A logarithmic complexity floating frame of reference formulation with interpolating splines for articulated multi-flexible-body dynamics

An interpolating spline-based approach is presented for modeling multi-flexible-body systems in the divide-and-conquer (DCA) scheme. This algorithm uses the floating frame of reference formulation and piecewise spline functions to construct and solve the non-linear equations of motion of the multi-flexible-body system undergoing large rotations and translations. The new approach is compared with the flexible DCA (FDCA) that uses the assumed modes method [1]. The FDCA, in many cases, must resort to sub-structuring to accurately model the deformation of the system. We demonstrate, through numerical examples, that the interpolating spline-based approach is comparable in accuracy and superior in efficiency to the FDCA. The present approach is appropriate for modeling flexible mechanisms with thin 1D bodies undergoing large rotations and translations, including those with irregular shapes. As such, the present approach extends the current capability of the DCA to model deformable systems. The algorithm retains the theoretical logarithmic complexity inherent in the DCA when implemented in parallel.     

Growth characteristics of spherical titanium oxide nanoparticles during the rapid gaseous detonation reaction

The nanosize grain growth characteristics of spherical single-crystal titanium oxide (TiO₂) during the rapid gaseous detonation reaction are discussed. Based on the experimental conditions and the Chapman–Jouguet theory, the Kruis model was introduced to simulate the growth characteristics of spherical TiO₂ nanoparticles obtained under high pressure, high temperature and by rapid reaction. The results show that the numerical analysis can satisfactorily predict the growth characteristics of spherical TiO₂ nanoparticles with diameters of 15–300 nm at different affecting factors, such as concentration of particles, reaction temperature and time, which are in agreement with the obtained experimental results. We found that the increase of the gas-phase reaction temperature, time, and particle concentration affects the growth tendency of spherical nanocrystal TiO₂, which provides effective theoretical support for the controllable synthesis of multi-scale nanoparticles.     

Experimental study and numerical modeling of brittle fracture of carbonate rock under uniaxial compression

The brittle carbonate rock taken from the Tarim Oilfield is tested in laboratory under uniaxial compression. The acoustic emission (AE) is used to monitor the microcracking activity in rock during the experiment. Moreover, the 3D tomograms of carbonate rock after uniaxial compression are obtained by using CT imaging technology, which indicates that microcracks mutually interconnect and eventually form macroscopic fractures after failure. The PFC2D is used to model the behavior of brittle rock including microcracks propagation. The stress–strain curve and cracks distribution in rock model are obtained from the PFC simulation. The numerical results agree with the experimental test well.     

An Observation on the Experimental Measurement of Dislocation Density

The common practice of ignoring the elastic strain gradient in measurements of geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density is critically examined. It is concluded that the practice may result in substantial errors. Our analysis points to the importance of spatial variations of the elastic strain field in relation to its magnitude in inferring estimates of dislocation density from measurements.     

What happens to inorganic nitrogen species during conductive diamond electrochemical oxidation of real wastewater?

This work describes the oxidation of caffeine, metoprolol, SMX and progesterone in real wastewater in terms of inorganic nitrogen speciation and help clarify the mechanisms that affect inorganic nitrogen species as final products. In synthetic solutions containing ammonium or nitrate ions, it has been confirmed that reduction of nitrates is a very favored process while oxidation of ammonium is negligible. Role of chloride is demonstrated to be important in the formation of chloramines, as well. These results allow the clarification of the production of nitrates as main products of the oxidation of organic chemicals and the occurrence of ammonium and chloramines in the reaction media, as well as the depletion of nitrogen by gaseous nitrogen production. Results are of a great relevance to interpret the mechanisms proposed in the literature for the treatment of organic wastes by conductive diamond electrochemical oxidation.     

Topological design of multi-cell hexagonal tubes under axial and lateral loading cases using a modified particle swarm algorithm

Multi-cell structures have widely been studied due to their excellent energy absorption ability. However, few systematic studies have been conducted on the topological design of cross-sectional configurations of thin-walled tubes. To make full use of the material, topology optimization of multi-cell hexagonal tubes was conducted under both axial compression and lateral bending loadings. A binary particle swarm optimization (PSO) was enhanced by introducing the mass constraint factor to guide the movement of particles, which could improve the success rate of obtaining the global optimum. It was found that the optimum designs under the axial load placed the material outward to strengthen the interaction between the outer and inner walls and created more partitions between the inside rib walls. While under the lateral load, all the optimum designs have diagonally-connected elements to resist local deformation, and the material was also placed outward to increase the moment of inertia and thus to resist the global deformation. For the multiple loading cases, the final optimal designs are similar to the compression designs or combined designs from the two loading cases.     

Molecular dynamics study on the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of boron doped graphene

We investigated the effects of boron atoms substitution on the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of single-layer graphene using the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations. By performing the uniaxial tension simulations, we observed that substituted boron atoms slightly decrease the elastic modulus and tensile strength of graphene. On the other hand, it was observed that only 0.75% concentration of boron atoms in graphene reduces the thermal conductivity of graphene by more than 60% and leads to vanishing chirality effect.     

Cryptanalyzing a novel pseudorandom number generator based on pseudorandomly enhanced logistic map

Nonlinear Dynamics - Dielectric elastomer is a prosperous material in electromechanical systems because it can effectively transform electrical energy to mechanical work. In this paper, the period...