Crack patterns corresponding to the residual strength plateau of ceramics subjected to thermal shock

The formation strength plateau of ceramics is addressed. A set of of 99A1203 are conducted, mechanism of the residual subjected to thermal shock thermal shock experiments where the thin specimens of 1 mm× 10 mm×50 mm exhibit parallel through edge cracks, and thus permit quantitative measurements of the crack patterns. The cracks evolve with the severity of ther- mal shock. It is found that there is a correlation between the length and density of the thermal shock cracks. The increase of crack length weakens the residual strength, whereas the increase of crack density improves it. In a considerably wide temperature range, the two contrary effects just counteract each other; consequently a plateau appears in the variation curve of the residual strength. A comparison between the numerical and experimental results of the residual strength is made, and they are found in good agreement. This work is helpful to a deep understanding of the thermal shock failure of ceramics.

Use of Intensity Analysis to Measure Land Use Changes from 1932 to 2005 in Zhenlai County, Northeast China

Analyzing spatiotemporal dynamics of land use and land cover over time is widely recognized as important to better understand and provide solutions for social, economic, and environmental problems, especially in ecologically fragile region. In this paper, a case study was taken in Zhenlai County, which is a part of farming-pastoral ecotone of Northeast China. This study seeks to use multi-temporal satellite images and other data from various sources to analyze spatiotemporal changes from 1932 to 2005, and applied a quantitative methodology named intensity analysis in the time scale of decades at three levels: time interval, category, and transition. The findings of the case study are as follows: 1) the interval level of intensity analysis revealed that the annual rate of overall change was relatively fast in 1932–1954 and 1954–1976 time intervals. 2) The category level showed that arable land experienced less intensively gains and losses if the overall change was to have been distributed uniformly across the landscape while the gains and losses of forest land, grassland, water, settlement, wetland and other unused land were not consistent and stationary across the four time intervals. 3) The transition level illustrated that arable land expanded at the expense of grassland before 2000 while it gained intensively from wetland from 2000 to 2005. Settlement targets arable land and avoids grassland, water, wetland and other unused land. Besides, the loss of grassland was intensively targeted by arable land, forest land and wetland in the study period while the loss of wetland was targeted by water except for the time interval of 1976–2000. 4) During the early reclamation period, land use change of the study area was mainly affected by the policy, institutional and political factors, followed by the natural disasters.

Precipitation changes in the mid-latitudes of the Chinese mainland during 1960–2014

Based on daily precipitation data from 163 meteorological stations, this study investigated precipitation changes in the mid-latitudes of the Chinese mainland（MCM） during 1960–2014 using the climatic trend coefficient, least-squared regression analysis, and a non-parametric Mann-Kendall test.According to the effects of the East Asian summer monsoon on the MCM and the climatic trend coefficient of annual precipitation during 1960–2014, we divided the MCM into the western MCM and eastern MCM. The western MCM was further divided into the western MCM1 and western MCM2 in terms of the effects of the East Asian summer monsoon. The main results were as follows：（1） During the last four decades of the 20^（th） century, the area-averaged annual precipitation presented a significant increasing trend in the western MCM, but there was a slight decreasing trend in the eastern MCM, where a seesaw pattern was apparent. However, in the 21^（st） century, the area-averaged annual precipitation displayed a significant increasing trend in both the western and eastern MCM.（2） The trend in area-averaged seasonal precipitation during 1960–2014 in the western MCM was consistent with that in the eastern MCM in winter and spring. However, the trend in area-averaged summer precipitation during1960–2014 displayed a seesaw pattern between the western and eastern MCM.（3） On an annual basis,both the trend in rainstorms and heavy rain displayed a seesaw pattern between the western and eastern MCM.（4） The precipitation intensity in rainstorms, heavy rain, and moderate rain made a greater contribution to changes in the total precipitation than precipitation frequency. The results of this study will improve our understanding of the trends and differences in precipitation changes in different areas of the MCM. This is not only useful for the management and mitigation of flood disasters, but is also beneficial to the protection of water resources across the MCM.