Flow and Noise Predictions of Coaxial Jets using LES and RANS Methods

Flow and noise solutions of the two Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approaches are evaluated for the jet flow conditions corresponding to a benchmark co-axial jet case from the EU CoJeN (Computation of Coaxial Jet Noise) experiment. The jet is heated and issues for a short-cowl axi-symmetric nozzle with a central body at a transonic speed. The first LES method is based on the Compact Accurately Boundary-Adjusting high-REsolution Technique (CABARET) scheme, for which implementation features include asynchronous time stepping at an optimal Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy (CFL) number, a wall model, and a synthetic turbulence inflow boundary condition. The CABARET LES is implemented on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The second LES approach is based on the hybrid Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)/ Implicit LES method that uses a mixture of high-order Roe and WENO scheme and a wall distance model of the Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES) type. The RANS/ILES method is run on an MPI cluster. Two grid generation approaches are considered: the unstructured grid using OpenFOAM utility “snappyHexMesh” (sHM) and the conventional structured multiblock body-fitted curvilinear grid. The LES flow solutions are compared with the experiment and also with solutions obtained from the standard axi-symmetric RANS method using the k- turbulence model. For noise predictions, The LES solutions are coupled with the penetrable surface formation of the Ffowcs Williams –Hawkings method. The results of noise predictions are compared with the experiment and the effect of different LES grids and acoustic integration surfaces is discussed

Mechanical Strain Stabilizes Reconstituted Collagen Fibrils against Enzymatic Degradation by Mammalian Collagenase Matrix Metalloproteinase 8 (MMP-8)

Collagen, a triple-helical, self-organizing protein, is the predominant structural protein in mammals. It is found in bone, ligament, tendon, cartilage, intervertebral disc, skin, blood vessel, and cornea. We have recently postulated that fibrillar collagens (and their complementary enzymes) comprise the basis of a smart structural system which appears to support the retention of molecules in fibrils which are under tensile mechanical strain. The theory suggests that the mechanisms which drive the preferential accumulation of collagen in loaded tissue operate at the molecular level and are not solely cell-driven. The concept reduces control of matrix morphology to an interaction between molecules and the most relevant, physical, and persistent signal: mechanical strain.The investigation was carried out in an environmentally-controlled microbioreactor in which reconstituted type I collagen micronetworks were gently strained between micropipettes. The strained micronetworks were exposed to active matrix metalloproteinase 8 (MMP-8) and relative degradation rates for loaded and unloaded fibrils were tracked simultaneously using label-free differential interference contrast (DIC) imaging. It was found that applied tensile mechanical strain significantly increased degradation time of loaded fibrils compared to unloaded, paired controls. In many cases, strained fibrils were detectable long after unstrained fibrils were degraded.In this investigation we demonstrate for the first time that applied mechanical strain preferentially preserves collagen fibrils in the presence of a physiologically-important mammalian enzyme: MMP-8. These results have the potential to contribute to our understanding of many collagen matrix phenomena including development, adaptation, remodeling and disease. Additionally, tissue engineering could benefit from the ability to sculpt desired structures from physiologically compatible and mutable collagen