be strongly dependent on the kind and recipe of raw materials and additives. Of the various metallic elements involved in suspended particles emitted from glass fusion, the elements, As, Se, Cd, Sb, Pb and so on are regarded to produce the most serious air pollution. The amount of emission of these elements to the environment is, howerer, quite varied from manufacturer to manufacturer. The replacement of electric furnace by oil combustion in opal glass manufacture remarkably reduced the emission of metallic elements to the environment.

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation on gain saturation effect of microchannel plate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Qiangqiang; Yuan, Zheng; Cao, Zhurong, E-mail: cao33jin@aliyun.com; Deng, Bo; Chen, Tao; Deng, Keli [Research Center of Laser Fusion, Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan 621900 (China)

2016-07-15

We present here the results of the simulation work, using the three-dimensional particle-in-cell method, on the performance of the lead glass microchannel plate under saturated state. We calculated the electron cascade process with different DC bias voltages under both self-consistent condition and non-self-consistent condition. The comparative results have demonstrated that the strong self-consistent field can suppress the cascade process and make the microchannel plate saturated. The simulation results were also compared to the experimental data and good agreement was obtained. The simulation results also show that the electron multiplication process in the channel is accompanied by the buildup process of positive charges in the channel wall. Though the interactions among the secondary electron cloud in the channel, the positive charges in the channel wall, and the external acceleration field can make the electron-surface collision more frequent, the collision energy will be inevitably reduced, thus the electron gain will also be reduced.

Comparison of multi-fluid moment models with particle-in-cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Liang; Germaschewski, K.; Hakim, Ammar H.; Bhattacharjee, A.

2015-01-01

We introduce an extensible multi-fluid moment model in the context of collisionless magnetic reconnection. This model evolves full Maxwell equations and simultaneously moments of the Vlasov-Maxwell equation for each species in the plasma. Effects like electron inertia and pressure gradient are self-consistently embedded in the resulting multi-fluid moment equations, without the need to explicitly solving a generalized Ohm's law. Two limits of the multi-fluid moment model are discussed, namely, the five-moment limit that evolves a scalar pressures for each species and the ten-moment limit that evolves the full anisotropic, non-gyrotropic pressure tensor for each species. We first demonstrate analytically and numerically that the five-moment model reduces to the widely used Hall magnetohydrodynamics (Hall MHD) model under the assumptions of vanishing electron inertia, infinite speed of light, and quasi-neutrality. Then, we compare ten-moment and fully kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of a large scale Harris sheet reconnection problem, where the ten-moment equations are closed with a local linear collisionless approximation for the heat flux. The ten-moment simulation gives reasonable agreement with the PIC results regarding the structures and magnitudes of the electron flows, the polarities and magnitudes of elements of the electron pressure tensor, and the decomposition of the generalized Ohm's law. Possible ways to improve the simple local closure towards a nonlocal fully three-dimensional closure are also discussed

Launch Environment Water Flow Simulations Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Vu, Bruce T.; Berg, Jared J.; Harris, Michael F.; Crespo, Alejandro C.

2015-01-01

This paper describes the use of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) to simulate the water flow from the rainbird nozzle system used in the sound suppression system during pad abort and nominal launch. The simulations help determine if water from rainbird nozzles will impinge on the rocket nozzles and other sensitive ground support elements.

Kinetic structures of quasi-perpendicular shocks in global particle-in-cell simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Ivy Bo; Markidis, Stefano; Laure, Erwin; Johlander, Andreas; Vaivads, Andris; Khotyaintsev, Yuri; Henri, Pierre; Lapenta, Giovanni

2015-01-01

We carried out global Particle-in-Cell simulations of the interaction between the solar wind and a magnetosphere to study the kinetic collisionless physics in super-critical quasi-perpendicular shocks. After an initial simulation transient, a collisionless bow shock forms as a result of the interaction of the solar wind and a planet magnetic dipole. The shock ramp has a thickness of approximately one ion skin depth and is followed by a trailing wave train in the shock downstream. At the downstream edge of the bow shock, whistler waves propagate along the magnetic field lines and the presence of electron cyclotron waves has been identified. A small part of the solar wind ion population is specularly reflected by the shock while a larger part is deflected and heated by the shock. Solar wind ions and electrons are heated in the perpendicular directions. Ions are accelerated in the perpendicular direction in the trailing wave train region. This work is an initial effort to study the electron and ion kinetic effects developed near the bow shock in a realistic magnetic field configuration

Quantitative trace element analysis of individual fly ash particles by means of X-ray microfluorescence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vincze, L.; Somogyi, A.; Osan, J.; Vekemans, B.; Torok, S.; Janssens, K.; Adams, F. [Universitaire of Instelling Antwerp, Wilrijk (Belgium). Dept. of Chemistry

2002-07-01

A new quantification procedure was developed for the evaluation of X-ray microfluorescence (XRF) data sets obtained from individual particles, based on iterative Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Combined with the high sensitivity of synchrotron radiation-induced XRF spectroscopy, the method was used to obtain quantitative information down to trace-level concentrations from micrometer-sized particulate matter. The detailed XRF simulation model was validated by comparison of calculated and experimental XRF spectra obtained for glass microsphere standards, resulting in uncertainties in the range of 3-10% for the calculated elemental sensitivities. The simulation model was applied for the quantitative analysis of X-ray tube and synchrotron radiation-induced scanning micro-XRF spectra of individual coal and wood fly ash particles originating from different Hungarian power plants. By measuring the same particles by both methods the major, minor, and trace element compositions of the particles were determined. The uncertainty of the MC based quantitative analysis scheme is estimated to be in the range of 5-30%.

Propagation of localized structures in relativistic magnetized electron-positron plasmas using particle-in-cell simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

López, Rodrigo A. [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070386 (Chile); Muñoz, Víctor [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago (Chile); Viñas, Adolfo F. [Geospace Physics Laboratory, Heliophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States); Valdivia, Juan A. [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago (Chile); Centro para el Desarrollo de la Nanociencia y la Nanotecnología (CEDENNA), Santiago 9170124 (Chile)

2015-09-15

We use a particle-in-cell simulation to study the propagation of localized structures in a magnetized electron-positron plasma with relativistic finite temperature. We use as initial condition for the simulation an envelope soliton solution of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, derived from the relativistic two fluid equations in the strongly magnetized limit. This envelope soliton turns out not to be a stable solution for the simulation and splits in two localized structures propagating in opposite directions. However, these two localized structures exhibit a soliton-like behavior, as they keep their profile after they collide with each other due to the periodic boundary conditions. We also observe the formation of localized structures in the evolution of a spatially uniform circularly polarized Alfvén wave. In both cases, the localized structures propagate with an amplitude independent velocity.

Propagation of localized structures in relativistic magnetized electron-positron plasmas using particle-in-cell simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

López, Rodrigo A.; Muñoz, Víctor; Viñas, Adolfo F.; Valdivia, Juan A.

2015-01-01

We use a particle-in-cell simulation to study the propagation of localized structures in a magnetized electron-positron plasma with relativistic finite temperature. We use as initial condition for the simulation an envelope soliton solution of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, derived from the relativistic two fluid equations in the strongly magnetized limit. This envelope soliton turns out not to be a stable solution for the simulation and splits in two localized structures propagating in opposite directions. However, these two localized structures exhibit a soliton-like behavior, as they keep their profile after they collide with each other due to the periodic boundary conditions. We also observe the formation of localized structures in the evolution of a spatially uniform circularly polarized Alfvén wave. In both cases, the localized structures propagate with an amplitude independent velocity

Species Entropies in the Kinetic Range of Collisionless Plasma Turbulence: Particle-in-cell Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Gary, S. Peter; Zhao, Yinjian; Hughes, R. Scott; Wang, Joseph; Parashar, Tulasi N.

2018-06-01

Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of the forward cascade of decaying turbulence in the relatively short-wavelength kinetic range have been carried out as initial-value problems on collisionless, homogeneous, magnetized electron-ion plasma models. The simulations have addressed both whistler turbulence at β i = β e = 0.25 and kinetic Alfvén turbulence at β i = β e = 0.50, computing the species energy dissipation rates as well as the increase of the Boltzmann entropies for both ions and electrons as functions of the initial dimensionless fluctuating magnetic field energy density ε o in the range 0 ≤ ε o ≤ 0.50. This study shows that electron and ion entropies display similar rates of increase and that all four entropy rates increase approximately as ε o , consistent with the assumption that the quasilinear premise is valid for the initial conditions assumed for these simulations. The simulations further predict that the time rates of ion entropy increase should be substantially greater for kinetic Alfvén turbulence than for whistler turbulence.

Computer simulation of radiation damage in HTGR elements and structural materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gann, V.V.; Gurin, V.A.; Konotop, Yu.F.; Shilyaev, B.A.; Yamnitskij, V.A.

1980-01-01

The problem of mathematical simulation of radiation damages in material and items of HTGR is considered. A system-program complex IMITATOR, intended for imitation of neutron damages by means of charged particle beams, is used. Account of material composite structure and certain geometry of items permits to calculate fields of primary radiation damages and introductions of reaction products in composite fuel elements, microfuel elements, their shells, composite absorbing elements on the base of boron carbide, structural steels and alloys. A good correspondence of calculation and experimental burn-out of absorbing elements is obtained, application of absorbing element as medium for imitation experiments is grounded [ru

Advanced particle-in-cell simulation techniques for modeling the Lockheed Martin Compact Fusion Reactor

Science.gov (United States)

Welch, Dale; Font, Gabriel; Mitchell, Robert; Rose, David

2017-10-01

We report on particle-in-cell developments of the study of the Compact Fusion Reactor. Millisecond, two and three-dimensional simulations (cubic meter volume) of confinement and neutral beam heating of the magnetic confinement device requires accurate representation of the complex orbits, near perfect energy conservation, and significant computational power. In order to determine initial plasma fill and neutral beam heating, these simulations include ionization, elastic and charge exchange hydrogen reactions. To this end, we are pursuing fast electromagnetic kinetic modeling algorithms including a two implicit techniques and a hybrid quasi-neutral algorithm with kinetic ions. The kinetic modeling includes use of the Poisson-corrected direct implicit, magnetic implicit, as well as second-order cloud-in-cell techniques. The hybrid algorithm, ignoring electron inertial effects, is two orders of magnitude faster than kinetic but not as accurate with respect to confinement. The advantages and disadvantages of these techniques will be presented. Funded by Lockheed Martin.

Mesh Refinement for Particle-In-Cell Plasma Simulations: Applications to - and benefits for - Heavy-Ion-Fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vay, J.-L.; Colella, P.; McCorquodale, P.; Van Straalen, B.; Friedman, A.; Grote, D.P.

2002-01-01

The numerical simulation of the driving beams in a heavy ion fusion power plant is a challenging task, and simulation of the power plant as a whole, or even of the driver, is not yet possible. Despite the rapid progress in computer power, past and anticipated, one must consider the use of the most advanced numerical techniques, if we are to reach our goal expeditiously. One of the difficulties of these simulations resides in the disparity of scales, in time and in space, which must be resolved. When these disparities are in distinctive zones of the simulation region, a method which has proven to be effective in other areas (e.g., fluid dynamics simulations) is the mesh refinement technique. They discuss the challenges posed by the implementation of this technique into plasma simulations (due to the presence of particles and electromagnetic waves). They will present the prospects for and projected benefits of its application to heavy ion fusion. In particular to the simulation of the ion source and the final beam propagation in the chamber. A collaboration project is under way at LBNL between the Applied Numerical Algorithms Group (ANAG) and the HIF group to couple the Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) library (CHOMBO) developed by the ANAG group to the Particle-In-Cell accelerator code WARP developed by the HIF-VNL. They describe their progress and present their initial findings

Cell-centered particle weighting algorithm for PIC simulations in a non-uniform 2D axisymmetric mesh

Science.gov (United States)

Araki, Samuel J.; Wirz, Richard E.

2014-09-01

Standard area weighting methods for particle-in-cell simulations result in systematic errors on particle densities for a non-uniform mesh in cylindrical coordinates. These errors can be significantly reduced by using weighted cell volumes for density calculations. A detailed description on the corrected volume calculations and cell-centered weighting algorithm in a non-uniform mesh is provided. The simple formulas for the corrected volume can be used for any type of quadrilateral and/or triangular mesh in cylindrical coordinates. Density errors arising from the cell-centered weighting algorithm are computed for radial density profiles of uniform, linearly decreasing, and Bessel function in an adaptive Cartesian mesh and an unstructured mesh. For all the density profiles, it is shown that the weighting algorithm provides a significant improvement for density calculations. However, relatively large density errors may persist at outermost cells for monotonically decreasing density profiles. A further analysis has been performed to investigate the effect of the density errors in potential calculations, and it is shown that the error at the outermost cell does not propagate into the potential solution for the density profiles investigated.

A Particle-in-Cell Simulation for the Traveling Wave Direct Energy Converter (TWDEC) for Fusion Propulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Chap, Andrew; Tarditi, Alfonso G.; Scott, John H.

2013-01-01

A Particle-in-cell simulation model has been developed to study the physics of the Traveling Wave Direct Energy Converter (TWDEC) applied to the conversion of charged fusion products into electricity. In this model the availability of a beam of collimated fusion products is assumed; the simulation is focused on the conversion of the beam kinetic energy into alternating current (AC) electric power. The model is electrostatic, as the electro-dynamics of the relatively slow ions can be treated in the quasistatic approximation. A two-dimensional, axisymmetric (radial-axial coordinates) geometry is considered. Ion beam particles are injected on one end and travel along the axis through ring-shaped electrodes with externally applied time-varying voltages, thus modulating the beam by forming a sinusoidal pattern in the beam density. Further downstream, the modulated beam passes through another set of ring electrodes, now electrically oating. The modulated beam induces a time alternating potential di erence between adjacent electrodes. Power can be drawn from the electrodes by connecting a resistive load. As energy is dissipated in the load, a corresponding drop in beam energy is measured. The simulation encapsulates the TWDEC process by reproducing the time-dependent transfer of energy and the particle deceleration due to the electric eld phase time variations.

Particle models for discrete element modeling of bulk grain properties of wheat kernels

Science.gov (United States)

Recent research has shown the potential of discrete element method (DEM) in simulating grain flow in bulk handling systems. Research has also revealed that simulation of grain flow with DEM requires establishment of appropriate particle models for each grain type. This research completes the three-p...

High viscosity fluid simulation using particle-based method

KAUST Repository

Chang, Yuanzhang

2011-03-01

We present a new particle-based method for high viscosity fluid simulation. In the method, a new elastic stress term, which is derived from a modified form of the Hooke\\'s law, is included in the traditional Navier-Stokes equation to simulate the movements of the high viscosity fluids. Benefiting from the Lagrangian nature of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method, large flow deformation can be well handled easily and naturally. In addition, in order to eliminate the particle deficiency problem near the boundary, ghost particles are employed to enforce the solid boundary condition. Compared with Finite Element Methods with complicated and time-consuming remeshing operations, our method is much more straightforward to implement. Moreover, our method doesn\\'t need to store and compare to an initial rest state. The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and efficient to handle the movements of highly viscous flows, and a large variety of different kinds of fluid behaviors can be well simulated by adjusting just one parameter. © 2011 IEEE.

A fully-implicit Particle-In-Cell Monte Carlo Collision code for the simulation of inductively coupled plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Mattei, S.; Nishida, K.; Onai, M.; Lettry, J.; Tran, M. Q.; Hatayama, A.

2017-12-01

We present a fully-implicit electromagnetic Particle-In-Cell Monte Carlo collision code, called NINJA, written for the simulation of inductively coupled plasmas. NINJA employs a kinetic enslaved Jacobian-Free Newton Krylov method to solve self-consistently the interaction between the electromagnetic field generated by the radio-frequency coil and the plasma response. The simulated plasma includes a kinetic description of charged and neutral species as well as the collision processes between them. The algorithm allows simulations with cell sizes much larger than the Debye length and time steps in excess of the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy condition whilst preserving the conservation of the total energy. The code is applied to the simulation of the plasma discharge of the Linac4 H- ion source at CERN. Simulation results of plasma density, temperature and EEDF are discussed and compared with optical emission spectroscopy measurements. A systematic study of the energy conservation as a function of the numerical parameters is presented.

Transport of rare earth element-tagged soil particles in response to thunderstorm runoff.

Science.gov (United States)

Matisoff, G; Ketterer, M E; Wilson, C G; Layman, R; Whiting, P J

2001-08-15

The downslope transport of rare earth element-tagged soil particles remobilized during a spring thunderstorm was studied on both a natural prairie and an agricultural field in southwestern Iowa (U.S.A.). A technique was developed for tagging natural soils with the rare earth elements Eu, Tb, and Ho to approximately 1,000 ppm via coprecipitation with MnO2. Tagged material was replaced in target locations; surficial soil samples were collected following precipitation and runoff; and rare earth element concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Diffusion and exponential models were applied to the concentration-distance data to determine particle transport distances. The results indicate that the concentration-distance data are well described by the diffusion model, butthe exponential model does not simulate the rapid drop-off in concentrations near the tagged source. Using the diffusion model, calculated particle transport distances at all hillside locations and at both the cultivated and natural prairie sites were short, ranging from 3 to 73 cm during this single runoff event. This study successfully demonstrates a new tool for studying soil erosion.

Dissipative particle dynamics simulations of deformation and aggregation of healthy and diseased red blood cells in a tube flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ye, Ting; Phan-Thien, Nhan; Khoo, Boo Cheong; Lim, Chwee Teck

2014-01-01

In this paper, we report simulation results assessing the deformation and aggregation of mixed healthy and malaria-infected red blood cells (RBCs) in a tube flow. A three dimensional particle model based on Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) is developed to predict the tube flow containing interacting cells. The cells are also modelled by DPD, with a Morse potential to characterize the cell-cell interaction. As validation tests, a single RBC in a tube flow and two RBCs in a static flow are simulated to examine the cell deformation and intercellular interaction, respectively. The study of two cells, one healthy and the other malaria-infected RBCs in a tube flow demonstrates that the malaria-infected RBC (in the leading position along flow direction) has different effects on the healthy RBC (in the trailing position) at the different stage of parasite development or at the different capillary number. With parasitic development, the malaria-infected RBC gradually loses its deformability, and in turn the corresponding trailing healthy RBC also deforms less due to the intercellular interaction. With increasing capillary number, both the healthy and malaria-infected RBCs are likely to undergo an axisymmetric motion. The minimum intercellular distance becomes small enough so that rouleaux is easily formed, i.e., the healthy and malaria-infected RBCs are difficultly disaggregated

Dissipative particle dynamics simulations of deformation and aggregation of healthy and diseased red blood cells in a tube flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ye, Ting; Phan-Thien, Nhan, E-mail: Nhan@nus.edu.sg; Khoo, Boo Cheong; Lim, Chwee Teck [Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260 (Singapore)

2014-11-15

In this paper, we report simulation results assessing the deformation and aggregation of mixed healthy and malaria-infected red blood cells (RBCs) in a tube flow. A three dimensional particle model based on Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) is developed to predict the tube flow containing interacting cells. The cells are also modelled by DPD, with a Morse potential to characterize the cell-cell interaction. As validation tests, a single RBC in a tube flow and two RBCs in a static flow are simulated to examine the cell deformation and intercellular interaction, respectively. The study of two cells, one healthy and the other malaria-infected RBCs in a tube flow demonstrates that the malaria-infected RBC (in the leading position along flow direction) has different effects on the healthy RBC (in the trailing position) at the different stage of parasite development or at the different capillary number. With parasitic development, the malaria-infected RBC gradually loses its deformability, and in turn the corresponding trailing healthy RBC also deforms less due to the intercellular interaction. With increasing capillary number, both the healthy and malaria-infected RBCs are likely to undergo an axisymmetric motion. The minimum intercellular distance becomes small enough so that rouleaux is easily formed, i.e., the healthy and malaria-infected RBCs are difficultly disaggregated.

Sound propagation in dry granular materials : discrete element simulations, theory, and experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mouraille, O.J.P.

2009-01-01

In this study sound wave propagation through different types of dry confined granular systems is studied. With three-dimensional discrete element simulations, theory and experiments, the influence of several micro-scale properties: friction, dissipation, particle rotation, and contact disorder, on

Granular dynamics, contact mechanics and particle system simulations a DEM study

CERN Document Server

Thornton, Colin

2015-01-01

This book is devoted to the Discrete Element Method (DEM) technique, a discontinuum modelling approach that takes into account the fact that granular materials are composed of discrete particles which interact with each other at the microscale level. This numerical simulation technique can be used both for dispersed systems in which the particle-particle interactions are collisional and compact systems of particles with multiple enduring contacts. The book provides an extensive and detailed explanation of the theoretical background of DEM. Contact mechanics theories for elastic, elastic-plastic, adhesive elastic and adhesive elastic-plastic particle-particle interactions are presented. Other contact force models are also discussed, including corrections to some of these models as described in the literature, and important areas of further research are identified. A key issue in DEM simulations is whether or not a code can reliably simulate the simplest of systems, namely the single particle oblique impact wit...

Computer Simulation Study of Collective Phenomena in Dense Suspensions of Red Blood Cells under Shear

CERN Document Server

Krüger, Timm

2012-01-01

The rheology of dense red blood cell suspensions is investigated via computer simulations based on the lattice Boltzmann, the immersed boundary, and the finite element methods. The red blood cells are treated as extended and deformable particles immersed in the ambient fluid. In the first part of the work, the numerical model and strategies for stress evaluation are discussed. In the second part, the behavior of the suspensions in simple shear flow is studied for different volume fractions, particle deformabilities, and shear rates. Shear thinning behavior is recovered. The existence of a shear-induced transition from a tumbling to a tank-treading motion is demonstrated. The transition can be parameterized by a single quantity, namely the effective capillary number. It is the ratio of the suspension stress and the characteristic particle membrane stress. At the transition point, a strong increase in the orientational order of the red blood cells and a significant decrease of the particle diffusivity are obser...

Fractional variational problems and particle in cell gyrokinetic simulations with fuzzy logic approach for tokamaks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rastović Danilo

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In earlier Rastovic's papers [1] and [2], the effort was given to analyze the stochastic control of tokamaks. In this paper, the deterministic control of tokamak turbulence is investigated via fractional variational calculus, particle in cell simulations, and fuzzy logic methods. Fractional integrals can be considered as approximations of integrals on fractals. The turbulent media could be of the fractal structure and the corresponding equations should be changed to include the fractal features of the media.

Transient Simulation of Accumulating Particle Deposition in Pipe Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Hewett, James; Sellier, Mathieu

2015-11-01

Colloidal particles that deposit in pipe systems can lead to fouling which is an expensive problem in both the geothermal and oil & gas industries. We investigate the gradual accumulation of deposited colloids in pipe flow using numerical simulations. An Euler-Lagrangian approach is employed for modelling the fluid and particle phases. Particle transport to the pipe wall is modelled with Brownian motion and turbulent diffusion. A two-way coupling exists between the fouled material and the pipe flow; the local mass flux of depositing particles is affected by the surrounding fluid in the near-wall region. This coupling is modelled by changing the cells from fluid to solid as the deposited particles exceed each local cell volume. A similar method has been used to model fouling in engine exhaust systems (Paz et al., Heat Transfer Eng., 34(8-9):674-682, 2013). We compare our deposition velocities and deposition profiles with an experiment on silica scaling in turbulent pipe flow (Kokhanenko et al., 19th AFMC, 2014).

Current-Sheet Formation and Reconnection at a Magnetic X Line in Particle-in-Cell Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Black, C.; Antiochos, S. K.; Hesse, M.; Karpen, J. T.; Kuznetsova, M. M.; Zenitani, S.

2011-01-01

The integration of kinetic effects into macroscopic numerical models is currently of great interest to the heliophysics community, particularly in the context of magnetic reconnection. Reconnection governs the large-scale energy release and topological rearrangement of magnetic fields in a wide variety of laboratory, heliophysical, and astrophysical systems. We are examining the formation and reconnection of current sheets in a simple, two-dimensional X-line configuration using high-resolution particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The initial minimum-energy, potential magnetic field is perturbed by excess thermal pressure introduced into the particle distribution function far from the X line. Subsequently, the relaxation of this added stress leads self-consistently to the development of a current sheet that reconnects for imposed stress of sufficient strength. We compare the time-dependent evolution and final state of our PIC simulations with macroscopic magnetohydrodynamic simulations assuming both uniform and localized electrical resistivities (C. R. DeVore et al., this meeting), as well as with force-free magnetic-field equilibria in which the amount of reconnection across the X line can be constrained to be zero (ideal evolution) or optimal (minimum final magnetic energy). We will discuss implications of our results for understanding magnetic-reconnection onset and cessation at kinetic scales in dynamically formed current sheets, such as those occurring in the solar corona and terrestrial magnetotail.

Optimization of the particle pusher in a diode simulation code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Theimer, M.M.; Quintenz, J.P.

1979-09-01

The particle pusher in Sandia's particle-in-cell diode simulation code has been rewritten to reduce the required run time of a typical simulation. The resulting new version of the code has been found to run up to three times as fast as the original with comparable accuracy. The cost of this optimization was an increase in storage requirements of about 15%. The new version has also been written to run efficiently on a CRAY-1 computing system. Steps taken to affect this reduced run time are described. Various test cases are detailed

Seakeeping with the semi-Lagrangian particle finite element method

Science.gov (United States)

Nadukandi, Prashanth; Servan-Camas, Borja; Becker, Pablo Agustín; Garcia-Espinosa, Julio

2017-07-01

The application of the semi-Lagrangian particle finite element method (SL-PFEM) for the seakeeping simulation of the wave adaptive modular vehicle under spray generating conditions is presented. The time integration of the Lagrangian advection is done using the explicit integration of the velocity and acceleration along the streamlines (X-IVAS). Despite the suitability of the SL-PFEM for the considered seakeeping application, small time steps were needed in the X-IVAS scheme to control the solution accuracy. A preliminary proposal to overcome this limitation of the X-IVAS scheme for seakeeping simulations is presented.

ELECTRON ACCELERATIONS AT HIGH MACH NUMBER SHOCKS: TWO-DIMENSIONAL PARTICLE-IN-CELL SIMULATIONS IN VARIOUS PARAMETER REGIMES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsumoto, Yosuke [Department of Physics, Chiba University, Yayoi-cho 1-33, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522 (Japan); Amano, Takanobu; Hoshino, Masahiro, E-mail: ymatumot@astro.s.chiba-u.ac.jp [Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo 1-33, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)

2012-08-20

Electron accelerations at high Mach number collisionless shocks are investigated by means of two-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations with various Alfven Mach numbers, ion-to-electron mass ratios, and the upstream electron {beta}{sub e} (the ratio of the thermal pressure to the magnetic pressure). We find electrons are effectively accelerated at a super-high Mach number shock (M{sub A} {approx} 30) with a mass ratio of M/m = 100 and {beta}{sub e} = 0.5. The electron shock surfing acceleration is an effective mechanism for accelerating the particles toward the relativistic regime even in two dimensions with a large mass ratio. Buneman instability excited at the leading edge of the foot in the super-high Mach number shock results in a coherent electrostatic potential structure. While multi-dimensionality allows the electrons to escape from the trapping region, they can interact with the strong electrostatic field several times. Simulation runs in various parameter regimes indicate that the electron shock surfing acceleration is an effective mechanism for producing relativistic particles in extremely high Mach number shocks in supernova remnants, provided that the upstream electron temperature is reasonably low.

Study on Characteristics of Constricted DC Plasma Using Particle-In-Cell Simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jo, Jong Gap; Park, Yeong Shin; Hwang, Yong Seok

2010-01-01

In dc glow discharge, when anode size is smaller than cathode, very small and bright plasma ball occurs in front of anode. This plasma is called constricted dc plasma and characterized by a high plasma density in positive glow, so called plasma ball, compared to the conventional dc plasma. For the reason, this plasma is utilized to ion or electron beam sources since the beam currents are enhanced by the dense anode glow. However, correlations between characteristics of the plasma (plasma density, electron temperature and space potential) and discharge conditions (anode size, discharge voltage, discharge current, pressure) have been a little investigated definitely clear in previous study because of the trouble of a diagnosis. The plasma ball which is the most essential part of the constricted plasma is too small to diagnose precisely without disturbing plasma. Therefore, we tried to analyze the constricted plasma through computer simulation with Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code. In this study, simulation result of constricted dc plasma as well as conventional dc glow discharge will be addressed and compared with each others

Simulations of DSB Yields and Radiation-induced Chromosomal Aberrations in Human Cells Based on the Stochastic Track Structure Induced by HZE Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Ponomarev, Artem; Plante, Ianik; George, Kerry; Wu, Honglu

2014-01-01

The formation of double-strand breaks (DSBs) and chromosomal aberrations (CAs) is of great importance in radiation research and, specifically, in space applications. We are presenting a new particle track and DNA damage model, in which the particle stochastic track structure is combined with the random walk (RW) structure of chromosomes in a cell nucleus. The motivation for this effort stems from the fact that the model with the RW chromosomes, NASARTI (NASA radiation track image) previously relied on amorphous track structure, while the stochastic track structure model RITRACKS (Relativistic Ion Tracks) was focused on more microscopic targets than the entire genome. We have combined chromosomes simulated by RWs with stochastic track structure, which uses nanoscopic dose calculations performed with the Monte-Carlo simulation by RITRACKS in a voxelized space. The new simulations produce the number of DSBs as function of dose and particle fluence for high-energy particles, including iron, carbon and protons, using voxels of 20 nm dimension. The combined model also calculates yields of radiation-induced CAs and unrejoined chromosome breaks in normal and repair deficient cells. The joined computational model is calibrated using the relative frequencies and distributions of chromosomal aberrations reported in the literature. The model considers fractionated deposition of energy to approximate dose rates of the space flight environment. The joined model also predicts of the yields and sizes of translocations, dicentrics, rings, and more complex-type aberrations formed in the G0/G1 cell cycle phase during the first cell division after irradiation. We found that the main advantage of the joined model is our ability to simulate small doses: 0.05-0.5 Gy. At such low doses, the stochastic track structure proved to be indispensable, as the action of individual delta-rays becomes more important.

A Coulomb collision algorithm for weighted particle simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Ronald H.; Combi, Michael R.

1994-01-01

A binary Coulomb collision algorithm is developed for weighted particle simulations employing Monte Carlo techniques. Charged particles within a given spatial grid cell are pair-wise scattered, explicitly conserving momentum and implicitly conserving energy. A similar algorithm developed by Takizuka and Abe (1977) conserves momentum and energy provided the particles are unweighted (each particle representing equal fractions of the total particle density). If applied as is to simulations incorporating weighted particles, the plasma temperatures equilibrate to an incorrect temperature, as compared to theory. Using the appropriate pairing statistics, a Coulomb collision algorithm is developed for weighted particles. The algorithm conserves energy and momentum and produces the appropriate relaxation time scales as compared to theoretical predictions. Such an algorithm is necessary for future work studying self-consistent multi-species kinetic transport.

The quantitative determination of trace elements in giant unicellular plants by particle-induced X-ray emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navarrete-Dominguez, V.R.; Yoshihara, K.; Tanaka, N.

1982-01-01

Particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) was applied for the determination of trace elements in biologically interesting materials, giant unicellular plants. It was found that the PIXE method had advantages in multi-element trace analysis of a single cell of the sample plant. (author)

Particle-in-cell Simulations of Raman Laser Amplification in Preformed Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, Daniel S.; Fisch, Nathaniel J.

2003-01-01

Two critical issues in the amplification of laser pulses by backward Raman scattering in plasma slabs are the saturation mechanism of the amplification effect (which determines the maximum attainable output intensity of a Raman amplifier) and the optimal plasma density for amplification. Previous investigations [V.M. Malkin, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 82 (22):4448-4451, 1999] identified forward Raman scattering and modulational instabilities of the amplifying seed as the likely saturation mechanisms and lead to an estimated unfocused output intensities of 10 17 W/cm 2 . The optimal density for amplification is determined by the competing constraints of minimizing the plasma density so as to minimize the growth rate of the instabilities leading to saturation but also maintaining the plasma sufficiently dense that the driven Langmuir wave responsible for backscattering does not break prematurely. Here, particle-in-cell code are simulations presented which verify that saturation of backward Raman amplification does occur at intensities of ∼10 17 W/cm 2 by forward Raman scattering and modulational instabilities. The optimal density for amplification in a plasma with the representative temperature of T(sub)e = 200 eV is also shown in these simulations to be intermediate between the cold plasma wave-breaking density and the density limit found by assuming a water bag electron distribution function

Cell structures caused by settling particles in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Changhoon; Park, Sangro

2016-11-01

Turbulent thermal convection is an important phenomenon frequently found in nature and industrial processes, often with laden particles. In the last several decades, the vast majority of studies have addressed single phase convective flow with focus on the scaling relation of flow parameters associated with heat transfer. Particle-laden Rayleigh-Bénard convection, however, has not been sufficiently studied. In this study, modulation of cell structures by settling particles in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a doubly periodic square channel is investigated using direct numerical simulation with a point particle approach. Flow parameters are fixed at Rayleigh number=106, Prandtl number=0.7, the aspect ratio=6, and Froude number=0.19. We report from the simulations that settling heavy particles modulate irregular large-scale thermal plume structures into organized polygonal cell structures. Different shapes of flow structures are obtained for different particle diameters and mass loadings. We found that polygonal cell structures arise due to asymmetric feedback force exerted by particles onto hot and cold plumes. Increasing the number of particles augments the asymmetry and the polygonal cell structures become smaller, eventually going to the hexagonal structures.

The three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation analysis of cavity of high power subterahertz pulsed gyrotron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Koyu; Jiang, Weihua

2013-01-01

High power sub-terahertz pulsed gyrotrons for Collective Thomson Scattering (CTS) diagnostics of fusion plasmas are being developed. The typical target parameters are: output power of 100-200 kW, operation frequency of 300 GHz, and pulsed length > 10 us. In order to support experimental development, numerical simulations were carried out by using Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code MAGIC. The oscillation mode of the electromagnetic radiation was selected as TE_1_5_,_2, for which the beam parameters and cavity dimensions were determined accordingly. The simulation results have showed maximum power of 144 kW at oscillation frequency of 292.80 GHz, with oscillation efficiency of 22.15%. (author)

A Fokker-Planck-Landau collision equation solver on two-dimensional velocity grid and its application to particle-in-cell simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, E. S.; Chang, C. S., E-mail: cschang@pppl.gov [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yuseong-gu, DaeJeon 305-701 (Korea, Republic of)

2014-03-15

An approximate two-dimensional solver of the nonlinear Fokker-Planck-Landau collision operator has been developed using the assumption that the particle probability distribution function is independent of gyroangle in the limit of strong magnetic field. The isotropic one-dimensional scheme developed for nonlinear Fokker-Planck-Landau equation by Buet and Cordier [J. Comput. Phys. 179, 43 (2002)] and for linear Fokker-Planck-Landau equation by Chang and Cooper [J. Comput. Phys. 6, 1 (1970)] have been modified and extended to two-dimensional nonlinear equation. In addition, a method is suggested to apply the new velocity-grid based collision solver to Lagrangian particle-in-cell simulation by adjusting the weights of marker particles and is applied to a five dimensional particle-in-cell code to calculate the neoclassical ion thermal conductivity in a tokamak plasma. Error verifications show practical aspects of the present scheme for both grid-based and particle-based kinetic codes.

Integration of Heat Transfer, Stress, and Particle Trajectory Simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thuc Bui; Michael Read; Lawrence ives

2012-05-17

Calabazas Creek Research, Inc. developed and currently markets Beam Optics Analyzer (BOA) in the United States and abroad. BOA is a 3D, charged particle optics code that solves the electric and magnetic fields with and without the presence of particles. It includes automatic and adaptive meshing to resolve spatial scales ranging from a few millimeters to meters. It is fully integrated with CAD packages, such as SolidWorks, allowing seamless geometry updates. The code includes iterative procedures for optimization, including a fully functional, graphical user interface. Recently, time dependent, particle in cell capability was added, pushing particles synchronically under quasistatic electromagnetic fields to obtain particle bunching under RF conditions. A heat transfer solver was added during this Phase I program. Completed tasks include: (1) Added a 3D finite element heat transfer solver with adaptivity; (2) Determined the accuracy of the linear heat transfer field solver to provide the basis for development of higher order solvers in Phase II; (3) Provided more accurate and smoother power density fields; and (4) Defined the geometry using the same CAD model, while maintaining different meshes, and interfacing the power density field between the particle simulator and heat transfer solvers. These objectives were achieved using modern programming techniques and algorithms. All programming was in C++ and parallelization in OpenMP, utilizing state-of-the-art multi-core technology. Both x86 and x64 versions are supported. The GUI design and implementation used Microsoft Foundation Class.

Sparse grid techniques for particle-in-cell schemes

Science.gov (United States)

Ricketson, L. F.; Cerfon, A. J.

2017-02-01

We propose the use of sparse grids to accelerate particle-in-cell (PIC) schemes. By using the so-called ‘combination technique’ from the sparse grids literature, we are able to dramatically increase the size of the spatial cells in multi-dimensional PIC schemes while paying only a slight penalty in grid-based error. The resulting increase in cell size allows us to reduce the statistical noise in the simulation without increasing total particle number. We present initial proof-of-principle results from test cases in two and three dimensions that demonstrate the new scheme’s efficiency, both in terms of computation time and memory usage.

Pseudo three-dimensional modeling of particle-fuel packing using distinct element method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuki, Daisuke; Takata, Takashi; Yamaguchi, Akira

2007-01-01

Vibration-based packing of sphere-pac fuel is a key technology in a nuclear fuel manufacturing. In the production process of sphere-pac fuel, a Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel is formed to spherical form and is packed in a cladding tube by adding a vibration force. In the present study, we have developed a numerical simulation method to investigate the behavior of the particles in a vibrated tube using the Distinct Element Method (DEM). In general, the DEM requires a significant computational cost. Therefore we propose a new approach in which a small particle can move through the space between three larger particles even in the two-dimensional simulation. We take into account an equivalent three-dimensional effect in the equations of motion. Thus it is named pseudo three-dimensional modeling. (author)

Electron Debye scale Kelvin-Helmholtz instability: Electrostatic particle-in-cell simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang-Yun; Lee, Ensang; Kim, Khan-Hyuk; Lee, Dong-Hun; Seon, Jongho; Jin, Ho

2015-01-01

In this paper, we investigated the electron Debye scale Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability using two-dimensional electrostatic particle-in-cell simulations. We introduced a velocity shear layer with a thickness comparable to the electron Debye length and examined the generation of the KH instability. The KH instability occurs in a similar manner as observed in the KH instabilities in fluid or ion scales producing surface waves and rolled-up vortices. The strength and growth rate of the electron Debye scale KH instability is affected by the structure of the velocity shear layer. The strength depends on the magnitude of the velocity and the growth rate on the velocity gradient of the shear layer. However, the development of the electron Debye scale KH instability is mainly determined by the electric field generated by charge separation. Significant mixing of electrons occurs across the shear layer, and a fraction of electrons can penetrate deeply into the opposite side fairly far from the vortices across the shear layer

Single cell elemental analysis using nuclear microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren, M.Q.; Thong, P.S.P.; Kara, U.; Watt, F.

1999-01-01

The use of Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and Scanning Transmission Ion Microscopy (STIM) to provide quantitative elemental analysis of single cells is an area which has high potential, particularly when the trace elements such as Ca, Fe, Zn and Cu can be monitored. We describe the methodology of sample preparation for two cell types, the procedures of cell imaging using STIM, and the quantitative elemental analysis of single cells using RBS and PIXE. Recent work on single cells at the Nuclear Microscopy Research Centre,National University of Singapore has centred around two research areas: (a) Apoptosis (programmed cell death), which has been recently implicated in a wide range of pathological conditions such as cancer, Parkinson's disease etc, and (b) Malaria (infection of red blood cells by the malaria parasite). Firstly we present results on the elemental analysis of human Chang liver cells (ATTCC CCL 13) where vanadium ions were used to trigger apoptosis, and demonstrate that nuclear microscopy has the capability of monitoring vanadium loading within individual cells. Secondly we present the results of elemental changes taking place in individual mouse red blood cells which have been infected with the malaria parasite and treated with the anti-malaria drug Qinghaosu (QHS)

Simulations of DSB Yields and Radiation-induced Chromosomal Aberrations in Human Cells Based on the Stochastic Track Structure iIduced by HZE Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Ponomarev, Artem; Plante, Ianik; George, Kerry; Wu, Honglu

2014-01-01

The formation of double-strand breaks (DSBs) and chromosomal aberrations (CAs) is of great importance in radiation research and, specifically, in space applications. We are presenting a new particle track and DNA damage model, in which the particle stochastic track structure is combined with the random walk (RW) structure of chromosomes in a cell nucleus. The motivation for this effort stems from the fact that the model with the RW chromosomes, NASARTI (NASA radiation track image) previously relied on amorphous track structure, while the stochastic track structure model RITRACKS (Relativistic Ion Tracks) was focused on more microscopic targets than the entire genome. We have combined chromosomes simulated by RWs with stochastic track structure, which uses nanoscopic dose calculations performed with the Monte-Carlo simulation by RITRACKS in a voxelized space. The new simulations produce the number of DSBs as function of dose and particle fluence for high-energy particles, including iron, carbon and protons, using voxels of 20 nm dimension. The combined model also calculates yields of radiation-induced CAs and unrejoined chromosome breaks in normal and repair deficient cells. The joined computational model is calibrated using the relative frequencies and distributions of chromosomal aberrations reported in the literature. The model considers fractionated deposition of energy to approximate dose rates of the space flight environment. The joined model also predicts of the yields and sizes of translocations, dicentrics, rings, and more complex-type aberrations formed in the G0/G1 cell cycle phase during the first cell division after irradiation. We found that the main advantage of the joined model is our ability to simulate small doses: 0.05-0.5 Gy. At such low doses, the stochastic track structure proved to be indispensable, as the action of individual delta-rays becomes more important.

Particle-in-cell Simulation of Dipolarization Front Associated Whistlers

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, D.; Scales, W.; Ganguli, G.; Crabtree, C. E.

2017-12-01

Dipolarization fronts (DFs) are dipolarized magnetic field embedded in the Earthward propagating bursty bulk flows (BBFs), which separates the hot, tenuous high-speed flow from the cold, dense, and slowly convecting surrounding plasma [Runov et al. 2011]. Broadband fluctuations have been observed at DFs including the electromagnetic whistler waves and electrostatic lower hybrid waves in the Very Low Frequency (VLF) range [e.g., Zhou et al. 2009, Deng et al. 2010]. There waves are suggested to be able heat electrons and play a critical role in the plasma sheet dynamics [Chaston et al., 2012, Angelopoulos et al., 2013]. However, their generation mechanism and role in the energy conversion are still under debate. The gradient scale of magnetic field, plasma density at DFs in the near-Earth magnetotail is comparable to or lower than the ion gyro radius [Runov et al., 2011, Fu et al., 2012, Breuillard et al., 2016]. Such strongly inhomogeneous configuration could be unstable to the electron-ion hybrid (EIH) instability, which arises from strongly sheared transverse flow and is in the VLF range [Ganguli et al. 1988, Ganguli et al. 2014]. The equilibrium of the EIH theory implies an anisotropy of electron temperature, which are likely to drive the whistler waves observed in DFs [Deng et al., 2010, Gary et al., 2011]. In order to better understand how the whistler waves are generated in DFs and whether the EIH theory is applicable, a fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell (EMPIC) model is used to simulate the EIH instability with similar equilibrium configurations in DF observations. The EMPIC model deals with three dimensions in the velocity space and two dimensions in the configuration space, which is quite ready to include the third configuration dimension. Simulation results will be shown in this presentation.

Internalisation of engineered nanoparticles into mammalian cells in vitro: influence of cell type and particle properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Busch, Wibke; Bastian, Susanne; Trahorsch, Ulrike; Iwe, Maria; Kühnel, Dana; Meißner, Tobias; Springer, Armin; Gelinsky, Michael; Richter, Volkmar; Ikonomidou, Chrysanthy; Potthoff, Annegret; Lehmann, Irina; Schirmer, Kristin

2011-01-01

Cellular internalisation of industrial engineered nanoparticles is undesired and a reason for concern. Here we investigated and compared the ability of seven different mammalian cell cultures in vitro to incorporate six kinds of engineered nanoparticles, focussing on the role of cell type and particle properties in particle uptake. Uptake was examined using light and electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) for particle element identification. Flow cytometry was applied for semi-quantitative analyses of particle uptake and for exploring the influence on uptake by the phagocytosis inhibitor Cytochalasin D (CytoD). All particles studied were found to enter each kind of cultured cells. Yet, particles were never found within cell nuclei. The presence of the respective particles within the cells was confirmed by EDX. Live-cell imaging revealed the time-dependent process of internalisation of technical nanoparticles, which was exemplified by tungsten carbide particle uptake into the human skin cells, HaCaT. Particles were found to co-localise with lysosomal structures within the cells. The incorporated nanoparticles changed the cellular granularity, as measured by flow cytometry, already after 3 h of exposure in a particle specific manner. By correlating particle properties with flow cytometry data, only the primary particle size was found to be a weakly influential property for particle uptake. CytoD, an inhibitor of actin filaments and therewith of phagocytosis, significantly inhibited the internalisation of particle uptake in only two of the seven investigated cell cultures. Our study, therefore, supports the notion that nanoparticles can enter mammalian cells quickly and easily, irrespective of the phagocytic ability of the cells.

Two dimensional numerical simulation of gas discharges: comparison between particle-in-cell and FCT techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soria-Hoyo, C; Castellanos, A [Departamento de Electronica y Electromagnetismo, Facultad de Fisica, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012 Sevilla (Spain); Pontiga, F [Departamento de Fisica Aplicada II, EUAT, Universidad de Sevilla, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, 41012 Sevilla (Spain)], E-mail: cshoyo@us.es

2008-10-21

Two different numerical techniques have been applied to the numerical integration of equations modelling gas discharges: a finite-difference flux corrected transport (FD-FCT) technique and a particle-in-cell (PIC) technique. The PIC technique here implemented has been specifically designed for the simulation of 2D electrical discharges using cylindrical coordinates. The development and propagation of a streamer between two parallel electrodes has been used as a convenient test to compare the performance of both techniques. In particular, the phase velocity of the cathode directed streamer has been used to check the internal consistency of the numerical simulations. The results obtained from the two techniques are in reasonable agreement with each other, and both techniques have proved their ability to follow the high gradients of charge density and electric field present in this type of problems. Moreover, the streamer velocities predicted by the simulation are in accordance with the typical experimental values.

Two dimensional numerical simulation of gas discharges: comparison between particle-in-cell and FCT techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soria-Hoyo, C; Castellanos, A; Pontiga, F

2008-01-01

Two different numerical techniques have been applied to the numerical integration of equations modelling gas discharges: a finite-difference flux corrected transport (FD-FCT) technique and a particle-in-cell (PIC) technique. The PIC technique here implemented has been specifically designed for the simulation of 2D electrical discharges using cylindrical coordinates. The development and propagation of a streamer between two parallel electrodes has been used as a convenient test to compare the performance of both techniques. In particular, the phase velocity of the cathode directed streamer has been used to check the internal consistency of the numerical simulations. The results obtained from the two techniques are in reasonable agreement with each other, and both techniques have proved their ability to follow the high gradients of charge density and electric field present in this type of problems. Moreover, the streamer velocities predicted by the simulation are in accordance with the typical experimental values.

Gyrokinetic particle-in-cell simulations of plasma microturbulence on advanced computing platforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ethier, S; Tang, W M; Lin, Z

2005-01-01

Since its introduction in the early 1980s, the gyrokinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) method has been very successfully applied to the exploration of many important kinetic stability issues in magnetically confined plasmas. Its self-consistent treatment of charged particles and the associated electromagnetic fluctuations makes this method appropriate for studying enhanced transport driven by plasma turbulence. Advances in algorithms and computer hardware have led to the development of a parallel, global, gyrokinetic code in full toroidal geometry, the gyrokinetic toroidal code (GTC), developed at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. It has proven to be an invaluable tool to study key effects of low-frequency microturbulence in fusion plasmas. As a high-performance computing applications code, its flexible mixed-model parallel algorithm has allowed GTC to scale to over a thousand processors, which is routinely used for simulations. Improvements are continuously being made. As the US ramps up its support for the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER), the need for understanding the impact of turbulent transport in burning plasma fusion devices is of utmost importance. Accordingly, the GTC code is at the forefront of the set of numerical tools being used to assess and predict the performance of ITER on critical issues such as the efficiency of energy confinement in reactors

Investigating the settling dynamics of cohesive silt particles with particle-resolving simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Rui; Xiao, Heng; Sun, Honglei

2018-01-01

The settling of cohesive sediment is ubiquitous in aquatic environments, and the study of the settling process is important for both engineering and environmental reasons. In the settling process, the silt particles show behaviors that are different from non-cohesive particles due to the influence of inter-particle cohesive force. For instance, the flocs formed in the settling process of cohesive silt can loosen the packing, and thus the structural densities of cohesive silt beds are much smaller than that of non-cohesive sand beds. While there is a consensus that cohesive behaviors depend on the characteristics of sediment particles (e.g., Bond number, particle size distribution), little is known about the exact influence of these characteristics on the cohesive behaviors. In addition, since the cohesive behaviors of the silt are caused by the inter-particle cohesive forces, the motions of and the contacts among silt particles should be resolved to study these cohesive behaviors in the settling process. However, studies of the cohesive behaviors of silt particles in the settling process based on particle-resolving approach are still lacking. In the present work, three-dimensional settling process is investigated numerically by using CFD-DEM (Computational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Element Method). The inter-particle collision force, the van der Waals force, and the fluid-particle interaction forces are considered. The numerical model is used to simulate the hindered settling process of silt based on the experimental setup in the literature. The results obtained in the simulations, including the structural densities of the beds, the characteristic lines, and the particle terminal velocity, are in good agreement with the experimental observations in the literature. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that the influences of non-dimensional Bond number and particle polydispersity on the structural densities of silt beds have been investigated separately

A comprehensive study of MPI parallelism in three-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) simulation of complex-shaped granular particles

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Beichuan; Regueiro, Richard A.

2018-02-01

A three-dimensional (3D) DEM code for simulating complex-shaped granular particles is parallelized using message-passing interface (MPI). The concepts of link-block, ghost/border layer, and migration layer are put forward for design of the parallel algorithm, and theoretical scalability function of 3-D DEM scalability and memory usage is derived. Many performance-critical implementation details are managed optimally to achieve high performance and scalability, such as: minimizing communication overhead, maintaining dynamic load balance, handling particle migrations across block borders, transmitting C++ dynamic objects of particles between MPI processes efficiently, eliminating redundant contact information between adjacent MPI processes. The code executes on multiple US Department of Defense (DoD) supercomputers and tests up to 2048 compute nodes for simulating 10 million three-axis ellipsoidal particles. Performance analyses of the code including speedup, efficiency, scalability, and granularity across five orders of magnitude of simulation scale (number of particles) are provided, and they demonstrate high speedup and excellent scalability. It is also discovered that communication time is a decreasing function of the number of compute nodes in strong scaling measurements. The code's capability of simulating a large number of complex-shaped particles on modern supercomputers will be of value in both laboratory studies on micromechanical properties of granular materials and many realistic engineering applications involving granular materials.

Efficient particle-in-cell simulation of auroral plasma phenomena using a CUDA enabled graphics processing unit

Science.gov (United States)

Sewell, Stephen

This thesis introduces a software framework that effectively utilizes low-cost commercially available Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) to simulate complex scientific plasma phenomena that are modeled using the Particle-In-Cell (PIC) paradigm. The software framework that was developed conforms to the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA), a standard for general purpose graphic processing that was introduced by NVIDIA Corporation. This framework has been verified for correctness and applied to advance the state of understanding of the electromagnetic aspects of the development of the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis. For each phase of the PIC methodology, this research has identified one or more methods to exploit the problem's natural parallelism and effectively map it for execution on the graphic processing unit and its host processor. The sources of overhead that can reduce the effectiveness of parallelization for each of these methods have also been identified. One of the novel aspects of this research was the utilization of particle sorting during the grid interpolation phase. The final representation resulted in simulations that executed about 38 times faster than simulations that were run on a single-core general-purpose processing system. The scalability of this framework to larger problem sizes and future generation systems has also been investigated.

Simulation of granular and gas-solid flows using discrete element method

Science.gov (United States)

Boyalakuntla, Dhanunjay S.

2003-10-01

In recent years there has been increased research activity in the experimental and numerical study of gas-solid flows. Flows of this type have numerous applications in the energy, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals process industries. Typical applications include pulverized coal combustion, flow and heat transfer in bubbling and circulating fluidized beds, hopper and chute flows, pneumatic transport of pharmaceutical powders and pellets, and many more. The present work addresses the study of gas-solid flows using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques and discrete element simulation methods (DES) combined. Many previous studies of coupled gas-solid flows have been performed assuming the solid phase as a continuum with averaged properties and treating the gas-solid flow as constituting of interpenetrating continua. Instead, in the present work, the gas phase flow is simulated using continuum theory and the solid phase flow is simulated using DES. DES treats each solid particle individually, thus accounting for its dynamics due to particle-particle interactions, particle-wall interactions as well as fluid drag and buoyancy. The present work involves developing efficient DES methods for dense granular flow and coupling this simulation to continuum simulations of the gas phase flow. Simulations have been performed to observe pure granular behavior in vibrating beds. Benchmark cases have been simulated and the results obtained match the published literature. The dimensionless acceleration amplitude and the bed height are the parameters governing bed behavior. Various interesting behaviors such as heaping, round and cusp surface standing waves, as well as kinks, have been observed for different values of the acceleration amplitude for a given bed height. Furthermore, binary granular mixtures (granular mixtures with two particle sizes) in a vibrated bed have also been studied. Gas-solid flow simulations have been performed to study fluidized beds. Benchmark 2D

Physical test of a particle simulation model in a sheared granular system.

Science.gov (United States)

Rycroft, Chris H; Orpe, Ashish V; Kudrolli, Arshad

2009-09-01

We report a detailed comparison of a slow gravity-driven sheared granular flow with a discrete-element simulation performed in the same geometry. In the experiments, grains flow inside a silo with a rectangular cross section and are sheared by a rough boundary on one side and smooth boundaries on the other sides. Individual grain position and motion are measured using a particle index-matching imaging technique where a fluorescent dye is added to the interstitial liquid which has the same refractive index as the glass beads. The simulations use a Cundall-Strack contact model between the grains using contact parameters that have been used in many other previous studies and ignore the hydrodynamic effects of the interstitial liquid. Computations are performed to understand the effect of particle coefficient of friction, elasticity, contact model, and polydispersity on mean flow properties. We then perform a detailed comparison of the particle fluctuation properties as measured by the displacement probability distribution function and the mean square displacement. All in all, our study suggests a high level of quantitative agreement between the simulations and experiments.

Load-balancing techniques for a parallel electromagnetic particle-in-cell code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

PLIMPTON,STEVEN J.; SEIDEL,DAVID B.; PASIK,MICHAEL F.; COATS,REBECCA S.

2000-01-01

QUICKSILVER is a 3-d electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulation code developed and used at Sandia to model relativistic charged particle transport. It models the time-response of electromagnetic fields and low-density-plasmas in a self-consistent manner: the fields push the plasma particles and the plasma current modifies the fields. Through an LDRD project a new parallel version of QUICKSILVER was created to enable large-scale plasma simulations to be run on massively-parallel distributed-memory supercomputers with thousands of processors, such as the Intel Tflops and DEC CPlant machines at Sandia. The new parallel code implements nearly all the features of the original serial QUICKSILVER and can be run on any platform which supports the message-passing interface (MPI) standard as well as on single-processor workstations. This report describes basic strategies useful for parallelizing and load-balancing particle-in-cell codes, outlines the parallel algorithms used in this implementation, and provides a summary of the modifications made to QUICKSILVER. It also highlights a series of benchmark simulations which have been run with the new code that illustrate its performance and parallel efficiency. These calculations have up to a billion grid cells and particles and were run on thousands of processors. This report also serves as a user manual for people wishing to run parallel QUICKSILVER.

Load-balancing techniques for a parallel electromagnetic particle-in-cell code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plimpton, Steven J.; Seidel, David B.; Pasik, Michael F.; Coats, Rebecca S.

2000-01-01

QUICKSILVER is a 3-d electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulation code developed and used at Sandia to model relativistic charged particle transport. It models the time-response of electromagnetic fields and low-density-plasmas in a self-consistent manner: the fields push the plasma particles and the plasma current modifies the fields. Through an LDRD project a new parallel version of QUICKSILVER was created to enable large-scale plasma simulations to be run on massively-parallel distributed-memory supercomputers with thousands of processors, such as the Intel Tflops and DEC CPlant machines at Sandia. The new parallel code implements nearly all the features of the original serial QUICKSILVER and can be run on any platform which supports the message-passing interface (MPI) standard as well as on single-processor workstations. This report describes basic strategies useful for parallelizing and load-balancing particle-in-cell codes, outlines the parallel algorithms used in this implementation, and provides a summary of the modifications made to QUICKSILVER. It also highlights a series of benchmark simulations which have been run with the new code that illustrate its performance and parallel efficiency. These calculations have up to a billion grid cells and particles and were run on thousands of processors. This report also serves as a user manual for people wishing to run parallel QUICKSILVER

Radiation in Particle Simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

More, R.; Graziani, F.; Glosli, J.; Surh, M.

2010-01-01

Hot dense radiative (HDR) plasmas common to Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and stellar interiors have high temperature (a few hundred eV to tens of keV), high density (tens to hundreds of g/cc) and high pressure (hundreds of megabars to thousands of gigabars). Typically, such plasmas undergo collisional, radiative, atomic and possibly thermonuclear processes. In order to describe HDR plasmas, computational physicists in ICF and astrophysics use atomic-scale microphysical models implemented in various simulation codes. Experimental validation of the models used to describe HDR plasmas are difficult to perform. Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of the many-body interactions of plasmas is a promising approach to model validation but, previous work either relies on the collisionless approximation or ignores radiation. We present four methods that attempt a new numerical simulation technique to address a currently unsolved problem: the extension of molecular dynamics to collisional plasmas including emission and absorption of radiation. The first method applies the Lienard-Weichert solution of Maxwell's equations for a classical particle whose motion is assumed to be known. The second method expands the electromagnetic field in normal modes (planewaves in a box with periodic boundary-conditions) and solves the equation for wave amplitudes coupled to the particle motion. The third method is a hybrid molecular dynamics/Monte Carlo (MD/MC) method which calculates radiation emitted or absorbed by electron-ion pairs during close collisions. The fourth method is a generalization of the third method to include small clusters of particles emitting radiation during close encounters: one electron simultaneously hitting two ions, two electrons simultaneously hitting one ion, etc. This approach is inspired by the virial expansion method of equilibrium statistical mechanics. Using a combination of these methods we believe it is possible to do atomic-scale particle simulations of

E × B electron drift instability in Hall thrusters: Particle-in-cell simulations vs. theory

Science.gov (United States)

Boeuf, J. P.; Garrigues, L.

2018-06-01

The E × B Electron Drift Instability (E × B EDI), also called Electron Cyclotron Drift Instability, has been observed in recent particle simulations of Hall thrusters and is a possible candidate to explain anomalous electron transport across the magnetic field in these devices. This instability is characterized by the development of an azimuthal wave with wavelength in the mm range and velocity on the order of the ion acoustic velocity, which enhances electron transport across the magnetic field. In this paper, we study the development and convection of the E × B EDI in the acceleration and near plume regions of a Hall thruster using a simplified 2D axial-azimuthal Particle-In-Cell simulation. The simulation is collisionless and the ionization profile is not-self-consistent but rather is given as an input parameter of the model. The aim is to study the development and properties of the instability for different values of the ionization rate (i.e., of the total ion production rate or current) and to compare the results with the theory. An important result is that the wavelength of the simulated azimuthal wave scales as the electron Debye length and that its frequency is on the order of the ion plasma frequency. This is consistent with the theory predicting destruction of electron cyclotron resonance of the E × B EDI in the non-linear regime resulting in the transition to an ion acoustic instability. The simulations also show that for plasma densities smaller than under nominal conditions of Hall thrusters the field fluctuations induced by the E × B EDI are no longer sufficient to significantly enhance electron transport across the magnetic field, and transit time instabilities develop in the axial direction. The conditions and results of the simulations are described in detail in this paper and they can serve as benchmarks for comparisons between different simulation codes. Such benchmarks would be very useful to study the role of numerical noise (numerical

Fully non-linear multi-species Fokker-Planck-Landau collisions for gyrokinetic particle-in-cell simulations of fusion plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Hager, Robert; Yoon, E. S.; Ku, S.; D'Azevedo, E. F.; Worley, P. H.; Chang, C. S.

2015-11-01

We describe the implementation, and application of a time-dependent, fully nonlinear multi-species Fokker-Planck-Landau collision operator based on the single-species work of Yoon and Chang [Phys. Plasmas 21, 032503 (2014)] in the full-function gyrokinetic particle-in-cell codes XGC1 [Ku et al., Nucl. Fusion 49, 115021 (2009)] and XGCa. XGC simulations include the pedestal and scrape-off layer, where significant deviations of the particle distribution function from a Maxwellian can occur. Thus, in order to describe collisional effects on neoclassical and turbulence physics accurately, the use of a non-linear collision operator is a necessity. Our collision operator is based on a finite volume method using the velocity-space distribution functions sampled from the marker particles. Since the same fine configuration space mesh is used for collisions and the Poisson solver, the workload due to collisions can be comparable to or larger than the workload due to particle motion. We demonstrate that computing time spent on collisions can be kept affordable by applying advanced parallelization strategies while conserving mass, momentum, and energy to reasonable accuracy. We also show results of production scale XGCa simulations in the H-mode pedestal and compare to conventional theory. Work supported by US DOE OFES and OASCR.

Development of a convex polyhedral discrete element simulation framework for NVIDIA Kepler based GPUs

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Govender, Nicolin

2013-01-01

Full Text Available in nature and cannot be described by a closed form solution for more than a few particles. A popular and successful approach in simulating the underlying dynamics of GM is by using the Discrete Element Method (DEM). Computational viable simulations...

Particle-in-cell simulation of two-dimensional electron velocity shear driven instability in relativistic domain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shukla, Chandrasekhar, E-mail: chandrasekhar.shukla@gmail.com; Das, Amita, E-mail: amita@ipr.res.in [Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar 382428 (India); Patel, Kartik [Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085 (India)

2016-08-15

We carry out particle-in-cell simulations to study the instabilities associated with a 2-D sheared electron flow configuration against a neutralizing background of ions. Both weak and strong relativistic flow velocities are considered. In the weakly relativistic case, we observe the development of electromagnetic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability with similar characteristics as that predicted by the electron Magnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) model. On the contrary, in a strong relativistic case, the compressibility effects of electron fluid dominate and introduce upper hybrid electrostatic oscillations transverse to the flow which are very distinct from EMHD fluid behavior. In the nonlinear regime, both weak and strong relativistic cases lead to turbulence with broad power law spectrum.

Cell-element simulations to optimize the performance of osmotic processes in porous membranes

KAUST Repository

Calo, Victor M.; Iliev, Oleg; Nunes, Suzana Pereira; Printsypar, Galina; Shi, Meixia

2018-01-01

concerns the design of a cell element for the forward osmosis experiments. Using the developed software tool we qualitatively and quantitatively investigate the performance of a cell element that we designed for laboratory experiments of forward osmosis

Progress in the study of mesh refinement for particle-in-cell plasma simulations and its application to heavy ion fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vay, J.-L.; Friedman, A.; Grote, D.P.

2002-01-01

The numerical simulation of the driving beams in a heavy ion fusion power plant is a challenging task, and, despite rapid progress in computer power, one must consider the use of the most advanced numerical techniques. One of the difficulties of these simulations resides in the disparity of scales in time and in space which must be resolved. When these disparities are in distinctive zones of the simulation region, a method which has proven to be effective in other areas (e.g. fluid dynamics simulations) is the Adaptive-Mesh-Refinement (AMR) technique. We follow in this article the progress accomplished in the last few months in the merging of the AMR technique with Particle-In-Cell (PIC) method. This includes a detailed modeling of the Lampel-Tiefenback solution for the one-dimensional diode using novel techniques to suppress undesirable numerical oscillations and an AMR patch to follow the head of the particle distribution. We also report new results concerning the modeling of ion sources using the axisymmetric WARPRZ-AMR prototype showing the utility of an AMR patch resolving the emitter vicinity and the beam edge

Artificial cooling due to quiet injection in bounded plasma particle simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawson, W.S.

1988-01-01

An explanation is proposed for an artificial cooling effect seen in electrostatic particle-in-cell plasma simulations. The effect hinges on heat transport from the trapped electrons to fluctuations of the electric field, which are kept at a sub-thermal level through the continuous ''quiet'' injection of passing electrons. Further simulations are done which test and support the explanation. copyright 1988 Academic Press, Inc

A discrete element based simulation framework to investigate particulate spray deposition processes

KAUST Repository

Mukherjee, Debanjan; Zohdi, Tarek I.

2015-01-01

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. This work presents a computer simulation framework based on discrete element method to analyze manufacturing processes that comprise a loosely flowing stream of particles in a carrier fluid being deposited on a target surface

Particle-based simulation of charge transport in discrete-charge nano-scale systems: the electrostatic problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Berti, Claudio; Gillespie, Dirk; Eisenberg, Robert S; Fiegna, Claudio

2012-02-16

The fast and accurate computation of the electric forces that drive the motion of charged particles at the nanometer scale represents a computational challenge. For this kind of system, where the discrete nature of the charges cannot be neglected, boundary element methods (BEM) represent a better approach than finite differences/finite elements methods. In this article, we compare two different BEM approaches to a canonical electrostatic problem in a three-dimensional space with inhomogeneous dielectrics, emphasizing their suitability for particle-based simulations: the iterative method proposed by Hoyles et al. and the Induced Charge Computation introduced by Boda et al.

Large eddy simulation modeling of particle-laden flows in complex terrain

Science.gov (United States)

Salesky, S.; Giometto, M. G.; Chamecki, M.; Lehning, M.; Parlange, M. B.

2017-12-01

The transport, deposition, and erosion of heavy particles over complex terrain in the atmospheric boundary layer is an important process for hydrology, air quality forecasting, biology, and geomorphology. However, in situ observations can be challenging in complex terrain due to spatial heterogeneity. Furthermore, there is a need to develop numerical tools that can accurately represent the physics of these multiphase flows over complex surfaces. We present a new numerical approach to accurately model the transport and deposition of heavy particles in complex terrain using large eddy simulation (LES). Particle transport is represented through solution of the advection-diffusion equation including terms that represent gravitational settling and inertia. The particle conservation equation is discretized in a cut-cell finite volume framework in order to accurately enforce mass conservation. Simulation results will be validated with experimental data, and numerical considerations required to enforce boundary conditions at the surface will be discussed. Applications will be presented in the context of snow deposition and transport, as well as urban dispersion.

Optical separation and controllable delivery of cells from particle and cell mixture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Yuchao

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Cell separation and delivery have recently gained significant attention in biological and biochemical studies. In thiswork, an optical method for separation and controllable delivery of cells by using an abruptly tapered fiber probe is reported. By launching a laser beam at the wavelength of 980 nm into the fiber, a mixture of cells with sizes of ~5 and ~3 μm and poly(methyl methacrylate particles with size of 5 μm are separated into three chains along the direction of propagation of light. The cell and particle chains are delivered in three dimensions over 600 μm distance. Experimental results are interpreted by numerical simulations. Optical forces and forward migration velocities of different particles and cells are calculated and discussed.

Determining Trajectory of Triboelectrically Charged Particles, Using Discrete Element Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory is participating in an Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) project with an industry partner to modify a commercial off-the-shelf simulation software product to treat the electrodynamics of particulate systems. Discrete element modeling (DEM) is a numerical technique that can track the dynamics of particle systems. This technique, which was introduced in 1979 for analysis of rock mechanics, was recently refined to include the contact force interaction of particles with arbitrary surfaces and moving machinery. In our work, we endeavor to incorporate electrostatic forces into the DEM calculations to enhance the fidelity of the software and its applicability to (1) particle processes, such as electrophotography, that are greatly affected by electrostatic forces, (2) grain and dust transport, and (3) the study of lunar and Martian regoliths.

On the Adhesive JKR Contact and Rolling Models for Reduced Particle Stiffness Discrete Element Simulations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hærvig, Jakob; Kleinhans, Ulrich; Wieland, Christoph

2017-01-01

particle stiffness to experimental data. Then two well-defined test cases are investigated to show the applicability of the guidelines. When introducing a reduced particle stiffness in DEM simulations by reducing the effective Young's modulus from E to Emod, the surface energy density γ in the adhesive......, this criterion can be used to estimate how much the time step size can be changed when a reduced particle stiffness is introduced. Introducing particles with a reduced particle stiffness has some limitations when strong external forces are acting to break-up formed agglomerates or re-entrain particles deposited...... on a surface out into the free stream. Therefore, care should be taken in flows with high local shear to make sure that an external force, such as a fluid drag force, acting to separate agglomerated particles, is several orders of magnitude lower than the critical force required to separate particles....

Theory of the particle matrix elements for Helium atom scattering in surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khater, A.; Toennies, J.P.

2000-01-01

Full text.A brief review is presented for the recent development of the theory of the particle transition matrix elements, basic to the cross section for Helium and inert particle scattering at thermal energies in solid surfaces. the Jackson and Mott matrix elements are presented and discussed for surface scattering processes, habitually classified as elastic and inelastic. Modified transition matrix elements, introduced originally to account for the cut-off effects, are presented in a direct and simple manner. the Debye-Waller factor is introduced and discussed. A recent calculation for the particle transition matrix elements is presented for the specular and inelastic transition matrix elements and the corresponding inelastic scattering cross section is compared in detail to experimental data. the specular and inelastic transition matrix elements are found to be intrinsically similar owing to the intermediate role of a proposed virtual particle squeezed state near the surface

An incompressible two-dimensional multiphase particle-in-cell model for dense particle flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Snider, D.M. [SAIC, Albuquerque, NM (United States); O`Rourke, P.J. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Andrews, M.J. [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

1997-06-01

A two-dimensional, incompressible, multiphase particle-in-cell (MP-PIC) method is presented for dense particle flows. The numerical technique solves the governing equations of the fluid phase using a continuum model and those of the particle phase using a Lagrangian model. Difficulties associated with calculating interparticle interactions for dense particle flows with volume fractions above 5% have been eliminated by mapping particle properties to a Eulerian grid and then mapping back computed stress tensors to particle positions. This approach utilizes the best of Eulerian/Eulerian continuum models and Eulerian/Lagrangian discrete models. The solution scheme allows for distributions of types, sizes, and density of particles, with no numerical diffusion from the Lagrangian particle calculations. The computational method is implicit with respect to pressure, velocity, and volume fraction in the continuum solution thus avoiding courant limits on computational time advancement. MP-PIC simulations are compared with one-dimensional problems that have analytical solutions and with two-dimensional problems for which there are experimental data.

Fully implicit Particle-in-cell algorithms for multiscale plasma simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chacon, Luis [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2015-07-16

The outline of the paper is as follows: Particle-in-cell (PIC) methods for fully ionized collisionless plasmas, explicit vs. implicit PIC, 1D ES implicit PIC (charge and energy conservation, moment-based acceleration), and generalization to Multi-D EM PIC: Vlasov-Darwin model (review and motivation for Darwin model, conservation properties (energy, charge, and canonical momenta), and numerical benchmarks). The author demonstrates a fully implicit, fully nonlinear, multidimensional PIC formulation that features exact local charge conservation (via a novel particle mover strategy), exact global energy conservation (no particle self-heating or self-cooling), adaptive particle orbit integrator to control errors in momentum conservation, and canonical momenta (EM-PIC only, reduced dimensionality). The approach is free of numerical instabilities: ω_peΔt >> 1, and Δx >> λ_D. It requires many fewer dofs (vs. explicit PIC) for comparable accuracy in challenging problems. Significant CPU gains (vs explicit PIC) have been demonstrated. The method has much potential for efficiency gains vs. explicit in long-time-scale applications. Moment-based acceleration is effective in minimizing N_FE, leading to an optimal algorithm.

Integration of Heat Transfer, Stress, and Particle Trajectory Simulation. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bui, Thuc; Read, Michael; Ives, Lawrence

2012-01-01

Calabazas Creek Research, Inc. developed and currently markets Beam Optics Analyzer (BOA) in the United States and abroad. BOA is a 3D, charged particle optics code that solves the electric and magnetic fields with and without the presence of particles. It includes automatic and adaptive meshing to resolve spatial scales ranging from a few millimeters to meters. It is fully integrated with CAD packages, such as SolidWorks, allowing seamless geometry updates. The code includes iterative procedures for optimization, including a fully functional, graphical user interface. Recently, time dependent, particle in cell capability was added, pushing particles synchronically under quasistatic electromagnetic fields to obtain particle bunching under RF conditions. A heat transfer solver was added during this Phase I program. Completed tasks include: (1) Added a 3D finite element heat transfer solver with adaptivity; (2) Determined the accuracy of the linear heat transfer field solver to provide the basis for development of higher order solvers in Phase II; (3) Provided more accurate and smoother power density fields; and (4) Defined the geometry using the same CAD model, while maintaining different meshes, and interfacing the power density field between the particle simulator and heat transfer solvers. These objectives were achieved using modern programming techniques and algorithms. All programming was in C++ and parallelization in OpenMP, utilizing state-of-the-art multi-core technology. Both x86 and x64 versions are supported. The GUI design and implementation used Microsoft Foundation Class.

Particle-in-cell/accelerator code for space-charge dominated beam simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2012-05-08

Warp is a multidimensional discrete-particle beam simulation program designed to be applicable where the beam space-charge is non-negligible or dominant. It is being developed in a collaboration among LLNL, LBNL and the University of Maryland. It was originally designed and optimized for heave ion fusion accelerator physics studies, but has received use in a broader range of applications, including for example laser wakefield accelerators, e-cloud studies in high enery accelerators, particle traps and other areas. At present it incorporates 3-D, axisymmetric (r,z) planar (x-z) and transverse slice (x,y) descriptions, with both electrostatic and electro-magnetic fields, and a beam envelope model. The code is guilt atop the Python interpreter language.

A discrete element based simulation framework to investigate particulate spray deposition processes

KAUST Repository

Mukherjee, Debanjan

2015-06-01

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. This work presents a computer simulation framework based on discrete element method to analyze manufacturing processes that comprise a loosely flowing stream of particles in a carrier fluid being deposited on a target surface. The individual particulate dynamics under the combined action of particle collisions, fluid-particle interactions, particle-surface contact and adhesive interactions is simulated, and aggregated to obtain global system behavior. A model for deposition which incorporates the effect of surface energy, impact velocity and particle size, is developed. The fluid-particle interaction is modeled using appropriate spray nozzle gas velocity distributions and a one-way coupling between the phases. It is found that the particle response times and the release velocity distribution of particles have a combined effect on inter-particle collisions during the flow along the spray. It is also found that resolution of the particulate collisions close to the target surface plays an important role in characterizing the trends in the deposit pattern. Analysis of the deposit pattern using metrics defined from the particle distribution on the target surface is provided to characterize the deposition efficiency, deposit size, and scatter due to collisions.

Particle-in-Cell Simulation Study on the Floating Potential of Spacecraft in the Low Earth Orbit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Daotan; Yang Shengsheng; Zheng Kuohai; Qin Xiaogang; Li Detian; Liu Qing; Zhao Chengxuan; Du Shanshan

2015-01-01

In order to further understand the characteristics of the floating potential of low earth orbit spacecraft, the effects of the electron current collection area, background electron temperature, photocurrent emission, spacecraft wake, and the shape of spacecraft on spacecraft floating potential were studied here by particle-in-cell simulation in the low earth orbit. The simulation results show that the electron current collection area and background electron temperature impact on the floating potential by changing the electron current collection of spacecraft. By increasing the electron current collection area or background electron temperature, the spacecraft will float at a lower electric potential with respect to the surrounding plasma. However, the spacecraft wake affects the floating potential by increasing the ion current collected by spacecraft. The emission of the photocurrent from the spacecraft surface, which compensates for the electrons collected from background plasma, causes the floating potential to increase. The shape of the spacecraft is also an important factor influencing the floating potential. (paper)

DEM simulation of particle mixing for optimizing the overcoating drum in HTR fuel fabrication

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Malin; Lu, Zhengming; Liu, Bing; Shao, Youlin

2013-06-01

The rotating drum was used for overcoating coated fuel particles in HTR fuel fabrication process. All the coated particles should be adhered to equal amount of graphite powder, which means that the particle should be mixed quickly in both radial and axial directions. This paper investigated the particle flow dynamics and mixing behavior in different regimes using the discrete element method (DEM). By varying the rotation speed, different flow regimes such as slumping, rolling, cascading, cataracting, centrifuging were produced. The mixing entropy based on radial and axial grid was introduced to describe the radial and axial mixing behaviors. From simulation results, it was found that the radial mixing can be achieved in the cascading regime more quickly than the slumping, rolling and centrifuging regimes, but the traditional rotating drum without internal components can not achieve the requirements of axial mixing and should be improved. Three different structures of internal components are proposed and simulated. The new V-shaped deflectors were found to achieve a quick axial mixing behavior and uniform axial distribution in the rotating drum based on simulation results. At last, the superiority was validated by experimental results, and the new V-shaped deflectors were used in the industrial production of the overcoating coated fuel particles in HTR fuel fabrication process.

Particle Swarm-Based Translation Control for Immersed Tunnel Element in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Project

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jun-jun; Yang, Xiao-jun; Xiao, Ying-jie; Xu, Bo-wei; Wu, Hua-feng

2018-03-01

Immersed tunnel is an important part of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) project. In immersed tunnel floating, translation which includes straight and transverse movements is the main working mode. To decide the magnitude and direction of the towing force for each tug, a particle swarm-based translation control method is presented for non-power immersed tunnel element. A sort of linear weighted logarithmic function is exploited to avoid weak subgoals. In simulation, the particle swarm-based control method is evaluated and compared with traditional empirical method in the case of the HZMB project. Simulation results show that the presented method delivers performance improvement in terms of the enhanced surplus towing force.

Vectorization of a particle code used in the simulation of rarefied hypersonic flow

Science.gov (United States)

Baganoff, D.

1990-01-01

A limitation of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is that it does not allow efficient use of vector architectures that predominate in current supercomputers. Consequently, the problems that can be handled are limited to those of one- and two-dimensional flows. This work focuses on a reformulation of the DSMC method with the objective of designing a procedure that is optimized to the vector architectures found on machines such as the Cray-2. In addition, it focuses on finding a better balance between algorithmic complexity and the total number of particles employed in a simulation so that the overall performance of a particle simulation scheme can be greatly improved. Simulations of the flow about a 3D blunt body are performed with 10 to the 7th particles and 4 x 10 to the 5th mesh cells. Good statistics are obtained with time averaging over 800 time steps using 4.5 h of Cray-2 single-processor CPU time.

Particle-in-cell simulations of magnetically driven reconnection using laser-powered capacitor coils

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Kai; Lu, Quanming; Gao, Lan; Ji, Hantao; Wang, Xueyi; Fan, Feibin

2018-05-01

In this paper, we propose an experimental scheme to fulfill magnetically driven reconnections. Here, two laser beams are focused on a capacitor-coil target and then strong currents are wired in two parallel circular coils. Magnetic reconnection occurs between the two magnetic bubbles created by the currents in the two parallel circular coils. A two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation model in the cylindrical coordinate is used to investigate such a process, and the simulations are performed in the (r ,z ) plane. The results show that with the increase of the currents in the two coils, the associated magnetic bubbles expand and a current sheet is formed between the two bubbles. Magnetic reconnection occurs when the current sheet is sufficiently thin. A quadrupole structure of the magnetic field in the θ direction ( Bθ ) is generated in the diffusion region and a strong electron current along the r direction ( Je r ) is also formed due to the existence of the high-speed electron flow away from the X line in the center of the outflow region. Because the X line is a circle along the θ direction, the convergence of the plasma flow around r =0 will lead to the asymmetry of Je r and Bθ between the two outflow regions of magnetic reconnection.

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of the expansion of a plasma into a rarefied medium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sarri, G; Quinn, K; Kourakis, I; Borghesi, M [Centre for Plasma Physics, The Queens University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom); Murphy, G C; Drury, L O C [Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2 (Ireland); Dieckmann, M E; Ynnerman, A [Department of Science and Technology (ITN), Linkoeping University, 60174 Norrkoping (Sweden); Bret, A, E-mail: gsarri01@qub.ac.uk [ETSI Industriales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 13071 Ciudad Real (Spain)

2011-07-15

The expansion of a dense plasma through a more rarefied ionized medium has been studied by means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The initial conditions involve a density jump by a factor of 100, located in the middle of an otherwise equally dense electron-proton plasma with uniform proton and electron temperatures of 10 eV and 1 keV, respectively. Simulations show the creation of a purely electrostatic collisionless shock together with an ion-acoustic soliton tied to its downstream region. The shock front is seen to evolve in filamentary structures consistently with the onset of the ion-ion instability. Meanwhile, an un-magnetized drift instability is triggered in the core part of the dense plasma. Such results explain recent experimental laser-plasma experiments, carried out in similar conditions, and are of intrinsic relevance to non-relativistic shock scenarios in the solar and astrophysical systems.

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of the expansion of a plasma into a rarefied medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarri, G; Quinn, K; Kourakis, I; Borghesi, M; Murphy, G C; Drury, L O C; Dieckmann, M E; Ynnerman, A; Bret, A

2011-01-01

The expansion of a dense plasma through a more rarefied ionized medium has been studied by means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The initial conditions involve a density jump by a factor of 100, located in the middle of an otherwise equally dense electron-proton plasma with uniform proton and electron temperatures of 10 eV and 1 keV, respectively. Simulations show the creation of a purely electrostatic collisionless shock together with an ion-acoustic soliton tied to its downstream region. The shock front is seen to evolve in filamentary structures consistently with the onset of the ion-ion instability. Meanwhile, an un-magnetized drift instability is triggered in the core part of the dense plasma. Such results explain recent experimental laser-plasma experiments, carried out in similar conditions, and are of intrinsic relevance to non-relativistic shock scenarios in the solar and astrophysical systems.

Discrete Element Modeling of the Mobilization of Coarse Gravel Beds by Finer Gravel Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, K. M.; Tan, D.

2012-12-01

Recent research has shown that the addition of fine gravel particles to a coarse bed will mobilize the coarser bed, and that the effect is sufficiently strong that a pulse of fine gravel particles can mobilize an impacted coarser bed. Recent flume experiments have demonstrated that the degree of bed mobilization by finer particles is primarily dependent on the particle size ratio of the coarse and fine particles, rather than absolute size of either particle, provided both particles are sufficiently large. However, the mechanism behind the mobilization is not understood. It has previously been proposed that the mechanism is driven by a combination of geometric effects and hydraulic effects. For example, it has been argued that smaller particles fill in gaps along the bed, resulting in a smoother bed over which the larger particles are less likely to be disentrained and a reduced near-bed flow velocity and subsequent increased drag on protruding particles. Altered near-bed turbulence has also been cited as playing an important role. We perform simulations using the discrete element method with one-way fluid-solid coupling to conduct simulations of mobilization of a gravel bed by fine gravel particles. By independently and artificially controlling average and fluctuating velocity profiles, we systematically investigate the relative role that may be played by particle-particle interactions, average near-bed velocity profiles, and near-bed turbulence statistics. The simulations indicate that the relative importance of these mechanisms changes with the degree of mobilization of the bed. For higher bed mobility similar to bed sheets, particle-particle interactions, plays a significant role in an apparent rheology in the bed sheets, not unlike that observed in a dense granular flow of particles of different sizes. For conditions closer to a critical shear stress for bedload transport, the near-bed velocity profiles and turbulence statistics become increasingly important.

3D finite element modelling of force transmission and particle fracture of sand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Imseeh, Wadi H.; Alshibli, Khalid A. (Tennessee-K)

2018-02-01

Global compressive loading of granular media causes rearrangements of particles into a denser configuration. Under 1D compression, researchers observed that particles initially translate and rotate which lead to more contacts between particles and the development of force chains to resist applied loads. Particles within force chains resist most of the applied loads while neighbor particles provide lateral support to prevent particles within force chains from buckling. Several experimental and numerical models have been proposed in the literature to characterize force chains within granular materials. This paper presents a 3D finite element (FE) model that simulates 1D compression experiment on F-75 Ottawa sand. The FE mesh of particles closely matched 3D physical shape of sand particles that were acquired using 3D synchrotron micro-computed tomography (SMT) technique. The paper presents a quantitative assessment of the model, in which evolution of force chains, fracture modes, and stress-strain relationships showed an excellent agreement with experimental measurements reported by Cil et al. Alshibli (2017).

Micromagnetic simulations of spinel ferrite particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dantas, Christine C.; Gama, Adriana M.

2010-01-01

This paper presents the results of simulations of the magnetization field ac response (at 2-12 GHz) of various submicron ferrite particles (cylindrical dots). The ferrites in the present simulations have the spinel structure, expressed here by M 1 - n Zn n Fe 2 O 4 (where M stands for a divalent metal), and the parameters chosen were the following: (a) for n=0: M={Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Mg, Cu }; (b) for n=0.1: M = {Fe, Mg} (mixed ferrites). These runs represent full 3D micromagnetic (one-particle) ferrite simulations. We find evidences of confined spin waves in all simulations, as well as a complex behavior nearby the main resonance peak in the case of the M = {Mg, Cu} ferrites. A comparison of the n=0 and n=0.1 cases for fixed M reveals a significant change in the spectra in M = Mg ferrites, but only a minor change in the M=Fe case. An additional larger scale simulation of a 3 by 3 particle array was performed using similar conditions of the Fe 3 O 4 (magnetite; n=0, M = Fe) one-particle simulation. We find that the main resonance peak of the Fe 3 O 4 one-particle simulation is disfigured in the corresponding 3 by 3 particle simulation, indicating the extent to which dipolar interactions are able to affect the main resonance peak in that magnetic compound.

Partially linearized algorithms in gyrokinetic particle simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dimits, A.M.; Lee, W.W.

1990-10-01

In this paper, particle simulation algorithms with time-varying weights for the gyrokinetic Vlasov-Poisson system have been developed. The primary purpose is to use them for the removal of the selected nonlinearities in the simulation of gradient-driven microturbulence so that the relative importance of the various nonlinear effects can be assessed. It is hoped that the use of these procedures will result in a better understanding of the transport mechanisms and scaling in tokamaks. Another application of these algorithms is for the improvement of the numerical properties of the simulation plasma. For instance, implementations of such algorithms (1) enable us to suppress the intrinsic numerical noise in the simulation, and (2) also make it possible to regulate the weights of the fast-moving particles and, in turn, to eliminate the associated high frequency oscillations. Examples of their application to drift-type instabilities in slab geometry are given. We note that the work reported here represents the first successful use of the weighted algorithms in particle codes for the nonlinear simulation of plasmas.

Partially linearized algorithms in gyrokinetic particle simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dimits, A.M.; Lee, W.W.

1990-10-01

In this paper, particle simulation algorithms with time-varying weights for the gyrokinetic Vlasov-Poisson system have been developed. The primary purpose is to use them for the removal of the selected nonlinearities in the simulation of gradient-driven microturbulence so that the relative importance of the various nonlinear effects can be assessed. It is hoped that the use of these procedures will result in a better understanding of the transport mechanisms and scaling in tokamaks. Another application of these algorithms is for the improvement of the numerical properties of the simulation plasma. For instance, implementations of such algorithms (1) enable us to suppress the intrinsic numerical noise in the simulation, and (2) also make it possible to regulate the weights of the fast-moving particles and, in turn, to eliminate the associated high frequency oscillations. Examples of their application to drift-type instabilities in slab geometry are given. We note that the work reported here represents the first successful use of the weighted algorithms in particle codes for the nonlinear simulation of plasmas

Neurosurgery simulation using non-linear finite element modeling and haptic interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Huai-Ping; Audette, Michel; Joldes, Grand R.; Enquobahrie, Andinet

2012-02-01

Real-time surgical simulation is becoming an important component of surgical training. To meet the realtime requirement, however, the accuracy of the biomechancial modeling of soft tissue is often compromised due to computing resource constraints. Furthermore, haptic integration presents an additional challenge with its requirement for a high update rate. As a result, most real-time surgical simulation systems employ a linear elasticity model, simplified numerical methods such as the boundary element method or spring-particle systems, and coarse volumetric meshes. However, these systems are not clinically realistic. We present here an ongoing work aimed at developing an efficient and physically realistic neurosurgery simulator using a non-linear finite element method (FEM) with haptic interaction. Real-time finite element analysis is achieved by utilizing the total Lagrangian explicit dynamic (TLED) formulation and GPU acceleration of per-node and per-element operations. We employ a virtual coupling method for separating deformable body simulation and collision detection from haptic rendering, which needs to be updated at a much higher rate than the visual simulation. The system provides accurate biomechancial modeling of soft tissue while retaining a real-time performance with haptic interaction. However, our experiments showed that the stability of the simulator depends heavily on the material property of the tissue and the speed of colliding objects. Hence, additional efforts including dynamic relaxation are required to improve the stability of the system.

A collision model in plasma particle simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Yanyun; Chang Wenwei; Yin Yan; Yue Zongwu; Cao Lihua; Liu Daqing

2000-01-01

In order to offset the collisional effects reduced by using finite-size particles, β particle clouds are used in particle simulation codes (β is the ratio of charge or mass of modeling particles to real ones). The method of impulse approximation (strait line orbit approximation) is used to analyze the scattering cross section of β particle clouds plasmas. The authors can obtain the relation of the value of a and β and scattering cross section (a is the radius of β particle cloud). By using this relation the authors can determine the value of a and β so that the collisional effects of the modeling system is correspondent with the real one. The authors can also adjust the values of a and β so that the authors can enhance or reduce the collisional effects fictitiously. The results of simulation are in good agreement with the theoretical ones

Nonlinear Delta-f Particle Simulations of Collective Effects in High-Intensity Bunched Beams

CERN Document Server

Qin, Hong; Hudson, Stuart R; Startsev, Edward

2005-01-01

The collective effects in high-intensity 3D bunched beams are described self-consistently by the nonlinear Vlasov-Maxwell equations.* The nonlinear delta-f method,** a particle simulation method for solving the nonlinear Vlasov-Maxwell equations, is being used to study the collective effects in high-intensity 3D bunched beams. The delta-f method, as a nonlinear perturbative scheme, splits the distribution function into equilibrium and perturbed parts. The perturbed distribution function is represented as a weighted summation over discrete particles, where the particle orbits are advanced by equations of motion in the focusing field and self-consistent fields, and the particle weights are advanced by the coupling between the perturbed fields and the zero-order distribution function. The nonlinear delta-f method exhibits minimal noise and accuracy problems in comparison with standard particle-in-cell simulations. A self-consistent 3D kinetic equilibrium is first established for high intensity bunched beams. The...

BOA, Beam Optics Analyzer A Particle-In-Cell Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bui, Thuc

2007-01-01

The program was tasked with implementing time dependent analysis of charges particles into an existing finite element code with adaptive meshing, called Beam Optics Analyzer (BOA). BOA was initially funded by a DOE Phase II program to use the finite element method with adaptive meshing to track particles in unstructured meshes. It uses modern programming techniques, state-of-the-art data structures, so that new methods, features and capabilities are easily added and maintained. This Phase II program was funded to implement plasma simulations in BOA and extend its capabilities to model thermal electrons, secondary emissions, self magnetic field and implement a more comprehensive post-processing and feature-rich GUI. The program was successful in implementing thermal electrons, secondary emissions, and self magnetic field calculations. The BOA GUI was also upgraded significantly, and CCR is receiving interest from the microwave tube and semiconductor equipment industry for the code. Implementation of PIC analysis was partially successful. Computational resource requirements for modeling more than 2000 particles begin to exceed the capability of most readily available computers. Modern plasma analysis typically requires modeling of approximately 2 million particles or more. The problem is that tracking many particles in an unstructured mesh that is adapting becomes inefficient. In particular memory requirements become excessive. This probably makes particle tracking in unstructured meshes currently unfeasible with commonly available computer resources. Consequently, Calabazas Creek Research, Inc. is exploring hybrid codes where the electromagnetic fields are solved on the unstructured, adaptive mesh while particles are tracked on a fixed mesh. Efficient interpolation routines should be able to transfer information between nodes of the two meshes. If successfully developed, this could provide high accuracy and reasonable computational efficiency.

Particle-in-cell simulations of asymmetric guide-field reconnection: quadrupolar structure of Hall magnetic field

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitz, R. G.; Alves, M. V.; Barbosa, M. V. G.

2017-12-01

One of the most important processes that occurs in Earth's magnetosphere is known as magnetic reconnection (MR). This process can be symmetric or asymmetric, depending basically on the plasma density and magnetic field in both sides of the current sheet. A good example of symmetric reconnection in terrestrial magnetosphere occurs in the magnetotail, where these quantities are similar on the north and south lobes. In the dayside magnetopause MR is asymmetric, since the plasma regimes and magnetic fields of magnetosheath and magnetosphere are quite different. Symmetric reconnection has some unique signatures. For example, the formation of a quadrupolar structure of Hall magnetic field and a bipolar Hall electric field that points to the center of the current sheet. The different particle motions in the presence of asymmetries change these signatures, causing the quadrupolar pattern to be distorted and forming a bipolar structure. Also, the bipolar Hall electric field is modified and gives rise to a single peak pointing toward the magnetosheat, considering an example of magnetopause reconnection. The presence of a guide-field can also distort the quadrupolar pattern, by giving a shear angle across the current sheet and altering the symmetric patterns, according to previous simulations and observations. Recently, a quadrupolar structure was observed in an asymmetric guide-field MR event using MMS (Magnetospheric Multiscale) mission data [Peng et al., JGR, 2017]. This event shows clearly that the density asymmetry and the guide-field were not sufficient to form signatures of asymmetric reconnection. Using the particle-in-cell code iPIC3D [Markidis et al, Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 2010] with the MMS data from this event used to define input parameters, we found a quadrupolar structure of Hall magnetic field and a bipolar pattern of Hall electric field in ion scales, showing that our results are in an excellent agreement with the MMS observations. To our

Electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations of the solar wind interaction with lunar magnetic anomalies.

Science.gov (United States)

Deca, J; Divin, A; Lapenta, G; Lembège, B; Markidis, S; Horányi, M

2014-04-18

We present the first three-dimensional fully kinetic and electromagnetic simulations of the solar wind interaction with lunar crustal magnetic anomalies (LMAs). Using the implicit particle-in-cell code iPic3D, we confirm that LMAs may indeed be strong enough to stand off the solar wind from directly impacting the lunar surface forming a mini-magnetosphere, as suggested by spacecraft observations and theory. In contrast to earlier magnetohydrodynamics and hybrid simulations, the fully kinetic nature of iPic3D allows us to investigate the space charge effects and in particular the electron dynamics dominating the near-surface lunar plasma environment. We describe for the first time the interaction of a dipole model centered just below the lunar surface under plasma conditions such that only the electron population is magnetized. The fully kinetic treatment identifies electromagnetic modes that alter the magnetic field at scales determined by the electron physics. Driven by strong pressure anisotropies, the mini-magnetosphere is unstable over time, leading to only temporal shielding of the surface underneath. Future human exploration as well as lunar science in general therefore hinges on a better understanding of LMAs.

Direct numerical simulations of particle-laden density currents with adaptive, discontinuous finite elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. D. Parkinson

2014-09-01

Full Text Available High-resolution direct numerical simulations (DNSs are an important tool for the detailed analysis of turbidity current dynamics. Models that resolve the vertical structure and turbulence of the flow are typically based upon the Navier–Stokes equations. Two-dimensional simulations are known to produce unrealistic cohesive vortices that are not representative of the real three-dimensional physics. The effect of this phenomena is particularly apparent in the later stages of flow propagation. The ideal solution to this problem is to run the simulation in three dimensions but this is computationally expensive. This paper presents a novel finite-element (FE DNS turbidity current model that has been built within Fluidity, an open source, general purpose, computational fluid dynamics code. The model is validated through re-creation of a lock release density current at a Grashof number of 5 × 106 in two and three dimensions. Validation of the model considers the flow energy budget, sedimentation rate, head speed, wall normal velocity profiles and the final deposit. Conservation of energy in particular is found to be a good metric for measuring model performance in capturing the range of dynamics on a range of meshes. FE models scale well over many thousands of processors and do not impose restrictions on domain shape, but they are computationally expensive. The use of adaptive mesh optimisation is shown to reduce the required element count by approximately two orders of magnitude in comparison with fixed, uniform mesh simulations. This leads to a substantial reduction in computational cost. The computational savings and flexibility afforded by adaptivity along with the flexibility of FE methods make this model well suited to simulating turbidity currents in complex domains.

A three-dimensional electrostatic particle-in-cell methodology on unstructured Delaunay-Voronoi grids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gatsonis, Nikolaos A.; Spirkin, Anton

2009-01-01

The mathematical formulation and computational implementation of a three-dimensional particle-in-cell methodology on unstructured Delaunay-Voronoi tetrahedral grids is presented. The method allows simulation of plasmas in complex domains and incorporates the duality of the Delaunay-Voronoi in all aspects of the particle-in-cell cycle. Charge assignment and field interpolation weighting schemes of zero- and first-order are formulated based on the theory of long-range constraints. Electric potential and fields are derived from a finite-volume formulation of Gauss' law using the Voronoi-Delaunay dual. Boundary conditions and the algorithms for injection, particle loading, particle motion, and particle tracking are implemented for unstructured Delaunay grids. Error and sensitivity analysis examines the effects of particles/cell, grid scaling, and timestep on the numerical heating, the slowing-down time, and the deflection times. The problem of current collection by cylindrical Langmuir probes in collisionless plasmas is used for validation. Numerical results compare favorably with previous numerical and analytical solutions for a wide range of probe radius to Debye length ratios, probe potentials, and electron to ion temperature ratios. The versatility of the methodology is demonstrated with the simulation of a complex plasma microsensor, a directional micro-retarding potential analyzer that includes a low transparency micro-grid.

Toward the modeling of combustion reactions through discrete element method (DEM) simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Reis, Martina Costa; Alobaid, Falah; Wang, Yongqi

2018-03-01

In this work, the process of combustion of coal particles under turbulent regime in a high-temperature reaction chamber is modeled through 3D discrete element method (DEM) simulations. By assuming the occurrence of interfacial transport phenomena between the gas and solid phases, one investigates the influence of the physicochemical properties of particles on the rates of heterogeneous chemical reactions, as well as the influence of eddies present in the gas phase on the mass transport of reactants toward the coal particles surface. Moreover, by considering a simplistic chemical mechanism for the combustion process, thermochemical and kinetic parameters obtained from the simulations are employed to discuss some phenomenological aspects of the combustion process. In particular, the observed changes in the mass and volume of coal particles during the gasification and combustion steps are discussed by emphasizing the changes in the chemical structure of the coal. In addition to illustrate how DEM simulations can be used in the modeling of consecutive and parallel chemical reactions, this work also shows how heterogeneous and homogeneous chemical reactions become a source of mass and energy for the gas phase.

A 3D gyrokinetic particle-in-cell simulation of fusion plasma microturbulence on parallel computers

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, T. J.

1992-12-01

One of the grand challenge problems now supported by HPCC is the Numerical Tokamak Project. A goal of this project is the study of low-frequency micro-instabilities in tokamak plasmas, which are believed to cause energy loss via turbulent thermal transport across the magnetic field lines. An important tool in this study is gyrokinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. Gyrokinetic, as opposed to fully-kinetic, methods are particularly well suited to the task because they are optimized to study the frequency and wavelength domain of the microinstabilities. Furthermore, many researchers now employ low-noise delta(f) methods to greatly reduce statistical noise by modelling only the perturbation of the gyrokinetic distribution function from a fixed background, not the entire distribution function. In spite of the increased efficiency of these improved algorithms over conventional PIC algorithms, gyrokinetic PIC simulations of tokamak micro-turbulence are still highly demanding of computer power--even fully-vectorized codes on vector supercomputers. For this reason, we have worked for several years to redevelop these codes on massively parallel computers. We have developed 3D gyrokinetic PIC simulation codes for SIMD and MIMD parallel processors, using control-parallel, data-parallel, and domain-decomposition message-passing (DDMP) programming paradigms. This poster summarizes our earlier work on codes for the Connection Machine and BBN TC2000 and our development of a generic DDMP code for distributed-memory parallel machines. We discuss the memory-access issues which are of key importance in writing parallel PIC codes, with special emphasis on issues peculiar to gyrokinetic PIC. We outline the domain decompositions in our new DDMP code and discuss the interplay of different domain decompositions suited for the particle-pushing and field-solution components of the PIC algorithm.

Computer-assisted Particle-in-Cell code development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawata, S.; Boonmee, C.; Teramoto, T.; Drska, L.; Limpouch, J.; Liska, R.; Sinor, M.

1997-12-01

This report presents a new approach for an electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell (PIC) code development by a computer: in general PIC codes have a common structure, and consist of a particle pusher, a field solver, charge and current density collections, and a field interpolation. Because of the common feature, the main part of the PIC code can be mechanically developed on a computer. In this report we use the packages FIDE and GENTRAN of the REDUCE computer algebra system for discretizations of field equations and a particle equation, and for an automatic generation of Fortran codes. The approach proposed is successfully applied to the development of 1.5-dimensional PIC code. By using the generated PIC code the Weibel instability in a plasma is simulated. The obtained growth rate agrees well with the theoretical value. (author)

Monte Carlo Simulation for Particle Detectors

CERN Document Server

Pia, Maria Grazia

2012-01-01

Monte Carlo simulation is an essential component of experimental particle physics in all the phases of its life-cycle: the investigation of the physics reach of detector concepts, the design of facilities and detectors, the development and optimization of data reconstruction software, the data analysis for the production of physics results. This note briefly outlines some research topics related to Monte Carlo simulation, that are relevant to future experimental perspectives in particle physics. The focus is on physics aspects: conceptual progress beyond current particle transport schemes, the incorporation of materials science knowledge relevant to novel detection technologies, functionality to model radiation damage, the capability for multi-scale simulation, quantitative validation and uncertainty quantification to determine the predictive power of simulation. The R&D on simulation for future detectors would profit from cooperation within various components of the particle physics community, and synerg...

Scaling Properties of Particle Density Fields Formed in Simulated Turbulent Flows

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Robert C.; Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Dobrovolskis, Anthony R.; DeVincenzi, Donald (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of particle concentrations in fully developed 3D turbulence were carried out in order to study the nonuniform structure of the particle density field. Three steady-state turbulent fluid fields with Taylor microscale Reynolds numbers (Re(sub lambda)) of 40, 80 and 140 were generated by solving the Navier-Stokes equations with pseudospectral methods. Large scale forcing was used to drive the turbulence and maintain temporal stationarity. The response of the particles to the fluid was parameterized by the particle Stokes number St, defined as the ratio of the particle's stopping time to the mean period of eddies on the Kolmogorov scale (eta). In this paper, we consider only passive particles optimally coupled to these eddies (St approx. = 1) because of their tendency to concentrate more than particles with lesser or greater St values. The trajectories of up to 70 million particles were tracked in the equilibrated turbulent flows until the particle concentration field reached a statistically stationary state. The nonuniform structure of the concentration fields was characterized by the multifractal singularity spectrum, f(alpha), derived from measures obtained after binning particles into cells ranging from 2(eta) to 15(eta) in size. We observed strong systematic variations of f(alpha) across this scale range in all three simulations and conclude that the particle concentration field is not statistically self similar across the scale range explored. However, spectra obtained at the 2(eta), 4(eta), and 8(eta) scales of each flow case were found to be qualitatively similar. This result suggests that the local structure of the particle concentration field may be flow-Independent. The singularity spectra found for 2n-sized cells were used to predict concentration distributions in good agreement with those obtained directly from the particle data. This Singularity spectrum has a shape similar to the analogous spectrum derived for the

Simulation studies of acceleration of heavy ions and their elemental compositions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toida, Mieko; Ohsawa, Yukiharu

1996-07-01

By using a one-dimensional, electromagnetic particle simulation code with full ion and electron dynamics, we have studied the acceleration of heavy ions by a nonlinear magnetosonic wave in a multi-ion-species plasma. First, we describe the mechanism of heavy ion acceleration by magnetosonic waves. We then investigate this by particle simulations. The simulation plasma contains four ion species: H, He, O, and Fe. The number density of He is taken to be 10% of that of H, and those of O and Fe are much lower. Simulations confirm that, as in a single-ion-species plasma, some of the hydrogens can be accelerated by the longitudinal electric field formed in the wave. Furthermore, they show that magnetosonic waves can accelerate all the particles of all the heavy species (He, O, and Fe) by a different mechanism, i.e., by the transverse electric field. The maximum speeds of the heavy species are about the same, of the order of the wave propagation speed. These are in good agreement with theoretical prediction. These results indicate that, if high-energy ions are produced in the solar corona through these mechanisms, the elemental compositions of these heavy ions can be similar to that of the background plasma, i.e., the corona

Evaluating the performance of the particle finite element method in parallel architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Gimenez, Juan M.; Nigro, Norberto M.; Idelsohn, Sergio R.

2014-05-01

This paper presents a high performance implementation for the particle-mesh based method called particle finite element method two (PFEM-2). It consists of a material derivative based formulation of the equations with a hybrid spatial discretization which uses an Eulerian mesh and Lagrangian particles. The main aim of PFEM-2 is to solve transport equations as fast as possible keeping some level of accuracy. The method was found to be competitive with classical Eulerian alternatives for these targets, even in their range of optimal application. To evaluate the goodness of the method with large simulations, it is imperative to use of parallel environments. Parallel strategies for Finite Element Method have been widely studied and many libraries can be used to solve Eulerian stages of PFEM-2. However, Lagrangian stages, such as streamline integration, must be developed considering the parallel strategy selected. The main drawback of PFEM-2 is the large amount of memory needed, which limits its application to large problems with only one computer. Therefore, a distributed-memory implementation is urgently needed. Unlike a shared-memory approach, using domain decomposition the memory is automatically isolated, thus avoiding race conditions; however new issues appear due to data distribution over the processes. Thus, a domain decomposition strategy for both particle and mesh is adopted, which minimizes the communication between processes. Finally, performance analysis running over multicore and multinode architectures are presented. The Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy number used influences the efficiency of the parallelization and, in some cases, a weighted partitioning can be used to improve the speed-up. However the total cputime for cases presented is lower than that obtained when using classical Eulerian strategies.

Crack nucleation in solid materials under external load - simulations with the Discrete Element Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klejment Piotr

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Numerical analysis of cracking processes require an appropriate numerical technique. Classical engineering approach to the problem has its roots in the continuum mechanics and is based mainly on the Finite Element Method. This technique allows simulations of both elastic and large deformation processes, so it is very popular in the engineering applications. However, a final effect of cracking - fragmentation of an object at hand can hardly be described by this approach in a numerically efficient way since it requires a solution of a problem of nontrivial evolving in time boundary conditions. We focused our attention on the Discrete Element Method (DEM, which by definition implies “molecular” construction of the matter. The basic idea behind DEM is to represent an investigated body as an assemblage of discrete particles interacting with each other. Breaking interaction bonds between particles induced by external forces imeditelly implies creation/evolution of boundary conditions. In this study we used the DEM approach to simulate cracking process in the three dimensional solid material under external tension. The used numerical model, although higly simplified, can be used to describe behaviour of such materials like thin films, biological tissues, metal coatings, to name a few.

Particle-in-cell simulations of multi-MeV pulsed X-ray induced air plasmas at low pressures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ribière, M.; D'Almeida, T.; Gaufridy de Dortan, F. de; Maulois, M.; Delbos, C.; Garrigues, A.; Cessenat, O.; Azaïs, B.

2016-01-01

A full kinetic modelling of the charge particles dynamics generated upon the irradiation of an air-filled cavity by a multi-MeV pulsed x-ray is performed. From the calculated radiative source generated by the ASTERIX generator, we calculated the electromagnetic fields generated by x-ray induced air plasmas in a metallic cavity at different pressures. Simulations are carried out based on a Particle-In-Cell interpolation method which uses 3D Maxwell-Vlasov calculations of the constitutive charged species densities of air plasmas at different pressures at equilibrium. The resulting electromagnetic fields within the cavity are calculated for different electron densities up to 4 × 10"1"0" cm"−"3. For each air pressure, we show electronic plasma waves formation followed by Landau damping. As electron density increases, the calculations exhibit space-charged neutralization and return current formation.

Single-particle Glauber matrix elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oset, E.; Strottman, D.

1983-01-01

The single-particle matrix elements of the Glauber profile function are tabulated for harmonic oscillator single-particle wave functions. The tables are presented in such a manner as to be applicable if the hadron--nucleon elementary scattering amplitude is specified by either a partial wave expansion or a Gaussian in momentum transfer squared. The table is complete through the 1 g/sub 9/2/ orbital and contains entries for the 3s/sub 1/2/ orbital for use if realistic wave functions are expanded in terms of harmonic oscillator functions

Trace elements in particles of motor vehicle exhaust in Shanghai

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Da; Qiu Zhijun; Lu Rongrong; Qiu Huiyuan; Zhu Jieqing; Li Xiaolin

2002-01-01

A nuclear microprobe with high spatial resolution and high analytical sensitivity was applied to analyze trace elements, especially lead, in vehicle exhaust of Shanghai city. The result shows that the chemical composition and its corresponding x-ray relative intensity are different among different vehicle exhausts. There are many kinds of metal elements in particles of vehicle exhaust, most are harmful to people, such as Ti, Cr, Mn, Pb, etc. The authors found that the lead concentration was 6820 μg/g and the bromine concentration was 5300 μg/g in the exhaust from Santana using leaded gasoline (SULG), which is higher than any other kinds of vehicle exhausts. The authors have also detected the minimum lead in the particles of unleaded gasoline and its content varies from one to another. Its mean concentration was 450 μg/g and the highest reached 6210 μg/g. The unleaded gasoline's Pb existed in the whole particle while the leaded gasoline's enriched in the surface of the particle and was more harmful to the human beings

Canonical symplectic particle-in-cell method for long-term large-scale simulations of the Vlasov–Maxwell equations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qin, Hong; Liu, Jian; Xiao, Jianyuan; Zhang, Ruili; He, Yang; Wang, Yulei; Sun, Yajuan; Burby, Joshua W.; Ellison, Leland; Zhou, Yao

2015-12-14

Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation is the most important numerical tool in plasma physics. However, its long-term accuracy has not been established. To overcome this difficulty, we developed a canonical symplectic PIC method for the Vlasov-Maxwell system by discretising its canonical Poisson bracket. A fast local algorithm to solve the symplectic implicit time advance is discovered without root searching or global matrix inversion, enabling applications of the proposed method to very large-scale plasma simulations with many, e.g. 10(9), degrees of freedom. The long-term accuracy and fidelity of the algorithm enables us to numerically confirm Mouhot and Villani's theory and conjecture on nonlinear Landau damping over several orders of magnitude using the PIC method, and to calculate the nonlinear evolution of the reflectivity during the mode conversion process from extraordinary waves to Bernstein waves.

Data parallel sorting for particle simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Dagum, Leonardo

1992-01-01

Sorting on a parallel architecture is a communications intensive event which can incur a high penalty in applications where it is required. In the case of particle simulation, only integer sorting is necessary, and sequential implementations easily attain the minimum performance bound of O (N) for N particles. Parallel implementations, however, have to cope with the parallel sorting problem which, in addition to incurring a heavy communications cost, can make the minimun performance bound difficult to attain. This paper demonstrates how the sorting problem in a particle simulation can be reduced to a merging problem, and describes an efficient data parallel algorithm to solve this merging problem in a particle simulation. The new algorithm is shown to be optimal under conditions usual for particle simulation, and its fieldwise implementation on the Connection Machine is analyzed in detail. The new algorithm is about four times faster than a fieldwise implementation of radix sort on the Connection Machine.

Visual interrogation of gyrokinetic particle simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, Chad; Ma, K-L; Sanderson, Allen; Myers, Lee Roy Jr

2007-01-01

Gyrokinetic particle simulations are critical to the study of anomalous energy transport associated with plasma microturbulence in magnetic confinement fusion experiments. The simulations are conducted on massively parallel computers and produce large quantities of particles, variables, and time steps, thus presenting a formidable challenge to data analysis tasks. We present two new visualization techniques for scientists to improve their understanding of the time-varying, multivariate particle data. One technique allows scientists to examine correlations in multivariate particle data with tightly coupled views of the data in both physical space and variable space, and to visually identify and track features of interest. The second technique, built into SCIRun, allows scientists to perform range-based queries over a series of time slices and visualize the resulting particles using glyphs. The ability to navigate the multiple dimensions of the particle data, as well as query individual or a collection of particles, enables scientists to not only validate their simulations but also discover new phenomena in their data

Electron behavior in ion beam neutralization in electric propulsion: full particle-in-cell simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usui, Hideyuki; Hashimoto, Akihiko; Miyake, Yohei

2013-01-01

By performing full Particle-In-Cell simulations, we examined the transient response of electrons released for the charge neutralization of a local ion beam emitted from an ion engine which is one of the electric propulsion systems. In the vicinity of the engine, the mixing process of electrons in the ion beam region is not so obvious because of large difference of dynamics between electrons and ions. A heavy ion beam emitted from a spacecraft propagates away from the engine and forms a positive potential region with respect to the background. Meanwhile electrons emitted for a neutralizer located near the ion engine are electrically attracted or accelerated to the core of the ion beam. Some electrons with the energy lower than the ion beam potential are trapped in the beam region and move along with the ion beam propagation with a multi-streaming structure in the beam potential region. Since the locations of the neutralizer and the ion beam exit are different, the above-mentioned bouncing motion of electrons is also observed in the direction of the beam diameter

Electron sub-cycling in particle simulation of plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adam, J.C.; Serveniere, A.G.; Langdon, A.B.

1982-01-01

A straightforward modification which reduces by half the computational cost of standard particle-in-cell algorithms for simulation of plasmas is described. The saving is obtained by integrating only the electrons through a number of time steps (sub-cycle) in order to resolve their evolution, while integrating the much slower ions only once per cycle, i.e., to match the time step of each species to their characteristic frequencies. A dispersion relation is derived which describes the numerical instabilities expected by sampling frequency arguments. Simulations support the broad features of the analytical results, viz., the maximum growth rate and domain of the instability, and its stabilization by the addition of weak damping. An implicit sub-cycling algorithm is suggested which may provide further saving while avoiding a limitation of implicit algorithms described elsewhere

2D particle-in-cell simulation of the entire process of surface flashover on insulator in vacuum

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongguang; Zhang, Jianwei; Li, Yongdong; Lin, Shu; Zhong, Pengfeng; Liu, Chunliang

2018-04-01

With the introduction of an external circuit model and a gas desorption model, the surface flashover on the plane insulator-vacuum interface perpendicular to parallel electrodes is simulated by a Particle-In-Cell method. It can be seen from simulations that when the secondary electron emission avalanche (SEEA) occurs, the current sharply increases because of the influence of the insulator surface charge on the cathode field emission. With the introduction of the gas desorption model, the current keeps on increasing after SEEA, and then the feedback of the external circuit causes the voltage between the two electrodes to decrease. The cathode emission current decreases, while the anode current keeps growing. With the definition that flashover occurs when the diode voltage drops by more than 20%, we obtained the simulated flashover voltage which agrees with the experimental value with the use of the field enhancement factor β = 145 and the gas molecule desorption coefficient γ=0.25 . From the simulation results, we can also see that the time delay of flashover decreases exponentially with voltage. In addition, from the gas desorption model, the gas density on the insulator surface is found to be proportional to the square of the gas desorption rate and linear with time.

Anomalous electron transport in Hall-effect thrusters: Comparison between quasi-linear kinetic theory and particle-in-cell simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Lafleur, T.; Martorelli, R.; Chabert, P.; Bourdon, A.

2018-06-01

Kinetic drift instabilities have been implicated as a possible mechanism leading to anomalous electron cross-field transport in E × B discharges, such as Hall-effect thrusters. Such instabilities, which are driven by the large disparity in electron and ion drift velocities, present a significant challenge to modelling efforts without resorting to time-consuming particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Here, we test aspects of quasi-linear kinetic theory with 2D PIC simulations with the aim of developing a self-consistent treatment of these instabilities. The specific quantities of interest are the instability growth rate (which determines the spatial and temporal evolution of the instability amplitude), and the instability-enhanced electron-ion friction force (which leads to "anomalous" electron transport). By using the self-consistently obtained electron distribution functions from the PIC simulations (which are in general non-Maxwellian), we find that the predictions of the quasi-linear kinetic theory are in good agreement with the simulation results. By contrast, the use of Maxwellian distributions leads to a growth rate and electron-ion friction force that is around 2-4 times higher, and consequently significantly overestimates the electron transport. A possible method for self-consistently modelling the distribution functions without requiring PIC simulations is discussed.

Simulation of capillary bridges between nanoscale particles.

Science.gov (United States)

Dörmann, Michael; Schmid, Hans-Joachim

2014-02-04

Capillary forces are very important as they exceed in general other adhesion forces. But at the same time the exact calculation of these forces is very complex, so often assumptions and approximations are used. Previous research was done with regard to micrometer sized particles, but the behavior of nanoscale particles is different. Hence, the results for micrometer sized particles cannot be directly transferred when considering nanoscale particles. Therefore, a simulation method was developed to calculate numerically the shape of a rotationally symmetrical capillary bridge between two spherical particles or a particle and a plate. The capillary bridge in the gap between the particles is formed due to capillary condensation and is in thermodynamic equilibrium with the gas phase. Hence the Kelvin equation and the Young-Laplace equation can be used to calculate the profile of the capillary bridge, depending on the relative humidity of the surrounding air. The bridge profile consists of several elements that are determined consecutively and interpolated linearly. After the shape is determined, the volume and force, divided into capillary pressure force and surface tension force, can be calculated. The validation of this numerical model will be shown by comparison with several different analytical calculations for micrometer-sized particles. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that two often used approximations, (1) the toroidal approximation and (2) the use of an effective radius, cannot be used for nanoscale particles without remarkable mistake. It will be discussed how the capillary force and its components depend on different parameters, like particle size, relative humidity, contact angle, and distance, respectively. The rupture of a capillary bridge due to particle separation will also be presented.

Modeling of magnetic particle suspensions for simulations

CERN Document Server

Satoh, Akira

2017-01-01

The main objective of the book is to highlight the modeling of magnetic particles with different shapes and magnetic properties, to provide graduate students and young researchers information on the theoretical aspects and actual techniques for the treatment of magnetic particles in particle-based simulations. In simulation, we focus on the Monte Carlo, molecular dynamics, Brownian dynamics, lattice Boltzmann and stochastic rotation dynamics (multi-particle collision dynamics) methods. The latter two simulation methods can simulate both the particle motion and the ambient flow field simultaneously. In general, specialized knowledge can only be obtained in an effective manner under the supervision of an expert. The present book is written to play such a role for readers who wish to develop the skill of modeling magnetic particles and develop a computer simulation program using their own ability. This book is therefore a self-learning book for graduate students and young researchers. Armed with this knowledge,...

Exploring Kupffer's Vescicle Through Self Propelled Particle Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Lundy, Kassidy; Dasgupta, Agnik; Amack, Jeff; Manning, M. Lisa

Early development is an important stage in the formation of functional, relatively healthy organisms. In zebrafish embryos, a transient organ in the tailbud called Kupffer's Vescicle (KV) is responsible for the initial left-right (L-R) asymmetry that results in asymmetric organ and tissue placement in the adult zebrafish. Originating as a collection of symmetrically organized monociliated cells, the KV experiences a shift in cell shapes over time that leaves more cells on the anterior or top side of the KV. This arrangement helps to generate a stronger counter-clockwise fluid flow across the anterior side of the organ, which is required for L-R asymmetry. In seeking to understand the source of the shape changes occurring within the KV, we simulate a Self Propelled Particle (SPP) model that includes parameters for cell polarization and speed. We model the KV as a large particle moving in a straight line with constant velocity to mimic the physical forces of the notochord acting on this organ, and we model the surrounding tailbud cells as smaller, slower active particles with an orientation that changes over time due to rotational noise. Our goal is to calculate the forces exerted on the KV by the surrounding tissue, to see if they are sufficient to explain the shape changes we observe in the KV that lead to L-R asymmetry.

The Darwin direct implicit particle-in-cell (DADIPIC) method for simulation of low frequency plasma phenomena

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibbons, M.R.; Hewett, D.W.

1995-01-01

We describe a new algorithm for simulating low frequency, kinetic phenomena in plasma. Darwin direct implicit particle-in-cell (DADIPIC), as its name implies, is a combination of the Darwin and direct implicit methods. Through the Darwin method the hyperbolic Maxwell's equations are reformulated into a set of elliptic equations. Propagating light waves do not exist in the formulation so the Courant constraint on the time step is eliminated. The direct implicit method is applied only to the electrostatic field with the result that electrostatic plasma oscillations do not have to be resolved for stability. With the elimination of these constraints spatial and temporal discretization can be much larger than that possible with explicit, electrodynamic PIC. We discuss the algorithms for pushing the particles and solving the fields in 2D cartesian geometry. We also detail boundary conditions for conductors and dielectrics. Finally, we present two test cases, electron cyclotron waves and collisionless heating in inductively coupled plasmas. For these test cases DADIPIC shows agreement with analytic kinetic theory and good energy conservation characteristics. 33 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs

In-pile tests of HTGR fuel particles and fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chernikov, A.S.; Kolesov, V.S.; Deryugin, A.I.

1985-01-01

Main types of in-pile tests for specimen tightness control at the initial step, research of fuel particle radiation stability and also study of fission product release from fuel elements during irradiation are described in this paper. Schemes and main characteristics of devices used for these tests are also given. Principal results of fission gas product release measurements satisfying HTGR demands are illustrated on the example of fuel elements, manufactured by powder metallurgy methods and having TRISO fuel particles on high temperature pyrocarbon and silicon carbide base. (author)

New relativistic particle-in-cell simulation studies of prompt and early afterglows from GRBs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ken-Ichi Nishikawa

2008-01-01

Nonthermal radiation observed from astrophysical systems containing relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and Galactic microquasar systems usually have power-law emission spectra. Recent PIC simulations of relativistic electron-ion (electro-positron) jets injected into a stationary medium show that particle acceleration occurs within the downstream jet. In the collisionless relativistic shock particle acceleration is due to plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., the Buneman instability, other two-streaming instability, and the Weibel (filamentation) instability) created in the shocks are responsible for particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration. The simulation results show that the Weibel instability is responsible for generating and amplifying highly nonuniform, small-scale magnetic fields. These magnetic fields contribute to the electrons' transverse deflection behind the jet head. The '' jitter '' radiation from deflected electrons has different properties than synchrotron radiation which is calculated in a uniform magnetic field. This jitter radiation may be important to understanding the complex time evolution and/or spectral structure in gamma-ray bursts, relativistic jets, and supernova remnants. (author)

Design and simulation of a microfluidic device for acoustic cell separation.

Science.gov (United States)

Shamloo, Amir; Boodaghi, Miad

2018-03-01

Experimental acoustic cell separation methods have been widely used to perform separation for different types of blood cells. However, numerical simulation of acoustic cell separation has not gained enough attention and needs further investigation since by using numerical methods, it is possible to optimize different parameters involved in the design of an acoustic device and calculate particle trajectories in a simple and low cost manner before spending time and effort for fabricating these devices. In this study, we present a comprehensive finite element-based simulation of acoustic separation of platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells, using standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs). A microfluidic channel with three inlets, including the middle inlet for sheath flow and two symmetrical tilted angle inlets for the cells were used to drive the cells through the channel. Two interdigital transducers were also considered in this device and by implementing an alternating voltage to the transducers, an acoustic field was created which can exert the acoustic radiation force to the cells. Since this force is dependent to the size of the cells, the cells are pushed towards the midline of the channel with different path lines. Particle trajectories for different cells were obtained and compared with a theoretical equation. Two types of separations were observed as a result of varying the amplitude of the acoustic field. In the first mode of separation, white blood cells were sorted out through the middle outlet and in the second mode of separation, platelets were sorted out through the side outlets. Depending on the clinical needs and by using the studied microfluidic device, each of these modes can be applied to separate the desired cells. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

SHARP: A Spatially Higher-order, Relativistic Particle-in-cell Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shalaby, Mohamad; Broderick, Avery E. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1 (Canada); Chang, Philip [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1900 E. Kenwood Boulevard, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); Pfrommer, Christoph [Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam (Germany); Lamberts, Astrid [Theoretical Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Puchwein, Ewald, E-mail: mshalaby@live.ca [Institute of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)

2017-05-20

Numerical heating in particle-in-cell (PIC) codes currently precludes the accurate simulation of cold, relativistic plasma over long periods, severely limiting their applications in astrophysical environments. We present a spatially higher-order accurate relativistic PIC algorithm in one spatial dimension, which conserves charge and momentum exactly. We utilize the smoothness implied by the usage of higher-order interpolation functions to achieve a spatially higher-order accurate algorithm (up to the fifth order). We validate our algorithm against several test problems—thermal stability of stationary plasma, stability of linear plasma waves, and two-stream instability in the relativistic and non-relativistic regimes. Comparing our simulations to exact solutions of the dispersion relations, we demonstrate that SHARP can quantitatively reproduce important kinetic features of the linear regime. Our simulations have a superior ability to control energy non-conservation and avoid numerical heating in comparison to common second-order schemes. We provide a natural definition for convergence of a general PIC algorithm: the complement of physical modes captured by the simulation, i.e., those that lie above the Poisson noise, must grow commensurately with the resolution. This implies that it is necessary to simultaneously increase the number of particles per cell and decrease the cell size. We demonstrate that traditional ways for testing for convergence fail, leading to plateauing of the energy error. This new PIC code enables us to faithfully study the long-term evolution of plasma problems that require absolute control of the energy and momentum conservation.

SELF-CONSISTENT LANGEVIN SIMULATION OF COULOMB COLLISIONS IN CHARGED-PARTICLE BEAMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

QIANG, J.; RYNE, R.; HABIB, S.

2000-01-01

In many plasma physics and charged-particle beam dynamics problems, Coulomb collisions are modeled by a Fokker-Planck equation. In order to incorporate these collisions, we present a three-dimensional parallel Langevin simulation method using a Particle-In-Cell (PIC) approach implemented on high-performance parallel computers. We perform, for the first time, a fully self-consistent simulation, in which the FR-iction and diffusion coefficients are computed FR-om first principles. We employ a two-dimensional domain decomposition approach within a message passing programming paradigm along with dynamic load balancing. Object oriented programming is used to encapsulate details of the communication syntax as well as to enhance reusability and extensibility. Performance tests on the SGI Origin 2000 and the Cray T3E-900 have demonstrated good scalability. Work is in progress to apply our technique to intrabeam scattering in accelerators

Noiseless Vlasov–Poisson simulations with linearly transformed particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Campos Pinto, Martin, E-mail: campos@ann.jussieu.fr [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); CNRS, UMR 7598, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, F-75005, Paris (France); UPMC Univ. Paris 06, UMR 7598, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, F-75005, Paris (France); Sonnendrücker, Eric, E-mail: sonnen@math.unistra.fr [IRMA, UMR 7501, Université de Strasbourg and CNRS, 7 rue René Descartes, F-67084 Strasbourg Cedex (France); Project-team CALVI, INRIA Nancy Grand Est, 7 rue René Descartes, F-67084 Strasbourg Cedex (France); Friedman, Alex, E-mail: af@llnl.gov [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Grote, David P., E-mail: grote1@llnl.gov [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Lund, Steve M., E-mail: smlund@llnl.gov [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2014-10-15

We introduce a deterministic discrete-particle simulation approach, the Linearly-Transformed Particle-In-Cell (LTPIC) method, that employs linear deformations of the particles to reduce the noise traditionally associated with particle schemes. Formally, transforming the particles is justified by local first order expansions of the characteristic flow in phase space. In practice the method amounts of using deformation matrices within the particle shape functions; these matrices are updated via local evaluations of the forward numerical flow. Because it is necessary to periodically remap the particles on a regular grid to avoid excessively deforming their shapes, the method can be seen as a development of Denavit's Forward Semi-Lagrangian (FSL) scheme (Denavit, 1972 [8]). However, it has recently been established (Campos Pinto, 2012 [20]) that the underlying Linearly-Transformed Particle scheme converges for abstract transport problems, with no need to remap the particles; deforming the particles can thus be seen as a way to significantly lower the remapping frequency needed in the FSL schemes, and hence the associated numerical diffusion. To couple the method with electrostatic field solvers, two specific charge deposition schemes are examined, and their performance compared with that of the standard deposition method. Finally, numerical 1d1v simulations involving benchmark test cases and halo formation in an initially mismatched thermal sheet beam demonstrate some advantages of our LTPIC scheme over the classical PIC and FSL methods. Benchmarked test cases also indicate that, for numerical choices involving similar computational effort, the LTPIC method is capable of accuracy comparable to or exceeding that of state-of-the-art, high-resolution Vlasov schemes.

An EDDY/particle-in-cell simulation of erosion of plasma facing walls bombarded by a collisional plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inai, Kensuke; Ohya, Kaoru

2011-01-01

To investigate the erosion of a plasma-facing wall intersecting an oblique magnetic field, we performed a kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of magnetized plasma, in which collision processes between charged and neutral particles were taken into account. Sheath formation and local physical quantities, such as the incident angle and energy distributions of plasma ions at the wall, were examined at a plasma density of 10 18 m -3 , a temperature of 10 eV, and a magnetic field strength of 5 T. The erosion rate of a carbon wall was calculated using the ion-solid interaction code EDDY. At a high neutral density (>10 20 m -3 ), the impact energy of the ions dropped below the threshold for physical sputtering, so that the sputtering yield was drastically decreased and wall erosion was strongly suppressed. Sputter erosion was also suppressed when the angle of the magnetic field with respect to the surface normal was sufficiently large. (author)

Confocal (micro)-XRF for 3D analysis of elements distribution in hot environmental particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bielewski, M.; Eriksson, M.; Himbert, J.; Simon, R.; Betti, M.; Hamilton, T.F.

2007-01-01

Studies on the fate and transport of radioactive contaminates in the environment are often constrained by a lack of knowledge on the elemental distribution and general behavior of particulate bound radionuclides contained in hot particles. A number of hot particles were previously isolated from soil samples collected at former U.S. nuclear test sites in the Marshall Islands and characterized using non-destructive techniques [1]. The present investigation at HASYLAB is a part of larger research program at ITU regarding the characterization of environmental radioactive particles different locations and source-terms. Radioactive particles in the environment are formed under a number of different release scenarios and, as such, their physicochemical properties may provide a basis for identifying source-term specific contamination regimes. Consequently, studies on hot particles are not only important in terms of studying the elemental composition and geochemical behavior of hot particles but may also lead to advances in assessing the long-term impacts of radioactive contamination on the environment. Six particles isolated from soil samples collected at the Marshall Islands were studied. The element distribution in the particles was determined by confocal (micro)-XRF analysis using the ANKA FLUO beam line. The CRL (compound refractive lens) was used to focus the exciting beam and the polycapillary half lens to collimate the detector. The dimensions of confocal spot were measured by 'knife edge scanning' method with thin gold structure placed at Si wafer. The values of 3.1 x 1.4 x 18.4 (micro)m were achieved if defined as FWHMs of measured L?intensity profiles and when the19.1 keV exciting radiation was used. The collected XRF spectra were analyzed offline with AXIL [2] software to obtain net intensities of element characteristic lines.Further data processing and reconstruction of element distribution was done with the software 'R' [3] dedicated for statistical

CFD-DEM Simulation of Propagation of Sound Waves in Fluid Particles Fluidised Medium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H Khawaja

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this work, speed of sound in 2 phase mixture has been explored using CFD-DEM (Computational Fluid Dynamcis - Discrete Element Modelling. In this method volume averaged Navier Stokes, continuity and energy equations are solved for fluid. Particles are simulated as individual entities; their behaviour is captured by Newton's laws of motion and classical contact mechanics. Particle-fluid interaction is captured using drag laws given in literature. The speed of sound in a medium depends on physical properties. It has been found experimentally that speed of sound drops significantly in 2 phase mixture of fluidised particles because of its increased density relative to gas while maintaining its compressibility. Due to the high rate of heat transfer within 2 phase medium as given in Roy et al. (1990, it has been assumed that the fluidised gas-particle medium is isothermal. The similar phenomenon has been tried to be captured using CFD-DEM numerical simulation. The disturbance is introduced and fundamental frequency in the medium is noted to measure the speed of sound for e.g. organ pipe. It has been found that speed of sound is in agreement with the relationship given in Roy et al. (1990. Their assumption that the system is isothermal also appears to be valid.

Elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in exhaust particles emitted by light-duty vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Célia A; Barbosa, Cátia; Rocha, Sónia; Calvo, Ana; Nunes, Teresa; Cerqueira, Mário; Pio, Casimiro; Karanasiou, Angeliki; Querol, Xavier

2015-08-01

The main purpose of this work was to evaluate the chemical composition of particulate matter (PM) emitted by eight different light-duty vehicles. Exhaust samples from petrol and diesel cars (Euro 3 to Euro 5) were collected in a chassis dynamometer facility. To simulate the real-world driving conditions, three ARTEMIS cycles were followed: road, to simulate a fluid traffic flow and urban with hot and cold starts, to simulate driving conditions in cities. Samples were analysed for the water-soluble ions, for the elemental composition and for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), respectively, by ion chromatography, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Nitrate and phosphate were the major water-soluble ions in the exhaust particles emitted from diesel and petrol vehicles, respectively. The amount of material emitted is affected by the vehicle age. For vehicles ≥Euro 4, most elements were below the detection limits. Sodium, with emission factors in the ranges 23.5-62.4 and 78.2-227μg km(-1), for petrol and diesel Euro 3 vehicles, respectively, was the major element. The emission factors of metallic elements indicated that diesel vehicles release three to five times more than petrol automobiles. Element emissions under urban cycles are higher than those found for on-road driving, being three or four times higher, for petrol vehicles, and two or three times, for diesel vehicles. The difference between cycles is mainly due to the high emissions for the urban cycle with hot start-up. As registered for elements, most of the PAH emissions for vehicles ≥Euro 4 were also below the detection limits. Regardless of the vehicle models or driving cycles, the two- to four-ring PAHs were always dominant. Naphthalene, with emission factors up to 925 μg km(-1), was always the most abundant PAH. The relative cancer risk associated with

A Review of Discrete Element Method (DEM) Particle Shapes and Size Distributions for Lunar Soil

Science.gov (United States)

Lane, John E.; Metzger, Philip T.; Wilkinson, R. Allen

2010-01-01

As part of ongoing efforts to develop models of lunar soil mechanics, this report reviews two topics that are important to discrete element method (DEM) modeling the behavior of soils (such as lunar soils): (1) methods of modeling particle shapes and (2) analytical representations of particle size distribution. The choice of particle shape complexity is driven primarily by opposing tradeoffs with total number of particles, computer memory, and total simulation computer processing time. The choice is also dependent on available DEM software capabilities. For example, PFC2D/PFC3D and EDEM support clustering of spheres; MIMES incorporates superquadric particle shapes; and BLOKS3D provides polyhedra shapes. Most commercial and custom DEM software supports some type of complex particle shape beyond the standard sphere. Convex polyhedra, clusters of spheres and single parametric particle shapes such as the ellipsoid, polyellipsoid, and superquadric, are all motivated by the desire to introduce asymmetry into the particle shape, as well as edges and corners, in order to better simulate actual granular particle shapes and behavior. An empirical particle size distribution (PSD) formula is shown to fit desert sand data from Bagnold. Particle size data of JSC-1a obtained from a fine particle analyzer at the NASA Kennedy Space Center is also fitted to a similar empirical PSD function.

Modeling and simulation of viscoelastic biological particles' 3D manipulation using atomic force microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Korayem, M. H.; Habibi Sooha, Y.; Rastegar, Z.

2018-05-01

Manipulation of the biological particles by atomic force microscopy is used to transfer these particles inside body's cells, diagnosis and destruction of the cancer cells and drug delivery to damaged cells. According to the impossibility of simultaneous observation of this process, the importance of modeling and simulation can be realized. The contact of the tip with biological particle is important during manipulation, therefore, the first step of the modeling is choosing appropriate contact model. Most of the studies about contact between atomic force microscopy and biological particles, consider the biological particle as an elastic material. This is not an appropriate assumption because biological cells are basically soft and this assumption ignores loading history. In this paper, elastic and viscoelastic JKR theories were used in modeling and simulation of the 3D manipulation for three modes of tip-particle sliding, particle-substrate sliding and particle-substrate rolling. Results showed that critical force and time in motion modes (sliding and rolling) for two elastic and viscoelastic states are very close but these magnitudes were lower in the viscoelastic state. Then, three friction models, Coulomb, LuGre and HK, were used for tip-particle sliding mode in the first phase of manipulation to make results closer to reality. In both Coulomb and LuGre models, critical force and time are very close for elastic and viscoelastic states but in general critical force and time prediction of HK model was higher than LuGre and the LuGre model itself had higher prediction than Coulomb.

Numerical Simulation of Two-Fluid Mingling Using the Particle Finite Element Method with Applications to Magmatic and Volcanic Processes

Science.gov (United States)

de Mier, M.; Costa, F.; Idelsohn, S.

2008-12-01

Many magmatic and volcanic processes (e.g., magma differentiation, mingling, transport in the volcanic conduit) are controlled by the physical properties and flow styles of high-temperature silicate melts. Such processes can be experimentally investigated using analog systems and scaling methods, but it is difficult to find the suitable material and it is generally not possible to quantitatively extrapolate the results to the natural system. An alternative means of studying fluid dynamics in volcanic systems is with numerical models. We have chosen the Particle Finite Element Method (PFEM), which is based on a Delaunay mesh that moves with the fluid velocity, the Navier-Stokes equations in Lagrangian formulation, and linear elements for velocity, pressure, and temperature. Remeshing is performed when the grid becomes too distorted [E. Oñate et al., 2004. The Particle Finite Element Method: An Overview. Int. J. Comput. Meth. 1, 267-307]. The method is ideal for tracking material interfaces between different fluids or media. Methods based on Eulerian reference frames need special techniques, such as level-set or volume-of-fluid, to capture the interface position, and these techniques add a significant numerical diffusion at the interface. We have performed a series of two-dimensional simulations of a classical problem of fluid dynamics in magmatic and volcanic systems: intrusion of a basaltic melt in a silica-rich magma reservoir. We have used realistic physical properties and equations of state for the silicate melts (e.g., temperature, viscosity, and density) and tracked the changes in the system for geologically relevant time scales (up to 100 years). The problem is modeled by the low-Mach-number equations derived from an asymptotic analysis of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations that removes shock waves from the flow but allows however large variations of density due to temperature variations. Non-constant viscosity and volume changes are taken into account

Simulation of enhanced deposition due to magnetic field alignment of ellipsoidal particles in a lung bifurcation.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, R C; Roshchenko, A; Minev, P; Finlay, W H

2013-02-01

Aerosolized chemotherapy has been recognized as a potential treatment for lung cancer. The challenge of providing sufficient therapeutic effects without reaching dose-limiting toxicity levels hinders the development of aerosolized chemotherapy. This could be mitigated by increasing drug-delivery efficiency with a noninvasive drug-targeting delivery method. The purpose of this study is to use direct numerical simulations to study the resulting local enhancement of deposition due to magnetic field alignment of high aspect ratio particles. High aspect ratio particles were approximated by a rigid ellipsoid with a minor diameter of 0.5 μm and fluid particle density ratio of 1,000. Particle trajectories were calculated by solving the coupled fluid particle equations using an in-house micro-macro grid finite element algorithm based on a previously developed fictitious domain approach. Particle trajectories were simulated in a morphologically realistic geometry modeling a symmetrical terminal bronchiole bifurcation. Flow conditions were steady inspiratory air flow due to typical breathing at 18 L/min. Deposition efficiency was estimated for two different cases: [1] particles aligned with the streamlines and [2] particles with fixed angular orientation simulating the magnetic field alignment of our previous in vitro study. The local enhancement factor defined as the ratio between deposition efficiency of Case [1] and Case [2] was found to be 1.43 and 3.46 for particles with an aspect ratio of 6 and 20, respectively. Results indicate that externally forcing local alignment of high aspect ratio particles can increase local deposition considerably.

Simulation of hemp fibre bundle and cores using discrete element method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Amin Sadek, M.; Chen, Y. [Manitoba Univ., Winnipeg, MB (Canada). Dept. of Biosystems Engineering; Lague, C. [Ottawa Univ., Ottawa, ON (Canada). Faculty of Engineering; Landry, H. [Prairie Agricultural Machinery Inst., Humboldt, SK (Canada); Peng, Q. [Manitoba Univ., Winnipeg, MB (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering; Zhong, W. [Manitoba Univ., Winnipeg, MB (Canada). Dept. of Textile Sciences

2010-07-01

The mechanical behaviour of hemp fibre and core must be well understood in order to obtain high-grade hemp fibre that is currently in high demand for various industrial applications. Modelling by discrete element method can simulate the mechanical behaviour of such materials. A commercial discrete element software called Particle Flow Code was used in this study. In particular, the 3-dimension (PFC3D) was used to simulate hemp fibre and core. Since the basic PFC3D particles are spherical, the individual virtual hemp fibres were defined as strings of balls held together by PFC3D parallel bonds. The study showed that the virtual fibre is flexible and can bend and break by forces. This reflects the characteristics of hemp fibre. Using the clump logic of PFC3D, the virtual hemp core was defined as a rigid and unbreakable body, which reflect the characteristics of the core. The virtual fibre and core were defined with several microproperties, some of which were previously calibrated. The PFC3D bond properties were calibrated in this study. They included normal and shear stiffness; pb{sub k}n and pb{sub k}s; normal and shear strength; and bond disk radius, R of the virtual fibre. The calibration started with developing a PFC3D model to simulate fibre tensile test. The microproperties of virtual fibre and core were calibrated by running the PFC3D model. Literature data from fibre tensile tests was compared with simulation results.

Laser and Particle Guiding Micro-Elements for Particle Accelerators

CERN Document Server

Plettner, Tomas; Spencer, James; Wisdom, Jeffrey

2005-01-01

Laser driven particle accelerators based on the current generation of lasers will require sub-micron control of the laser field as well as precise beam guiding. Hence the fabrication techniques that allow integrating both elements into an accelerator-on-chip format become critical for the success of such particle accelerators. Micromachining technology for silicon has been shown to be one such feasible technology in PAC2003 but with a variety of complications on the laser side. Fortunately, in recent years the fabrication of transparent ceramics has become an interesting technology that could be applied for laser-particle accelerators in several ways. We discuss this area, its advantages such as the range of materials it provides and various ways to implement it followed by some different test examples that have been considered. One important goal of this approach is an integrated system that could avoid the necessity of having to inject either laser or particle pulses into these structures.

ML-Space: Hybrid Spatial Gillespie and Particle Simulation of Multi-Level Rule-Based Models in Cell Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bittig, Arne T; Uhrmacher, Adelinde M

2017-01-01

Spatio-temporal dynamics of cellular processes can be simulated at different levels of detail, from (deterministic) partial differential equations via the spatial Stochastic Simulation algorithm to tracking Brownian trajectories of individual particles. We present a spatial simulation approach for multi-level rule-based models, which includes dynamically hierarchically nested cellular compartments and entities. Our approach ML-Space combines discrete compartmental dynamics, stochastic spatial approaches in discrete space, and particles moving in continuous space. The rule-based specification language of ML-Space supports concise and compact descriptions of models and to adapt the spatial resolution of models easily.

Low-noise electromagnetic δf particle-in-cell simulation of electron Bernstein waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiang Nong; Cary, John R.; Barnes, Daniel C.; Carlsson, John

2006-01-01

The conversion of the extraordinary (X) mode to an electron Bernstein wave (EBW) is one way to get rf energy into an overdense plasma. Analysis of this is complex, as the EBW is a fully kinetic wave, and so its linear propagation is described by an intractable integro-differential equation. Nonlinear effects cannot be calculated within this rubric at all. Full particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations cannot be used for these analyses, as the noise levels for reasonable simulation parameters are much greater than the typical rf amplitudes. It is shown that the delta-f computations are effective for this analysis. In particular, the accuracy of those computations has been verified by comparison with full PIC, cold plasma theory, and small gyroradius theory. This computational method is then used to analyze mode conversion in different frequency regimes. In particular, reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions of Ram and Schultz [Phys. Plasmas 7, 4084 (2000)] in the linear regime is found, where 100% X-B mode conversion has been obtained when the driving frequency is less than twice the electron gyrofrequency. The results show that cold-plasma theory well predicts the mode conversion efficiency, as is consistent with the phase-space picture of mode conversion. From this it can be shown that nearly 100% X-B mode conversion cannot be obtained when the frequency is higher than the electron second harmonic cyclotron frequency

Particle Image Velocimetry and Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Fuel Cell Manifold

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lebæk, Jesper; Blazniak Andreasen, Marcin; Andresen, Henrik Assenholm

2010-01-01

The inlet effect on the manifold flow in a fuel cell stack was investigated by means of numerical methods (computational fluid dynamics) and experimental methods (particle image velocimetry). At a simulated high current density situation the flow field was mapped on a 70 cell simulated cathode...

Numerical simulations of granular dynamics: I. Hard-sphere discrete element method and tests

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Derek C.; Walsh, Kevin J.; Murdoch, Naomi; Michel, Patrick

2011-03-01

We present a new particle-based (discrete element) numerical method for the simulation of granular dynamics, with application to motions of particles on small solar system body and planetary surfaces. The method employs the parallel N-body tree code pkdgrav to search for collisions and compute particle trajectories. Collisions are treated as instantaneous point-contact events between rigid spheres. Particle confinement is achieved by combining arbitrary combinations of four provided wall primitives, namely infinite plane, finite disk, infinite cylinder, and finite cylinder, and degenerate cases of these. Various wall movements, including translation, oscillation, and rotation, are supported. We provide full derivations of collision prediction and resolution equations for all geometries and motions. Several tests of the method are described, including a model granular “atmosphere” that achieves correct energy equipartition, and a series of tumbler simulations that show the expected transition from tumbling to centrifuging as a function of rotation rate.

Plane shear flows of frictionless spheres: Kinetic theory and 3D soft-sphere discrete element method simulations

OpenAIRE

Vescovi, Dalila; Berzi, Diego; Richard, Patrick; Brodu, Nicolas

2014-01-01

International audience; We use existing 3D Discrete Element simulations of simple shear flows of spheres to evaluate the radial distribution function at contact that enables kinetic theory to correctly predict the pressure and the shear stress, for different values of the collisional coefficient of restitution. Then, we perform 3D Discrete Element simulations of plane flows of frictionless, inelastic spheres, sheared between walls made bumpy by gluing particles in a regular array, at fixed av...

Lattice Boltzmann method used to simulate particle motion in a conduit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dolanský Jindřich

2017-06-01

Full Text Available A three-dimensional numerical simulation of particle motion in a pipe with a rough bed is presented. The simulation based on the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM employs the hybrid diffuse bounce-back approach to model moving boundaries. The bed of the pipe is formed by stationary spherical particles of the same size as the moving particles. Particle movements are induced by gravitational and hydrodynamic forces. To evaluate the hydrodynamic forces, the Momentum Exchange Algorithm is used. The LBM unified computational frame makes it possible to simulate both the particle motion and the fluid flow and to study mutual interactions of the carrier liquid flow and particles and the particle–bed and particle–particle collisions. The trajectories of simulated and experimental particles are compared. The Particle Tracking method is used to track particle motion. The correctness of the applied approach is assessed.

PART 2: LARGE PARTICLE MODELLING Simulation of particle filtration processes in deformable media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gernot Boiger

2008-06-01

Full Text Available In filtration processes it is necessary to consider both, the interaction of thefluid with the solid parts as well as the effect of particles carried in the fluidand accumulated on the solid. While part 1 of this paper deals with themodelling of fluid structure interaction effects, the accumulation of dirtparticles will be addressed in this paper. A closer look is taken on theimplementation of a spherical, LAGRANGIAN particle model suitable forsmall and large particles. As dirt accumulates in the fluid stream, it interactswith the surrounding filter fibre structure and over time causes modificationsof the filter characteristics. The calculation of particle force interactioneffects is necessary for an adequate simulation of this situation. A detailedDiscrete Phase Lagrange Model was developed to take into account thetwo-way coupling of the fluid and accumulated particles. The simulation oflarge particles and the fluid-structure interaction is realised in a single finitevolume flow solver on the basis of the OpenSource software OpenFoam.

Study of the L-mode tokamak plasma “shortfall” with local and global nonlinear gyrokinetic δf particle-in-cell simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chowdhury, J.; Wan, Weigang; Chen, Yang; Parker, Scott E. [Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (United States); Groebner, Richard J. [General Atomics, Post Office Box 85068, San Diego, California 92186 (United States); Holland, C. [University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States); Howard, N. T. [Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)

2014-11-15

The δ f particle-in-cell code GEM is used to study the transport “shortfall” problem of gyrokinetic simulations. In local simulations, the GEM results confirm the previously reported simulation results of DIII-D [Holland et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 052301 (2009)] and Alcator C-Mod [Howard et al., Nucl. Fusion 53, 123011 (2013)] tokamaks with the continuum code GYRO. Namely, for DIII-D the simulations closely predict the ion heat flux at the core, while substantially underpredict transport towards the edge; while for Alcator C-Mod, the simulations show agreement with the experimental values of ion heat flux, at least within the range of experimental error. Global simulations are carried out for DIII-D L-mode plasmas to study the effect of edge turbulence on the outer core ion heat transport. The edge turbulence enhances the outer core ion heat transport through turbulence spreading. However, this edge turbulence spreading effect is not enough to explain the transport underprediction.

Low frequency, electrodynamic simulation of kinetic plasmas with the DArwin Direct Implicit Particle-In-Cell (DADIPIC) method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibbons, M.R.

1995-06-01

This dissertation describes a new algorithm for simulating low frequency, kinetic phenomena in plasmas. DArwin Direct Implicit Particle-in-Cell (DADIPIC), as its name implies, is a combination of the Darwin and direct implicit methods. One of the difficulties in simulating plasmas lies in the enormous disparity between the fundamental scale lengths of a plasma and the scale lengths of the phenomena of interest. The objective is to create models which can ignore the fundamental constraints without eliminating relevant plasma properties. Over the past twenty years several PIC methods have been investigated for overcoming the constraints on explicit electrodynamic PIC. These models eliminate selected high frequency plasma phenomena while retaining kinetic phenomena at low frequency. This dissertation shows that the combination of Darwin and Direct Implicit allows them to operate better than they have been shown to operate in the past. Through the Darwin method the hyperbolic Maxwell's equations are reformulated into a set of elliptic equations. Propagating light waves do not exist in the formulation so the Courant constraint on the time step is eliminated. The Direct Implicit method is applied only to the electrostatic field with the result that electrostatic plasma oscillations do not have to be resolved for stability. With the elimination of these constraints spatial and temporal discretization can be much larger than that possible with explicit, electrodynamic PIC. The code functions in a two dimensional Cartesian region and has been implemented with all components of the particle velocities, the E-field, and the B-field. Internal structures, conductors or dielectrics, may be placed in the simulation region, can be set at desired potentials, and driven with specified currents

Discrete Element Method Simulation of a Boulder Extraction From an Asteroid

Science.gov (United States)

Kulchitsky, Anton K.; Johnson, Jerome B.; Reeves, David M.; Wilkinson, Allen

2014-01-01

The force required to pull 7t and 40t polyhedral boulders from the surface of an asteroid is simulated using the discrete element method considering the effects of microgravity, regolith cohesion and boulder acceleration. The connection between particle surface energy and regolith cohesion is estimated by simulating a cohesion sample tearing test. An optimal constant acceleration is found where the peak net force from inertia and cohesion is a minimum. Peak pulling forces can be further reduced by using linear and quadratic acceleration functions with up to a 40% reduction in force for quadratic acceleration.

Gyrokinetic particle simulation of neoclassical transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Z.; Tang, W.M.; Lee, W.W.

1995-01-01

A time varying weighting (δf ) scheme for gyrokinetic particle simulation is applied to a steady-state, multispecies simulation of neoclassical transport. Accurate collision operators conserving momentum and energy are developed and implemented. Simulation results using these operators are found to agree very well with neoclassical theory. For example, it is dynamically demonstrated that like-particle collisions produce no particle flux and that the neoclassical fluxes are ambipolar for an ion--electron plasma. An important physics feature of the present scheme is the introduction of toroidal flow to the simulations. Simulation results are in agreement with the existing analytical neoclassical theory. The poloidal electric field associated with toroidal mass flow is found to enhance density gradient-driven electron particle flux and the bootstrap current while reducing temperature gradient-driven flux and current. Finally, neoclassical theory in steep gradient profile relevant to the edge regime is examined by taking into account finite banana width effects. In general, in the present work a valuable new capability for studying important aspects of neoclassical transport inaccessible by conventional analytical calculation processes is demonstrated. copyright 1995 American Institute of Physics

Numerical Simulation of Particle Flow Motion in a Two-Dimensional Modular Pebble-Bed Reactor with Discrete Element Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guodong Liu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Modular pebble-bed nuclear reactor (MPBNR technology is promising due to its attractive features such as high fuel performance and inherent safety. Particle motion of fuel and graphite pebbles is highly associated with the performance of pebbled-bed modular nuclear reactor. To understand the mechanism of pebble’s motion in the reactor, we numerically studied the influence of number ratio of fuel and graphite pebbles, funnel angle of the reactor, height of guide ring on the distribution of pebble position, and velocity by means of discrete element method (DEM in a two-dimensional MPBNR. Velocity distributions at different areas of the reactor as well as mixing characteristics of fuel and graphite pebbles were investigated. Both fuel and graphite pebbles moved downward, and a uniform motion was formed in the column zone, while pebbles motion in the cone zone was accelerated due to the decrease of the cross sectional flow area. The number ratio of fuel and graphite pebbles and the height of guide ring had a minor influence on the velocity distribution of pebbles, while the variation of funnel angle had an obvious impact on the velocity distribution. Simulated results agreed well with the work in the literature.

Large scale particle simulations in a virtual memory computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, P.C.; Million, R.; Wagner, J.S.; Tajima, T.

1983-01-01

Virtual memory computers are capable of executing large-scale particle simulations even when the memory requirements exceeds the computer core size. The required address space is automatically mapped onto slow disc memory the the operating system. When the simulation size is very large, frequent random accesses to slow memory occur during the charge accumulation and particle pushing processes. Assesses to slow memory significantly reduce the excecution rate of the simulation. We demonstrate in this paper that with the proper choice of sorting algorithm, a nominal amount of sorting to keep physically adjacent particles near particles with neighboring array indices can reduce random access to slow memory, increase the efficiency of the I/O system, and hence, reduce the required computing time. (orig.)

Large-scale particle simulations in a virtual-memory computer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, P.C.; Wagner, J.S.; Tajima, T.; Million, R.

1982-08-01

Virtual memory computers are capable of executing large-scale particle simulations even when the memory requirements exceed the computer core size. The required address space is automatically mapped onto slow disc memory by the operating system. When the simulation size is very large, frequent random accesses to slow memory occur during the charge accumulation and particle pushing processes. Accesses to slow memory significantly reduce the execution rate of the simulation. We demonstrate in this paper that with the proper choice of sorting algorithm, a nominal amount of sorting to keep physically adjacent particles near particles with neighboring array indices can reduce random access to slow memory, increase the efficiency of the I/O system, and hence, reduce the required computing time

WE-H-BRA-08: A Monte Carlo Cell Nucleus Model for Assessing Cell Survival Probability Based On Particle Track Structure Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, B [Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL (United States); Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (Georgia); Wang, C [Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (Georgia)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To correlate the damage produced by particles of different types and qualities to cell survival on the basis of nanodosimetric analysis and advanced DNA structures in the cell nucleus. Methods: A Monte Carlo code was developed to simulate subnuclear DNA chromatin fibers (CFs) of 30nm utilizing a mean-free-path approach common to radiation transport. The cell nucleus was modeled as a spherical region containing 6000 chromatin-dense domains (CDs) of 400nm diameter, with additional CFs modeled in a sparser interchromatin region. The Geant4-DNA code was utilized to produce a particle track database representing various particles at different energies and dose quantities. These tracks were used to stochastically position the DNA structures based on their mean free path to interaction with CFs. Excitation and ionization events intersecting CFs were analyzed using the DBSCAN clustering algorithm for assessment of the likelihood of producing DSBs. Simulated DSBs were then assessed based on their proximity to one another for a probability of inducing cell death. Results: Variations in energy deposition to chromatin fibers match expectations based on differences in particle track structure. The quality of damage to CFs based on different particle types indicate more severe damage by high-LET radiation than low-LET radiation of identical particles. In addition, the model indicates more severe damage by protons than of alpha particles of same LET, which is consistent with differences in their track structure. Cell survival curves have been produced showing the L-Q behavior of sparsely ionizing radiation. Conclusion: Initial results indicate the feasibility of producing cell survival curves based on the Monte Carlo cell nucleus method. Accurate correlation between simulated DNA damage to cell survival on the basis of nanodosimetric analysis can provide insight into the biological responses to various radiation types. Current efforts are directed at producing cell

Parallel pic plasma simulation through particle decomposition techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Briguglio, S.; Vlad, G.; Di Martino, B.; Naples, Univ. 'Federico II'

1998-02-01

Particle-in-cell (PIC) codes are among the major candidates to yield a satisfactory description of the detail of kinetic effects, such as the resonant wave-particle interaction, relevant in determining the transport mechanism in magnetically confined plasmas. A significant improvement of the simulation performance of such codes con be expected from parallelization, e.g., by distributing the particle population among several parallel processors. Parallelization of a hybrid magnetohydrodynamic-gyrokinetic code has been accomplished within the High Performance Fortran (HPF) framework, and tested on the IBM SP2 parallel system, using a 'particle decomposition' technique. The adopted technique requires a moderate effort in porting the code in parallel form and results in intrinsic load balancing and modest inter processor communication. The performance tests obtained confirm the hypothesis of high effectiveness of the strategy, if targeted towards moderately parallel architectures. Optimal use of resources is also discussed with reference to a specific physics problem [it

On using moving windows in finite element time domain simulation for long accelerator structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, L.-Q.; Candel, Arno; Ng, Cho; Ko, Kwok

2010-01-01

A finite element moving window technique is developed to simulate the propagation of electromagnetic waves induced by the transit of a charged particle beam inside large and long structures. The window moving along with the beam in the computational domain adopts high-order finite element basis functions through p refinement and/or a high-resolution mesh through h refinement so that a sufficient accuracy is attained with substantially reduced computational costs. Algorithms to transfer discretized fields from one mesh to another, which are the keys to implementing a moving window in a finite element unstructured mesh, are presented. Numerical experiments are carried out using the moving window technique to compute short-range wakefields in long accelerator structures. The results are compared with those obtained from the normal finite element time domain (FETD) method and the advantages of using the moving window technique are discussed.

Finite element formulation of fluctuating hydrodynamics for fluids filled with rigid particles using boundary fitted meshes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Corato, M., E-mail: marco.decorato@unina.it [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli (Italy); Slot, J.J.M., E-mail: j.j.m.slot@tue.nl [Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Hütter, M., E-mail: m.huetter@tue.nl [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); D' Avino, G., E-mail: gadavino@unina.it [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli (Italy); Maffettone, P.L., E-mail: pierluca.maffettone@unina.it [Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli (Italy); Hulsen, M.A., E-mail: m.a.hulsen@tue.nl [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2016-07-01

In this paper, we present a finite element implementation of fluctuating hydrodynamics with a moving boundary fitted mesh for treating the suspended particles. The thermal fluctuations are incorporated into the continuum equations using the Landau and Lifshitz approach [1]. The proposed implementation fulfills the fluctuation–dissipation theorem exactly at the discrete level. Since we restrict the equations to the creeping flow case, this takes the form of a relation between the diffusion coefficient matrix and friction matrix both at the particle and nodal level of the finite elements. Brownian motion of arbitrarily shaped particles in complex confinements can be considered within the present formulation. A multi-step time integration scheme is developed to correctly capture the drift term required in the stochastic differential equation (SDE) describing the evolution of the positions of the particles. The proposed approach is validated by simulating the Brownian motion of a sphere between two parallel plates and the motion of a spherical particle in a cylindrical cavity. The time integration algorithm and the fluctuating hydrodynamics implementation are then applied to study the diffusion and the equilibrium probability distribution of a confined circle under an external harmonic potential.

Dissipative particle dynamics simulations for biological tissues: rheology and competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basan, Markus; Prost, Jacques; Joanny, Jean-François; Elgeti, Jens

2011-01-01

In this work, we model biological tissues using a simple, mechanistic simulation based on dissipative particle dynamics. We investigate the continuum behavior of the simulated tissue and determine its dependence on the properties of the individual cell. Cells in our simulation adhere to each other, expand in volume, divide after reaching a specific size checkpoint and undergo apoptosis at a constant rate, leading to a steady-state homeostatic pressure in the tissue. We measure the dependence of the homeostatic state on the microscopic parameters of our model and show that homeostatic pressure, rather than the unconfined rate of cell division, determines the outcome of tissue competitions. Simulated cell aggregates are cohesive and round up due to the effect of tissue surface tension, which we measure for different tissues. Furthermore, mixtures of different cells unmix according to their adhesive properties. Using a variety of shear and creep simulations, we study tissue rheology by measuring yield stresses, shear viscosities, complex viscosities as well as the loss tangents as a function of model parameters. We find that cell division and apoptosis lead to a vanishing yield stress and fluid-like tissues. The effects of different adhesion strengths and levels of noise on the rheology of the tissue are also measured. In addition, we find that the level of cell division and apoptosis drives the diffusion of cells in the tissue. Finally, we present a method for measuring the compressibility of the tissue and its response to external stress via cell division and apoptosis

Numerical simulations on a high-temperature particle moving in coolant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xiaoyan; Shang Zhi; Xu Jijun

2006-01-01

This study considers the coupling effect between film boiling heat transfer and evaporation drag around a hot-particle in cold liquid. Taking momentum and energy equations of the vapor film into account, a transient single particle model under FCI conditions has been established. The numerical simulations on a high-temperature particle moving in coolant have been performed using Gear algorithm. Adaptive dynamic boundary method is adopted during simulating to matching the dynamic boundary that is caused by vapor film changing. Based on the method presented above, the transient process of high-temperature particles moving in coolant can be simulated. The experimental results prove the validity of the HPMC model. (authors)

A discrete element and ray framework for rapid simulation of acoustical dispersion of microscale particulate agglomerations

Science.gov (United States)

Zohdi, T. I.

2016-03-01

In industry, particle-laden fluids, such as particle-functionalized inks, are constructed by adding fine-scale particles to a liquid solution, in order to achieve desired overall properties in both liquid and (cured) solid states. However, oftentimes undesirable particulate agglomerations arise due to some form of mutual-attraction stemming from near-field forces, stray electrostatic charges, process ionization and mechanical adhesion. For proper operation of industrial processes involving particle-laden fluids, it is important to carefully breakup and disperse these agglomerations. One approach is to target high-frequency acoustical pressure-pulses to breakup such agglomerations. The objective of this paper is to develop a computational model and corresponding solution algorithm to enable rapid simulation of the effect of acoustical pulses on an agglomeration composed of a collection of discrete particles. Because of the complex agglomeration microstructure, containing gaps and interfaces, this type of system is extremely difficult to mesh and simulate using continuum-based methods, such as the finite difference time domain or the finite element method. Accordingly, a computationally-amenable discrete element/discrete ray model is developed which captures the primary physical events in this process, such as the reflection and absorption of acoustical energy, and the induced forces on the particulate microstructure. The approach utilizes a staggered, iterative solution scheme to calculate the power transfer from the acoustical pulse to the particles and the subsequent changes (breakup) of the pulse due to the particles. Three-dimensional examples are provided to illustrate the approach.

LPIC++. A parallel one-dimensional relativistic electromagnetic particle-in-cell code for simulating laser-plasma-interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lichters, R.; Pfund, R.E.W.; Meyer-ter-Vehn, J.

1997-08-01

The code LPIC++ presented here, is based on a one-dimensional, electromagnetic, relativistic PIC code that has originally been developed by one of the authors during a PhD thesis at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik for kinetic simulations of high harmonic generation from overdense plasma surfaces. The code uses essentially the algorithm of Birdsall and Langdon and Villasenor and Bunemann. It is written in C++ in order to be easily extendable and has been parallelized to be able to grow in power linearly with the size of accessable hardware, e.g. massively parallel machines like Cray T3E. The parallel LPIC++ version uses PVM for communication between processors. PVM is public domain software, can be downloaded from the world wide web. A particular strength of LPIC++ lies in its clear program and data structure, which uses chained lists for the organization of grid cells and enables dynamic adjustment of spatial domain sizes in a very convenient way, and therefore easy balancing of processor loads. Also particles belonging to one cell are linked in a chained list and are immediately accessable from this cell. In addition to this convenient type of data organization in a PIC code, the code shows excellent performance in both its single processor and parallel version. (orig.)

Hydraulic and thermal conduction phenomena in soils at the particle-scale: Towards realistic FEM simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narsilio, G A; Yun, T S; Kress, J; Evans, T M

2010-01-01

This paper summarizes a method to characterize conduction properties in soils at the particle-scale. The method set the bases for an alternative way to estimate conduction parameters such as thermal conductivity and hydraulic conductivity, with the potential application to hard-to-obtain samples, where traditional experimental testing on large enough specimens becomes much more expensive. The technique is exemplified using 3D synthetic grain packings generated with discrete element methods, from which 3D granular images are constructed. Images are then imported into the finite element analyses to solve the corresponding governing partial differential equations of hydraulic and thermal conduction. High performance computing is implemented to meet the demanding 3D numerical calculations of the complex geometrical domains. The effects of void ratio and inter-particle contacts in hydraulic and thermal conduction are explored. Laboratory measurements support the numerically obtained results and validate the viability of the new methods used herein. The integration of imaging with rigorous numerical simulations at the pore-scale also enables fundamental observation of particle-scale mechanisms of macro-scale manifestation.

The average number of alpha-particle hits to the cell nucleus required to eradicate a tumour cell population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roeske, John C; Stinchcomb, Thomas G

2006-01-01

Alpha-particle emitters are currently being considered for the treatment of micrometastatic disease. Based on in vitro studies, it has been speculated that only a few alpha-particle hits to the cell nucleus are considered lethal. However, such estimates do not consider the stochastic variations in the number of alpha-particle hits, energy deposited, or in the cell survival process itself. Using a tumour control probability (TCP) model for alpha-particle emitters, we derive an estimate of the average number of hits to the cell nucleus required to provide a high probability of eradicating a tumour cell population. In simulation studies, our results demonstrate that the average number of hits required to achieve a 90% TCP for 10 4 clonogenic cells ranges from 18 to 108. Those cells that have large cell nuclei, high radiosensitivities and alpha-particle emissions occurring primarily in the nuclei tended to require more hits. As the clinical implementation of alpha-particle emitters is considered, this type of analysis may be useful in interpreting clinical results and in designing treatment strategies to achieve a favourable therapeutic outcome. (note)

Comparison of three-dimensional poisson solution methods for particle-based simulation and inhomogeneous dielectrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Berti, Claudio; Gillespie, Dirk; Bardhan, Jaydeep P; Eisenberg, Robert S; Fiegna, Claudio

2012-07-01

Particle-based simulation represents a powerful approach to modeling physical systems in electronics, molecular biology, and chemical physics. Accounting for the interactions occurring among charged particles requires an accurate and efficient solution of Poisson's equation. For a system of discrete charges with inhomogeneous dielectrics, i.e., a system with discontinuities in the permittivity, the boundary element method (BEM) is frequently adopted. It provides the solution of Poisson's equation, accounting for polarization effects due to the discontinuity in the permittivity by computing the induced charges at the dielectric boundaries. In this framework, the total electrostatic potential is then found by superimposing the elemental contributions from both source and induced charges. In this paper, we present a comparison between two BEMs to solve a boundary-integral formulation of Poisson's equation, with emphasis on the BEMs' suitability for particle-based simulations in terms of solution accuracy and computation speed. The two approaches are the collocation and qualocation methods. Collocation is implemented following the induced-charge computation method of D. Boda et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 034901 (2006)]. The qualocation method is described by J. Tausch et al. [IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems 20, 1398 (2001)]. These approaches are studied using both flat and curved surface elements to discretize the dielectric boundary, using two challenging test cases: a dielectric sphere embedded in a different dielectric medium and a toy model of an ion channel. Earlier comparisons of the two BEM approaches did not address curved surface elements or semiatomistic models of ion channels. Our results support the earlier findings that for flat-element calculations, qualocation is always significantly more accurate than collocation. On the other hand, when the dielectric boundary is discretized with curved surface elements, the

Discrete element method modeling of the triboelectric charging of polyethylene particles: Can particle size distribution and segregation reduce the charging?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konopka, Ladislav; Kosek, Juraj

2015-01-01

Polyethylene particles of various sizes are present in industrial gas-dispersion reactors and downstream processing units. The contact of the particles with a device wall as well as the mutual particle collisions cause electrons on the particle surface to redistribute in the system. The undesirable triboelectric charging results in several operational problems and safety risks in industrial systems, for example in the fluidized-bed polymerization reactor. We studied the charging of polyethylene particles caused by the particle-particle interactions in gas. Our model employs the Discrete Element Method (DEM) describing the particle dynamics and incorporates the ‘Trapped Electron Approach’ as the physical basis for the considered charging mechanism. The model predicts the particle charge distribution for systems with various particle size distributions and various level of segregation. Simulation results are in a qualitative agreement with experimental observations of similar particulate systems specifically in two aspects: 1) Big particles tend to gain positive charge and small particles the negative one. 2) The wider the particle size distribution is, the more pronounced is the charging process. Our results suggest that not only the size distribution, but also the effect of the spatial segregation of the polyethylene particles significantly influence the resulting charge distribution ‘generated’ in the system. The level of particle segregation as well as the particle size distribution of polyethylene particles can be in practice adjusted by the choice of supported catalysts, by the conditions in the fluidized-bed polymerization reactor and by the fluid dynamics. We also attempt to predict how the reactor temperature affects the triboelectric charging of particles. (paper)

Particle-In-Cell/Monte Carlo Simulation of Ion Back Bombardment in Photoinjectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiang, Ji; Corlett, John; Staples, John

2009-01-01

In this paper, we report on studies of ion back bombardment in high average current dc and rf photoinjectors using a particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo method. Using H 2 ion as an example, we observed that the ion density and energy deposition on the photocathode in rf guns are order of magnitude lower than that in a dc gun. A higher rf frequency helps mitigate the ion back bombardment of the cathode in rf guns

A multilevel particle method for gas dynamics: application to multi-fluids simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weynans, Lisl

2006-12-01

In inertial confinement fusion, laser implosions require to know hydrodynamic flow in presence of shocks. This work is devoted to the evaluation of the ability of a particle-mesh method, inspired from Vortex-In-Cell methods, to simulate gas dynamics, especially multi-fluids. First, we develop a particle method, associated with a conservative re-meshing step, which is performed with high order interpolating kernels. We study theoretically and numerically this method. This analysis gives evidence of a strong relationship between the particle method and high order Lax-Wendroff-like finite difference schemes. We introduce a new scheme for the advection of particles. Then we implement a multilevel technique, inspired from AMR, which allows us to increase locally the accuracy of the computations. Finally we develop a level set-like technique, discretized on the particles, to simulate the interface between compressible flows. We use the multilevel technique to improve the interface resolution and the conservation of partial masses. (author)

Finite Element Analysis of Osteocytes Mechanosensitivity Under Simulated Microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiao; Sun, Lian-Wen; Du, Cheng-Fei; Wu, Xin-Tong; Fan, Yu-Bo

2018-04-01

It was found that the mechanosensitivity of osteocytes could be altered under simulated microgravity. However, how the mechanical stimuli as the biomechanical origins cause the bioresponse in osteocytes under microgravity is unclear yet. Computational studies may help us to explore the mechanical deformation changes of osteocytes under microgravity. Here in this paper, we intend to use the computational simulation to investigate the mechanical behavior of osteocytes under simulated microgravity. In order to obtain the shape information of osteocytes, the biological experiment was conducted under simulated microgravity prior to the numerical simulation The cells were rotated by a clinostat for 6 hours or 5 days and fixed, the cytoskeleton and the nucleus were immunofluorescence stained and scanned, and the cell shape and the fluorescent intensity were measured from fluorescent images to get the dimension information of osteocytes The 3D finite element (FE) cell models were then established based on the scanned image stacks. Several components such as the actin cortex, the cytoplasm, the nucleus, the cytoskeleton of F-actin and microtubules were considered in the model. The cell models in both 6 hours and 5 days groups were then imposed by three magnitudes (0.5, 10 and 15 Pa) of simulating fluid shear stress, with cell total displacement and the internal discrete components deformation calculated. The results showed that under the simulated microgravity: (1) the nuclear area and height statistically significantly increased, which made the ratio of membrane-cortex height to nucleus height statistically significantly decreased; (2) the fluid shear stress-induced maximum displacements and average displacements in the whole cell decreased, with the deformation decreasing amplitude was largest when exposed to 1.5Pa of fluid shear stress; (3) the fluid shear stress-induced deformation of cell membrane-cortex and cytoskeleton decreased, while the fluid shear stress

Direct numerical simulations of agglomeration of circular colloidal particles in two-dimensional shear flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Young Joon; Djilali, Ned

2016-01-01

Colloidal agglomeration of nanoparticles in shear flow is investigated by solving the fluid-particle and particle-particle interactions in a 2D system. We use an extended finite element method in which the dynamics of the particles is solved in a fully coupled manner with the flow, allowing an accurate description of the fluid-particle interfaces without the need of boundary-fitted meshes or of empirical correlations to account for the hydrodynamic interactions between the particles. Adaptive local mesh refinement using a grid deformation method is incorporated with the fluid-structure interaction algorithm, and the particle-particle interaction at the microscopic level is modeled using the Lennard-Jones potential. Motivated by the process used in fabricating fuel cell catalysts from a colloidal ink, the model is applied to investigate agglomeration of colloidal particles under external shear flow in a sliding bi-periodic Lees-Edwards frame with varying shear rates and particle fraction ratios. Both external shear and particle fraction are found to have a crucial impact on the structure formation of colloidal particles in a suspension. Segregation intensity and graph theory are used to analyze the underlying agglomeration patterns and structures, and three agglomeration regimes are identified

Particle-in-cell simulation of electron trajectories and irradiation uniformity in an annular cathode high current pulsed electron beam source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Wei; Wang, Langping, E-mail: aplpwang@hit.edu.cn; Zhou, Guangxue; Wang, Xiaofeng

2017-02-01

Highlights: • The transmission process of electrons and irradiation uniformity was simulated. • Influence of the irradiation parameters on irradiation uniformity are discussed. • High irradiation uniformity can be obtained in a wide processing window. - Abstract: In order to study electron trajectories in an annular cathode high current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) source based on carbon fiber bunches, the transmission process of electrons emitted from the annular cathode was simulated using a particle-in-cell model with Monte Carlo collisions (PIC-MCC). The simulation results show that the intense flow of the electrons emitted from the annular cathode are expanded during the transmission process, and the uniformity of the electron distribution is improved in the transportation process. The irradiation current decreases with the irradiation distance and the pressure, and increases with the negative voltage. In addition, when the irradiation distance and the cathode voltage are larger than 40 mm and −15 kV, respectively, a uniform irradiation current distribution along the circumference of the anode can be obtained. The simulation results show that good irradiation uniformity of circular components can be achieved by this annular cathode HCPEB source.

Monte Carlo method implemented in a finite element code with application to dynamic vacuum in particle accelerators

CERN Document Server

Garion, C

2009-01-01

Modern particle accelerators require UHV conditions during their operation. In the accelerating cavities, breakdowns can occur, releasing large amount of gas into the vacuum chamber. To determine the pressure profile along the cavity as a function of time, the time-dependent behaviour of the gas has to be simulated. To do that, it is useful to apply accurate three-dimensional method, such as Test Particles Monte Carlo. In this paper, a time-dependent Test Particles Monte Carlo is used. It has been implemented in a Finite Element code, CASTEM. The principle is to track a sample of molecules during time. The complex geometry of the cavities can be created either in the FE code or in a CAD software (CATIA in our case). The interface between the two softwares to export the geometry from CATIA to CASTEM is given. The algorithm of particle tracking for collisionless flow in the FE code is shown. Thermal outgassing, pumping surfaces and electron and/or ion stimulated desorption can all be generated as well as differ...

Comprehensive Benchmark Suite for Simulation of Particle Laden Flows Using the Discrete Element Method with Performance Profiles from the Multiphase Flow with Interface eXchanges (MFiX) Code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Peiyuan [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Brown, Timothy [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Fullmer, William D. [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Hauser, Thomas [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Hrenya, Christine [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Grout, Ray [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sitaraman, Hariswaran [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-01-29

Five benchmark problems are developed and simulated with the computational fluid dynamics and discrete element model code MFiX. The benchmark problems span dilute and dense regimes, consider statistically homogeneous and inhomogeneous (both clusters and bubbles) particle concentrations and a range of particle and fluid dynamic computational loads. Several variations of the benchmark problems are also discussed to extend the computational phase space to cover granular (particles only), bidisperse and heat transfer cases. A weak scaling analysis is performed for each benchmark problem and, in most cases, the scalability of the code appears reasonable up to approx. 103 cores. Profiling of the benchmark problems indicate that the most substantial computational time is being spent on particle-particle force calculations, drag force calculations and interpolating between discrete particle and continuum fields. Hardware performance analysis was also carried out showing significant Level 2 cache miss ratios and a rather low degree of vectorization. These results are intended to serve as a baseline for future developments to the code as well as a preliminary indicator of where to best focus performance optimizations.

Investigation on the cohesive silt/clay-particle sediment via the coupled CFD-DEM simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, S.; Sun, H.; Sun, R.

2017-12-01

Sedimentation of silt/clay particles happens ubiquitously in nature and engineering field. There have been abundant studies focusing on the settling velocity of the cohesive particles, while studies on the sediment deposited from silt/clay irregular particles, including the vertical concentration profile of sediment and the various forces among the deposited particles are still lacking. This paper aims to investigate the above topics by employing the CFD-DEM (Computational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Element Method) simulations. In this work, we simulate the settling of the mono- and poly- dispersed silt/clay particles and mainly study the characteristics of the deposited cohesive sediment. We use the bonded particles to simulate the irregular silt/clay aggregates at the initial state and utilize the van der Waals force for all micro-particles to consider the cohesive force among silt/clay particles. The interparticle collision force and the fluid-particle interaction forces are also considered in our numerical model. The value of the mean structural density of cohesive sediment obtained from simulations is in good agreement with the previous research, and it is obviously smaller than no-cohesive sediment because of the existence of the silt/clay flocs. Moreover, the solid concentration of sediment increases with the growth of the depth. It is because the silt/clay flocs are more easily to break up due to the gradually increased submerged gravity of the deposited particles along the depth. We also obtain the noncontacted cohesive force and contact force profiles during the sedimentation and the self-weight consolidation process. The study of the concentration profile and the forces among silt/clay sediment will help to give an accurate initial condition for calculating the speed of the reconsolidation process by employing the artificial loads, which is necessary for practical designs of the land reclamation projects.

Simulation study of the discharge characteristics of silos with cohesive particles

Science.gov (United States)

Hund, David; Weis, Dominik; Hesse, Robert; Antonyuk, Sergiy

2017-06-01

In many industrial applications the silo for bulk materials is an important part of an overall process. Silos are used for instance to buffer intermediate products to ensure a continuous supply for the next process step. This study deals with the discharging behaviour of silos containing cohesive bulk solids with particle sizes in the range of 100-500 μm. In this contribution the TOMAS [1,2] model developed for stationary and non-stationary discharging of a convergent hopper is verified with experiments and simulations using the Discrete Element Method. Moreover the influence of the cohesion of the bulk solids on the discharge behaviour is analysed by the simulation. The simulation results showed a qualitative agreement with the analytical model of TOMAS.

2D simulation and performance evaluation of bifacial rear local contact c-Si solar cells under variable illumination conditions

KAUST Repository

Katsaounis, Theodoros; Kotsovos, Konstantinos; Gereige, Issam; Al-Saggaf, Ahmed; Tzavaras, Athanasios

2017-01-01

A customized 2D computational tool has been developed to simulate bifacial rear local contact PERC type PV structures based on the numerical solution of the transport equations through the finite element method. Simulations were performed under various device material parameters and back contact geometry configurations in order to optimize bifacial solar cell performance under different simulated illumination conditions. Bifacial device maximum power output was also compared with the monofacial equivalent one and the industrial standard Al-BSF structure. The performance of the bifacial structure during highly diffused irradiance conditions commonly observed in the Middle East region due to high concentrations of airborne dust particles was also investigated. Simulation results demonstrated that such conditions are highly favorable for the bifacial device because of the significantly increased diffuse component of the solar radiation which enters the back cell surface.

2D simulation and performance evaluation of bifacial rear local contact c-Si solar cells under variable illumination conditions

KAUST Repository

Katsaounis, Theodoros

2017-09-18

A customized 2D computational tool has been developed to simulate bifacial rear local contact PERC type PV structures based on the numerical solution of the transport equations through the finite element method. Simulations were performed under various device material parameters and back contact geometry configurations in order to optimize bifacial solar cell performance under different simulated illumination conditions. Bifacial device maximum power output was also compared with the monofacial equivalent one and the industrial standard Al-BSF structure. The performance of the bifacial structure during highly diffused irradiance conditions commonly observed in the Middle East region due to high concentrations of airborne dust particles was also investigated. Simulation results demonstrated that such conditions are highly favorable for the bifacial device because of the significantly increased diffuse component of the solar radiation which enters the back cell surface.

Spatial distribution patterns of energy deposition and cellular radiation effects in lung tissue following simulated exposure to alpha particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofmann, W.; Crawford-Brown, D.J.

1990-01-01

Randomly oriented sections of rat tissue have been digitised to provide the contours of tissue-air interfaces and the locations of individual cell nuclei in the alveolated region of the lung. Sources of alpha particles with varying irradiation geometries and densities are simulated to compute the resulting random pattern of cellular irradiation, i.e. spatial coordinates, frequency, track length, and energy of traversals by the emitted alpha particles. Probabilities per unit track lengths, derived from experimental data on in vitro cellular inactivation and transformation, are then applied to the results of the alpha exposure simulations to yield an estimate of the number of both dead and viable transformed cells and their spatial distributions. If lung cancer risk is linearly related to the number of transformed cells, the carcinogenic risk for hot particles is always smaller than that for a uniform nuclide distribution of the same activity. (author)

Finite-element 3D simulation tools for high-current relativistic electron beams

Science.gov (United States)

Humphries, Stanley; Ekdahl, Carl

2002-08-01

The DARHT second-axis injector is a challenge for computer simulations. Electrons are subject to strong beam-generated forces. The fields are fully three-dimensional and accurate calculations at surfaces are critical. We describe methods applied in OmniTrak, a 3D finite-element code suite that can address DARHT and the full range of charged-particle devices. The system handles mesh generation, electrostatics, magnetostatics and self-consistent particle orbits. The MetaMesh program generates meshes of conformal hexahedrons to fit any user geometry. The code has the unique ability to create structured conformal meshes with cubic logic. Organized meshes offer advantages in speed and memory utilization in the orbit and field solutions. OmniTrak is a versatile charged-particle code that handles 3D electric and magnetic field solutions on independent meshes. The program can update both 3D field solutions from the calculated beam space-charge and current-density. We shall describe numerical methods for orbit tracking on a hexahedron mesh. Topics include: 1) identification of elements along the particle trajectory, 2) fast searches and adaptive field calculations, 3) interpolation methods to terminate orbits on material surfaces, 4) automatic particle generation on multiple emission surfaces to model space-charge-limited emission and field emission, 5) flexible Child law algorithms, 6) implementation of the dual potential model for 3D magnetostatics, and 7) assignment of charge and current from model particle orbits for self-consistent fields.

Simulation of halo particles with Simpsons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machida, Shinji

2003-01-01

Recent code improvements and some simulation results of halo particles with Simpsons will be presented. We tried to identify resonance behavior of halo particles by looking at tune evolution of individual macro particle

Simulation of halo particles with Simpsons

Science.gov (United States)

Machida, Shinji

2003-12-01

Recent code improvements and some simulation results of halo particles with Simpsons will be presented. We tried to identify resonance behavior of halo particles by looking at tune evolution of individual macro particle.

Element content and particle size characterization of a mussel candidate reference material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moreira, Edson G.; Vasconcellos, Marina B.A.; Santos, Rafaela G. dos; Martinelli, Jose R.

2011-01-01

The use of certified reference materials is an important tool in the quality assurance of analytical measurements. To assure reliability on recently prepared powder reference materials, not only the characterization of the property values of interest and their corresponding uncertainties, but also physical properties such as the particle size distribution must be well evaluated. Narrow particle size distributions are preferable than larger ones; as different size particles may have different analyte content. Due to this fact, the segregation of the coarse and the fine particles in a bottle may lead to inhomogeneity of the reference material, which should be avoided. In this study the element content as well as the particle size distribution of a mussel candidate reference material produced at IPEN-CNEN/SP was investigated. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis was applied to the determination of 15 elements in seven fractions of the material with different particle size distributions. Subsamples of the materials were irradiated simultaneously with elemental standards at the IEA-R1 research nuclear reactor and the induced gamma ray energies were measured in a hyperpure germanium detector. Three vials of the candidate reference material and three coarser fractions, collected during the preparation, were analyzed by Laser Diffraction Particle Analysis to determine the particle size distribution. Differences on element content were detected for fractions with different particle size distribution, indicating the importance of particle size control for biological reference materials. From the particle size analysis, Gaussian particle size distribution was observed for the candidate reference material with mean particle size μ = 94.6 ± 0.8 μm. (author)

Analysis of trace elements in chicken embryo cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu Zhijun; Wang Jiqing; Guo Panlin; Li Xiaolin; Zhu Jieqing; Lu Rongrong

2002-01-01

A scanning proton microprobe (SPM) with high resolution and high sensitivity was applied to analyze trace elements in chicken embryo forebrain neutron cell and skeletal muscle myotube cell. The absorption of the two different cells to zinc ions, correlation of elements and trace elemental distributions in the cells were studied. The results indicate that the absorptive capacity of the chicken embryo forebrain neuron cell to zinc ions is larger than that of the chicken embryo skeletal muscle myotube cell, and the concentrations of intracellular trace elements such as Cr, Fe, Ni are explicitly higher. The correlations of elements such as S and Zn or Fe and Zn are positive, but the correlations of P and Ni or Cr and Fe are negative. From the maps of cellular elemental distribution the contents of the different elements are different in the intracellular parts, for example, the contents of the elements phosphorus, sulfur, potassium in the cell membranes are higher than that in the cells

Numerical Simulation of a Tumor Growth Dynamics Model Using Particle Swarm Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhijun; Wang, Qing

Tumor cell growth models involve high-dimensional parameter spaces that require computationally tractable methods to solve. To address a proposed tumor growth dynamics mathematical model, an instance of the particle swarm optimization method was implemented to speed up the search process in the multi-dimensional parameter space to find optimal parameter values that fit experimental data from mice cancel cells. The fitness function, which measures the difference between calculated results and experimental data, was minimized in the numerical simulation process. The results and search efficiency of the particle swarm optimization method were compared to those from other evolutional methods such as genetic algorithms.

Surgery simulation using fast finite elements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bro-Nielsen, Morten

1996-01-01

This paper describes our recent work on real-time surgery simulation using fast finite element models of linear elasticity. In addition, we discuss various improvements in terms of speed and realism......This paper describes our recent work on real-time surgery simulation using fast finite element models of linear elasticity. In addition, we discuss various improvements in terms of speed and realism...

Magnetically assisted chemical separation (MACS) process: Preparation and optimization of particles for removal of transuranic elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nunez, L.; Kaminski, M.; Bradley, C.; Buchholz, B.A.; Aase, S.B.; Tuazon, H.E.; Vandegrift, G.F.; Landsberger, S.

1995-05-01

The Magnetically Assisted Chemical Separation (MACS) process combines the selectivity afforded by solvent extractants with magnetic separation by using specially coated magnetic particles to provide a more efficient chemical separation of transuranic (TRU) elements, other radionuclides, and heavy metals from waste streams. Development of the MACS process uses chemical and physical techniques to elucidate the properties of particle coatings and the extent of radiolytic and chemical damage to the particles, and to optimize the stages of loading, extraction, and particle regeneration. This report describes the development of a separation process for TRU elements from various high-level waste streams. Polymer-coated ferromagnetic particles with an adsorbed layer of octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO) diluted with tributyl phosphate (TBP) were evaluated for use in the separation and recovery of americium and plutonium from nuclear waste solutions. Due to their chemical nature, these extractants selectively complex americium and plutonium contaminants onto the particles, which can then be recovered from the solution by using a magnet. The partition coefficients were larger than those expected based on liquid[liquid extractions, and the extraction proceeded with rapid kinetics. Extractants were stripped from the particles with alcohols and 400-fold volume reductions were achieved. Particles were more sensitive to acid hydrolysis than to radiolysis. Overall, the optimization of a suitable NMCS particle for TRU separation was achieved under simulant conditions, and a MACS unit is currently being designed for an in-lab demonstration

A particle based simulation model for glacier dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. A. Åström

2013-10-01

Full Text Available A particle-based computer simulation model was developed for investigating the dynamics of glaciers. In the model, large ice bodies are made of discrete elastic particles which are bound together by massless elastic beams. These beams can break, which induces brittle behaviour. At loads below fracture, beams may also break and reform with small probabilities to incorporate slowly deforming viscous behaviour in the model. This model has the advantage that it can simulate important physical processes such as ice calving and fracturing in a more realistic way than traditional continuum models. For benchmarking purposes the deformation of an ice block on a slip-free surface was compared to that of a similar block simulated with a Finite Element full-Stokes continuum model. Two simulations were performed: (1 calving of an ice block partially supported in water, similar to a grounded marine glacier terminus, and (2 fracturing of an ice block on an inclined plane of varying basal friction, which could represent transition to fast flow or surging. Despite several approximations, including restriction to two-dimensions and simplified water-ice interaction, the model was able to reproduce the size distributions of the debris observed in calving, which may be approximated by universal scaling laws. On a moderate slope, a large ice block was stable and quiescent as long as there was enough of friction against the substrate. For a critical length of frictional contact, global sliding began, and the model block disintegrated in a manner suggestive of a surging glacier. In this case the fragment size distribution produced was typical of a grinding process.

Center for Gyrokinetic/MHD Hybrid Simulation of Energetic Particle Physics in Toroidal Plasmas (CSEPP). Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Yang

2012-01-01

At Colorado University-Boulder the primary task is to extend our gyrokinetic Particle-in-Cell simulation of tokamak micro-turbulence and transport to the area of energetic particle physics. We have implemented a gyrokinetic ion/massless fluid electron hybrid model in the global δf-PIC code GEM, and benchmarked the code with analytic results on the thermal ion radiative damping rate of Toroidal Alfven Eigenmodes (TAE) and with mode frequency and spatial structure from eigenmode analysis. We also performed nonlinear simulations of both a single-n mode (n is the toroidal mode number) and multiple-n modes, and in the case of single-n, benchmarked the code on the saturation amplitude vs. particle collision rate with analytical theory. Most simulations use the f method for both ions species, but we have explored the full-f method for energetic particles in cases where the burst amplitude of the excited instabilities is large as to cause significant re-distribution or loss of the energetic particles. We used the hybrid model to study the stability of high-n TAEs in ITER. Our simulations show that the most unstable modes in ITER lie in the rage of 10 α (0) = 0.7% for the fully shaped ITER equilibrium. We also carried nonlinear simulations of the most unstable n = 15 mode and found that the saturation amplitude for the nominal ITER discharge is too low to cause large redistribution or loss of alpha particles. To include kinetic electron effects in the hybrid model we have studied a kinetic electron closure scheme for the fluid electron model. The most important element of the closure scheme is a complete Ohm's law for the parallel electric field E || , derived by combining the quasi-neutrality condition, the Ampere's equation and the v || moment of the gyrokinetic equations. A discretization method for the closure scheme is studied in detail for a three-dimensional shear-less slab plasma. It is found that for long-wavelength shear Alfven waves the kinetic closure scheme

A Particle-In-Cell approach to particle flux shaping with a surface mask

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Kawamura

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The Particle-In-Cell simulation code PICS has been developed to study plasma in front of a surface with two types of masks, step-type and roof-type. Parameter scans with regard to magnetic field angle, electron density, and mask height were carried out to understand their influence on ion particle flux distribution on a surface. A roof-type mask with a small mask height yields short decay length in the flux distribution which is consistent with that estimated experimentally. A roof-type mask with a large height yields very long decay length and the flux value does not depend on a mask height or an electron density, but rather on a mask length and a biasing voltage of the surface. Mask height also changes the flux distribution apart from the mask because of the shading effect of the mask. Electron density changes the distribution near the mask edge according to the Debye length. Dependence of distribution on parameters are complicated especially for a roof-type mask, and simulation study with various parameters are useful to understand the physical reasons of dependence and also is useful as a tool for experiment studies.

Particle-in-cell simulations of electron beam control using an inductive current divider

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swanekamp, S. B.; Angus, J. R.; Cooperstein, G.; Ottinger, P. F.; Richardson, A. S.; Schumer, J. W.; Weber, B. V. [Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia 20375 (United States)

2015-11-15

Kinetic, time-dependent, electromagnetic, particle-in-cell simulations of the inductive current divider are presented. The inductive current divider is a passive method for controlling the trajectory of an intense, hollow electron beam using a vacuum structure that inductively splits the beam's return current. The current divider concept was proposed and studied theoretically in a previous publication [Swanekamp et al., Phys. Plasmas 22, 023107 (2015)]. A central post carries a portion of the return current (I{sub 1}), while the outer conductor carries the remainder (I{sub 2}) with the injected beam current given by I{sub b} = I{sub 1} + I{sub 2}. The simulations are in agreement with the theory which predicts that the total force on the beam trajectory is proportional to (I{sub 2}−I{sub 1}) and the force on the beam envelope is proportional to I{sub b}. Independent control over both the current density and the beam angle at the target is possible by choosing the appropriate current-divider geometry. The root-mean-square (RMS) beam emittance (ε{sub RMS}) varies as the beam propagates through the current divider to the target. For applications where control of the beam trajectory is desired and the current density at the target is similar to the current density at the entrance foil, there is a modest 20% increase in ε{sub RMS} at the target. For other applications where the beam is pinched to a current density ∼5 times larger at the target, ε{sub RMS} is 2–3 times larger at the target.

An arbitrary curvilinear-coordinate method for particle-in-cell modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fichtl, C A; Finn, J M; Cartwright, K L

2012-01-01

A new approach to kinetic simulation of plasmas in complex geometries, based on the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation method, is explored. In the two-dimensional (2D) electrostatic version of our method, called the arbitrary curvilinear-coordinate PIC method, all essential PIC operations are carried out in 2D on a uniform grid on the unit square logical domain, and mapped to a nonuniform boundary-fitted grid on the physical domain. As the resulting logical grid equations of motion are not separable, we have developed an extension of the semi-implicit modified leapfrog integration technique to preserve the symplectic nature of the logical grid particle mover. A generalized, curvilinear-coordinate formulation of Poisson's equations to solve for the electrostatic fields on the uniform logical grid is also developed. By our formulation, we compute the plasma charge density on the logical grid based on the particles' positions on the logical domain. That is, the plasma particles are weighted to the uniform logical grid and the self-consistent mean electrostatic fields obtained from the solution of the logical grid Poisson equation are interpolated to the particle positions on the logical grid. This process eliminates the complexity associated with the weighting and interpolation processes on the nonuniform physical grid and allows us to run the PIC method on arbitrary boundary-fitted meshes. (paper)

Simulation of deterministic energy-balance particle agglomeration in turbulent liquid-solid flows

Science.gov (United States)

Njobuenwu, Derrick O.; Fairweather, Michael

2017-08-01

An efficient technique to simulate turbulent particle-laden flow at high mass loadings within the four-way coupled simulation regime is presented. The technique implements large-eddy simulation, discrete particle simulation, a deterministic treatment of inter-particle collisions, and an energy-balanced particle agglomeration model. The algorithm to detect inter-particle collisions is such that the computational costs scale linearly with the number of particles present in the computational domain. On detection of a collision, particle agglomeration is tested based on the pre-collision kinetic energy, restitution coefficient, and van der Waals' interactions. The performance of the technique developed is tested by performing parametric studies on the influence of the restitution coefficient (en = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8), particle size (dp = 60, 120, 200, and 316 μm), Reynolds number (Reτ = 150, 300, and 590), and particle concentration (αp = 5.0 × 10-4, 1.0 × 10-3, and 5.0 × 10-3) on particle-particle interaction events (collision and agglomeration). The results demonstrate that the collision frequency shows a linear dependency on the restitution coefficient, while the agglomeration rate shows an inverse dependence. Collisions among smaller particles are more frequent and efficient in forming agglomerates than those of coarser particles. The particle-particle interaction events show a strong dependency on the shear Reynolds number Reτ, while increasing the particle concentration effectively enhances particle collision and agglomeration whilst having only a minor influence on the agglomeration rate. Overall, the sensitivity of the particle-particle interaction events to the selected simulation parameters is found to influence the population and distribution of the primary particles and agglomerates formed.

Hydrodynamics in adaptive resolution particle simulations: Multiparticle collision dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alekseeva, Uliana, E-mail: Alekseeva@itc.rwth-aachen.de [Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich (Germany); German Research School for Simulation Sciences (GRS), Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich (Germany); Winkler, Roland G., E-mail: r.winkler@fz-juelich.de [Theoretical Soft Matter and Biophysics, Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich (Germany); Sutmann, Godehard, E-mail: g.sutmann@fz-juelich.de [Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS), Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich (Germany); ICAMS, Ruhr-University Bochum, D-44801 Bochum (Germany)

2016-06-01

A new adaptive resolution technique for particle-based multi-level simulations of fluids is presented. In the approach, the representation of fluid and solvent particles is changed on the fly between an atomistic and a coarse-grained description. The present approach is based on a hybrid coupling of the multiparticle collision dynamics (MPC) method and molecular dynamics (MD), thereby coupling stochastic and deterministic particle-based methods. Hydrodynamics is examined by calculating velocity and current correlation functions for various mixed and coupled systems. We demonstrate that hydrodynamic properties of the mixed fluid are conserved by a suitable coupling of the two particle methods, and that the simulation results agree well with theoretical expectations.

Particle-in-Cell Codes for plasma-based particle acceleration

CERN Document Server

Pukhov, Alexander

2016-01-01

Basic principles of particle-in-cell (PIC ) codes with the main application for plasma-based acceleration are discussed. The ab initio full electromagnetic relativistic PIC codes provide the most reliable description of plasmas. Their properties are considered in detail. Representing the most fundamental model, the full PIC codes are computationally expensive. The plasma-based acceler- ation is a multi-scale problem with very disparate scales. The smallest scale is the laser or plasma wavelength (from one to hundred microns) and the largest scale is the acceleration distance (from a few centimeters to meters or even kilometers). The Lorentz-boost technique allows to reduce the scale disparity at the costs of complicating the simulations and causing unphysical numerical instabilities in the code. Another possibility is to use the quasi-static approxi- mation where the disparate scales are separated analytically.

Fission product retention in TRISO coated UO2 particle fuels subjected to HTR simulated core heating tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldwin, C.A.; Kania, M.J.

1991-01-01

Results of the examination and analysis of 25,730 individual microspheres from spherical fuel elements HFR-K3/1 and HFR-K3/3 are reported. The parent spheres were irradiated in excess of end-of-life exposure and subsequently subjected to simulated core heating tests in a special high-temperature furnace at Forschungszentrum, Juelich, GmbH (KFA). Following the heating tests, the spheres were electrolytically deconsolidated to obtain unbounded fuel particles for Irradiated Microsphere Gamma Analyzer (IMGA) analysis. For sphere HFR-K3/1, which was heated for 500 h at 1600 deg. C, only four particles were identified as having released fission products. The remaining particles from the sphere showed no statistical evidence of fission product release. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) examination showed that three of the defect particles had large sections of the TRISO coating missing, while the fourth appeared normal. For sphere HFR-K3/3, which was heated for 100 h at 1800 deg. C, the IMGA data revealed that fission product release (cesium) from individual particles was significant and that there was large particle-to-particle variation in retention capabilities. Individual particle release (cesium) averaged ten times the KFA-measured integral spherical fuel element release value. In addition, the bimodal distribution of the individual particle data indicated that two distinct modes of failure at fuel temperatures of 1800 deg. C and above may exist. (author). 6 refs, 6 figs, 4 tabs

Fission product retention in TRISCO coated UO2 particle fuels subjected to HTR simulated core heating tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldwin, C.A.; Kania, M.J.

1990-11-01

Results of the examination and analysis of 25,730 individual microspheres from spherical fuel elements HFR-K3/1 and HFR-K3/3 are reported. The parent spheres were irradiated in excess of end-of-life exposure and subsequently subjected to simulated core heating tests in a special high-temperature furnace at Forschungszentrum, Juelich, GmbH (KFA). Following the heating tests, the spheres were electrolytically deconsolidated to obtain unbonded fuel particles for Irradiated Microsphere Gamma Analyzer (IMGA) analysis. For sphere HFR-K3/1, which was heated for 500 h at 1600 degree C, only four particles were identified as having released fission products. The remaining particles from the sphere showed no statistical evidence of fission product release. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) examination showed that three of the defect particles had large sections of the TRISO coating missing, while the fourth appeared normal. For sphere HFR-K3/3, which was heated for 100 h at 1800 degree C, the IMGA data revealed that fission product release (cesium) from individual particles was significant and that there was large particle-to-particle variation in retention capabilities. Individual particle release (cesium) averaged ten times the KFA-measured integral spherical fuel element release value. In addition, the bimodal distribution of the individual particle data indicated that two distinct modes of failure at fuel temperatures of 1800 degree C and above may exist. 6 refs., 6 figs., 4 tabs

Experimental and simulation study of the effects of cosmic particles on CMOS/SOS RAMs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Worley, E.; Williams, R.; Groninger, J.

1990-01-01

Van De Graaff particle accelerator data was taken on three different CMOS/SOS RAM cells. The resulting LET upset thresholds were then used to calculate the deposited charge needed to upset the cells. Detailed SPICE simulations of the various cells were used to determine the collected charge required for upset. A comparison of the two values indicated that the charge needed to upset the cells was greater than the deposited charge, thus confirming Rollins' results. Shorter channel lengths and higher power supply voltages caused the ratio, M, of upset charge to deposited charge to increase. As a result of this multiplication factor, actual devices are more likely to upset (i.e., upset at lower energy) than expected from an analysis of only the collected charge. A mixed mode simulator was then used to model the charge collection process. This simulator study showed that the M factor is a very fluid number which is dependent on minority carrier lifetime, drain voltage, and the switching dynamics of the cell in addition to the dependence on mobility ratio and channel length. Parasitic bipolar gain at high injection levels appears to be the primary mechanism allowing collected charge to be greater than deposited charge. In conclusion, the simulator and experimental data show that, as floating body static memory transistors are down scaled, the particle energy needed to upset the cell is reduced because of the enhanced parasitic bipolar gain effect as well as a reduction in the node capacitance. This result is shown by simulation to also apply to fully depleted SOI transistors

ZnO/TiO{sub 2} particles and their solar cell application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kerli, S., E-mail: suleymankerli@ksu.edu.tr [Department of EnergySystemsEngineering, Faculty of Elbistan Technology, Kahramanmaras SutcuImamUniversity, Kahramanmaras (Turkey); Akgül, Ö., E-mail: omeraakgul@gmail.com [Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Dept. of Physics, 46100 K.Maras-Turkey (Turkey); Alver, Ü., E-mail: ualver@ktu.edu.tr [Karadeniz Technical University, Dept. of Metallurgical and Materials Eng. 61080, Trabzon-Turkey (Turkey)

2016-03-25

ZnO/TiO{sub 2} particles were investigated for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Nano-structured ZnO particles were produced by the hydrothermal method. TiO{sub 2} (P25) nanoparticles, was bought from the company of Degussa. Crystal structures and morphological properties of particles were examined by XRD and SEM. As an application, dye sensitized solar cells were fabricated from nano-structured produced metal oxide particles. The working electrodes of the DSSCs were obtained by mixture of ZnO and TiO{sub 2} powders. I-V characteristics of the cells were measured by using a solar simulator and the efficiency of the solar cells were obtained by using I-V graphs. ZnO cells sensitized with Ruthenium 535-bisTBA (N719) dyes yield higher efficiencies than corresponding TiO{sub 2} cells. By increasing TiO{sub 2} amount in the mixture of ZnO/TiO{sub 2}, it was observed that efficiencies of cells are getting lower.

The Multi-Element Electronstatic Lens Systems for Controlling and Focusing Charged Particle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sise, O.

2004-01-01

Particle optics are very close anolog of photon optics and most of the principles of an barged particle beam can be understood by thinking of the particles as rays of light. There are similar behaviours between particle and photon optics in controlling beams of light and charged particles, such as lenses and mirrors. Extensive information about the properties of charged particle optics, from which appropriate systems can be designed for any specific problem. In this way electrostatic lens systems are used to control beams of c/iarged particle with various energy and directions in several fields, for example electron microscopy, cathode ray tubes, ion accelerators and electron impact studies. In an electrostatic lens system quantative information is required over a wide energy range and a zoom-type of optics is needed. If the magnification is to remain constant over a wide range of energies, quite complicated electrostatic lens systems are required, .containing three, four, five, or even more lens elements. We firstly calculated the optical properties of three and four element cylinder electrostatic lenses with the help of the SIMION and LENSYS programs and developed the method for the calculation of the focal properties of five and more element lenses with afocal mode. In this method we used the combination of three and four element lenses to derive focal properties of multi-element lenses and presented this data over a wide range of energy

Particle-in-cell studies of laser-driven hot spots and a statistical model for mesoscopic properties of Raman backscatter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albright, B.J.; Yin, L.; Bowers, K.J.; Kline, J.L.; Montgomery, D.S.; Fernandez, J.C.; Daughton, W.

2006-01-01

The authors use explicit particle-in-cell simulations to model stimulated scattering processes in media with both solitary and multiple laser hot spots. These simulations indicate coupling among hot spots, whereby scattered light, plasma waves, and hot electrons generated in one laser hot spot may propagate to neighboring hot spots, which can be destabilized to enhanced backscatter. A nonlinear statistical model of a stochastic beam exhibiting this coupled behavior is described here. Calibration of the model using particle-in-cell simulations is performed, and a threshold is derived for 'detonation' of the beam to high reflectivity. (authors)

[Evaluation of Cellular Effects Caused by Lunar Regolith Simulant Including Fine Particles].

Science.gov (United States)

Horie, Masanori; Miki, Takeo; Honma, Yoshiyuki; Aoki, Shigeru; Morimoto, Yasuo

2015-06-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced a plan to establish a manned colony on the surface of the moon, and our country, Japan, has declared its participation. The surface of the moon is covered with soil called lunar regolith, which includes fine particles. It is possible that humans will inhale lunar regolith if it is brought into the spaceship. Therefore, an evaluation of the pulmonary effects caused by lunar regolith is important for exploration of the moon. In the present study, we examine the cellular effects of lunar regolith simulant, whose components are similar to those of lunar regolith. We focused on the chemical component and particle size in particular. The regolith simulant was fractionated to lunar regolith simulant such as cell membrane damage, induction of oxidative stress and proinflammatory effect.

Plasma physics via particle simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birdsall, C.K.

1981-01-01

Plasmas are studied by following the motion of many particles in applied and self fields, analytically, experimentally and computationally. Plasmas for magnetic fusion energy devices are very hot, nearly collisionless and magnetized, with scale lengths of many ion gyroradii and Debye lengths. The analytic studies of such plasmas are very difficult as the plasma is nonuniform, anisotropic and nonlinear. The experimental studies have become very expensive in time and money, as the size, density and temperature approach fusion reactor values. Computational studies using many particles and/or fluids have complemented both theories and experiments for many years and have progressed to fully three dimensional electromagnetic models, albeit with hours of running times on the fastest largest computers. Particle simulation methods are presented in some detail, showing particle advance from acceleration to velocity to position, followed by calculation of the fields from charge and current densities and then further particle advance, and so on. Limitations due to the time stepping and use of a spatial grid are given, to avoid inaccuracies and instabilities. Examples are given for an electrostatic program in one dimension of an orbit averaging program, and for a three dimensional electromagnetic program. Applications of particle simulations of plasmas in magnetic and inertial fusion devices continue to grow, as well as to plasmas and beams in peripheral devices, such as sources, accelerators, and converters. (orig.)

Revealing the sub-structures of the magnetic reconnection separatrix via particle-in-cell simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, M.; Deng, X. H.; Pang, Y.; Xu, X. J.; Yao, M.; Huang, S. Y.; Yuan, Z. G.; Li, H. M.; Wang, D. D.; Wang, Y. H.

2012-01-01

Magnetic separatrix is an important boundary layer separating the inflow and outflow regions in magnetic reconnection. In this article, we investigate the sub-structures of the separatrix region by using two-and-half dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulation. The separatrix region can be divided into two sub-regions in terms of the ion and electron frozen-in conditions. Far from the neutral sheet, ions and electrons are magnetized in magnetic fields. Approaching the neutral sheet, ion frozen-in condition is broken in a narrow region (∼c/ω pi ) at the edge of a density cavity, while electrons are frozen-in to magnetic fields. In this region, electric field E z is around zero, and the convective term –(v i × B) is balanced by the Hall term in the generalized Ohm’s law because ions carry the perpendicular current. Inside the density cavity, both ion and electron frozen-in conditions are broken. The region consists of two sub-ion or electron-scale layers, which contain intense electric fields. Formation of the two sub-layers is due to the complex electron flow pattern around the separatrix region. In the layer, E z is balanced by a combination of Hall term and the divergence of electron pressure tensor, with the Hall term being dominant. Our preliminary simulation result shows that the separatrix region in guide field reconnection also contains two sub-regions: the inner region and the outer region. However, the inner region contains only one current layer in contrast with the case without guide field.

Electrostatic and electromagnetic instabilities associated with electrostatic shocks: Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Tsunehiko N.; Takabe, Hideaki

2010-01-01

A two-dimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulation with the realistic ion-to-electron mass ratio of 1836 is carried out to investigate the electrostatic collisionless shocks in relatively high-speed (∼3000 km s -1 ) plasma flows and also the influence of both electrostatic and electromagnetic instabilities, which can develop around the shocks, on the shock dynamics. It is shown that the electrostatic ion-ion instability can develop in front of the shocks, where the plasma is under counterstreaming condition, with highly oblique wave vectors as was shown previously. The electrostatic potential generated by the electrostatic ion-ion instability propagating obliquely to the shock surface becomes comparable with the shock potential and finally the shock structure is destroyed. It is also shown that in front of the shock the beam-Weibel instability gradually grows as well, consequently suggesting that the magnetic field generated by the beam-Weibel instability becomes important in long-term evolution of the shock and the Weibel-mediated shock forms long after the electrostatic shock vanished. It is also observed that the secondary electrostatic shock forms in the reflected ions in front of the primary electrostatic shock.

Three-dimensional gyrokinetic particle-in-cell simulation of plasmas on a massively parallel computer: Final report on LDRD Core Competency Project, FY 1991--FY 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byers, J.A.; Williams, T.J.; Cohen, B.I.; Dimits, A.M.

1994-01-01

One of the programs of the Magnetic fusion Energy (MFE) Theory and computations Program is studying the anomalous transport of thermal energy across the field lines in the core of a tokamak. We use the method of gyrokinetic particle-in-cell simulation in this study. For this LDRD project we employed massively parallel processing, new algorithms, and new algorithms, and new formal techniques to improve this research. Specifically, we sought to take steps toward: researching experimentally-relevant parameters in our simulations, learning parallel computing to have as a resource for our group, and achieving a 100 x speedup over our starting-point Cray2 simulation code's performance

Blood–plasma separation in Y-shaped bifurcating microfluidic channels: a dissipative particle dynamics simulation study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Xuejin; Karniadakis, George Em; Popel, Aleksander S

2012-01-01

The motion of a suspension of red blood cells (RBCs) flowing in a Y-shaped bifurcating microfluidic channel is investigated using a validated low-dimensional RBC model based on dissipative particle dynamics. Specifically, the RBC is represented as a closed torus-like ring of ten colloidal particles, which leads to efficient simulations of blood flow in microcirculation over a wide range of hematocrits. Adaptive no-slip wall boundary conditions were implemented to model hydrodynamic flow within a specific wall structure of diverging three-dimensional microfluidic channels, paying attention to controlling density fluctuations. Plasma skimming and the all-or-nothing phenomenon of RBCs in a bifurcating microfluidic channel have been investigated in our simulations for healthy and diseased blood, including the size of a cell-free layer on the daughter branches. The feed hematocrit level in the parent channel has considerable influence on blood–plasma separation. Compared to the blood–plasma separation efficiencies of healthy RBCs, malaria-infected stiff RBCs (iRBCs) have a tendency to travel into the low flow-rate daughter branch because of their different initial distribution in the parent channel. Our simulation results are consistent with previously published experimental results and theoretical predictions. (paper)

Modeling and simulation of the effective behaviour of interfaces in alloys; Modellierung und Simulation des effektiven Verhaltens von Grenzflaechen in Metalllegierungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lenz, M.

2007-07-15

This thesis is concerned with the modeling and the numerical simulation of phase transitions during the Ostwald ripening of metal alloys and in magnetic shape memory materials. The phase transition is modeled on a continuum level with methods of elasticity theory. The coarsening of particles in a metal alloy after spinodal decomposition can be seen as a gradient flow: The set of particles moves on the manifold of all possible particle configurations in the direction of steepest descent of an energy functional containing interface energy and elasticity, with respect to a metric tensor describing the diffusion mechanism. The restriction of this evolution onto the submanifold of rectangular particles aligned to the coordinate axes, as they are preferred by the anisotropy of the elasticity tensor, gives a reduced model that describes the evolution of such particles. The numerical simulation of both models employs the boundary element method. The integral operators occurring are approximated by hierarchical matrices, this approximation also gives an appropriate preconditioner. To avoid the coupling of the time step size to the side length of the smallest particle, one uses localized timesteps close to small particles, where the screening effect makes it possible to restrict to small neighbourhoods of the respective particle. In this way one constructs an efficient method to simulate both models; in the reduced model accordingly the simulation of larger particle ensembles is possible. Comparative computations verify that the reduced model reproduces many important qualitative and quantitative properties of the full model. Magnetic shape memory materials can be modeled on a continuum scale using a combination of elasticity and micromagnetism. Here, a discrete phase parameter couples the variants of the elastic strain to the magnetic anisotropy. The anisotropy prefers a magnetization in the direction of contraction. This model can be applied to the description of several

Fully kinetic particle simulations of high pressure streamer propagation

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, David; Welch, Dale; Thoma, Carsten; Clark, Robert

2012-10-01

Streamer and leader formation in high pressure devices is a dynamic process involving a hierarchy of physical phenomena. These include elastic and inelastic particle collisions in the gas, radiation generation, transport and absorption, and electrode interactions. We have performed 2D and 3D fully EM implicit particle-in-cell simulation model of gas breakdown leading to streamer formation under DC and RF fields. The model uses a Monte Carlo treatment for all particle interactions and includes discrete photon generation, transport, and absorption for ultra-violet and soft x-ray radiation. Central to the realization of this fully kinetic particle treatment is an algorithm [D. R. Welch, et al., J. Comp. Phys. 227, 143 (2007)] that manages the total particle count by species while preserving the local momentum distribution functions and conserving charge. These models are being applied to the analysis of high-pressure gas switches [D. V. Rose, et al., Phys. Plasmas 18, 093501 (2011)] and gas-filled RF accelerator cavities [D. V. Rose, et al. Proc. IPAC12, to appear].

Assessing the role of secondary electron emission on the characteristics of 6-cavity magnetrons with transparent cathode through particle-in-cell simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qiu, Hao; Joshi, Ravi P., E-mail: rjoshi@odu.edu [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0246 (United States); Prasad, Sarita; Schamiloglu, Edl [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-0001 (United States); Ludeking, Lars [ATK Mission Systems, 8560 Cinderbed Road, Suite 700, Newington, Virginia 22122 (United States)

2014-05-21

Effects of secondary electron emission (SEE) on the performance of a 6-cavity relativistic magnetron with transparent cathodes are probed through particle-in-cell simulations. Appropriate relations for the secondary electron yield have been developed and used. For comparisons, separate simulations have been performed with- and without electron cascading. Simulation results seem to indicate SEE to be detrimental to the power output due to deviations in the starting trajectories of secondary electrons, and the reduced fraction with synchronized rotational velocity. A higher reduction in output power is predicted with electron cascading, though mode competition was not seen at the 0.65 T field. A possible solution to mitigating SEE in magnetrons for high power microwave applications would be to alter the surface properties of emitting electrodes through irradiation, which can lead to graphitic film formation.

Coupling of smooth particle hydrodynamics with the finite element method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Attaway, S.W.; Heinstein, M.W.; Swegle, J.W.

1994-01-01

A gridless technique called smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) has been coupled with the transient dynamics finite element code ppercase[pronto]. In this paper, a new weighted residual derivation for the SPH method will be presented, and the methods used to embed SPH within ppercase[pronto] will be outlined. Example SPH ppercase[pronto] calculations will also be presented. One major difficulty associated with the Lagrangian finite element method is modeling materials with no shear strength; for example, gases, fluids and explosive biproducts. Typically, these materials can be modeled for only a short time with a Lagrangian finite element code. Large distortions cause tangling of the mesh, which will eventually lead to numerical difficulties, such as negative element area or ''bow tie'' elements. Remeshing will allow the problem to continue for a short while, but the large distortions can prevent a complete analysis. SPH is a gridless Lagrangian technique. Requiring no mesh, SPH has the potential to model material fracture, large shear flows and penetration. SPH computes the strain rate and the stress divergence based on the nearest neighbors of a particle, which are determined using an efficient particle-sorting technique. Embedding the SPH method within ppercase[pronto] allows part of the problem to be modeled with quadrilateral finite elements, while other parts are modeled with the gridless SPH method. SPH elements are coupled to the quadrilateral elements through a contact-like algorithm. ((orig.))

Bayesian approach to MSD-based analysis of particle motion in live cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Monnier, Nilah; Guo, Syuan-Ming; Mori, Masashi; He, Jun; Lénárt, Péter; Bathe, Mark

2012-08-08

Quantitative tracking of particle motion using live-cell imaging is a powerful approach to understanding the mechanism of transport of biological molecules, organelles, and cells. However, inferring complex stochastic motion models from single-particle trajectories in an objective manner is nontrivial due to noise from sampling limitations and biological heterogeneity. Here, we present a systematic Bayesian approach to multiple-hypothesis testing of a general set of competing motion models based on particle mean-square displacements that automatically classifies particle motion, properly accounting for sampling limitations and correlated noise while appropriately penalizing model complexity according to Occam's Razor to avoid over-fitting. We test the procedure rigorously using simulated trajectories for which the underlying physical process is known, demonstrating that it chooses the simplest physical model that explains the observed data. Further, we show that computed model probabilities provide a reliability test for the downstream biological interpretation of associated parameter values. We subsequently illustrate the broad utility of the approach by applying it to disparate biological systems including experimental particle trajectories from chromosomes, kinetochores, and membrane receptors undergoing a variety of complex motions. This automated and objective Bayesian framework easily scales to large numbers of particle trajectories, making it ideal for classifying the complex motion of large numbers of single molecules and cells from high-throughput screens, as well as single-cell-, tissue-, and organism-level studies. Copyright © 2012 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Euler-Lagrange Simulations of Shock Wave-Particle Cloud Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Koneru, Rahul; Rollin, Bertrand; Ouellet, Frederick; Park, Chanyoung; Balachandar, S.

2017-11-01

Numerical experiments of shock interacting with an evolving and fixed cloud of particles are performed. In these simulations we use Eulerian-Lagrangian approach along with state-of-the-art point-particle force and heat transfer models. As validation, we use Sandia Multiphase Shock Tube experiments and particle-resolved simulations. The particle curtain upon interaction with the shock wave is expected to experience Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) and Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instabilities. In the simulations evolving the particle cloud, the initial volume fraction profile matches with that of Sandia Multiphase Shock Tube experiments, and the shock Mach number is limited to M =1.66. Measurements of particle dispersion are made at different initial volume fractions. A detailed analysis of the influence of initial conditions on the evolution of the particle cloudis presented. The early time behavior of the models is studied in the fixed bed simulations at varying volume fractions and shock Mach numbers.The mean gas quantities are measured in the context of 1-way and 2-way coupled simulations. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Advanced Simulation and Computing Program, as a Cooperative Agreement under the Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program, Contract No. DE-NA0002378.

Particle-in-cell plasma simulation codes on the connection machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, D.W.

1991-01-01

Methods for implementing three-dimensional, electromagnetic, relativistic PIC plasma simulation codes on the Connection Machine (CM-2) are discussed. The gather and scatter phases of the PIC algorithm involve indirect indexing of data, which results in a large amount of communication on the CM-2. Different data decompositions are described that seek to reduce the amount of communication while maintaining good load balance. These methods require the particles to be spatially sorted at the start of each time step, which introduced another form of overhead. The different methods are implemented in CM Fortran on the CM-2 and compared. It was found that the general router is slow in performing the communication in the gather and scatter steps, which precludes an efficient CM Fortran implementation. An alternative method that uses PARIS calls and the NEWS communication network to pipeline data along the axes of the VP set is suggested as a more efficient algorithm

A parallel 3D particle-in-cell code with dynamic load balancing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolfheimer, Felix; Gjonaj, Erion; Weiland, Thomas

2006-01-01

A parallel 3D electrostatic Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code including an algorithm for modelling Space Charge Limited (SCL) emission [E. Gjonaj, T. Weiland, 3D-modeling of space-charge-limited electron emission. A charge conserving algorithm, Proceedings of the 11th Biennial IEEE Conference on Electromagnetic Field Computation, 2004] is presented. A domain decomposition technique based on orthogonal recursive bisection is used to parallelize the computation on a distributed memory environment of clustered workstations. For problems with a highly nonuniform and time dependent distribution of particles, e.g., bunch dynamics, a dynamic load balancing between the processes is needed to preserve the parallel performance. The algorithm for the detection of a load imbalance and the redistribution of the tasks among the processes is based on a weight function criterion, where the weight of a cell measures the computational load associated with it. The algorithm is studied with two examples. In the first example, multiple electron bunches as occurring in the S-DALINAC [A. Richter, Operational experience at the S-DALINAC, Proceedings of the Fifth European Particle Accelerator Conference, 1996] accelerator are simulated in the absence of space charge fields. In the second example, the SCL emission and electron trajectories in an electron gun are simulated

A parallel 3D particle-in-cell code with dynamic load balancing