Multi-scale finite element simulation on large deformation behavior of wood under axial and transverse compression conditions

Acta Mechanica Sinica - Multi-scale finite element method is adopted to simulate wood compression behavior under axial and transverse loading. Representative volume elements (RVE) of wood...     

Dynamic Bivariate Mortality Modelling

The dependence structure of the life statuses plays an important role in the valuation of life insurance products involving multiple lives. Although the mortality of individuals is well studied in the literature, their dependence remains a challenging field. In this paper, the main objective is to introduce a new approach for analyzing the mortality dependence between two individuals in a couple. It is intended to describe in a dynamic framework the joint mortality of married couples in terms of marginal mortality rates. The proposed framework is general and aims to capture, by adjusting some parametric form, the desired effect such as the “broken-heart syndrome”. To this end, we use a well-suited multiplicative decomposition, which will serve as a building block for the framework to relate the dependence structure and the marginals, and we make the link with existing practice of affine mortality models. Finally, given that the framework is general, we propose some illustrative examples and show how the underlying model captures the main stylized facts of bivariate mortality dynamics.

     

An experimental study on the fire characteristics of new and aged building wires using a cone calorimeter

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The fire behavior of one flame-retardant PVC cable used as building wire is investigated in this work. Bench scale tests were performed using a cone...     

点火准则和稀释气体对乙烯点火延时的影响

利用矩形截面激波管研究点火准则和稀释气体对乙烯点火延时的影响。采用压电传感器记录测点压力时间历程，采用光谱仪和光电倍增管记录自发光强时间历程，以压力、总自发光强与·OH和·CH自由基特定能级发射光强等信号判定是否发生自点火，给出自点火过程的时间起始点和终止点，得到了不同点火准则和稀释气体对应的乙烯/氧气/氮气和乙烯/氧气/氩气点火延时。结果表明:相同工况的乙烯点火延时测量数据相对误差约为15%，数据验证了本文实验和测量方法可靠性。针对当量比为1.0、压力为0.2 MPa，得到了温度范围为905～1 489 K，稀释气体的摩尔分数为75%氮气和75%氩气时的乙烯点火延时，给出点火延时和温度拟合的Arrhenius型表达式。不同点火准则会影响所测点火延时数据，但多次测量结果确定的点火延时和温度变化规律近似相同。不同稀释气体对激波管自点火流场的影响表现为和流场均匀性以及混合物比热相关。相同工况的乙烯/氧气/氮气点火延时大于乙烯/氧气/氩气点火延时。高温区和低温区的乙烯/氧气/氩气点火延时与温度的拟合关系不同，转折温度约为1 121 K。     

Optical Trapping with Focused Surface Waves

Near-field optical trapping can be realized with focused evanescent waves that are excited at the water–glass interface due to the total internal reflection, or with focused plasmonic waves excited on the water–gold interface. Herein, the performance of these two kinds of near-field optical trapping techniques is compared using the same optical microscope configuration. Experimental results show that only a single-micron polystyrene bead can be trapped by the focused evanescent waves, whereas many beads are simultaneously attracted to the center of the excited region by focused plasmonic waves. This difference in trapping behavior is analyzed from the electric field intensity distributions of these two kinds of focused surface waves and the difference in trapping behavior is attributed to photothermal effects due to the light absorption by the gold film.     

Spectrum of Single-Photon Scattering in a Strong-Coupling Hybrid Optomechanical System

The single-photon excitation and transmission spectra of strong-coupling hybrid optomechanics are theoretically analyzed, where a two-level system (TLS) is coupled to a mechanical resonator (MR), generating Jaynes–Cummings-type polariton doublets. In this model, both the optomechanical coupling and the TLS-MR coupling are strong. In this parameter region, polaron-assisted excitation reemission processes can strongly affect the single-photon excitation and output spectra of the cavity. It is found that the fine structure around each sideband can be used to characterize the TLS-MR and the effective TLS-photon couplings, even at the single-quantum level. Thus, the spectrum structures may make it possible to sensitively probe the quantum nature of a macroscopic mechanical element. A possible approach for tomographic reconstruction of the state of a TLS, utilizing the single-photon transmission spectra, is further provided.     

A Comparison of Two Isoreticular Metal–Organic Frameworks with Cationic and Neutral Skeletons: Stability,Mechanism, and Catalytic Activity

Although many ionic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been reported, little is known about how the charge of the skeleton affects the properties of the MOF materials. Herein we report how the chemical stability of MOFs can be substantially improved through embedding electrostatic interactions in structure. A MOF with a cationic skeleton is impervious to extremely acidic, oxidative, reductive, and high ionic strength conditions, such as 12 m HCl (301 days), aqua regia (86 days), H₂O₂ (30 days), and seawater (30 days), which is unprecedented for MOFs. DFT calculations suggested that steric hinderance and the repulsive interaction of the cationic framework toward positively charged species in microenvironments protects the vulnerable bonds in the structure. Diverse functionalities can be bestowed by substituting the counterions of the charged framework with identically charged functional species, which broadens the horizon in the design of MOFs adaptable to a demanding environment with specific functionalities.     

Mittag–Leffler stability of nabla discrete fractional-order dynamic systems

Nonlinear Dynamics - In the present study, the definition of discrete Mittag–Leffler stability is derived to characterize convergence rule of the pseudostates for nabla discrete...