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The study of elastic waves in porous media is relevant for mineral exploration, the use of porous screens for shock wave damping, and the study of the structure of the earth’s crust. The elastic properties of a porous medium, which can be judged by the propagation velocity of various types of waves, depend on the degree of consolidation of the porous medium. For example, bulk media (sand, glass beads, granular materials) have a low sound velocity (about 100 m/s); compaction of such media is accompanied by a slight increase in velocity, while their consolidation (sandstone, gas hydrate cementation) leads to a multiple increase in the acoustic wave velocity, on the order of 2000–3000 m/s. This paper theoretically investigates the dynamics of a wave pulse in a shock tube containing a layer of a bulk medium. Numerical modeling was performed under experimental conditions. A description of a shock tube experimental setup is provided. The setup consists of a high-pressure volume (HPV), a low-pressure volume (LPV), and a bulk medium section. A shock wave pulse (SWP) is generated by the rupture of a diaphragm between the HPV and LPV. The SWP dynamics are recorded by piezoelectric sensors located flush on the inside of the tube. In the shock tube, equipped with a bulk medium section, the wave experiences multiple reflections from the surface of the porous medium under study and the upper end of the tube. The reflected signals are used as probe pulses to study changes in the porous medium caused by repeated passages of the shock wave pulse, with a period of approximately 10 ms. A mathematical model is used that includes the equations of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy for the gas phase and solid particles with closure relations. The process is described for one-dimensional planar motion of the gas and dispersed phases. The numerical solution utilizes an approximation of the equations based on the control volume method. Numerical results have shown that the proposed model accurately describes, qualitatively and quantitatively, the occurrence of a sharp, short-term increase in the total voltage (peak) during repeated pulse passage through a layer of bulk material, as observed in experiments.

Propagation of nonlinear conformational waves through the boundary dividing the double polynucleotide chain into two different homogeneous regions is investigated. Calculations are made in the frameworks of the DNA model which takes into account the difference in mass of nitrous bases and the difference in distances between sugar-phosphate chain and the centers of mass of bases which are connected with the chain by β-glycoside bond С₁-N. We consider different possible combinations of homogeneous regions placed on the right and on the left from the boundary, and we calculate the changes of the nonlinear wave velocity (v) and size (d) of the nonlinear waves due to overcoming the boundary.

Kinetics of complex formation between components of the photosynthetic electron transport chain — flavodoxin and membrane complex photosystem I has been studied using computer model based on methods of multiparticle simulation and Brownian dynamics. We simulated Brownian motion of several hundreds of flavodoxin molecules, taking into account electrostatic interactions and complex shape of the molecules. Our model could describe experimental nonmonotonic dependence of the association rate constant for flavodoxin and photosystem I. This lets us conclude that electrostatic interactions are sufficient to form such kind of nonmonotonic dependence.

In present work we used the methods of molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemistry to study the concept, according to which aspartic and glutamic residues play a key role in initiation of helix formation in oligopeptides. It has been shown, that the first turn of the alpha-helix can be organized from various amino acid sequences with Asp and Glu residues on the N-terminus. Thermodynamic properties of such a process were analyzed. The obtained results do not interfere with known experimental and statistical data and they substantially elaborate present views on the processes of early peptide folding stages.

Crises in social systems are considered by analogy with phase transitions and the corresponding critical phenomena in «non-living» many-particle physical systems. We present two qualitative physical models: (i) a historical and demographic progress as a gradual condensation of economical domains with an improvement of living conditions, and (ii) the modern economical crisis as a result of a spontaneous «condensation» of assets in a free expansion of the U.S. economy in 1990th and 2000th, reducing a control over large business enterprises formed in this process. The first model explains the observed hyperbolic growth of world population in the I–XX centuries A.D. without any additional assumption while the second model points to the analogy between the economic expansion with a drop of competition, and the expansion of gas into vacuum with a drop of temperature.

In this paper we study the rotational oscillations of the nitrous bases forming a central pair in a short DNA fragment consisting of three base pairs. A simple mechanical analog of the fragment where the bases are imitated by pendulums and the interactions between pendulums — by springs, has been constructed. We derived Lagrangian of the model system and the nonlinear equations of motions. We found solutions in the homogeneous case when the fragment considered consists of identical base pairs: Adenine-Thymine (AT- pair) or Guanine-Cytosine (GC-pair). The trajectories of the model system in the configuration space were also constructed.

The problem has been considered, to what extent the kinetic models of cellular metabolism fit the matter which they describe. Foundations of stoichiometry of the whole metabolism and its large regions have been stated. A bioenergetic representation of stoichiometry based on a universal unit of chemical compound reductivity, viz., redoxon, has been described. Equations of mass-energy balance (bioenergetic variant of stoichiometry) have been derived for metabolic flows including those of protons possessing high electrochemical potential μ_H⁺, and high-energy compounds. Interrelations have been obtained which determine the biomass yield, rate of uptake of energy source for cell growth and other important physiological quantities as functions of biochemical characteristics of cellular energetics. The maximum biomass energy yield values have been calculated for different energy sources utilized by cells. These values coincide with those measured experimentally.

The numerical model of sedimentation and suspension filtration is proposed in this paper. The model is based on dynamic variant of discrete element method. This model represents the particles behavior on microand meso-scales: pores, arches, flocks formation. In addition, the proposed model qualitatively reproduces macro phenomenon: sedimentation of particle layer, slow shrinkage of the layer, sealing of the layer under its own weight of the particles and the external applied force.

A two-dimensional mathematical model was developed for estimating the stresses in welded joints formed during multipass welding of multilayer steels. The basis of the model is the system of equations that includes the Lagrange variational equation of incremental plasticity theory and the variational equation of heat conduction, which expresses the principle of M. Biot. Variational-difference method was used to solve the problems of heat conductivity and calculation of the transient temperature field, and then at each time step – for the quasi-static problem of thermoplasticity. The numerical scheme is based on triangular meshes, which gives a more accuracy in describing the boundaries of structural elements as compared to rectangular grids.

In the paper we construct the model of phase change. Process of hydriding / dehydriding is taken as an example. A single powder particle is considered under the assumption about its symmetry. A ball, a cylinder, and a flat plate are examples of such symmetrical shapes. The model desribes both the "shrinking core"(when the skin of the new phase appears on the surface of the particle) and the "nucleation and growth"(when the skin does not appear till complete vanishing of the old phase) scenarios. The model is the non-classical boundary-value problem with the free boundary and nonlinear Neumann boundary condition. The symmetry assumptions allow to reduce the problem to the single spatial variable. The model was tested on the series of experimental data. We show that the particle shape’s influence on the kinetics is insignificant. We also show that a set of particles of different shapes with size distribution can be approxomated by the single particle of the "average" size and of a simple shape; this justifies using single particle approximation and simple shapes in mathematical models.