Properties and testing of a hydraulic pulse jet and its application in offshore drilling

Offshore drilling has attracted more attention than ever before due to the increasing worldwide energy demand especially in China. High cost, long drilling cycles, and low rate of penetration （ROP） represent critical challenges for offshore drilling operations. The hydraulic pulse generator was specifically designed, based on China offshore drilling technologies and parameters, to overcome problems encountered during offshore drilling. Both laboratory and field tests were conducted to collect the characteristics of the hydraulic pulse generator. The relationships between flow rate and pressure amplitude, pressure loss and pulse frequency were obtained, which can be used to optimize operation parameters for hydraulic pulse jet drilling. Meanwhile a bottom hole assembly （BHA） for pulse jet drilling has been designed, combining the hydraulic pulse generator with the conventional BHA, positive displacement motor, and rotary steerable system （RSS） etc. Furthermore, the hydraulic pulse jet technique has been successfully applied in more than 10 offshore wells in China. The depth of the applied wells ranged from 2,000 m to 4,100 m with drilling bit diameters of 311 mm and 216 mm. The field application results showed that hydraulic pulse jet technique was feasible for various bit types and formations, and that ROP could be significantly increased, by more than 25%.

Fast determination of meso-level mechanical parameters of PFC models

To solve the problems of blindness and inefficiency existing in the determination of meso-level mechanical parameters of particle flow code (PFC) models, we firstly designed and numerically carried out orthogonal tests on rock samples to investigate the correlations between macro-and meso-level mechanical parameters of rock-like bonded granular materials. Then based on the artificial intelligent technology, the intelligent prediction systems for nine meso-level mechanical parameters of PFC models were obtained by creating, training and testing the prediction models with the set of data got from the orthogonal tests. Lastly the prediction systems were used to predict the meso-level mechanical parameters of one kind of sandy mudstone, and according to the predicted results the macroscopic properties of the rock were obtained by numerical tests. The maximum relative error between the numerical test results and real rock properties is 3.28% which satisfies the precision requirement in engineering. It shows that this paper provides a fast and accurate method for the determination of meso-level mechanical parameters of PFC models.

Parameters analysis and application of the differential excitation detection technology

A differential excitation probe based on eddy current testing technology was designed. Sheet specimens of Q 235 steel with prefabricated micro-cracks of different widths and of aluminum with prefabricated micro-cracks of different depths were detected through the designed detection system. The characteristics of micro-cracks can be clearly showed after signals processing through the short-time Fourier transform（ STFT）. By changing the parameter and its value in detecting process,the factors including the excitation frequency and amplitude,the lift-off effect and the scanning direction were discussed,respectively. The results showed that the differential excitation probe was insensitive to dimension and surface state of the tested specimen,while it had a high degree of recognition for micro-crack detection. Therefore,when the differential excitation detection technology was used for inspecting micro-crack of turbine blade in aero-engine,and smoothed pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution was used for signal processing,micro-cracks of 0. 3 mm depth and 0. 1 mm width could be identified. The experimental results might be useful for further research on engineering test of turbine blades of aero-engine.

Comparative analysis of single-and multiple-frequency thermal wave radar imaging inspection of glass fiber reinforced polymer(GFRP)

Active infrared thermography has gained increasing popularity for nondestructive testing and evaluation in various industrial fields,especially for composite structures.In this regard,thermal wave radar(TWR)imaging is recognized as the next-generation active thermography technology to obtain great resolution and depth range over the inspected objects.A critical aspect concerns the optimal test parameter selection to guarantee reliable quality assurance required for industrial products.In this work,single-and multiple-frequency TWR was investigated in a quantitative manner with the goal of optimizing the detection parameters in terms of probing range and lateral and depth resolution.The effects of test parameters,including sampling frequency,modulation frequency,chirp duration,chirp bandwidth,etc,were investigated in detail through experiments on a glass fiber reinforced polymer specimen with multi-scale diameter-to-depth ratio defects.This paper aims to help yield a better understanding of the physical mechanism behind TWR and propose a workable scheme for testing parameter selection in practical applications.

A computational model of the human glucose-insulin regulatory system

Objective：A computational model of insulin secretion and glucose metabolism for assisting the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in clinical research is introduced.The proposed method for the estimation of parameters for a system of ordinary differential equations（ODEs）that represent the time course of plasma glucose and insulin concentrations during glucose tolerance test（GTT）in physiological studies is presented.The aim of this study was to explore how to interpret those laboratory glucose and insulin data as well as enhance the Ackerman mathematical model.Methods：Parameters estimation for a system of ODEs was performed by minimizing the sum of squared residuals（SSR）function,which quantifies the difference between theoretical model predictions and GTT＇s experimental observations.Our proposed perturbation search and multiple-shooting methods were applied during the estimating process.Results：Based on the Ackerman＇s published data,we estimated the key parameters by applying R-based iterative computer programs.As a result,the theoretically simulated curves perfectly matched the experimental data points.Our model showed that the estimated parameters,computed frequency and period values,were proven a good indicator of diabetes.Conclusion：The present paper introduces a computational algorithm to biomedical problems,particularly to endocrinology and metabolism fields,which involves two coupled differential equations with four parameters describing the glucose-insulin regulatory system that Ackerman proposed earlier.The enhanced approach may provide clinicians in endocrinology and metabolism field insight into the transition nature of human metabolic mechanism from normal to impaired glucose tolerance.

A system and analytical method for testing the electrical parameters of soil

The electrical parameters of the rock and soil are closely related to the physical parameters.By measuring the resistivity and polarizability of rock and soil reasonably,information on physical parameters such as moisture content,pore ratio and compaction degree can be obtained.A system for testing the electrical parameters of soil samples based on the middle step quadrupole method is developed in this article.The system uses a series of copper needles as the electrodes of the soil-mounted test tube,and uses a multi-point multi-layer test method for layered data acquisition,which can solve the problems caused by the capacitance phenomenon and the heterogeneity of the soil sample.At the same time,factors affecting the test results,such as uneven soil preparation and water addition and electrode disturbance,are regarded as noise.A data-analysis method based on median filtering is proposed to process and analyse the test results,and the relationships between resistivity,polarizability,moisture content and compaction degree of the sample are obtained.The results show that the resistivity decreases nonlinearly as moisture content increases,and the correlation with compaction is not strong;the polarizability increases as moisture content increases with fluctuation,and it first increases and then decreases with an increase in compaction.

Kolmogorov-Smirnov APF Test for Inhomogeneous Poisson Processes with Shift Parameter

In this article, we study the Kolmogorov-Smirnov type goodness-of-fit test for the inhomogeneous Poisson process with the unknown translation parameter as multidimensional parameter. The basic hypothesis and the alternative are composite and carry to the intensity measure of inhomogeneous Poisson process and the intensity function is regular. For this model of shift parameter, we propose test which is asymptotically partially distribution free and consistent. We show that under null hypothesis the limit distribution of this statistic does not depend on unknown parameter.

Analysis on the gear-shifting schedule of hydraulic automatic transmission

With an advanced foreign hydraulic automatic transmission as the objective,an analytical method for the gear-shifting schedule is proposed.First the demanded maximum gradient of test is estimated.Then a test scheme and analytical procedure is formulated by initial test and hypothetical shift parameters.Finally through gear-shifting tests under different road conditions,load,accelerator pedal position limitation,throttle opening and output shaft speed are found to be the gear-shifting parameters.Under a common road condition,the gear-shifting schedule is a double-parameter schedule.Based on the driver＇s demands on braking and dynamic performance,different shift schedules are made under downhill,uphill and quick releasing acceleration pedal conditions.The operation criteria of down-shift schedule on abrupt grade are proposed.

Inflatable Wing Design Parameter Optimization Using Orthogonal Testing and Support Vector Machines

The robust parameter design method is a traditional approach to robust experimental design that seeks to obtain the optimal combination of factors/levels. To overcome some of the defects of the inflatable wing parameter design method, this paper proposes an optimization design scheme based on orthogonal testing and support vector machines （SVMs）. Orthogonal testing design is used to estimate the appropriate initial value and variation domain of each variable to decrease the number of iterations and improve the identification accuracy and efficiency. Orthogonal tests consisting of three factors and three levels are designed to analyze the parameters of pressure, uniform applied load and the number of chambers that affect the bending response of inflatable wings. An SVM intelligent model is established and limited orthogonal test swatches are studied. Thus, the precise relationships between each parameter and product quality features, as well the signal-to-noise ratio （SNR）, can be obtained. This can guide general technological design optimization.

Capital flows, economic growth and the real effective exchange rate: Evidence from China

This paper examines the Granger causal relationship between capital flows and economic growth in China over the period 1998Q1–2019Q2,allowing for real effective exchange rate(REER)effects.As parameter instability tests indicate structural changes,we use bootstrap rolling window causality tests,which suggest that the causal nexus between capital flows and GDP growth is time-varying.We find that the causal links between foreign direct investments(FDIs)and GDP growth are hardly affected by the REER,whereas the REER plays a more important role in affecting the causal connections between portfolio investments and other investments and GDP growth.Our results suggest that cumulative portfolio inflows and cumulative other investment inflows harm GDP growth,whereas cumulative portfolio outflows and cumula-tive other investment outflows positively affect GDP growth.

Water hammer in the pump-rising pipeline system with an air chamber

Water hammer following the tripping of pumps can lead to overpressure and negative pressure. Reduction in overpressure and negative pressure may be necessary to avoid failure, to improve the efficiency of operation and to avoid fatigue of system components. The field tests on the water hammer have been conducted on the pump rising pipeline system with an air chamber. The hydraulic transient was simulated using the method of characteristics. Minimizing the least squares problem representing the difference between the measured and predicted transient response in the system performs the calibration of the simulation program. Among the input variables used in the water hammer analysis, the polytropic exponent, the discharge coefficient and the wave speed were calibrated. The computer program developed in this study will be useful in designing the optimum parameters of an air chamber for the real pump pipeline system. The correct selection of air chamber size and the effect of the inner diameter of the orifice to minimize water hammer have been investigated by both field measurements and numerical modeling.