Error estimation,adaptivity and data transfer in enriched plasticity continua to analysis of shear band localization

In this paper, an adaptive FE analysis is presented based on error estimation, adaptive mesh refinement and data transfer for enriched plasticity continua in the modelling of strain localization. As the classical continuum models suffer from pathological mesh-dependence in the strain softening models, the governing equations are regularized by adding rotational degrees-of-freedom to the conventional degrees-of-freedom. Adaptive strategy using element elongation is applied to compute the distribution of required element size using the estimated error distribution. Once a new mesh is generated, state variables and history-dependent variables are mapped from the old finite element mesh to the new one. In order to transfer the history-dependent variables from the old to new mesh, the values of internal variables available at Gauss point are first projected at nodes of old mesh, then the values of the old nodes are transferred to the nodes of new mesh and finally, the values at Gauss points of new elements are determined with respect to nodal values of the new mesh. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed model and computational algorithms is demonstrated by several numerical examples.     

Conditional expectation of integrands and random sets

The conditional expectation of integrands and random sets is the main tool of stochastic optimization. This work wishes to make up for the lack of real synthesis about this subject. We improve the existing hypothesis and simplify the corresponding proofs. In the convex case we especially study the problem of the exchange of conditional expectation and subdifferential operators.     

USING A SYSTEM DYNAMICS APPROACH TO MODEL SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FOR IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN AUSTRALIA

ABSTRACT. An indicator defined as a function of the total water diversion through the Coleambally canal and the potential irrigation demand is selected to represent the sustainability of the irrigation water system in the Coleambally irrigation area, Australia. A simulation procedure using a system dynamics approach was developed to evaluate the indicator. The procedure includes water diversion assessment, potential crop water demand and total gross margin. Three cases of water supply options (surface water, ground water pumping and water trading), two cases of changes in the total agricultural area and three cropping pattern scenarios were simulated to better understand their impact on sustainability. The simulated results indicate that increasing the agricultural area reduces the sustainability of the irrigation system because the demand of water increased despite increase in the gross margin. The scenarios show that imposed water trading and ground water pumping would considerably increase the supply system having a positive impact on the sustainability. The paper concludes that a multi‐objective sustainability indicator taking account of economic and environmental issues could be more useful.     

Sorption properties of freshly precipitated alumogels

The influence of the pH of precipitation and the ionic medium nature on the composition, surface charge, and kinetic sorption characteristics of aluminum oxyhydroxides formed by alkaline hydrolysis of an aqueous solution of aluminum nitrate was studied. The methods of drop titration with alkali, argentometric titration, point of zero charge, and indicator reactions of heterogeneous hydrolysis were used. The composition of the freshly precipitated hydrogels of aluminum(iii) oxyhydroxide, rate constants of heterogeneous hydrolysis of the IrCl₆ ^2– ions as indicator reactions, and the pH of the point of zero charge were determined. The rate of indicator reactions (as for other oxyhydroxide hydrogels) depends strongly on the pH of precipitation. However, it is lower than the rates characteristics of iron(iii) and chromium(iii) oxyhydroxides obtained under similar conditions. The pH of the point of zero charge for the alumogels in a chloride medium is 8.3 and that in a sulfate medium is 9.5.     

Identification of a chemical indicator of the rupture of 1,4-β-glycosidic bonds of cellulose in an oil-impregnated insulating paper system

In this study, headspace gas chromatography/mass spectrometry has been used to assess the volatile by-products generated by the ageing of oil-impregnated paper insulation of power transformers. Sealed-glass ampoules were used to age under oxidative conditions 0.5-g specimens of insulating paper in 9 mL of inhibited mineral oil in a temperature range of 60–120 °C and moisture of 0.5, 1 and 2% (w/w). A linear relationship between one of the oil-soluble degradation by-products, i.e. methanol, and the number of ruptured 1,4-β-glycosidic bonds of cellulose, regardless of the type of paper (ordinary Kraft or thermally-upgraded (TU) Kraft paper), was established for the first time in this field. Ageing at 130 °C of model compounds of the Kraft paper constituents (α-cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin) and two cellulosic breakdown by-products (D-(+)-glucose and 1,6-anhydro-β-d-glucopyranose) confirmed that the α-cellulose degradation was mostly responsible for the presence of this molecule in the system. Furthermore, additional 130 °C-tests with six different papers and pressboard samples under a tight control of initial moisture indicated that at least one molecule of methanol is formed for each rupture of 1,4-β-glucosidic bond of the molecular chains. Stability tests showed that the ageing indicator is stable under the oxygen and temperature conditions of open-breathing transformers. The presence of methanol was detected in 94% of oil samples collected from over than 900 in-service pieces of equipment, confirming the potential for this application. Lastly, the tests have shown that oil-oxidation by-products and TU-nitrogenous agents modify the methanol partitioning coefficients in the paper/oil/air system, which makes their study essential over a range of field conditions encountered by power transformers. Results are presented and discussed in comparison with 2-furfuraldehyde, which is the current reference in the domain.     

Determination of ageing time of spirits in oak barrels using a headspace–mass spectrometry (HS-MS) electronic nose system and multivariate calibration

The aromatic composition of sugar cane spirits and, in general, of alcoholic beverages, is mainly influenced by the ageing process in wood barrels. There are several factors that affect the quality of the final aged product, but the time of the storage in the barrel is perhaps the most important one. Ageing time must therefore be controlled in order to detect counterfeits; however, this parameter is very difficult to control and, at present, there is no analytical method available to determine it. We propose a quantitative method for determining the ageing time of sugar cane spirits in oak barrels by using an electronic nose based on coupling directly a headspace sampler to a mass spectrometer (HS-MS), and multivariate calibration. The method developed is simple and provides, in 5 min, the ageing time of spirits with an accuracy of about 1 month.     

Optical sensor for carbon dioxide combining colorimetric change of a pH indicator and a reference luminescent dye

A new optical CO₂ sensor based on the luminescence intensity change of the europium(III) complex tris(thenoyltrifluoroacetonato) europium(III) dihydrate ([Eu(tta)₃]) caused by the absorption change of various pH indicators—thymol blue, phenol red, or cresol red—with CO₂ was developed and its CO₂ sensing properties were investigated. For all the CO₂ sensors using pH indicators the observed luminescence intensity from [Eu(tta)₃] at 613 nm increased with increasing CO₂ concentration. The linear calibration method based on the plot of (I₁₀₀–I₀)/(I–I₀) versus the inverse of CO₂ concentration was suggested, where I₀ and I₁₀₀ were luminescence intensities at 613 nm of the CO₂ sensor film in 100% nitrogen and 100% gaseous CO₂. In all cases the plots showed good linearity and the correlation factors of the plots, r², were 0.991 for thymol blue, 0.990 for phenol red, and 0.998 for cresol red. The slopes of the plots (A/B) for thymol blue, phenol red, and cresol red were 2.2, 5.2, and 9.0%, respectively. The response times of the CO₂ sensor film were 4.0 s for thymol blue, 4.4 s for phenol red, and 8.8 s for cresol red for switching from nitrogen to CO₂, and the recovery times of films were 36 s for thymol blue, 39.2 s for phenol red, and 56.6 s for cresol red for switching from CO₂ to nitrogen. The signal changes were fully reversible and hysteresis was not observed during the measurements. The highly sensitive CO₂ sensor was developed using thymol blue as an indicator for the CO₂-sensing probe.     

对-羟基苄叉丙二腈溶液在不同pH条件下吸收光谱的变化

在苄叉丙二腈衍生物系列中,N,N-二烷基氨基苄叉丙二腈及其类似化合物是研究和应用较多的一类。它们曾作为分子探针应用于高分子微环境特性和高分子聚合过程的研究。作为一种分子内的电荷转移络合物,它们在不同溶剂中的光谱行为也进行过研究,从而为进一步的开拓应用提供了重要依据。和前者相比,对-羟基苄叉丙二腈无论在基础研究或实际应用上都显得比较薄弱。正因如此,本工作合成了该化合物并对它进行了初步研     

Weighted local polynomial estimations of a non-parametric function with censoring indicators missing at random and their applications

In this paper, we consider the weighted local polynomial calibration estimation and imputation estimation of a non-parametric function when the data are right censored and the censoring indicators are missing at random, and establish the asymptotic normality of these estimators. As their applications, we derive the weighted local linear calibration estimators and imputation estimations of the conditional distribution function, the conditional density function and the conditional quantile function, and investigate the asymptotic normality of these estimators. Finally, the simulation studies are conducted to illustrate the finite sample performance of the estimators.     

Evaluation of the quality of colour changes of complexometric indicators in the titration of copper (II) with EDTA by tristimulus colorimetry

The quality of colour changes of the indicators hematoxylin, 4(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol (PAR), xylenol orange, pyrocatechol violet, chromazurolS and eriochrome cyanineR in the complexometric titration of copper(II) with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were studied with the help of tristimulus colorimetry, utilising a comparative study of the parameters SCD (specific colour discrimination), CIE La^*b^* 1976 and LABHNU 1977. Hematoxylin was found to be the best indicator among those studied. A screened indicator, viz. PAR + malachite green (52), was developed to enhance the quality of colour transition at the end-point and the accuracy of the titrimetric determination.