3.1.

Governing equations and boundary conditions for string To derive the string kinematic relations, the
string is approximated by a chain with ‘n’ links of equal lengths with joints bearing no moment.
Supposing uniform mass distribution along each link, the mass centre is located at its mid point. The free
body diagram of an arbitrary link of the chain is shown at Figure 2. Assuming 2-D motion of the chain for
each link, three kinematic relations can be derived as: (1) Moment equation about mass centre of an
arbitrary link: 1 2 F j2 xi þ F j1 xi Dsi sin i 1 2 F j2 yi þ F j1 yi Dsi cos i ¼ 1 12 iðDsiÞ 3 i ð1Þ (2) Newton’s
second law in x direction: F j1 xi F j2 xi piwDsi sin i ¼ iDsiaxi ð2Þ (3) Newton’s second law in y direction: F
j1 yi F j2 yi þ piwDsi cos i ¼ iDsiayi ð3Þ Figure 1. The string deformation in a 2-D flow. Inverse Problems
in Science and Engineering 1041 Downloaded By: [Canadian Research Knowledge Network] At: 09:26 20
October 2009 Relations between the linear accelerations of the first joint of each link and its mass
centre are as follows: iDsiaxi ¼ iDsi a j1 xi 1 2 Dsi sin ii 1 2 Dsi cos i!2 i ð4Þ iDsia yi ¼ iDsi a j1 yi þ 1 2 Dsi
cos ii 1 2 Dsi sin i!2 i ð5Þ Equations (6) and (7) indicate the relations between the linear accelerations of
two consecutive joints of each link: a j2 xi ¼ a j1 xi Dsi sin ii Dsi cos i!2 i ð6Þ a j2 yi ¼ a j1 yi þ Dsi cos ii Dsi
sin i!2 i ð7Þ Furthermore, the consistency equations at each joint are as follows: a j2 xi ¼ a j1 xiþ1 , a j2
yi ¼ a j1 yiþ1 , F j2 xi ¼ F j1 xiþ1 , F j2 yi ¼ F j1 yiþ1 ð8Þ The boundary conditions of the chain’s (string’s)
governing equations include fixed starting and free end points. Therefore, zero acceleration and force
are attributed to the starting and end points, respectively. a j1 x1 ¼ a j1 y1 ¼ 0 ð9Þ F j2 xn ¼ F j2 yn ¼ 0
ð10Þ To study the chain kinematics, it is enough to calculate angular acceleration of each link (i) and
there is no need to calculate the other unknowns such as the forces and linear accelerations
components. Having eliminated the forces and linear accelerations and solving the linear system of
equations, the angular accelerations are calculated exactly. Then, the angular velocity (!i) and the angle
change of each link (ii) are obtained as follows: !tþDt i ¼ !t i þ iDt ð11Þ Di ¼ 1=2iDt 2 þ !iDt ð12Þ (a) (b)
Figure 2. Free body diagram of an arbitrary link ’i ’ of the chain, (a) kinematics and (b) forces. 1042 M.
Nili-Ahmadabadi et al. Downloaded By: [Canadian Research Knowledge Network] At: 09:26 20 October
2009 Starting from the first link towards the end one, the new positions of joints ( j þ 1) are obtained by
adding the angle change of each link with respect to the calculated position of the previous joint ( j). The
solution starts with an initial guess such that the duct’s main characteristics (e.g. length and inlet or
outlet area) are known and fixed. In this method, one of the joints coordinates (say x) is fixed. xtþDt j ¼
xt j ð13Þ ytþDt jþ1 ¼ ytþDt j þ Dsi sinði þ DiÞ ð14Þ