All issues

The article deals with the nonlinear boundary-value problem of hydrogen permeability corresponding to the following experiment. A membrane made of the target structural material heated to a sufficiently high temperature serves as the partition in the vacuum chamber. Degassing is performed in advance. A constant pressure of gaseous (molecular) hydrogen is built up at the inlet side. The penetrating flux is determined by mass-spectrometry in the vacuum maintained at the outlet side.

A linear model of dependence on concentration is adopted for the coefficient of dissolved atomic hydrogen diffusion in the bulk. The temperature dependence conforms to the Arrhenius law. The surface processes of dissolution and sorptiondesorption are taken into account in the form of nonlinear dynamic boundary conditions (differential equations for the dynamics of surface concentrations of atomic hydrogen). The characteristic mathematical feature of the boundary-value problem is that concentration time derivatives are included both in the diffusion equation and in the boundary conditions with quadratic nonlinearity. In terms of the general theory of functional differential equations, this leads to the so-called neutral type equations and requires a more complex mathematical apparatus. An iterative computational algorithm of second-(higher- )order accuracy is suggested for solving the corresponding nonlinear boundary-value problem based on explicit-implicit difference schemes. To avoid solving the nonlinear system of equations at every time step, we apply the explicit component of difference scheme to slower sub-processes.

The results of numerical modeling are presented to confirm the fitness of the model to experimental data. The degrees of impact of variations in hydrogen permeability parameters (“derivatives”) on the penetrating flux and the concentration distribution of H atoms through the sample thickness are determined. This knowledge is important, in particular, when designing protective structures against hydrogen embrittlement or membrane technologies for producing high-purity hydrogen. The computational algorithm enables using the model in the analysis of extreme regimes for structural materials (pressure drops, high temperatures, unsteady heating), identifying the limiting factors under specific operating conditions, and saving on costly experiments (especially in deuterium-tritium investigations).

The work presents an experimental study of the tree structure that occurs during a medical examination. At each meeting with a medical specialist, the patient receives a certain number of areas for consulting other specialists or for tests. A tree of directions arises, each branch of which the patient should pass. Depending on the branching of the tree, it can be as final — and in this case the examination can be completed — and endless when the patient’s goal cannot be achieved. In the work both experimentally and theoretically studied the critical properties of the transition of the system from the forest of the final trees to the forest endless, depending on the probabilistic characteristics of the tree.

For the description, a model is proposed in which a discrete function of the probability of the number of branches on the node repeats the dynamics of a continuous gaussian distribution. The characteristics of the distribution of the Gauss (mathematical expectation of $x_0$, the average quadratic deviation of $\sigma$) are model parameters. In the selected setting, the task refers to the problems of branching random processes (BRP) in the heterogeneous model of Galton – Watson.

Experimental study is carried out by numerical modeling on the final grilles. A phase diagram was built, the boundaries of areas of various phases are determined. A comparison was made with the phase diagram obtained from theoretical criteria for macrosystems, and an adequate correspondence was established. It is shown that on the final grilles the transition is blurry.

The description of the blurry phase transition was carried out using two approaches. In the first, standard approach, the transition is described using the so-called inclusion function, which makes the meaning of the share of one of the phases in the general set. It was established that such an approach in this system is ineffective, since the found position of the conditional boundary of the blurred transition is determined only by the size of the chosen experimental lattice and does not bear objective meaning.

The second, original approach is proposed, based on the introduction of an parameter of order equal to the reverse average tree height, and the analysis of its behavior. It was established that the dynamics of such an order parameter in the $\sigma = \text{const}$ section with very small differences has the type of distribution of Fermi – Dirac ($\sigma$ performs the same function as the temperature for the distribution of Fermi – Dirac, $x_0$ — energy function). An empirical expression has been selected for the order parameter, an analogue of the chemical potential is introduced and calculated, which makes sense of the characteristic scale of the order parameter — that is, the values of $x_0$, in which the order can be considered a disorder. This criterion is the basis for determining the boundary of the conditional transition in this approach. It was established that this boundary corresponds to the average height of a tree equal to two generations. Based on the found properties, recommendations for medical institutions are proposed to control the provision of limb of the path of patients.

The model discussed and its description using conditionally-infinite trees have applications to many hierarchical systems. These systems include: internet routing networks, bureaucratic networks, trade and logistics networks, citation networks, game strategies, population dynamics problems, and others.

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.

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.

This paper discusses the modeling of the deformation of polymer nanocomposites containing "hard" and "soft" inclusions, using cellular automata and parallel computing. The paper describes an algorithm based on the model, a comparison with experimental data is shown, software for the numerical experiment is described.

High-purity hydrogen is required for clean energy and a variety of chemical technology processes. A considerable part of hydrogen is to be obtained by methane conversion. Different alloys, which may be wellsuited for use in gas-separation plants, were investigated by measuring specific hydrogen permeability. One had to estimate the parameters of diffusion and sorption to numerically model the different scenarios and experimental conditions of the material usage (including extreme ones), and identify the limiting factors. This paper presents a nonlinear model of hydrogen permeability in accordance with the specifics of the experiment, the numerical method for solving the boundary-value problem, and the results of parametric identification for the alloy V₈₅Ni₁₅.

Numerical investigation of mixing non-isothermal streams of sodium coolant in a T-branch is carried out in the FlowVision CFD software. This study is aimed at argumentation of applicability of different approaches to prediction of oscillating behavior of the flow in the mixing zone and simulation of temperature pulsations. The following approaches are considered: URANS (Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokers), LES (Large Eddy Simulation) and quasi-DNS (Direct Numerical Simulation). One of the main tasks of the work is detection of the advantages and drawbacks of the aforementioned approaches.

Numerical investigation of temperature pulsations, arising in the liquid and T-branch walls from the mixing of non-isothermal streams of sodium coolant was carried out within a mathematical model assuming that the flow is turbulent, the fluid density does not depend on pressure, and that heat exchange proceeds between the coolant and T-branch walls. Model LMS designed for modeling turbulent heat transfer was used in the calculations within URANS approach. The model allows calculation of the Prandtl number distribution over the computational domain.

Preliminary study was dedicated to estimation of the influence of computational grid on the development of oscillating flow and character of temperature pulsation within the aforementioned approaches. The study resulted in formulation of criteria for grid generation for each approach.

Then, calculations of three flow regimes have been carried out. The regimes differ by the ratios of the sodium mass flow rates and temperatures at the T-branch inlets. Each regime was calculated with use of the URANS, LES and quasi-DNS approaches.

At the final stage of the work analytical comparison of numerical and experimental data was performed. Advantages and drawbacks of each approach to simulation of mixing non-isothermal streams of sodium coolant in the T-branch are revealed and formulated.

It is shown that the URANS approach predicts the mean temperature distribution with a reasonable accuracy. It requires essentially less computational and time resources compared to the LES and DNS approaches. The drawback of this approach is that it does not reproduce pulsations of velocity, pressure and temperature.

The LES and DNS approaches also predict the mean temperature with a reasonable accuracy. They provide oscillating solutions. The obtained amplitudes of the temperature pulsations exceed the experimental ones. The spectral power densities in the check points inside the sodium flow agree well with the experimental data. However, the expenses of the computational and time resources essentially exceed those for the URANS approach in the performed numerical experiments: 350 times for LES and 1500 times for ·DNS.

The paper develops a new mathematical method of the joint signal and noise calculation at the Rice statistical distribution based on combing the maximum likelihood method and the method of moments. The calculation of the sough-for values of signal and noise is implemented by processing the sampled measurements of the analyzed Rician signal’s amplitude. The explicit equations’ system has been obtained for required signal and noise parameters and the results of its numerical solution are provided confirming the efficiency of the proposed technique. It has been shown that solving the two-parameter task by means of the proposed technique does not lead to the increase of the volume of demanded calculative resources if compared with solving the task in one-parameter approximation. An analytical solution of the task has been obtained for the particular case of small value of the signal-to-noise ratio. The paper presents the investigation of the dependence of the sought for parameters estimation accuracy and dispersion on the quantity of measurements in experimental sample. According to the results of numerical experiments, the dispersion values of the estimated sought-for signal and noise parameters calculated by means of the proposed technique change in inverse proportion to the quantity of measurements in a sample. There has been implemented a comparison of the accuracy of the soughtfor Rician parameters’ estimation by means of the proposed technique and by earlier developed version of the method of moments. The problem having been considered in the paper is meaningful for the purposes of Rician data processing, in particular, at the systems of magnetic-resonance visualization, in devices of ultrasonic visualization, at optical signals’ analysis in range-measuring systems, at radar signals’ analysis, as well as at solving many other scientific and applied tasks that are adequately described by the Rice statistical model.

A dynamic game theoretic model of struggle against corruption in resource allocation is considered. It is supposed that the system of resource allocation includes one principal, one or several supervisors, and several agents. The relations between them are hierarchical: the principal influences to the supervisors, and they in turn exert influence on the agents. It is assumed that the supervisor can be corrupted. The agents propose bribes to the supervisor who in exchange allocates additional resources to them. It is also supposed that the principal is not corrupted and does not have her own purposes. The model is investigated from the point of view of the supervisor and the agents. From the point of view of agents a non-cooperative game arises with a set of Nash equilibria as a solution. The set is found analytically on the base of Pontryagin maximum principle for the specific class of model functions. From the point of view of the supervisor a hierarchical Germeyer game of the type Г_2t is built, and the respective algorithm of its solution is proposed. The punishment strategy is found analytically, and the reward strategy is built numerically on the base of a discrete analogue of the initial continuous- time model. It is supposed that all agents can change their strategies in the same time instants only a finite number of times. Thus, the supervisor can maximize his objective function of many variables instead of maximization of the objective functional. A method of qualitatively representative scenarios is used for the solution. The idea of this method consists in that it is possible to choose a very small number of scenarios among all potential ones that represent all qualitatively different trajectories of the system dynamics. These scenarios differ in principle while all other scenarios yield no essentially new results. Then a complete enumeration of the qualitatively representative scenarios becomes possible. After that, the supervisor reports to the agents the rewardpunishment control mechanism.