On the Use of the Restitution Condition in Flexible Body Dynamics

The difference between the classical treatment offlexible body impact and the treatment of impact in flexiblemultibody dynamics is due to several fundamental reasons. Inthe classical impact theory, simple structures such as beamsand plates are used. Infinite dimensional models can bedeveloped for these simple structural elements to study theimpact dynamics and the wave propagation problem. Flexiblemultibody impact problems, on the other hand, involve bodieswith complex geometry that cannot be modeled using infinitenumber of degrees of freedom. Furthermore, the classicalimpact theory has been mainly concerned with the impactbetween a rigid mass that moves without constraints beforeit impacts a simple flexible structure. This is not amultibody simulation scenario in which the impact occursbetween kinematically constrained bodies that are subjectedto impulsive constraint forces in addition to the impactforces. These constraint forces can influence the motion ofthe two bodies immediately after impact, and as aconsequence, the simple classical theory scenario of impactdoes not apply. It is the objective of this paper to discussthe use of the restitution condition in flexible multibodyimpact problems and demonstrate that the use of thisapproach does not exclude the classical formulation.Nonetheless, the impulse momentum balance approach can serveas an effective and efficient procedure for solving theimpact problem in finite dimensional models that do not obeythe classical wave theory. Energy results of simplestructural elements are presented in order to demonstratethe consistency of using the impulse momentum balanceapproach in solving impact problems in finite dimensionalflexible body applications.     

Graphitic nanofillers in PMMA nanocomposites—An investigation of particle size and dispersion and their influence on nanocomposite properties

Mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of graphite/PMMA composites have been evaluated as functions of particle size and dispersion of the graphitic nanofiller components via the use of three different graphitic nanofillers: “as received graphite” (ARG), “expanded graphite,” (EG) and “graphite nanoplatelets” (GNPs) EG, a graphitic materials with much lower density than ARG, was prepared from ARG flakes via an acid intercalation and thermal expansion. Subsequent sonication of EG in a liquid yielded GNPs as thin stacks of graphitic platelets with thicknesses of ～10 nm. Solution‐based processing was used to prepare PMMA composites with these three fillers. Dynamic mechanical analysis, thermal analysis, and electrical impedance measurements were carried out on the resulting composites, demonstrating that reduced particle size, high surface area, and increased surface roughness can significantly alter the graphite/polymer interface and enhance the mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of the polymer matrix. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2097–2112, 2007     

On new forms of motive differential equations of a mechanical system relative to non-inertial frame

Based on D'Alembert's principle of a mechanical system relative to non-inertial frame and by introducing the concept of the generalized inertial potential, new forms of differential equations of motion of a mechanical system with holonomic and the non-holonomic constraints relative to the non-inertial frame are obtained. The merits and demerits between our method and the Newtonian dynamic method as well as the analytic dynamic method are discussed comparatively. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the application of the motive differential equations in the new forms.     

Letter: Interpolating Between the Bose-Einstein and the Fermi-Dirac Distributions in Odd Dimensions

We consider the response of a uniformly accelerated monopole detector that is coupled to a superposition of an odd and an even power of a quantized, massless scalar field in flat spacetime in arbitrary dimensions. We show that, when the field is assumed to be in the Minkowski vacuum, the response of the detector is characterized by a Bose-Einstein factor in even spacetime dimensions, whereas a Bose-Einstein as well as a Fermi-Dirac factor appear in the detector response when the dimension of spacetime is odd. Moreover, we find that, it is possible to interpolate between the Bose-Einstein and the Fermi-Dirac distributions in odd spacetime dimensions by suitably adjusting the relative strengths of the detector's coupling to the odd and the even powers of the scalar field. We point out that the response of the detector is always thermal and we, finally, close by stressing the apparent nature of the appearance of the Fermi-Dirac factor in the detector response.     

Weighted Kolmogrov–Smirnov type tests for grouped Rayleigh data

We consider goodness of fit tests for the Rayleigh distribution with grouped data. New Kolmogrov–Smirnov type tests are suggested and compared with the traditional chi-square and likelihood ratio tests. The results show that some of the suggested tests have a good power performance as compared with the traditional ones.     

Asymptotics in the Baum—Katz formula for random fields

In 1996, D. Deng established an analog of the Baum—Katz theorem on the convergence rate in the law of large numbers for multi-indexed random variables. The series describing the convergence rate depends, in a natural way, on the parameter characterizing the excess of the normalized sums over some level. In this paper, we find the precise asymptotics of the sum of this series with respect to the above-mentioned parameter. Thus, a generalization of a recent result due to A. Gut and A. Spataru is obtained.     

高能闪光照相对电子束参数的要求

对高能闪光机光源性能用Monte-Carlo方法模拟研究发现：并非击靶电子束半径越小、发射度越低, 闪光机的照相性能就会越好. 研究结果表明：为了使闪光照相图像视面上照射量分布比较均匀, 对束半径与电子束归一发射度有一个联合限制, 对于20MeV闪光机, 如果击靶电子束有效半径是0.12cm, 那么仅当束归一发射度≥550cm.mrad时,在2°内的照射量不均匀性才小于5%.     

Determination of generalized quadrangles with distinct elation points

In this paper, we classify the finite generalized quadrangles of order (s,t), s,t > 1, which have a line L of elation points, with the additional property that there is a line M not meeting L for which {L, M} is regular. This is a first fundamental step towards the classification of those generalized quadrangles having a line of elation points. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 51E12, 51E20, 20B25, 20E42     

Estimating tail probabilities of heavy tailed distributions with asymptotically zero relative error

Efficient estimation of tail probabilities involving heavy tailed random variables is amongst the most challenging problems in Monte-Carlo simulation. In the last few years, applied probabilists have achieved considerable success in developing efficient algorithms for some such simple but fundamental tail probabilities. Usually, unbiased importance sampling estimators of such tail probabilities are developed and it is proved that these estimators are asymptotically efficient or even possess the desirable bounded relative error property. In this paper, as an illustration, we consider a simple tail probability involving geometric sums of heavy tailed random variables. This is useful in estimating the probability of large delays in M/G/1 queues. In this setting we develop an unbiased estimator whose relative error decreases to zero asymptotically. The key idea is to decompose the probability of interest into a known dominant component and an unknown small component. Simulation then focuses on estimating the latter ‘residual’ probability. Here we show that the existing conditioning methods or importance sampling methods are not effective in estimating the residual probability while an appropriate combination of the two estimates it with bounded relative error. As a further illustration of the proposed ideas, we apply them to develop an estimator for the probability of large delays in stochastic activity networks that has an asymptotically zero relative error.      

Recent radiochemical studies of the fission process

This article summarizes the recent radiochemical investigations on mass, charge kinetic energy and fragment angular distributions in low energy fission of actinides.