Compliant offshore structures are used for oil exploitation in deep water. Tension leg platform (TLP) is a suitable type for very deep water. The nonlinear dynamic response of TLP under random sea wave load is necessary for determining the maximum deformations and stresses. Accurate and reliable responses are needed for optimum design and control of the structure. In this paper nonlinear dynamic analysis of TLP is carried out in both time and frequency domains. The time history of random wave is generated based on Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum and acts on the structure in arbitrary direction. The hydrodynamic forces are calculated using the modified Morison equation according to Airy’s linear wave theory. The power spectral densities (PSDs) of displacements, velocities and accelerations are calculated from nonlinear responses. The focus of the paper is on the comprehensive interpretation of the responses of the structure related to wave excitation and structural characteristics. As an example a case study is investigated and numerical results are discussed.

This paper considers the pure bending problem of simply supported transversely isotropic circular plates with elastic compliance coefficients being arbitrary functions of the thickness coordinate. First, the partial differential equation, which is satisfied by the stress functions for the axisymmetric deformation problem is derived. Then, stress functions are obtained by proper manipulation. The analytical expressions of axial force, bending moment and displacements are then deduced through integration. And then, stress functions are employed to solve problems of transversely isotropic functionally graded circular plate, with the integral constants completely determined from boundary conditions. An elasticity solution for pure bending problem, which coincides with the available solution when degenerated into the elasticity solutions for homogenous circular plate, is thus obtained. A numerical example is finally presented to show the effect of material inhomogeneity on the elastic field in a simply supported circular plate of transversely isotropic functionally graded material (FGM).

This paper reports investigation conducted to study the fatigue performance of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) containing fibres of mixed aspect ratio. An extensive experimental program was conducted in which 90 flexural fatigue tests were carried out at different stress levels on size 500 mm×100 mm×100 mm SFRC specimens respectively containing 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% volume fraction of fibres. About 36 static flexural tests were also conducted to determine the static flexural strength prior to fatigue testing. Each volume fraction of fibres incorporated corrugated mixed steel fibres of size 0.6 mm×2.0 mm×25 mm and 0.6 mm×2.0 mm×50 mm in ratio 50:50 by weight. The results are presented both as S-N relationships, with the maximum fatigue stress expressed as a percentage of the strength under static loading, and as relationships between actually applied fatigue stress and number of loading cycles to failure. Two-million-cycle fatigue strengths of SFRC containing different volume fractions of mixed fibres were obtained and compared with plain concrete.

A finite element program developed elastic-plastic crack propagation simulation using Fortran language. At each propagation step, the adaptive mesh is automatically refined based on a posteriori h-type refinement using norm stress error estimator. A rosette of quarter-point elements is then constructed around the crack tip to facilitate the prediction of crack growth based on the maximum normal stress criterion and to calculate stress intensity factors under plane stress and plane strain conditions. Crack was modelled to propagate through the inter-element in the mesh. Some examples are presented to show the results of the implementation.

Crystal plasticity theory was used to simulate upsetting tests of different dimensions and grain size micro copper cylinders in this study on the fluctuant flow stress scale effect. Results showed that with the decrease of billet grain quantity, flow stress fluctuation is not always increased, but there is a maximum. Through this study, the fluctuant flow stress scale effect can be understood deeper, and relevant necessary information was obtained for further prediction and control of this scale effect and to design the microforming process and die.

The dynamic stiffness method is introduced to analyze thin-walled structures including thin-walled straight beams and spatial twisted helix beam. A dynamic stiffness matrix is formed by using frequency dependent shape functions which are exact solutions of the governing differential equations. With the obtained thin-walled beam dynamic stiffness matrices, the thin-walled frame dynamic stiffness matrix can also be formulated by satisfying the required displacements compatibility and forces equilibrium, a method which is similar to the finite element method (FEM). Then the thin-walled structure natural frequencies can be found by equating the determinant of the system dynamic stiffness matrix to zero. By this way, just one element and several elements can exactly predict many modes of a thin-walled beam and a spatial thin-walled frame, respectively. Several cases are studied and the results are compared with the existing solutions of other methods. The natural frequencies and buckling loads of these thin-walled structures are computed.

This paper presents an analytical solution for one-dimensional consolidation of soft soil under some common types of cyclic loading such as trapezoidal cyclic loading, based on the assumptions proposed by Davis and Raymond (1965) that the decrease in permeability is proportional to the decrease in compressibility during the consolidation process of the soil and that the distribution of initial effective stress is constant with depth. It is verified by the existing analytical solutions in special cases. Using the solution obtained, some diagrams are prepared and the relevant consolidation behavior is investigated.

A 3D synchronism deployable antenna was designed, analyzed, and manufactured by our research group. This antenna consists of tetrahedral elements from central element. Because there are springs at the ends of some of the rods, spider joints are applied. For analysis purpose, the structure is simplified and modelled by using 2D beam elements that have no bending stiffness. Displacement vectors are defined to include two translational displacements and one torsional displacement. The stiffness matrix derived by this method is relatively simple and well defined. The analysis results generated by using software developed by our research group agreed very well with available test data.

This study examined public attitudes concerning the value of outdoor spaces which people use daily. Two successive analyses were performed based on data from common residents and college students in the city of Hangzhou, China. First, citizens registered various items constituting desirable values of residential outdoor spaces through a preliminary questionnaire. The result proposed three general attributes (functional, aesthetic and ecological) and ten specific qualities of residential outdoor spaces. An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to an interview survey in order to clarify the weights among these attributes and qualities. Second, principal factors were extracted from the ten specific qualities with principal component analysis (PCA) for both the common case and the campus case. In addition, the variations of respondents’ groups were classified with cluster analysis (CA) using the results of the PCA. The results of the AHP application found that the public prefers the functional attribute, rather than the aesthetic attribute. The latter is always viewed as the core value of open spaces in the eyes of architects and designers. Furthermore, comparisons of ten specific qualities showed that the public prefers the open spaces that can be utilized conveniently and easily for group activities, because such spaces keep an active lifestyle of neighborhood communication, which is also seen to protect human-regarding residential environments. Moreover, different groups of respondents diverge largely in terms of gender, age, behavior and preference.

This work was aimed at gaining understanding of the physical behaviours of the flow and temperature separation process in a vortex tube. To investigate the cold mass fraction’s effect on the temperature separation, the numerical calculation was carried out using an algebraic Reynolds stress model (ASM) and the standard k-ε model. The modelling of turbulence of compressible, complex flows used in the simulation is discussed. Emphasis is given to the derivation of the ASM for 2D axisymmetrical flows, particularly to the model constants in the algebraic Reynolds stress equations. The TEFESS code, based on a staggered Finite Volume approach with the standard k-ε model and first-order numerical schemes, was used to carry out all the computations. The predicted results for strongly swirling turbulent compressible flow in a vortex tube suggested that the use of the ASM leads to better agreement between the numerical results and experimental data, while the k-ε model cannot capture the stabilizing effect of the swirl.

The parameters affecting road surface cleaning using waterjets were researched and a fuzzy neural network method of calculating cleaning rate was provided. A genetic algorithm was used to configure the cleaning parameters of pressure, standoff distance, traverse rate and angle of nozzles for the optimization of the cleaning effectiveness, efficiency, energy and water consumption, and a multi-objective optimization model was established. After calculation, the optimized results and the trend of variation of cleaning effectiveness, efficiency, energy and water consumption in different weighting factors were analyzed.

In thermal systems such as solar thermal and waste heat recovery systems, the available energy supply does not usually coincide in time with the process demand. Hence some form of thermal energy storage (TES) is necessary for the most effective utilization of the energy source. This study deals with the experimental evaluation of thermal performance of a packed bed latent heat TES unit integrated with solar flat plate collector. The TES unit contains paraffin as phase change material (PCM) filled in spherical capsules, which are packed in an insulated cylindrical storage tank. The water used as heat transfer fluid (HTF) to transfer heat from the solar collector to the storage tank also acts as sensible heat storage material. Charging experiments were carried out at varying inlet fluid temperatures to examine the effects of porosity and HTF flow rate on the storage unit performance. The performance parameters such as instantaneous heat stored, cumulative heat stored, charging rate and system efficiency are studied. Discharging experiments were carried out by both continuous and batchwise processes to recover the stored heat, and the results are presented.

On the basis of fractional wavelet transform, we propose a new method called cascaded fractional wavelet transform to encrypt images. It has the virtues of fractional Fourier transform and wavelet transform. Fractional orders, standard focal lengths and scaling factors are its keys. Multistage fractional Fourier transforms can add the keys easily and strengthen information security. This method can also realize partial encryption just as wavelet transform and fractional wavelet transform. Optical realization of encryption and decryption is proposed. Computer simulations confirmed its possibility.

Homogeneous, crack-free SrNb_xTi_1−xO₃ thin films on (110) silicon substrates were successfully fabricated by sol-gel processing. The optimum route and conditions were systematically investigated. Sr(OAc)₂ glacial acetic acid solution, after being refluxed and reacted with tartrate, formed Sr(OAc)₂(C₄H₆O₆)₂; Ti(OBu)₄ formed Ti(OAc)_4−x(AcAc)_x after having the ligand partially exchanged with AcAc, while Nb(OC₂H₅)₅ formed (OAc)₂Nb(AcAc) (C₄H₆O₆) by exchanging of ligand in glacial acetic acid with (CH₃CO)₂O. All the metal species after undergoing partial hydrolysis and polymerization with hydroxyl or oxygen, formed SrNb_xTi_1−xO₃ cluster sol. Methyl cellulose (MCL) caused SrNb_xTi_1−xO₃ sol to have polymeric structure and easily form films. SrNb_xTi_1−xO₃ films with perovskite were subsequently formed after being annealed at 650~750 °C for 60 min in 25% N₂+75% H₂ (volume ratio) atmosphere. Resistivity of the SrNb_0.1Ti_0.9O₃ films at room temperature was 64 μΩ∙cm, a particular T² temperature dependence of the resistivity, from 25 K up to room temperature, was observed.

The interface toughness of adhesively bonded structural members is one of the critical parameters for adhesive joint design. It is often assumed that the joint toughness is a material constant so that its value can be obtained from fracture tests of simple geometries such as DCB for Mode-I, ENF for Mode-II, using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). However, the LEFM assumption of point-wise crack-tip fracture process is overly simplistic and may cause significant error in interpreting fracture test data. In this paper, the accuracy and applicability of various traditional beam-bending-theory based methods for fracture toughness evaluation, such as simple beam theory (SBT), corrected beam theory (CBT) and experimental compliance method (ECM), were assessed using the cohesive zone modelling (CZM) approach. It was demonstrated that the fracture process zone (FPZ) size has profound influence on toughness calculation and unfortunately, all the classic beam-bending theories based methods fail to include this important element and are erroneous especially when the ratio of crack length to FPZ size is relatively small (<5.0). It has also been demonstrated that after the FPZ size is incorporated into simple beam formulations, they provide much improved evaluation for fracture toughness. Formulation of first order estimate of FPZ size is also given in this paper.

In order to provide parameters for numerical analyses of the huge Three-Gorge concrete dam (2309 m long by 175 m height), complete tensile stress-deformation curves for large-size plain concrete specimens were measured and studied by performing uniaxial tensile tests on large-size unnotched specimens (250 mm×250 mm×1400 mm). The specimens were prepared with the three-graded-aggregate materials provided by the client of the Three-Gorge project. To prevent a failure occurring near the ends of the unnotched specimens, both the ends of each specimen (450 mm in length) were cast using a higher-strength concrete than the middle part (i.e., active part). Tensile tests were completed on a specially-designed tensile testing machine, which can be easily re-assembled to accommodate different-size specimens. To make the specimens fail stably, a cyclic loading scheme was adopted after the peak strength was reached. Four of five tests in this study were successful, and four complete tensile stress-deformation curves were obtained. It was found that the post-peak curve of the large-size specimens used in this study is more gradual than those for the small-size specimens reported in the literature.

The distribution of thermal stresses in functionally graded polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) and in single coating of PDC are analyzed respectively by thermo-mechanical finite element analysis (FEA). It is shown that they each have a remarkable stress concentration at the edge of the interfaces. The diamond coatings usually suffer premature failure because of spallation, distortion or defects such as cracks near the interface due to these excessive residual stresses. Results showed that the axial tensile stress in FGM coating is reduced from 840 MPa to 229 MPa compared with single coating, and that the shear stress is reduced from 671 MPa to 471 MPa. Therefore, the single coating is more prone to spallation and cracking than the FGM coating. The effects of the volume compositional distribution factor (n) and the number of the graded layers (L) on the thermal stresses in FGM coating are also discussed respectively. Modelling results showed that the optimum value of the compositional distribution factor is 1.2, and that the best number of the graded layers is 6.

Since market-oriented economy reform, China has experienced significant changes in urban landscapes and the internal structure of cities. Housing marketization provides an opportunity for households to choose their residences. However, not all households benefit equally from residential relocation. Residential relocation in urban China has relatively strong association with the household’s position within the spectrum from state redistribution to market reward than with life cycles and consequent adjustment of housing demand, which are the primary reasons for residential mobility in a mature market. In this research we focused on social aspects, mainly relating to the impact of urban redevelopment in inner city of Ningbo and the resultant potential housing problem. This research is based on a questionnaire survey that was conducted in three neighborhoods redeveloped at different time periods in the past fifteen years. The findings suggest that new strategy of redevelopment of the integrated environment of the old city while still improving the living condition for its residents can be heard due to the efforts of many people at various positions. Yet, many things need to be done to change people’s ideas: information and education through newspapers, academic discussions through academic journals, conferences, and reports to decision makers.

The sudden transition from a high-velocity, supercritical open channel flow into a slow-moving sub-critical flow is a hydraulic jump. Such a flow is characterised by a sudden rise of the free-surface, with some strong energy dissipation and air entrainment, waves and spray. New two-phase flow measurements were performed in the developing flow region using a large-size facility operating at large Reynolds numbers. The experimental results demonstrated the complexity of the flow with a developing mixing layer in which entrained bubbles are advected in a high shear stress flow. The relationship between bubble count rates and void fractions was non-unique in the shear zone, supporting earlier observations of some form of double diffusion process between momentum and air bubbles. In the upper region, the flow consisted primarily of water drops and packets surrounded by air. Visually significant pray and splashing were significant above the jump roller. The present study is the first comprehensive study detailing the two-phase flow properties of both the bubbly and spray regions of hydraulic jumps, a first step towards understanding the interactions between bubble entrainment and droplet ejection processes.

Pyrolysis has the potential of transforming waste into recyclable products. Pyrolytic carbon black (PCB) is one of the most important products from the pyrolysis of used tires. Techniques for surface modifications of PCB have been developed. One of the most significant applications for modified PCB is to reinforce the rubber matrix to obtain high added values. The transverse relaxation and the chain dynamics of vulcanized rubber networks with PCB and modified PCB were studied and compared with those of the commercial carbon blacks using selective ¹H transverse relaxation (T₂) experiments and dipolar correlation effect (DCE) experiments on the stimulated echo. Demineralization and coupling agent modification not only intensified the interactions between the modified PCB and the neighboring polyisoprene chains, but also increased the chemical cross-link density of the vulcanized rubber with modified PCB. The mechanical testing of the rubbers with different kinds of carbon blacks showed that the maximum strain of the rubber with modified PCB was improved greatly. The mechanical testing results confirmed the conclusion obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). PCB modified by the demineralization and NDZ-105 titanate coupling agent could be used to replace the commercial semi-reinforcing carbon black.

The electrochemical behavior of metallic passive film on rebar in concrete is characterized by its semiconductive nature. The charge distribution at the interface between a semiconductor and an electrolyte is often determined by measuring the capacitance of the space-charge layer (C_SC) as a function of the electrode potential (E). When the space charge-layer serves as the depletion layer, the relation of C_sc^-2 vs E resembles a Mott-Schottky plot (M-S plot). The semiconductive properties of the passive film on rebar in concrete were analyzed with M-S plots to study the effect of chloride ions and mineral admixtures on rebar passive films. Some rebar electrodes were immersed in simulated concrete pore solutions, while others were embedded in concrete with/without mineral admixtures. In saturated Ca(OH)₂ solutions, the relation of C_sc^-2-E of rebar electrodes shows linear Mott-Schottky relationship indicating that the passive film on rebar is a highly disordered n-type semiconductor, with donor density (N_D) in the order of 10²⁶ m⁻³. After adding chloride ions (Cl⁻ wt%<0.2%) in system solutions, the M-S plot slopes significantly decreased and N_D increased, suggesting that chloride ion will cause passive film corrosion and breakdown. The M-S plots of the passive film on rebar electrodes embedded in concrete were similar to those immersed in simulated system solution. However, N_D of those in concrete with mineral admixtures tended to be a little smaller, indicating that introducing proper quantity admixtures into concrete could make the rebar passive film have a thicker space-charge layer and therefore a thicker passive film layer.

The warm-hot deformation behavior of 20CrMnTi steel was studied with hot compression tests at temperature range of 1123~1273 K and strain rate of 0.1~20 s⁻¹. The activation energy for warm-hot deformation is 426.064 KJ/mol. The influences of Zener-Hollomon parameter, strain and grain size imposing on the flow stress were analyzed in the temperature range of warm-hot forging. Creep theory and mathematical theory of statistics were used to obtain mathematical models of flow stress. The research and results provide scientific basis for controlling microstructure of forging process through Zener-Hollomon parameter.