A New Approach to the Determination of the Critical Slip Surfaces of Slopes

A new method for the determination of the critical slip surfaces of slopes is proposed in this paper. In this paper, the original critical slip field method is extended in terms of the total residual moment, values of residual work as well as the unbalanced thrust force at the exit point for a given non-circular slip surface. The most critical slip surface with the maximum representative value for a prescribed factor of safety will be optimized and located using the harmony search algorithm. The prescribed factor of safety is modified with certain tiny interval in order to find the critical slip surface where the maximum representative value is zero. The aforementioned approach to the location of the critical slip surface is greatly different from the traditional limit equilibrium procedure. Three typical soil slopes are evaluated by use of the proposed method, and the comparisons with the classical approaches have illustrated the applicability of the proposed method.

Critical Top Tension for Static Equilibrium Configuration of A Steel Catenary Riser

This paper aims to present the critical top tension for static equilibrium configurations of a steel catenary riser（SCR） by using the finite element method. The critical top tension is the minimum top tension that can maintain the equilibrium of the SCR. If the top tension is smaller than the critical value, the equilibrium of the SCR does not exist. If the top tension is larger than the critical value, there are two possible equilibrium configurations. These two configurations exhibit the nonlinear large displacement. The configuration with the smaller displacement is stable, while the one with larger displacement is unstable. The numerical results show that the increases in the riser＇s vertical distances, horizontal offsets, riser＇s weights, internal flow velocities, and current velocities increase the critical top tensions of the SCR. In addition, the parametric studies are also performed in order to investigate the limit states for the analysis and design of the SCR.

EXISTENCE RESULTS FOR DEGENERATE ELLIPTIC EQUATIONS WITH CRITICAL CONE SOBOLEV EXPONENTS

In this paper, we study the existence result for degenerate elliptic equations with singular potential and critical cone sobolev exponents on singular manifolds. With the help of the variational method and the theory of genus, we obtain several results under different conditions.

Penalty model for delay of bidding section construction period in South-to-North Water Diversion Eastern Route Project from perspective of programs

According to the multi-project and program management theory, this paper analyzes the program generation principle and establishes a program based on progress goals. On the basis of the present situation of calculation of penalty for delay of the bidding section construction period with the critical path method, we studied the effects of contractor-induced delay of the bidding section construction period in detail, including the effects on the construction period of the bidding section itself, the earliest start times of the next bidding section and other subsequent bidding sections, and the construction period of the program, and then constructed a penalty model for delay of the bidding section construction period from the perspective of programs. Using the penalty model, we conducted a practical analysis of penalty for delay of the construction period of the Baoying station program in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The model can help determine the amount of penalty for delay of the construction period in bidding sections scientifically and reasonably,

GIS-Based Simulation of Engineering Construction Schedule

For its complexity, engineering construction schedule design is limited by various factors.Simulation-based engineering construction schedule takes critical path method (CPM) network as frame and calls complex cyclic operation network (CYCLONE) simulation model enclosed in advance for its simulation nodes. CYCLONE simulation model takes charge of simulating stochastic duration of activity and efficiency of resources, while CPM model performs project scheduling. This combination avoids the shortcomings of both models. Furthermore, geographic information system (GIS) technique is utilized to visualize the construction processes which are otherwise difficult to be understood by static results described. Application in practical project verifies the feasibility and advantage of the technique.

Practical Application of Two-Way Multiple Overlapping Relationships in a BDM Network

Today, most construction projects in urban environments are complex high-rise buildings that present unique challenges, including local building ordinances and restrictions, adjoining public and residential areas, narrow sidewalks and streets, and underground utilities, all of which require extensive planning and tight schedules. A major problem facing such projects is to formulate realistic schedules that will make it possible to meet contractual completion dates with limited resources and budgets. The scheduling software products currently used in construction projects, which include Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, etc., are not actually applied as a scheduling tool in practical construction projects, which instead generally depend on Microsoft Excel or a bar-chart. This is because the existing scheduling programs cannot provide more user-oriented schedule format such as representing two-way multiple overlapping relationships. To overcome this deficiency, the BDM （beeline diagramming method） is proposed as a new networking technique in 2010. But two-way multiple overlapping relationships generate the loop in a conventional schedule computation process. This paper addresses the loop phenomenon of two-way multiple overlapping relationships in a BDM network as well as proposes the solutions of them, and then presents a practical application of two-way multiple overlapping relationships at a real project.

PERT and CPM in Project Management with Practical Examples

This paper reviewed the concepts of Project Evaluation Review Technique and Critical Path Method in project management with practical examples. The methods and success of quantitative decision-making approaches in project management through the use of project evaluation review technique and the critical path method as regards project duration and critical activities of a project, were discussed. The review found that while both methods are effective in achieving success in project management, the relationship and connectivity of activities involved in a project life cycle are key aspects. The paper concludes that the project evaluation review technique is more effective when the duration of the project is uncertain, while the critical path method is effective when the project’s end time is certain. The paper, therefore, recommends that to achieve maximum operative efficiency in utilizing resources in project management, prior to commencing the execution of a project, all required resources to cover every activity must be assembled and prioritized to eliminate interruptions that could bring delay and unnecessary cost implications. Again, policies focused on improving project execution should be implemented in developing nations to minimize the many cases of failed and delayed projects. Subsequently, stakeholders in projects must be given the right, under the law, to prosecute the government, its agencies and/or the executors of projects for failure to execute a project on schedule.

UBM STUDY ON DOUBLE-DIE IRONING PROCESS

The double-die ironing process is studied by means of UBM. The formulas of deformation load.contact stress on die surface, and tensile stress which acts on workpiece is obtained. Taking account of dirnensional accuracy, a new critical condition of limit reduction in cross section area is put forward for the flrst time. The test experiment indicats that results of theoretical analysis well accord with the actual conditions.[0]

A Two-point Method for Multiaxial Fatigue Life Prediction

Fatigue fracture is one of the most common failure modes of engineering compo-nents,and the combined action of geometrie discontinuity and multiaxial loading is more likely to cause severe fatigue damage of components.This work focuses on the fatigue behavior of U-notched Q345 steel specimens with differen t notch sizes under proportional cyclic tension-torsion.Firstly,based on the concept of strain energy,the calculation method of critical plane is given and the equivalent stress of the specified path on the critical plane is extracted to char-acterize the equivalent stress distribution state and the stress gradient effect.Then,based on the high stress volume method and theory of critical distance,a simple method for determining the critical distance is given considering the contribution of stress at the dangerous point and the critical point.In addition,based on the idea of stress-distance normalization,a new stress gradient impact factor is defined and a new method for predicting the multiaxial fatigue life of notched specimens is given.The prediction results of the proposed model,the local stress-strain method and the point method of theory of critical distance are compared with the experimental results.The comparisons show that the prediction results of the proposed model are closer to experimentai life,and the calculation accuracy is higher.

A critical path approach for elucidating the temperature dependence of granular hopping conduction

We revisit the classical problem of granular hopping conduction＇s σ∝exp[-（To/T）1/2] temperature dependence, where a denotes conductivity, T is temperature, and To is a sample-dependent constant. By using the hopping conduction formulation in conjunction with the incorporation of the random potential that has been shown to exist in insulator-conductor composites, it is demonstrated that the widely observed temperature dependence of granular hopping conduction emerges very naturally through the immediate-neighbor critical-path argument. Here, immediate-neighbor pairs are defined to be those where a line connecting two grains does not cross or by-pass other grains, and the critical-path argument denotes the derivation of sample conductance based on the geometric percolation condition that is marked by the critical conduction path in a random granular composite. Simulations based on the exact electrical network evaluation of finite-sample conductance show that the configuration- averaged results agree well with those obtained using the immediate-neighbor critical-path method. Furthermore, the results obtained using both these methods show good agreement with experimental data on hopping conduction in a sputtered metal-insulator composite Agx（SnO2）1-x, where x denotes the metal volume fraction. The present approach offers a relatively straightforward and simple expla- nation for the temperature behavior that has been widely observed over diverse material systems, but which has remained a puzzle in spite of the various efforts made to explain this phenomenon.

Effect of sample size on the response of DEM samples with a realistic grading

This paper shows that for DEM simulations of triaxial tests using samples with a grading that is repre- sentative of a real soil, the sample size significantly influences the observed material response. Four DEM samples with identical initial states were produced： three cylindrical samples bounded by rigid wails and one bounded by a cubical periodic cell, When subjected to triaxial loading, the samples with rigid boundaries were more dilative, stiffer and reached a higher peak stress ratio than the sample enclosed by periodic boundaries. For the rigid-wall samples, dilatancy increased and stiffness decreased with increasing sample size, The periodic sample was effectively homogeneous, The void ratio increased and the contact density decreased close to the rigid walls, This heterogeneity reduced with increasing sample size. The positions of the critical state lines （CSLs） of the overall response in e-log p＇ space were sensitive to the sample size, although no difference was observed between their slopes. The critical states of the interior regions of the rigid-wall-bounded samples approached that of the homogeneous periodic sample with increasing sample size. The ultimate strength of the material at the critical state is independent of sample size.

Multiple Solutions for a Quasilinear Second Order Differential Equation Depending on a Parameter

The purpose of this paper is to use a very recent three critical points theorem due to Bonanno and Marano to establish the existence of at least three solutions for the quasilinear second order differential equation on a compact interval[a,b] R{-u＇＇=（λf（x,u）＋g（u））h（u＇）,in（a,b）,u（a）=u（b）=0under ppropriate hypotheses.We exhibit the existence of at least three（weak）solutions and,and the results are illustrated by examples.