ANALYSIS OF SHIP MANEUVERING PERFORMANCES AND ICE LOADS ON SHIP HULL WITH DISCRETE ELEMENT MODEL IN BROKEN-ICE FIELDS

采用离散元模型对碎冰区浮冰与船舶结构的相互作用进行了数值研究。碎冰由三维圆盘单元构成,并考虑其在海流作用下的浮力、拖曳力和附加质量。船体结构由一系列三角形单元组合构造。通过海冰与船体单元间的接触判断和接触力计算,确定海冰与船体结构之间的相互作用。采用以上离散单元模型对不同冰况（冰速、冰厚、冰块尺寸和密集度）以及航速条件下,海冰对船体的动力作用过程进行了数值分析,对比分析了以上因素对船体冰载荷的影响,可为冰区船舶的安全运行和结构设计提供一定的借鉴作用。     

An entropy-based filtering approach for airborne laser scanning data

Parameter-tuning is a challenging task when generating digital terrain models from airborne laser scanning (light detection and ranging, LiDAR) data. To address this issue, this paper presents a filtering method for near-infrared laser scanning data that exploits the principle of entropy maximization as the optimization objective. The proposed approach generates ground elevation of point cloud by constructing a triangulated irregular network, calculates the entropy of the elevation from different parts, and automatically separates ground and non-ground points by the principle of entropy maximization. Experimental results from different ground surfaces show that the proposed entropy-based filtering method can effectively extract bare-earth points from the point cloud without adjusting thresholds.     

COMPARISON OF GRANULAR MATERIAL BEHAVIOUR UNDER DRAINED TRIAXIAL AND PLANE STRAIN CONDITIONS USING 3D DEM SIMULATIONS

Three dimensional (3D) DEM (discrete element method) simulations of drained triaxial compression and plane strain tests are presented for both dense and loose assemblies of polydisperse spheres using a...     

一种基于块模糊增强的玉米田遥感图像边缘检测方法

针对高分一号卫星(GF-1)玉米田遥感图像中玉米田光谱复杂和地块边缘模糊导致的面积统计误差大的问题,本文提出一种块模糊增强和最小值边缘提取相结合的边缘检测方法进行玉米田地块分割处理,以减小面积统计误差。首先将彩色遥感图像从RGB变换到I¹I²I³彩色空间,提取出含丰富特征的单色图I¹;然后利用模糊理论对I¹进行基于块的增强处理;再对增强后的图像进行最小值边缘提取;最后利用Full Lambda-Schedule算法对区域边缘进行优化。通过与Canny和Sobel等边缘提取方法比较,证明本文的边缘检测结果能有效地分割出玉米田地块目标,减少了玉米田光谱复杂和边缘模糊带来的影响,检测出的边缘更符合玉米田实际分布,玉米田面积统计结果更符合实际。     

Experimental and DEM analyses on wheel-soil interaction

In this paper, the wheel-soil interaction for a future lunar exploration mission is investigated by physical model tests and numerical simulations. Firstly, a series of physical model tests was conducted using the TJ-1 lunar soil simulant with various driving conditions, wheel configurations and ground void ratios. Then the corresponding numerical simulations were performed in a terrestrial environment using the Distinct Element Method (DEM) with a new contact model for lunar soil, where the rolling resistance and van der Waals force were implemented. In addition, DEM simulations in an extraterrestrial (lunar) environment were performed. The results indicate that tractive efficiency does not depend on wheel rotational velocity, but decreases with increasing extra vertical load on the wheel and ground void ratio. Rover performance improves when wheels are equipped with lugs. The DEM simulations in terrestrial environment can qualitatively reproduce the soil deformation pattern as observed in the physical model tests. The variations of traction efficiency against the driving condition, wheel configuration and ground void ratio attained in the DEM simulations match the experimental observations qualitatively. Moreover, the wheel track is found to be less evident and the tractive efficiency is higher in the extraterrestrial environment compared to the performance on Earth.     

CFD–DEM simulation of the pneumatic conveying of fine particles through a horizontal slit

Fine particles play a significant role in many industrial processes. To study the dynamic behavior of fine particle and their deposition in rock fractures, the pneumatic conveying of fine particles (approximately 100 μm in diameter) through a small-scale horizontal slit (0.41 m × 0.025 m) was studied, which is useful for the sealing technology of underground gas drainage in coal mining production. The CFD–DEM method was adopted to model the gas-particle two-phase flow; the gas phase was treated as a continuum and modeled using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), particle motion and collisions were simulated using the DEM code. Then, the bulk movement of fine particles through a small-scale horizontal slit was explored numerically, and the flow patterns were further investigated by visual inspection. The simulation results indicated that stratified flow or dune flow can be observed at low gas velocities. For intermediate gas velocities, the flow patterns showed pulsation phenomena, and dune flow reappeared in the tail section. Moreover, periodic flow regimes with alternating thick and sparse stream structures were observed at a high gas velocity. The simulation results of the bulk movement of fine particles were in good agreement with the experimental findings, which were obtained by video-imaging experiments. Furthermore, the calculated pressure drop versus gas velocity profile was investigated and compared with relative experimental findings, and the results showed good agreement. Furthermore, the particle velocity vectors and voidage distribution were numerically simulated. Selected stimulation results are presented and provide a reference for the further study of fine particles.     

Effect of open spaces between grousers on the gross traction of a track shoe for lightweight vehicles analyzed using 2D DEM

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of open spaces between grousers on gross traction using the discrete element method (DEM). We used a quasi-2D track shoe model in which we could control the open spacing between track shoes to observe the tractive performance experimentally. The gross traction and the sinkage of the grouser were measured on artificial sand. Moreover, we applied a 2D DEM analysis to the interaction between the open-spaced track shoes and the model soil. We confirmed the accuracy of the DEM analysis using the experiments. The analysis with the model dry sand could recreate the characteristic region of the soil under the shearing action, which depends on the track shoe spacing. The DEM also showed that the gross traction decreased with the increase in open spacing of the grousers. From the result of a 2D DEM analysis of a grouser for a prototype mesh crawler for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, we estimated a thrust coefficient of approximately 0.4 for a wider grouser pitch-to-height ratio of 4.0–7.75 because of the constant sinkage of the grouser, neglecting the role of the meshed belt.     

DEM investigation of mixing indices in a ribbon mixer

Mixing index is an important parameter to understand and assess the mixing state in various mixers including ribbon mixers, the typical food processing devices. Many mixing indices based on either sample variance methods or non-sample variance methods have been proposed and used in the past, however, they were not well compared in the literature to evaluate their accuracy of assessing the final mixing state. In this study, discrete element method (DEM) modelling is used to investigate and compare the accuracy of these mixing indices for mixing of uniform particles in a horizontal cylindrical ribbon mixer. The sample variance methods for mixing indices are first compared both at particle- and macro-scale levels. In addition, non-sample variance methods, namely entropy and non-sampling indices are compared against the results from the sample variance methods. The simulation results indicate that, among the indices considered in this study, Lacey index shows the most accurate results. The Lacey index is regarded to be the most suitable mixing index to evaluate the steady-state mixing state of the ribbon mixer in the real-time (or without stopping the impeller) at both the particle- and macro-scale levels. The study is useful for the selection of a proper mixing index for a specific mixture in a given mixer.     

No more conventional reference electrode: Transition time for determining chloride ion concentration

Ion selective electrodes (ISE) are used extensively for the potentiometric determination of ion concentrations in electrolytes. However, the inherent drift in these measurements and the requirement of a stable reference electrode restrict the feasibility of this method for long-term in-situ applications. This work presents a chronopotentiometric approach to minimize drift and avoid the use of a conventional reference electrode for measuring chloride ion concentration. An anodic current pulse is applied to a Ag/AgCl working electrode which initiates a faradaic reaction that depletes the chloride ions near the electrode surface. The rate of change in potential at the Ag/AgCl electrode, due to chloride ion depletion, reaches an inflection point once the chloride ions deplete completely near the electrode surface. The moment of the inflection point, also known as the transition time, is a function of the chloride ion concentration and is described by the Sand equation. It is shown that the square root of the transition time is linearly proportional to the chloride ion concentration. Drift in the response over two weeks is negligible: 59 μM/day when measuring 1 mM of Cl⁻ ions using a 10 A m⁻² current pulse. The transition time at a specific ion concentration can be tuned by the applied current pulse, e.g., in a solution containing 5 mM chloride ions, the transition times with current pulses of 10 and 20 A m⁻² are 1.56 and 0.25 s, respectively. The moment of inflection determines the response, and thus is independent of the absolute potential of reference electrode. Therefore, any metal wire can act as a pseudo-reference electrode, enabling this approach for long-term and integrated-sensor applications such as measurement inside concrete structures.     

乙醇水溶液与二乙氧基甲烷的萃取分离

目前DEM与乙醇水溶液的分离均采用精密精馏法[1],由于DEM的沸点与乙醇水溶液的共沸点接近,很难得到98%以上的DEM,本文以二甘醇为萃取剂,以UNIQUAC方程为模型[6],采用微机模拟逆流萃取分离结果,并进行逆流萃取试验。1　逆流萃取模拟计算以UNIQUAC方程为模型,采用二甘醇为逆流图1　液液萃取工艺流程Fig.1　liquid liquidextractiontechnicalchart萃取剂模拟计算DEM与乙醇水溶液的分离结果,工艺流程如图1所示,塔顶为萃余相③,含高纯度的DEM,塔底为富含乙醇和水的萃取相②,萃取相送精馏塔分离,精馏塔底溶剂循环使用,塔顶可得到…