arXiv subjects

N. Plihon

Publications and source records attributed to N. Plihon.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Experimental validation of fluid inertia models for a cylinder settling in a quiescent flow

The precise description of the motion of anisotropic particles in a flow rests on the understanding of the force and torque acting on them. Here, we study experimentally small, very elongated particles settling in a fluid at small Reynolds number. In our experiments, we can, to a very good approximation, relate the rate of rotation of cylindrical tungsten rods, of aspect ratios β= 8 and β= 16, settling in pure glycerol to the torque they are experiencing. This allows us to compare the measured torque with expressions obtained either in the slender-rod limit, or in the case of spheroids. Both theories predict a simple angle dependence for the torque, which is found to capture very well the experimental results. Surprisingly, the slender-rod approximation predicts much better the results for β= 8, than for β= 16. In the latter case, the expression obtained for a spheroid provides a better approximation. The translational dynamics is shown to be in qualitative agreement with the slender-rod and spheroid models, the former one being found to represent better the experimental data.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

Scaling laws in axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic duct flows

We report on a numerical study of axisymmetric flow of liquid metal in a circular duct with rectangular cross-section. The flow is forced through the combination of an axial magnetic field and a radial current. Sweeping a wide range of forcing parameters, we identify the different regimes which characterize the flows and explicit the associate scaling laws. Experimental results are interpreted in the light of our numerical simulations.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2015

Experimental investigation of double layers in expanding plasmas

Double layers (DLs) have been observed in a plasma reactor composed of a source chamber attached to a larger expanding chamber. Positive ion beams generated across the DL were characterized in the low plasma potential region using retarding field energy analyzers. In electropositive gases, DLs were formed at very low pressures between 0.1 and 1 mTorr with the plasma expansion forced by a strongly diverging magnetic field. The DL remains static, robust to changes in boundary conditions, and its position is related to the magnetic field lines. The voltage drop across the DL increases with decreasing pressure, i.e., with increasing electron temperature around 20 V at 0.17 mTorr. DLs were also observed in electronegative gases without a magnetic field over a greater range of pressure 0.5 to 10 mTorr. The actual profile of the electronegative DL is very sensitive to external parameters and intrusive elements, and they propagate at high negative ion fraction. Electrostatic probes measurements and laser-induced photodetachment show discontinuities in all plasma parameters electron density, electron temperature, negative ion fraction at the DL position. The voltage drop across the electronegative DL is about 8 V, is independent of the gas pressure and therefore of the electron temperature.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

Dynamo regimes and transitions in the VKS experiment

The Von K{á}rm{á}n Sodium experiment yields a variety of dynamo regimes, when asymmetry is imparted to the flow by rotating impellers at different speed F1 and F2. We show that as the intensity of forcing, measured as F1 + F2, is increased, the transition to a self-sustained magnetic field is always observed via a supercritical bifurcation to a stationary state. For some values of the asymmetry parameter $\θ$ = (F1--F2)/(F1+F2), time dependent dynamo regimes develop. They are observed either when the forcing is increased for a given value of asymmetry, or when the amount of asymmetry is varied at sufficiently high forcing. Two qualitatively different transitions between oscillatory and stationary regimes are reported, involving or not a strong divergence of the period of oscillations. These transitions can be interpreted using a low dimensional model based on the interactions of two dynamo modes.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2015

Double layer formation in the expanding region of an inductively coupled electronegative plasma

Double-layers (DLs) were observed in the expanding region of an inductively coupled plasma with $\text{Ar}/\text{SF}\_6$ gas mixtures. No DL was observed in pure argon or $\text{SF}\_6$ fractions below few percent. They exist over a wide range of power and pressure although they are only stable for a small window of electronegativity (typically between 8\% and 13\% of $\text{SF}\_6$ at 1mTorr), becoming unstable at higher electronegativity. They seem to be formed at the boundary between the source tube and the diffusion chamber and act as an internal boundary (the amplitude being roughly 1.5$\frac{kT\_e}{e}$)between a high electron density, high electron temperature, low electronegativity plasma upstream (in the source), and a low electron density, low electron temperature, high electronegativity plasma downstream.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2010

Statistical analysis of magnetic field reversals in laboratory dynamo and in paleomagnetic measurements

Statistical properties of the temporal distribution of polarity reversals of the geomagnetic field are commonly assumed to be a realization of a renewal Poisson process with a variable rate. However, it has been recently shown that the polarity reversals strongly depart from a local Poisson statistics, because of temporal clustering. Such clustering arises from the presence of long-range correlations in the underlying dynamo process. Recently achieved laboratory dynamo also shows reversals. It is shown here that laboratory and paleomagnetic data are both characterized by the presence of long-range correlations.

physics.plasm-ph↗