Search Results (56)

Electric discharge cavitation is an effective method for water treatment that combines physical and chemical effects within a single process. It enables water disinfection, extraction acceleration, dispersion of solid particles, and enhancement of porous material permeability. Compared to conventional chemical treatment, it reduces the demand for reagents and minimizes secondary pollution. This new and developing technology significantly contributes to the preservation of natural aquatic ecosystems by providing a sustainable alternative to traditional decontamination methods, thereby reducing the overall anthropogenic pressure on the environment. This study focuses on developing a reliable method for assessing electric discharge cavitation intensity and controlling water purification processes. The proposed approach is based on the oxidation of iodide ions to molecular iodine by reactive species generated during electric discharge cavitation. The adapted iodometric method is sensitive, reproducible, and does not require complex optical or acoustic equipment. Experimental results confirmed that iodometry provides an accurate evaluation of cavitation intensity, allowing control of specific energy consumption and optimization of treatment parameters. Optimal operating conditions were established to control the water processing by electric discharge cavitation: stainless-steel electrodes, specific input energy not exceeding 280 kJ·L⁻¹, the presence of a free liquid surface in the working chamber, and a discharge pulse frequency below 10 Hz. The proposed method supports the development of energy-efficient, low-waste technologies for wastewater and natural water treatment and facilitates the integration of electric discharge systems into existing water treatment infrastructure, particularly under resource-limited conditions. Full article

Aiming at the erosion failure risk of key elbow components in the process system of underground gas storage (UGS), numerical simulation was adopted to investigate the erosion behavior and mechanism of elbows under the following three typical working conditions: gas injection, gas production, and wastewater treatment. The results show that the elbow in the gas injection system is under gas–solid two-phase flow, and the most severely eroded area is located at 45–50° on the outer arc side of the elbow. Small particles have stronger flow-following ability than large particles and collide with the wall more sufficiently, resulting in a higher erosion rate. For the tandem elbows in the gas production system, affected by centrifugal force and secondary flow, the outer arc side shows high pressure while the inner arc side shows low pressure. As the particle size increases, the erosion rates of both elbows decrease, with a larger reduction for the second elbow. The most severely eroded positions of the first and second elbows are at 50–55° and 40–45° on the outer arc side, respectively. The elbow in the wastewater treatment system has relatively slight erosion with a symmetrical distribution, but a small amount of natural gas accumulated on the inner side easily induces cavitation corrosion. Full article

Spinal cord injury (SCI) triggers a secondary injury cascade characterized by persistent innate immune activation, chronic neuroinflammation, and progressive tissue loss that limits functional recovery. Here, we evaluated a systemic combination treatment using propentofylline (PPF), a glial modulator, together with interleukin-4 (IL-4), a cytokine associated with repair-related myeloid responses. In vitro, PPF enhanced IL-4-dependent induction of arginase-1 (ARG1) in TNFα-primed BV2 microglia. In vivo, adult Fischer rats of both sexes received vehicle, PPF, IL-4, or combined PPF + IL-4 beginning within 1 h after moderate T8 contusive SCI and continuing daily for 14 days. Locomotor recovery was assessed longitudinally for 8 weeks, followed by histological and immunohistochemical analyses. Combined PPF + IL-4 treatment produced the greatest improvement in gross and skilled locomotor recovery compared with vehicle, or either monotherapy. At 8 weeks post-SCI, the combined therapy aligned with a reduction in chronic lesion-associated p-p38 MAPK, decreased pP65 NFkB (RelA) activation, increased expression of reparative factors ARG1 and CD206, as well as reduced lesion cavitation and trends toward greater gray and white matter preservation. Stratification of functional data by sex showed BBB improvements with combined PPF + IL-4 in both males and females after SCI. Together, these findings show that combined systemic PPF and IL-4 treatment was associated with improved functional recovery, reduced lesion cavitation, and changes in lesion-associated molecular and histological endpoints after SCI, supporting further preclinical investigation. Full article

To address limitations such as cleaning difficulties or secondary contamination/damage of cultural relics caused by the uncontrollable diffusion of water/cleaning agent/dirty liquids during the cleaning process in traditional cleaning methods, this study, using cotton textiles as an example, systematically investigated the cleaning efficacy of four in situ methods (blank gel, cleaning gel, ultrasonic emulsification, and gel + ultrasonic emulsification synergistic cleaning) on eight types of stains, including sand, clay, rust, blood, ink, oil, and mixed solid/liquid stains. Building upon this, this study proposed an efficient, targeted, in situ, and controllable cleaning strategy tailored for fragile, stained textile relics. Results demonstrated that, regardless of the stain type, the synergistic cleaning method of G+U (gel poultice + ultrasonic emulsification) consistently outperformed the cleaning methods of blank gel poultice, cleaning gel poultice, and ultrasonic emulsification. Furthermore, the gel loaded with cleaning agents was always more effective than the blank gel (unloaded cleaning agents). The poultice methods of blank gel and cleaning gel were better suited for solid stains, while the ultrasonic emulsification cleaning method was more effective for liquid stains. Meanwhile, it was also found that the optimal cleaning method proposed in this study (the G+U synergistic cleaning method) was a cleaning method that restricted the cleaning agent within the gel network/emulsion system, and utilized the porous network physical structure of gel, the chemical action of emulsion’s wetting/dissolving dirt, and the cavitation synergistic effect of ultrasound to achieve the targeted removal of contaminants from relics’ surfaces. Crucially, the cleaning process of G+U also had the characteristics of controlling the cleaning area at the designated position and effectively regulating the diffusion rate of the cleaning solution within the treatment zone, as well as the reaction intensity. Therefore, the proposed optimal (the synergistic cleaning method of G+U) cleaning method conforms to the significant implementation of the “minimal intervention and maximal preservation” principle in modern cultural heritage conservation. Consequently, the synergistic cleaning method of G+U holds promise for practical application in artifact cleaning work. Full article

Under extreme operating conditions, the internal lubricating flow field of high-speed gear transmission systems exhibits a transient oil–gas multiphase flow, predominantly governed by cavitation-induced phase transitions and turbulent shear. This phenomenon involves complex mechanisms of nonlinear multi-physical coupling and energy dissipation. Traditional lubrication theories and single-phase flow simplified models show significant limitations in capturing microsecond-scale flow features, dynamic interface evolution, and turbulence modulation mechanisms. To address these challenges, this study developed a cross-scale coupled numerical framework based on the Lattice Boltzmann method and large eddy simulation (LBM-LES). By incorporating an adaptive time relaxation algorithm, the framework effectively enhances the computational accuracy and stability for high-speed rotational flow fields, enabling the precise characterization of lubricant splashing, distribution, and its interaction with air. The research systematically reveals the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the internal flow field within the gearbox and focuses on analyzing the nonlinear regulatory effect of baffle geometric parameters on the system’s energy transport and dissipation characteristics. Numerical results indicate that the baffle structure significantly influences the spatial distribution of the vorticity field and turbulence intensity by reconstructing the shear layer topology. Low-profile baffles optimize the energy transfer pathway, effectively reducing the flow enthalpy, whereas excessively tall baffles induce strong secondary recirculation flows, exacerbating vortex-induced energy losses. Simultaneously, appropriately increasing the spacing between double baffles helps enhance global lubricant transport efficiency and suppresses unsteady dissipation caused by localized momentum accumulation. Furthermore, the geometrically optimized double-baffle configuration can achieve synergistic improvements in lubrication performance, oil film stability, and system energy efficiency by guiding the main shear flow and mitigating localized high-momentum impacts. This study provides crucial theoretical foundations and design guidelines for developing the next generation of theory-driven, energy-efficient lubrication design strategies for gear transmissions. Full article

Although laser cavitation was discovered half a century ago, novel geometries and regimes to excite this effect have been vigorously explored during the past few decades. This research is driven by a variety of applications of laser cavitation in demanding branches of science and technology, such as microfabrication, synthesis of nanoparticles, manipulation of cells, surgery, and lithotripsy. In this work, we combine experimental studies using high-repetition-rate imaging and numerical simulations to uncover a novel regime of the laser cavitation observed upon excitation of a liquid by a train of laser pulses with the pulse energy of 140 mJ and duration of 1.2 μs delivered through a quartz optical fiber. Once the lifetime of the initial cavitation bubble (excited by the first laser pulse) is larger than the period between pulses, which is 34.3 μs, the secondary pulses in the train pass the gas in a bubble and evaporate additional liquid. This results in the formation of a cascaded cavitation bubble of larger volume and elongated shape of $4.6$ mm length compared to $3.8$ mm in case of excitation by a single laser pulse. In addition, the results of acoustic measurements confirm the presence of shock waves in the applied liquid. Finally, potential applications of the uncovered laser cavitation regime are discussed. Full article

The high-efficiency polishing of large-sized polycrystalline diamond (PCD) wafers continues to pose significant challenges in its practical applications. Conventional mechanical polishing suffers from a low material removal rate (MRR) and surface damage. To improve the process efficiency, this study investigates the effect of chemomechanical abrasive polishing (CMAP) with a slurry containing high-concentration H₂O₂ and varying mass percentages of SiO₂ powder and diamond particles on surface morphology, surface roughness, material removal rate (MRR), and microstrain of PCD disks. The contributions of mechanical action, chemical action, and bubble cavitation to the CMAP process are analyzed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations indicate that large grains present in PCD are effectively eliminated after CMAP, leading to a notable reduction in surface roughness. The optimal results are obtained with 60 wt% SiO₂ powder and 40 wt% diamond particles, achieving a maximum MRR of 1039.78 μm/(MPa·h) (15.5% improvement compared to the mechanical method) and a minimum surface roughness (Sa) of 3.59 μm. Additionally, the microstrain on the PCD disk shows a slight reduction following the CMAP process. The material removal mechanism is primarily attributed to mechanical action (70.8%), with bubble cavitation and chemical action (27.5%) and action of SiO₂ (1.7%) playing secondary roles. The incorporation of SiO₂ leads to the formation of a lubricating layer, significantly reducing surface damage and decreasing the surface roughness Sa to 1.39 µm. Full article

The influence of multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) reinforcements on electrochemical corrosion investigations at varying NaCl concentrations (0.4 M, 0.6 M, 0.8 M, 1 M) of Mg-Zn-Ce nanocomposites is studied in this work. The Mg-Zn-Ce/MWCNT nanocomposites were developed by using an ultrasonication-assisted hybrid stir–squeeze (UHSS) casting method with different MWCNT concentrations (0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 wt.%) in a Mg-Zn-Ce magnesium alloy matrix. The microstructural characterizations shown using X-ray diffraction revealed the presence of secondary phases (MgZn₂, Mg₁₂Ce), T-phase (Mg₇Zn₃RE), α-Mg, and MWCNT peaks. Optical microscopy results showed grain refinement in the case of nanocomposites. Transmission electron microscope studies revealed well-dispersed MWCNT, indicating the good selection of processing parameters. The uniform dispersion of MWCNTs was achieved due to a hybrid stirring mechanism along with transient cavitation, ultrasonic streaming, and squeeze effect. The higher E_corr value of −1.39 V, lower I_corr value (5.81 µA/cm²), and lower corrosion rate of 0.1 mm/Yr (↑77%) were obtained by 0.8% nanocomposite at 0.4 M NaCl concentration, when compared to the monolithic alloy. The Mg(OH)₂ passive film formation on 0.8 wt.% nanocomposite was denser, attributed to the refined grains. At higher NaCl concentration, the one-dimensional morphological advantage of MWCNT helped to act as a barrier for further Mg exposure to excessive Cl⁻ attack, which reduced the formation of MgCl₂. Therefore, the UHSS-casted Mg-Zn-Ce/MWCNT nanocomposites present a good potential as sacrificial anodes for use in a wide range of industrial applications. Full article

Background: Influenza B usually causes mild illness in children. Severe and fatal cases can occur when complicated by secondary Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) pneumonia, including community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We present a rare, rapidly progressive fatal case in an adolescent with no known medical history to highlight diagnostic and therapeutic pitfalls. Case Presentation: A 16-year-old boy with no known underlying conditions (unvaccinated for influenza) presented critically ill at “Sf. Ioan” Clinical Emergency Pediatric Hospital in Galați after one week of high fever and cough. He was in respiratory failure with septic shock, requiring immediate intubation and vasopressors. Chest X-ray (CXR) showed diffuse bilateral infiltrates (acute respiratory distress syndrome, ARDS). Initial laboratory tests revealed leukopenia, severe thrombocytopenia, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), rhabdomyolysis, and acute kidney injury (AKI). Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed influenza B, and blood cultures grew MRSA. Despite maximal intensive care, including mechanical ventilation, antibiotics (escalated for MRSA), antiviral therapy, and cytokine hemoadsorption therapy, the patient developed refractory multi-organ failure and died on hospital day 6. Autopsy revealed bilateral necrotizing pneumonia (NP) without radiographic cavitation, underscoring the diagnostic challenge. Discussion: The initial chest radiography showed diffuse bilateral pulmonary infiltrates, predominantly in the lower zones, with an ill-defined, patchy, and confluent appearance. Such appearance, in our case, was more suggestive of rapid progressive NP caused by MRSA rather than the typical pneumococcal one. This is one of the few reported cases of influenza B–MRSA coinfection with fulminant rhabdomyolysis and autopsy-confirmed necrosis. Our fulminant case illustrates the synergistic virulence of influenza and MRSA. Toxin-producing MRSA strains can cause NP and a “cytokine storm,” causing capillary leak, ARDS, shock, and DIC. Once multi-organ failure ensues, the prognosis is grim despite aggressive care. The absence of early radiographic necrosis and delayed anti-MRSA therapy (initiated after culture results) likely contributed to the poor outcome. Conclusions: Influenza B–MRSA co-infection, though rare, demands urgent empiric anti-MRSA therapy in severe influenza cases with leukopenia or shock, even without radiographic necrosis. This fatal outcome underscores the dual imperative of influenza vaccination and early, aggressive dual-pathogen targeting in high-risk presentations. Full article

Penetrating brain injuries (PBI) constitute a significant subset of traumatic brain injuries, characterized by high morbidity and mortality due to their unique pathophysiological mechanisms. Despite its clinical prevalence in civilian and military settings, progress in translational research remains limited due to a lack of well-characterized pre-clinical models that accurately replicate human PBI. Existing models often fail to adequately simulate critical aspects such as ballistic dynamics, tissue cavitation, and secondary injury cascades, limiting their translational relevance and hindering therapeutic advancements. This scoping review aims to systematically evaluate existing pre-clinical models, including animal, computational, ballistic, and hybrid simulations, to assess their methodological rigor, translational applicability and reported outcome measures. Using PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we will conduct a comprehensive literature search across multiple databases, extracting data on model characteristics, injury induction techniques, histopathological findings, biomolecular markers, and functional assessments. Additionally, bibliometric analyses will provide insights into research trends and gaps in PBI modeling, particularly concerning replicating real-world injury mechanisms and long-term functional outcomes. Through this evaluation, we aim to identify optimal experimental frameworks for studying PBI pathophysiology and recovery mechanisms while informing future model development for therapeutic advancements. The findings from this review will serve as a foundation for advancing pre-clinical PBI research, guiding future model development and therapeutic innovations, and ultimately enhancing treatment strategies and patient outcomes. Full article

Under cavitation conditions, hydraulic turbines can suffer from mechanical damage, which will shorten their useful life and reduce power generation efficiency. Timely detection of cavitation phenomena in hydraulic turbines is critical for ensuring operational reliability and maintaining energy conversion efficiency. However, extracting cavitation features is challenging due to strong environmental noise interference and the inherent non-linearity and non-stationarity of a cavitation hydroacoustic signal. A multi-index fusion adaptive cavitation feature extraction and cavitation detection method is proposed to solve the above problems. The number of decomposition layers in the multi-index fusion variational mode decomposition (VMD) algorithm is adaptively determined by fusing multiple indicators related to cavitation characteristics, thus retaining more cavitation information and improving the quality of cavitation feature extraction. Then, the cavitation features are selected based on the frequency characteristics of different degrees of cavitation. In this way, the detection of incipient cavitation and the secondary detection of supercavitation are realized. Finally, the cavitation detection effect was verified using the hydro-acoustic signal collected from a mixed-flow hydro turbine model test stand. The detection accuracy rate and false alarm rate were used as evaluation indicators, and the comparison results showed that the proposed method has high detection accuracy and a low false alarm rate. Full article

Axial waterjets are widely used for marine propulsion due to their efficiency and maneuverability. However, conventional design procedures heavily rely on empirical correlations and simplified models, limiting their ability to fully exploit the hydrodynamic performance potential of these devices. The study highlights how Simulation-Based Design Optimization (SBDO) approaches, coupled with the high-fidelity simulations required to hydrodynamically characterize the complex phenomena that occur in the case of waterjets, can enable the identification of non-intuitive design improvements over a wider design space that may be missed by traditional methods. In particular, the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations are used to provide accurate performance predictions, capturing complex flow phenomena such as secondary flows (i.e., leakage vortices) and pressure distributions critical to waterjet design, of systematically varied configurations using a 42-dimensional parametric model. Simplified key performance indicators, in the specific cavitation inception obtained from the non-cavitating analysis, work in conjunction with the calculated hydraulic efficiency to identify geometries capable of improving (or not worsening) efficiency while postponing cavitation. The systematic and automated analysis of thousands of different configurations, iteratively modified by a genetic algorithm, is finally able to identify better waterjets, whose performances are confirmed by dedicated cavitating RANSE analyses. This demonstrates how RANS-based simulations, integrated with optimization algorithms, can lead to superior axial waterjet designs, providing a flexible, more robust, and effective methodology compared to conventional approaches. Full article

Bubbles in pipes are widely present in marine engineering, transmission, and fluid systems with complex environments. This paper divides tubes into short, longer, and long tubes due to different lengths. In short tubes, the formation, development, and stability of spark bubbles are deeply analyzed through numerical simulation and experimental measurement, and the morphology and period of vortex rings generated in the surrounding fluid are studied. The results show that bubbles in tubes are significantly elongated compared with those in free fields. Changing the parameters of tubes can affect the size and oscillation speed of vortex rings. Secondary cavitation is found in asymmetric positions in longer tubes. The conditions, positions, and periods of multiple secondary cavitations are summarized in a series of experiments on long tubes. It is found that bubbles in tubes are related to the ${\gamma }_t$ and ${\gamma }_L$ tube parameters. More secondary cavitation is easily generated in thinner and longer tubes. In addition, the pumping effect brought about by the movement of bubbles in tubes is studied. By designing reasonable tube parameters, the life cycle of bubbles can be changed, and the pumping efficiency can be improved. This study provides important theoretical support for the reliability of the movement of bubbles and surrounding fluid in tubes and lays a foundation for the optimization and promotion of this technology in practical applications. Full article

As the most valuable protein in the sperm of testes tissues of Coregonus peled, Coregonus peled protamine (CPP) had a natural antibacterial and antiseptic effect, but its physicochemical properties and functions are easily affected by the ultrasound-assisted extraction process. In this study, ultrasound-assisted extraction of CPP was used to investigate the effects of different ultrasonic intensities (0, 3.03, 6.07, 9.10, 12.13, and 15.16 W/cm²) on the structural and functional properties of CPP. The results showed that at moderate ultrasonic intensity (9.10 W/cm²), the protein was the most successful, as it was subjected to cavitation shear and microjet by ultrasound, which resulted in changes in protein structure, moderate unfolding of peptide chains, and changes in the secondary and tertiary structures of CPP. SEM images confirmed the changes in the microstructure of CPP. Ultrasound oxidized the proteins to varying degrees with the highest sulfhydryl and carbonyl and surface hydrophobicity content at an ultrasonic intensity of 9.10 W/cm². At the same time, the solubility, antimicrobial activity, and heparin binding of CPP were affected. It is worth mentioning that the ultrasonicated CPP exhibited a stronger heparin-binding capacity compared to the non-ultrasonicated CPP. In conclusion, 9.10 W/cm² was determined as the optimal ultrasonic intensity parameter for this study. In conclusion, the incorporation of appropriate ultrasonic intensity in the acidic extraction process could help to improve the functional properties of CPP, and ultrasound-assisted protein extraction has emerged as a reliable technique capable of modifying the structure and function of CPP. Full article

The pump hump significantly influences the vibration and operational stability of pumps. During the development of the mixed-flow waterjet pump, our team found that the pump performance curve had a hump phenomenon and the platform had vibration, so it was suspected that there was a strong secondary flow in the hump region. The calculation model is the SST k-ω turbulence model. The impeller and diffuser use structured grids. By using high-speed photography technology, we map the cavitation flow structures, thereby demonstrating the evolution of cavitation processes. The hump curve was obtained by an experimental test. By comparing the test data and numerical simulation, the consistency of the method and the hump curve is verified. A comparative analysis is performed to investigate the variations in the distribution of internal vortex structures and the evolution of rotating stalls in the impeller. In the valley condition, the main frequency of pressure pulsation in the inlet section of the impeller is 0.75 times the shaft frequency, the main frequency in the middle and outlet sections of the impeller is 1 times the shaft frequency, and the main frequency in the diffuser basin is 1.5 times the shaft frequency, the main frequency in the peak condition at the points of Span = 0.1 and Span = 0.5 of the impeller is the diffuser frequency, the main frequency at the point of Span = 0.9 is the impeller blade frequency, and the main frequency in the diffuser basin is either the shaft frequency or the diffuser blade frequency. This research reveals the characteristics of vortex flow in the pump under hump conditions. It reveals that the evolution mechanism of the hump offers a guide value for the subsequent hydrodynamic design of the hump. Full article