This study introduces measures to identify resonant (concentration of energy in a single or a few frequencies) or unfavorable earthquake ground motions. Probabilistic measures based on the entropy rate and the geometric properties of the power spectral density function (PSDF) of the ground acceleration are developed first. Subsequently, deterministic measures for the frequency content of the ground acceleration are also developed. These measures are then used for identifying resonance and criticality in stochastic earthquake models and 110 acceleration records measured at rock, stiff, medium and soft soil sites. The unfavorable earthquake record for a given structure is defined as the record having a narrow frequency content and dominant frequency close to the structure fundamental natural frequency. Accordingly, the measures developed in this study may provide a basis for selecting records that are capable of producing the highest structural response. Numerical verifications are provided on damage caused to structures by identified resonant records.

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars were prestressed for the structural strengthening of 8 T-shaped reinforced concrete (RC) beams of a 21-year-old bridge in China. The ultimate bearing capacity of the existing bridge after retrofit was discussed on the basis of concrete structures theory. The flexural strengths of RC beams strengthened with CFRP bars were controlled by the failure of concrete in compression and a prestressing method was applied in the retrofit. The field construction processes of strengthening with CFRP bars—including grouting cracks, cutting groove, grouting epoxy and embedding CFRP bars, surface treating, banding with the U-type CFRP sheets, releasing external prestressed steel tendons—were introduced in detail. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of this strengthening method, field tests using vehicles as live load were applied before and after the retrofit. The test results of deflection and concrete strain of the T-shaped beams with and without strengthening show that the capacity of the repaired bridge, including the bending strength and stiffness, is enhanced. The measurements of crack width also indicate that this strengthening method can enhance the durability of bridges. Therefore, the proposed strengthening technology is feasible and effective.

The method of nonlinear finite element reliability analysis (FERA) of slope stability using the technique of slip surface stress analysis (SSA) is studied. The limit state function that can consider the direction of slip surface is given, and the formulations of FERA based on incremental tangent stiffness method and modified Aitken accelerating algorithm are developed. The limited step length iteration method (LSLIM) is adopted to calculate the reliability index. The nonlinear FERA code using the SSA technique is developed and the main flow chart is illustrated. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of this method. It is found that the accelerating convergence algorithm proposed in this study proves to be very efficient for it can reduce the iteration number greatly, and LSLIM is also efficient for it can assure the convergence of the iteration of the reliability index.

This study presents a new method to solve the difficult problem of precise machining a non-cylinder pinhole of a piston using embedded giant magnetostrictive material (GMM) in the component. We propose the finite element model of GMM smart component in electric, magnetic, and mechanical fields by step computation to optimize the design of GMM smart component. The proposed model is implemented by using COMSOL multi-physics V3.2a. The effects of the smart component on the deformation and the system resonance frequencies are studied. The results calculated by the model are in excellent agreement (relative errors are below 10%) with the experimental values.

To predict the distortion of aerospace monolithic components, a model is established to simulate the numerical control (NC) milling process using 3D finite element method (FEM). In this model, the cutting layer is simplified firstly. Then, the models of cutting force and cutting temperature are established to gain the cutting loads, which are applied to the mesh model of the part. Finally, a prototype of machining simulation environment is developed to simulate the milling process of a spar. Key factors influencing the distortion, such as initial residual stress, cutting loads, fixture layout, cutting sequence, and tool path are considered all together. The total distortion of the spar is predicted and an experiment is conducted to validate the numerical results. It is found that the maximum discrepancy between the simulation results and experiment values is 19.0%.

This study presents a structural analysis algorithm called the finite particle method (FPM) for kinematically indeterminate bar assemblies. Different from the traditional analysis method, FPM is based on the combination of the vector mechanics and numerical calculations. It models the analyzed domain composed of finite particles. Newton’s second law is adopted to describe the motions of all particles. A convected material frame and explicit time integration for the solution procedure is also adopted in this method. By using the FPM, there is no need to solve any nonlinear equations, to calculate the stiffness matrix or equilibrium matrix, which is very helpful in the analysis of kinematically indeterminate structures. The basic formulations for the space bar are derived, following its solution procedures for bar assemblies. Three numerical examples are analyzed using the FPM. Results obtained from both the straight pretension cable and the suspension cable assembly show that the FPM can produce a more accurate analysis result. The motion simulation of the four-bar space assembly demonstrates the capability of this method in the analysis of kinematically indeterminate structures.

To investigate the ballistic resistance and failure pattern of aeroengine casing following the impact of disk fragments, and to determine the optimum case structure, the phenomena of a 1/3rd disk fragment impact on single and double-layered thin plate targets were simulated using nonlinear dynamical analysis software MSC.Dytran. Strain rate effect was introduced in a Johnson-Cook (JC) material model for the disk fragment and the plate. Impact modeling was based on the Arbitrary Lagrange-Eulerian method, and simulated using explicit finite element method (FEM). Simulation results showed that the major failure pattern of the plate is shearing and tensile fracture with large plastic deformation. It was also concluded that the ballistic limit velocity increases with the standoff distance when it is beyond a certain value, and that greater resistance is obtained when the front plate has either a proportionately low or high thickness. The impact resistance of a double-layered plate may exceed that of a single plate if the thicknesses and standoff distance of the two plates are set appropriately.

Taking a small pressure change in the gas film of self-acting gas-lubricated journal bearings into account, the corresponding nonlinear Reynolds equation is linearized through appropriate approximation and a modified Reynolds equation is derived and solved by means of the finite difference method (FDM). The gas film pressure distribution of a self-acting gas-lubricated journal bearing is attained and the load capacity is calculated. The numerical solution has a better agreement with experimental data than a direct numerical solution for different values of the bearing number. It is of interest to note that the eccentricity ratio, at which the new numerical solution is in better agreement with experimental data, is different when the bearing number is changing. The new numerical solution is slightly larger when the eccentricity ratio is smaller, and becomes slightly smaller when the eccentricity ratio is larger.

Inverse heat conduction method (IHCM) is one of the most effective approaches to obtaining the boiling heat transfer coefficient from measured results. This paper focuses on its application in cryogenic boiling heat transfer. Experiments were conducted on the heat transfer of a stainless steel block in a liquid nitrogen bath, with the assumption of a 1D conduction condition to realize fast acquisition of the temperature of the test points inside the block. With the inverse-heat conduction theory and the explicit finite difference model, a solving program was developed to calculate the heat flux and the boiling heat transfer coefficient of a stainless steel block in liquid nitrogen bath based on the temperature acquisition data. Considering the oscillating data and some unsmooth transition points in the inverse-heat-conduction calculation result of the heat-transfer coefficient, a two-step data-fitting procedure was proposed to obtain the expression for the boiling heat transfer coefficients. The coefficient was then verified for accuracy by a comparison between the simulation results using this expression and the verifying experimental results of a stainless steel block. The maximum error with a revised segment fitting is around 6%, which verifies the feasibility of using IHCM to measure the boiling heat transfer coefficient in liquid nitrogen bath.

A rehydration process for freeze-dried human platelets was studied on 1 ml of samples. The effects of prehydration duration, prehydration temperature, and rehydration solution on the recovery rate, mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) were investigated. The mass changes during the prehydration process were also studied. Three prehydration durations: 0, 1.5, and 3.5 h, and two rehydration solutions: platelet-poor plasma and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), were tested. It was found that: (1) the prehydration was of significance; (2) 1.5 h of prehydration had better effects than 3.5 h of prehydration; (3) as a rehydration solution, the platelet-poor plasma behaved better than the PBS. The impacts of prehydration duration and temperature on the results were studied. There was almost no difference between 35 and 37 °C. Among all the prehydration durations tested, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min, the best result was achieved with the time duration of 15 min. The weights of prehydrated platelets at the end of each test were measured and the water contents were calculated. After 15 min of prehydration, the water contents in the samples were about (4.8±0.01)% and (5.27±0.29)% (w/w) corresponding to the conditions of 35 and 37 °C, respectively. These results will be helpful for further studies on the freeze-drying of mammalian cells.

We present an empirical model for the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of a polymer composite that includes dependency on the filler size distribution—chosen as the Rosin-Rammler distribution. The ETC is determined based on certain hypotheses that connect the behavior of a real composite material A, to that of a model composite material B, filled with mono-dimensional filler. The application of these hypotheses to the Maxwell model for ETC is presented. The validation of the new model and its characteristic equation was carried out using experimental data from the reference. The comparison showed that by using the size distribution law a very good fit between the equation of the new model (the size distribution model for the ETC) and the reference experimental results is obtained, even for high volume fractions, up to about 50%.

We report that the ultraviolet (UV) light induced photochromic behavior of layered organic-inorganic perovskite material of (C₄H₉NH₃)₂CuCl₄, changed from yellow to brown after irradiation with UV light (10 mW/cm²) and partially recovered through storage in the dark. (C₄H₉NH₃)₂CuCl₄ exhibited two distinct absorption bands centered at 286 nm (band I) and 384 nm (band II), which were attributed to the photo-induced exciton formed in 2D inorganic layers sandwiched by organic layers. The blue shift of band I from 287 to 269 nm as well as the decrease of the intensity of band I and band II could be found when samples were irradiated under UV light for different length of time. The simultaneous weakening of the intensity of the N−H···Cl hydrogen bond as well as the vibration of the long Cu−Cl bond in the distorted CuCl₆⁴⁻ octahedron could be detected from the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, which resulted the change of charge distribution of the dissymmetric Cl−Cu···Cl bond and the resulting photochromic behavior.

Adsorption is one of the most widely applied techniques for environmental remediation. Its kinetics are of great significance to evaluate the performance of a given adsorbent and gain insight into the underlying mechanisms. There are lots of references available concerning adsorption kinetics, and several mathematic models have been developed to describe adsorption reaction and diffusion processes. However, these models were frequently employed to fit the kinetic data in an unsuitable or improper manner. This is mainly because the boundary conditions of the associated models were, to a considerable extent, ignored for data modeling. Here we reviewed several widely-used adsorption kinetic models and paid more attention to their boundary conditions. We believe that the review is of certain significance and improvement for adsorption kinetic modeling.

The efficiency of chlorine and chloramines disinfection on biofilm development in a simulated drinking water distribution system was investigated by using heterotrophic bacterial spread plate technique. The experiments were carried out with four annular reactors (ARs) with stainless steel (SS) or copper (Cu) material slides. The results showed that there were fewer bacteria attached to Cu slides without a disinfectant compared with those attached to SS slides. When the water was disinfected with chloramines, the heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs) on the biofilm attached to the Cu slides were significantly lower (by 3.46 log CFU/cm²) than those attached to the SS slides. Likewise, the biofilm HPC numbers on the Cu slides were slightly lower (by 1.19 log CFU/cm²) than those on the SS slides disinfected with chlorine. In a quasi-steady state, the HPC levels on Cu slides can be reduced to 3.0 log CFU/cm² with chlorine and to about 0.9 log CFU/cm² with chloramines. The addition of chloramines resulted in a more efficient reduction of biofilm heterotrophic bacteria than did chlorine. We concluded that the chlorine and chloramines levels usually employed in water distribution system were not sufficient to prevent the growth and development of microbial biofilm. The combination of copper pipe slides and chloramines as the disinfectant was the most efficient combination to bring about diminished bacterial levels.

A novel photocatalytic reactor was developed to remove (1,1-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane) (DDT) from water. In the reactor, a cenosphere was used to support TiO₂ film made by means of sol-gel. Because the cenospheres were coated with TiO₂, their specific gravity was slightly increased from the original 0.6~0.8 to 0.8~0.9, so that they were able to be suspended in water. With the mixed operation of a bubbler, the water in the reactor was in a well-fluidized state. The bottom of the reactor is a sand filter bed, which can be used to prevent the photocatalyst from being lost. A mathematical model of the reactor has been developed in the two primary influential factors: ultraviolet (UV) light intensity and photocatalyst concentration. With such a model, the reactor can be designed more reasonably.

This study deals with the effect of hydrotropes on the solubility and mass transfer coefficient of salicylic acid. The solubility and mass transfer studies were performed using the hydrotropes, i.e., sodium acetate, sodium salicylate, citric acid, and urea at concentrations of 0~3.0 mol/L and system temperatures of 303~333 K. It was found that the solubility and mass transfer coefficient of salicylic acid increases with increase in hydrotrope concentration and also with system temperature. All hydrotropes used in this work showed an enhancement in solubility and mass transfer coefficient to different degrees. The maximum enhancement factor values were determined for all hydrotropes used in this study. The highest value was 28.08 for solubility studies and 10.42 for mass transfer studies. The performance of hydrotropes was measured in terms of the Setschenow constant (K_s). The highest value observed was 0.696.

Considering the short length of building roofs, a theoretical analysis of the first flush of roof runoff was conducted based on the kinematic wave and pollutant erosion equations. This mathematical derivation with analytical solutions predicts pollutant mass first flush (MFF), mean concentration of initial runoff (MCIF), mean concentration of roof runoff (MCRR) with diversion of initial portion and residual mass available on the bed surface (RS) after the entire runoff under the condition of constant excess rainfall. And the effects of the associated influencing factors (roof length, roof gradient, roof surface roughness, rainfall intensity, rainfall duration, and erosion coefficients) on them were discussed while the values of parameters referred to the previous studies. The results showed that for roofs whose length is shorter than 20 m, both the increase in roof length and roof gradient and the decrease in roof surface roughness result in larger MFF and MCIF and smaller MCRR and RS, which is beneficial to water reuse and pollution reduction. The theoretical relationship between the first flush and the influencing factors may aid the planning and design of roof in terms of rainwater utilization or diffuse pollution control.

Chromatograms of tocopherol homologues were obtained by a column of analytical size (inner diameter (ID) 0.46 cm cm×10 cm) packed with silica gel. Adsorption isotherms and film mass-transfer coefficient were estimated from the chromatograms by using a general rate model, which considers axial dispersion, external mass-transfer and intraparticle diffusion. Based on the obtained isotherms and mass-transfer coefficient, the separation process of tocopherol homologues on simulated moving bed (SMB) was simulated using the same model. According to the simulated results, a mixture of α-, γ-, δ-tocopherols and other impurities was separated on an SMB equipment. The SMB equipment was composed of 8 columns of ID 2 cm×10 cm, with 2 columns in each section. The solid phase was silica gel, and the mobile phase was n-hexane/2-propanol (99/1 by volume). γ- and δ-tocopherols of purity greater than 98% were obtained with recovery greater than 98%. The effects of operating conditions (flow rates and switching time) on the performance of SMB were studied by both simulation and experiments. It was found that all the simulation results were quite close to the experimental results. We conclude that process development and optimization of operating conditions of SMB by simulation are feasible.