Inflation and burst of aluminum tubes. Part II: An advanced yield function including deformation-induced anisotropy

In a recent study [Korkolis, Y.P., Kyriakides, S., 2008. Inflation and burst of anisotropic aluminum tubes for hydroforming applications. Int’l. J. Plasticity 24, 509–543], the formability of aluminum tubes was investigated using a combination of experimental and numerical approaches. The tubes were loaded to failure under combined internal pressure and axial load along radial paths in the engineering stress space. The experiments were then simulated using appropriate FE models and two established anisotropic yield functions. It was found that for some loading paths the computed deformations did not agree with the experimental ones, whereas rupture was generally overpredicted. In the current study the problem is tackled using a more advanced yield function [Barlat, F., Brem, J.C., Yoon, J.W., Chung, K., Dick, R.E., Lege, D.J., Pourboghrat, F., Choi, S.-H., Chu, E., 2003. Plane stress function for aluminum alloy sheets – part I: theory. Int’l. J. Plasticity 19, 1297–1319]. Three different calibration schemes of this function are employed, in two of which the experimentally observed deformation-induced anisotropy is taken into account. It is demonstrated that both deformation and failure can ultimately be predicted successfully, albeit arduously, using a hybrid procedure detailed herein.     

Unusual Surface Latent Heat Flux Variations and Their Critical Dynamics Revealed before Strong Earthquakes

We focus on the possible thermal channel of the well-known Lithosphere–Atmosphere–Ionosphere Coupling (LAIC) mechanism to identify the behavior of thermal anomalies during and prior to strong seismic events. For this, we investigate the variation of Surface Latent Heat Flux (SLHF) as resulting from satellite observables. We demonstrate a spatio-temporal variation in the SLHF before and after a set of strong seismic events occurred in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Kumamoto, Japan, having magnitudes of 7.8, 7.3, and 7.0, respectively. Before the studied earthquake cases, significant enhancements in the SLHF were identified near the epicenters. Additionally, in order to check whether critical dynamics, as the signature of a complex phenomenon such as earthquake preparation, are reflected in the SLHF data, we performed a criticality analysis using the natural time analysis method. The approach to criticality was detected within one week before each mainshock.     

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrilimines with 1-aroyl-4,5-dihydro-3,4,4-trimethyl-5-methylene-1H-pyrazoles. Synthesis of 6-aroyl-8,9,9-trimethyl-1,2,6,7-tetrazaspiro[4.4]nona-2,7-dienes

From the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of 5-methylene-1H-pyrazoles 3 with N-arylnitrilimines the novel spiro-cycloadducts 4 were isolated, in addition to the corresponding 5-(2-aroylhydrazono-1,1-dimethylpropyl)-1H-pyrazoles 5. These pyrazoles 5 were the only products from the reactions of 3 with N-methylnitrilimine 2d. The chemical behaviour of the spiro-cycloadducts 4 was also examined.     

Criticality features in ULF magnetic fields prior to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake

The criticality of ULF (Ultra-low-frequency) magnetic variations is investigated for the 2011 March 11 Tohoku earthquake (EQ) by natural time analysis. For this attempt, some ULF parameters were considered: (1) F_h (horizontal magnetic field), (2) F_z (vertical magnetic field), and (3) D_h (inverse of horizontal magnetic field). The first two parameters refer to the ULF radiation, while the last parameter refers to another ULF effect of ionospheric signature. Nighttime (L.T. = 3 am ± 2 hours) data at Kakioka (KAK) were used, and the power of each quantity at a particular frequency band of 0.03–0.05 Hz was averaged for nighttime hours. The analysis results indicate that F_h fulfilled all criticality conditions on March 3–5, 2011, and that the additional parameter, D_h reached also a criticality on March 6 or 7. In conclusion, criticality has reached in the pre-EQ fracture region a few days to one week before the main shock of the Tohoku EQ.     

Flexible working arrangements in context: An empirical investigation through self-organizing maps

This is one of the first studies to utilize Kohonen’s self-organizing maps on flexible work arrangements (FWAs), employee turnover and absenteeism within different national contexts and an array of organizational factors. While the majority of FWAs did not reduce significantly employee turnover or absenteeism, country and industry were significant contextual variables in FWA use: we deciphered six main country regions, where service and manufacturing organizations were important to FWA preferences. We found a curvilinear relationship between turnover and shift-work among manufacturing firms regardless of country: turnover decreases at low levels and increases at high levels of shift-work. We also found strong positive relationships between weekend work and turnover among manufacturing firms regardless of country and firms in the region comprising of Germany, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Belgium. Finally, we found consistently high concentration of organizations with low absenteeism throughout certain industries and countries: noteworthy are service organizations in the Netherlands and manufacturing organizations in Australia. The results demonstrate the contextuality of FWA use across countries and industries, and the usefulness of SOMs for research within human resource management.