Two-temperature Model Research Articles

NuSTAR Observations of Abell 665 and 2146: Constraints on Nonthermal Emission

Observations from past missions such as RXTE and Beppo-SAX suggested the presence of inverse Compton (IC) scattering at hard X-ray energies within the intracluster medium of some massive galaxy clusters. In subsequent years, observations by, e.g., Suzaku, and now NuSTAR, have not been able to confirm these detections. We report on NuSTAR hard X-ray searches for IC emission in two massive galaxy clusters, A665 and A2146. To constrain the global IC flux in these two clusters, we fit global NuSTAR spectra with three models: single (1T) and two-temperature (2T) models, and a 1T plus power-law component (T+IC). The temperature components are meant to characterize the thermal ICM emission, while the power law represents the IC emission. We find that the 3–30 keV A665 and 3–20 keV A2146 spectra are best described by thermal emission alone, with average global temperatures of kT = (9.15 ± 0.1) keV for A665 and kT = (8.29 ± 0.1) keV for A 2146. We constrain the IC flux to F NT <0.60 × 10−12 erg s−1 cm−2 and F NT < 0.85 × 10−12 erg s−1 cm−2 (20–80 keV) for A665 and A2146, respectively both at the 90% confidence level. When we couple the IC flux limits with 1.4 GHz diffuse radio data from the VLA, we set lower limits on the average magnetic field strengths of >0.14 μG and >0.011 μG for A665 and A2146, respectively.

Plasma-parameter dependence of ro-vibrational temperatures for H2 in LHD divertor

We analyzed a thousand visible spectra of Fulcher-α band measured for divertor plasmas in Large Helical Device. With a coronal model and Bayesian inference, the population distribution of hydrogen molecule in the electronic ground state was estimated. The non-thermal population distribution was recovered with a two-temperature model, which has two sets of rotational and vibrational temperatures, as well as their mixture coefficient. The lower rotational temperature significantly changes according to the plasma parameters. Its nearly linear dependence on the electron density was found, which is consistent with previous works. The lower vibrational temperature also shows a small density dependence, as reported by a previous work. On the other hand, the higher rotational and vibrational temperatures as well as the mixture coefficient only show slight changes over the broad range of plasma parameters. These population parameters show a significant correlation; with higher electron density, all the temperatures and the fraction of the higher-temperature component increase simultaneously. This suggests that the electron impact plays an important role to determine the population distribution.

First principles simulation of reacting hypersonic flow over a blunt wedge

This article presents molecular-level analysis of a reactive, near-continuum, Mach 21 nitrogen flow over a blunt wedge using the direct molecular simulation (DMS) method. The flow conditions lead to internal energy excitation and dissociation in the flow field, resulting in thermal and chemical nonequilibrium in the flow. Thermal nonequilibrium in the vibrational mode is observed to extend to the molecular level, where the vibrational energy distributions at various points in the flow field are observed to be non-Boltzmann. Furthermore, this is the first reactive DMS calculation where the wall is assumed to be isothermal and full momentum accommodation of the particles is enforced, hence incorporating viscous wall effects. Since the DMS method uses a quantum mechanically generated interaction potential as its only modeling input, all thermochemical and transport properties of the flow field can directly be attributed to the ab initio potential energy surface. Using the DMS solution as a benchmark, this article assesses the performance of Navier–Stokes computational fluid dynamics solutions using lower fidelity two-temperature models. Two models are chosen as points of comparison: the well-known Park two-temperature model and the recently developed modified Marrone and Treanor model.

Surface integrity of drilling Ti-6Al-4V micro-holes using the ultrashort pulse laser with different three-dimensional paths planning

The improvement of aero-engine performance posed a challenge to the heat dissipation ability of blades, resulting in a substantial increase in the demand for micron-sized (≤1 mm) film cooling holes. In this paper, an improved three-dimensional path machining method for ultrashort pulse laser drilling of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy is studied. The influence of four representative paths that are contour offset path, broken line path, raster path and jagged path on hole quality is described and discussed in detail. By establishing a three-dimensional two-temperature model in cylindrical coordinates, the defocusing control of the machining process is carried out, and the temperature field distribution with different drilling paths is simulated and analyzed. Finally, the experimental study of drilling round holes with a diameter of 800 μm is carried out on the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V plate with a thickness of 1 mm, and the wear resistance of the workpieces is tested. The experimental results show that, compared with the other three paths, the temperature field uniformity of laser processing with the contour offset path is the best, the quality of the processed holes is significantly improved, the outlet roundness is increased by 26.54 %–36.59 %, the cone angle is reduced by 12.7° and the wear resistance is increased by >1.3 times. Moreover, there is no obvious recast layer and micro cracks on the pore wall, and dense nano oxide particles are produced on the surface. In summary, the contour offset path controlled by three-dimensional defocusing is an effective hole processing path, which provides the possibility for machining efficient and high-quality film cooling holes.

Optimization of photo-thermoelectric performance in SnSe crystals via doping engineering

Thermoelectric materials, based on photo-thermoelectric effect (PTE), may be promising in photo-detection because of their self-power, extremely broad-band, and free of cryogenic attachments. Up to now, the performance of PTE is mainly optimized through enhancement of extrinsic absorption such as using optical metamaterials. Instead, we here improve the PTE through materials engineering, accordingly systematically investigated the PTE of both P- and N-type SnSe crystals with different carrier concentrations (1017–1019 cm−3). P-type SnSe has much better photo-thermoelectric performance than the N-type one. Among P-type SnSe, the SnSe crystal with the largest carrier concentration (∼1019 cm−3 at room temperature) demonstrates the highest photo-thermoelectric performance. Analysis by a modified two-temperature model suggests that the key parameter of enhanced PTE is the high electrical conductivity, which leads to large optical absorption and large temperature difference. Our work provides a guideline on how to engineer thermoelectric materials to enhance their photo-thermoelectric performance.

Study on Oxy-Methane Flame Stability in a Cylindrical Porous Medium Burner

Combustion in a porous medium can be beneficial for enhancing reaction rate and temperature uniformity. Therefore, considering the combination with oxy-fuel combustion can address some shortcomings in oxy-fuel burners, a cylindrical two-layer porous burner model is established based on OpenFOAM in this paper. A two-temperature equation model is adopted for the simulation of the heat transfer process. The CH4 skeletal kinetic mechanism is adopted for complex chemistry integration based on OpenSMOKE++. Corresponding experimental methods were used for complementary studies. The walls of the burner are wrapped with three types of thermal insulation materials to present different levels of heat loss. The results show that considering the convection and radiative heat loss of the burner wall, the temperature near the wall is reduced by more than 300 K compared to the adiabatic condition. As a result, the flame propagation speed and CO oxidation rate slowed down. The stable range will be destructively narrowed by more than 50%, and CO emissions will increase by more than 10 times. These defects will be aggravated by increasing the diameter of the burner. It is observed that when the diameter of the burner increases from the initial 5 cm to 10 cm, the effect of heat loss on the stable range is insignificant.

Non-equilibrium modeling on the aerothermodynamic characteristics of hypersonic inflatable reentry vehicle

In this study a 2D two-temperature chemical non-equilibrium model is established to investigate the flow characteristics and chemical reactions processes around hypersonic inflatable reentry vehicle at different flight altitudes and reentry velocities. This chemical kinetic model is based on the Gupta model and modified by comparing the species mole fractions at thermal equilibrium condition with the results obtained by Saha equation. In order to validate the model, the calculations are performed for a blunt cone ELECTRE and a cylinder, the predicted heat flux and pressure are compared with experimentally measured data and the maximum differences on heat flux and wall pressure are less than 20% and 5%, respectively. Then the flow characteristics behind the shock wave and wall heat flux are discussed in detail for Titans vehicle. It is found that the pressure declines with the increase of altitude and reentry velocity, this variation trend is opposite to the wall heat flux, whose maximum value increases from 58 kw/m2 to 107 kw/m2 with the rise of flight altitude from 79 to 88 km due to the large temperature and component gradients. This indicates that the aerodynamic force and heat flux should be taken into account simultaneously for the design of inflatable reentry vehicle. By analyzing the chemical reactions processes behind the strong shock wave, it is seen that not only the dissociation reactions of N2 and O2 molecules play an important role, but also the neutral species exchange reactions contribute to the density change of species. The dominant ionization reactions are N+O→NO++e and NO+M→4NO++e+M4, while the ionization processes are weak, and the maximum ionization degree is smaller than 1%. The analysis of dominant chemical reactions can provide a reference for the numerical modeling study of hypersonic reentry vehicle.

Long-lasting deformation potential effect in Ge induced by UV photoexcitation

Understanding ultrafast response of a semiconductor is necessary for next-generation optoelectronic device applications. Here, we investigate the ultrafast response of an archetypal semiconductor Ge [111] crystal upon photoexcitation at two pump wavelengths, 800 nm (fundamental) and 400 nm (second harmonic, UV radiation), using time-resolved x-ray diffraction (TXRD). The simulated TXRD profiles using a proposed four-layer model and Takagi–Taupin equations reveal that the strain propagation is primarily due to electron diffusion. Intriguingly, the initial (&amp;lt;100 ps) fast decrease in the induced strain for second harmonic excitation suggests that the strain originates from the deformation potential (DP) effect. The higher photon energy (second harmonic pump) excites the electrons to higher conduction band valleys, resulting in DP-induced strain compared to the fundamental pump, which only generates thermo-elastic strain. The DP strain, estimated from the DP coefficient (simulated via density functional theory-based electronic structure simulations) and electron density (simulated from experimental results), shows an excellent agreement with the observed strain. The strain after ∼100 ps delay for second harmonic excitation and strain from fundamental excitation are attributed to the thermo-elastic effect as confirmed by the density-dependent two-temperature model. Our study reveals the long-lasting DP effect in Ge [111], which provides an opportunity to avoid heating in optoelectronic devices due to the thermo-elastic effect at the initial time scale.

Magnetic field control of high-enthalpy shock wave/boundary-layer interactions using a fully implicit thermochemical non-equilibrium solver

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) heat shield systems have been proven to be highly effective in hypersonic blunt-nosed bodies. Thus, it is natural to consider the application of MHD to more complex geometries that induce shock wave/boundary-layer interactions associated with locally high heat load, which is a lack of deep research, especially for the large-size model in high-enthalpy conditions. To investigate the possibility and mechanism of the control of shock wave/boundary-layer interactions using local magnetic fields, the partially ionized flow of the hollow cylinder/flare coupling of these fields was numerically analyzed using a hypersonic thermochemical nonequilibrium solver. It consisted of an 11-species reaction model and a Park two-temperature model based on the low magneto-Reynolds assumption. To address the numerical stiffness introduced by the large difference in the characteristic time of the thermochemical non-equilibrium and grid refinement in the boundary layer and interaction zone, a fully implicit block lower–upper symmetric Gauss–Seidel algorithm was developed. This algorithm improved the accelerating rate and the solver was validated using cases involving MHD control of flow around a typical reentry vehicle, and the measured double cone and hollow cylinder/flare data for a high-enthalpy wind tunnel. After that, a parametric study of high-enthalpy flow over the hollow cylinder/flare model was conducted and MHD control was divided into three categories. Among these, N-type control led to the largest reduction in the peak value of the total wall heat flux near the neck region, which was obtained using a uniform magnetic field. Specifically, the peak heat flux and the peak skin friction coefficient were reduced by 20.0% and 48.0%, respectively. Then, two local MHD interaction parameters were newly proposed for mechanism analysis and can serve as an effective indicator for MHD controllability. The numerical results demonstrated that the Lorentz force in the counter-streamlined direction induced by the external magnetic field and ionized flow were key factors that influenced the control of the local heat flux. The results of this study lay the foundation for the design of MHD experiments in a high-enthalpy wind tunnel.

Modeling of Electron and Lattice Temperature Distribution Through Lifetime of Plasma Plume

When employing shorter (sub picosecond) laser pulses, in ablation kinetics the features appear which can no longer be described in the context of the conventional thermal model. Meanwhile, the ablation of materials with the aid of ultra-short (sub picosecond) laser pulses is applied for micromechanical processing. Physical mechanisms and theoretical models of laser ablation are discussed. Typical associated phenomena are qualitatively regarded and methods for studying them quantitatively are considered. Calculated results relevant to ablation kinetics for a number of substances are presented and compared with experimental data. Ultra-short laser ablation with two-temperature model was quantitatively investigated. A two-temperature model for the description of transition phenomena in a non-equilibrium electron gas and a lattice under picosecond laser irradiation is proposed. Some characteristics are hard to measure directly at all. That is why the analysis of physical mechanisms involved in the ablation process by ultra-short laser pulses has to be performed on the basis of a theoretical consideration of `indirect' experimental data. For Copper and Nickel metal targets, the two-temperature model calculations explain that the temperature of the electron subsystem increased suddenly and approached a peak value at the end of laser pulse. In addition, the temperature profile of lattice temperature subsystem evolution slowly, and still increasing after the end of laser pulse. A good agreement prevails when a comparison between the present results and published results.

Dynamics of femtosecond heated warm dense copper with time-resolved L3-edge XANES.

Combining experimental set up and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we were able to follow the time evolution of the X-ray absorption near edge spectrum (XANES) of a dense copper plasma. This provides a deep insight into femtosecond laser interaction with a metallic copper target. This paper presents a review of the experimental developments we made to reduce the X-ray probe duration, from approximately 10 ps to fs duration with table-top laser systems. Moreover, we present microscopic scale simulations, performed with Density Functional Theory, as well as macroscopic simulations considering the Two-Temperature Model. These tools allow us to get a complete picture of the evolution of the target at a microscopic level, from the heating process to the melting and expansion stages, with a clear view of the physics involved during these processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Dynamic and transient processes in warm dense matter'.

Theoretical study on time response of semiconductor photorefractive effects under subpicosecond ultra-fast X-rays.

A theoretical model that can efficiently calculate the refractive index response of semiconductors under ultrafast X-ray radiation is established based on the photorefractive effect of semiconductors. The proposed model is used to interpret X-ray diagnostics experiments, and the results are in good agreement with experiments. In the proposed model, a rate equation model of free carrier density calculation is adopted with the X-ray absorption cross-sections calculated by atomic codes. The two-temperature model is used to describe the electron-lattice equilibration and the extended Drude model is applied to calculate the transient refractive index change. It is found that faster time response can be achieved for semiconductors with shorter carrier lifetime and sub-picosecond resolution can be obtained for InP and [Formula: see text]. The material response time is not sensitive to X-ray energy and the diagnostics can be used in the 1-10 keV energy range. This article is part of the theme issue 'Dynamic and transient processes in warm dense matter'.

Efficient ultrafast photoacoustic transduction on Tantalum thin films

Nano-acoustic strain generation in thin metallic films via ultrafast laser excitation is widely used in material science, imaging and medical applications. Recently, it was shown that transition metals, such as titanium, exhibit enhanced photoacoustic transduction properties compared to noble metals, such as silver. This work presents experimental results and simulations that demonstrate that among transition metals tantalum exhibits superior photoacoustic properties. Experiments of nano-acoustic strain generation by femtosecond laser pulses focused on thin tantalum films deposited on Silicon substrates are presented. The nano-acoustic strains are measured via pump-probe transient reflectivity that captures the Brillouin oscillations produced by photon–phonon interactions. The observed Brillouin oscillations are correlated to the photoacoustic transduction efficiency of the tantalum thin film and compared to the performance of titanium thin films, clearly demonstrating the superior photoacoustic transduction efficiency of tantalum. The findings are supported by computational results on the laser-induced strains and their propagation in these thin metal film/substrate systems using a two-temperature model in combination with thermo-mechanical finite element analysis. Finally, the role of the metal transducer-substrate acoustic impedance matching is discussed and the possibility to generate appropriately modulated acoustic pulse trains inside the crystalline substrate structures for the development of crystalline undulators used for γ-ray generation is presented.

Microscopic mechanism of ultrashort-pulse laser ablation of metals: a molecular dynamics study incorporating electronic entropy effects

The microscopic mechanism of metal ablation induced by ultrashort laser pulse irradiation is investigated. A two-temperature model scheme combined with molecular dynamics (TTM-MD) is developed to incorporate electronic entropy effects into the simulation of metal ablation while satisfying the energy conservation law. Simulation with the TTM-MD scheme reveals that ultrashort laser pulse irradiation near the ablation threshold causes high-energy atom/ion emission and sub-nanometer depth ablation, as observed experimentally, due to the electronic entropy effect. It is also shown that the electronic entropy effect is also significant in spallation.

Analysis of arc plasma characteristics and energy distribution in EDM based on two-temperature model

Arc plasma is the heat source in electrical discharge machining (EDM), it affects the material removal and discharge crater formation directly, so it is necessary to clarify its characteristics. However, it is challenging to understand the physical mechanisms behind each pulse discharge through experimental methods, as it is a transient, multi-physical process that occurs in a very short time and small gap. In this paper, a two-temperature model was proposed to investigate the characteristics of the arc plasma and the energy distribution considering the multi-physics fields in the steady state. In this model, the electrons and the heavy species of the arc plasma were considered separately in the energy conservation equations, so that the temperature of the electrons and heavy species can be calculated separately. Besides, the velocity distribution, pressure distribution, electrical potential distribution, and diameter of the arc plasma, as well as the heat flux distribution and the energy distribution into the anode and cathode were analyzed. Then the variations in arc plasma properties and energy distribution with different discharge conditions were studied. The results showed that, at a lower discharge current, the electron temperature was higher than the heavy species temperature, which means that the arc plasma did not reach a local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) state under these discharge conditions. To validate the simulation results, the arc plasma was observed with a high-speed camera, and the diameter of craters on the surface of both the cathode and anode was measured with single-pulse discharge experiments. The experiment results were consistent with the simulation results.

Generalized Thermoelastic Infinite Annular Cylinder under the Hyperbolic Two-Temperature Fractional-Order Strain Theory

This work introduces a new thermoelastic model of an isotropic and homogeneous annular cylinder. The cylinder’s bounding inner surface is shocked thermally, and the bounding outer surface has no temperature increment and volumetric strain. The governing equations in the context of the hyperbolic two-temperature generalized thermoelasticity with fractional-order strain theory have been derived. The numerical solutions of the conductive temperature, dynamic temperature, displacement, strain, and stress are illustrated in figures that use various values of fractional-order and two-temperature parameters to stand on their effects on the thermal and mechanical waves. The fractional-order parameter has significant impacts on the displacement, strain, and stress distributions. However, it does not affect dynamic or conductive temperatures. The hyperbolic two-temperature model is a successful model for making thermal and mechanical waves propagate at limited speeds.

Numerical simulation and investigation of ultra-short pulse laser ablation on Ti6Al4V and stainless steel

In ultra-short pulse laser machining and micro/surface processing, accurate simulation of laser ablation is important for understanding laser-target interaction and improving ablation performance, but it remains challenging. This work aims to develop a numerical model to improve the accuracy of the ablation depth calculation. A grid deformation scheme is proposed based on energy conservation and considering contributions to instant material removal from both the electron and lattice subsystems. By incorporating this scheme with the two-temperature model (TTM), a reasonable prediction of the instant target surface profile during laser ablation has been achieved. In the case of single-pulse femtosecond laser ablation of Ti6Al4V, the calculated ablation depth ranges from 0.06 to 0.56 μm for laser energy from 1.0 to 10.0 μJ. For single-pulse picosecond laser ablation of stainless steel, as laser energy increases from 6.0 to 18.5 μJ, the predicted ablation crater deepens accordingly from 40 to 87 nm. In addition, for multi-pulse picosecond laser ablation of stainless steel, a linear dependence of the ablation depth on the pulse number is observed up to a depth of about 803 nm at 6.0 μJ and 20 pulses. In all the above-mentioned cases, the calculation results are in better agreement with experimental measurements than conventional TTM or other material removal schemes, validating the accuracy of the proposed model.

Characterization of nonequilibrium shock interaction in CO2-N2 flows over double-wedges with respect to Mach number and geometry

The characterization of the shock interaction mechanism originating from the high-Mach nonequilibrium flow over double-wedge geometries is key to the design of hypersonic vehicles. The impact of changes in the freestream Mach number and double-wedge geometry on the patterns of shock interaction is investigated by means of numerical simulation in the case of CO2-N2 flows. The extended laminar Navier–Stokes equations with a two-temperature model to account for translational-to-vibrational internal energy transfer are considered the physical model of this type of flow. Simulations show that reducing the freestream Mach number leads to an increase in the separation region, both in the compression corner and in the locations of shock impingement. The impact of the size of the separation region on the patterns of interaction is such that it causes variations in the type of shock interaction. From the point of view of the flow physics near the wedges, decreasing the freestream Mach number has an equivalent effect to increasing the angle of the second wedge and an opposite effect to increasing the freestream temperature on the pattern of interaction. Results show that decreasing the freestream Mach number leads to an overall reduction in pressure and heating loads along the surface of the wedges and smaller regions of thermal equilibrium behind the bow shock.

Inverse dependence of heat accumulation on pulse duration in laser surface processing with ultrashort pulses

Laser pulse duration is one of the important parameters that is able to dramatically change ablation efficiency. Shorter laser pulse duration leads to deeper transport of absorbed energy in subsurface material layers. Ultra-fast and non-equilibrium processes are able to remarkably affect residual energy, which is accumulated in the deeper subsurface layers after ablation. On the other hand, undesirably high heat accumulation leads to material overheating with surface oxidation, appearance of liquid phase and, as a result, low processing quality. In this paper, the influence of laser pulse duration on the heat accumulation value was experimentally evaluated for the first time. Heat accumulation was measured with a highly sensitive fast infrared detector. The results were presented in comparison with surface structure analysis, material ablation rate and optical reflectivity. Unexpected inverse dependence of heat accumulation on laser pulse duration was detected. An optimal laser pulse duration near 1 ps corresponds to the maximum heat accumulation value and also highest ablation efficiency in contrast to longer laser pulses. The same optimal pulse duration value was detected for low frequency (250 kHz) and for high frequency (1 MHz) laser surface processing regimes. The maximum heat accumulation value was expected at the longest laser pulses. The results are discussed from the point of view of the two-temperature model.

CFD simulation of CO2 methanation through the Sabatier reaction in a shell-and-tube reactor incorporating phase change on the shell side

This paper reports a computational fluid dynamics simulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) methanation via the Sabatier process in a shell-and-tube reactor, incorporating a water phase change simulation on the shell side using the volume of fluid (VOF) method. The essential heat removal factors and their mechanisms, such as the catalyst size, bed porosity, thermal conductivity, coolant flow rate, and coolant boiling, were primarily investigated. The computational code was a newly developed in-house version of ChtMultiRegionFOAM based on OpenFOAM v2006. This code can simulate catalyst-gas heat transfer, which is called the two-temperature model. The code was extended to new methanation and phase-change models based on the VOF method. The computational code was first validated using existing experimental data. After sufficient accuracy was confirmed, several parametric studies were conducted. Catalyst heat conductivity was the most influential factor among the catalyst-related parameters. The flow rate of the oil coolant significantly affected the cooling performance. Finally, the use of boiling water significantly reduced the coolant flow rate. Moreover, the cooling performance remained unchanged until the total heat release rate from the gas exceeded the total latent heat of the water.