Data envelopment analysis for scale elasticity measurement in the stochastic case:with an application to Indian banking

In the nonparametric data envelopment analysis literature,scale elasticity is evaluated in two alternative ways:using either the technical efficiency model or the cost efficiency model.This evaluation becomes problematic in several situations,for example(a)when input proportions change in the long run,(b)when inputs are heterogeneous,and(c)when firms face ex-ante price uncertainty in making their production decisions.To address these situations,a scale elasticity evaluation was performed using a value-based cost efficiency model.However,this alternative value-based scale elasticity evaluation is sensitive to the uncertainty and variability underlying input and output data.Therefore,in this study,we introduce a stochastic cost-efficiency model based on chance-constrained programming to develop a value-based measure of the scale elasticity of firms facing data uncertainty.An illustrative empirical application to the Indian banking industry comprising 71 banks for eight years(1998–2005)was made to compare inferences about their efficiency and scale properties.The key findings are as follows:First,both the deterministic model and our proposed stochastic model yield distinctly different results concerning the efficiency and scale elasticity scores at various tolerance levels of chance constraints.However,both models yield the same results at a tolerance level of 0.5,implying that the deterministic model is a special case of the stochastic model in that it reveals the same efficiency and returns to scale characterizations of banks.Second,the stochastic model generates higher efficiency scores for inefficient banks than its deterministic counterpart.Third,public banks exhibit higher efficiency than private and foreign banks.Finally,public and old private banks mostly exhibit either decreasing or constant returns to scale,whereas foreign and new private banks experience either increasing or decreasing returns to scale.Although the application of our proposed stochastic model is illustrative,it can be potentially applied to all firms in the information and distribution-intensive industry with high fixed costs,which have ample potential for reaping scale and scope benefits.

Causal Analysis Between Rice Growth and Cadmium Accumulation and Transfer under Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Inoculation

Cadmium(Cd)contamination in rice has been a serious threat to human health.To investigate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi(AMF)on the Cd translocation in rice,a controlled pot experiment was conducted.The results indicated that AMF significantly increased rice biomass,with an increase of up to 40.0%,particularly in root biomass by up to 68.4%.Notably,the number of prominent rice individuals also increased,and their plasticity was enhanced following AMF inoculation.AMF led to an increase in the net photosynthetic rate and antioxidant enzyme activity of rice.In the AMF treatment group,the Cd concentration in the rice roots was significantly higher(19.1%‒68.0%)compared with that in the control group.Conversely,the Cd concentration in the rice seeds was lower in the AMF treatment group,indicating that AMF facilitated the sequestration of Cd in rice roots and reduced Cd accumulation in the seeds.Path coefficients varied across different treatments,suggesting that AMF inoculation reduced the direct impact of soil Cd concentration on the total Cd accumulation in seeds.The translocation of Cd was consistently associated with simultaneous growth dilution and compensatory accumulation as a result of mycorrhizal effects.Our study quantitatively analyzed this process through path analysis and clarified the causal relationship between rice growth and Cd transfer under the influence of AMF.

Elasto-plasticity and pore-pressure coupled analysis on the pullout behaviors of a plate anchor

A numerical method is proposed for the elasto-plasticity and pore-pressure coupled analysis on the pull- out behaviors of a plate anchor. The bounding-surface plasticity （BSP） model combined with Blot＇s consol- idation theory is employed to simulate the cyclic loading induced elasto-plastic deformation of the soil skeleton and the accompanying generation/dissipation of the excess pore water pressure. The suction force generated around the anchor due to the cyclic variation of the pore water pressure has much effect on the pullout capacity of the plate anchor. The calculated pullout capacity with the proposed method （i.e., the coupled analysis） gets lower than that with the conventional total stress analysis for the case of long-term sustained loading, but slightly higher for the case of short-term monotonic loading. The cyclic loading induced accumulation of pore water pressure may result in an obvious decrease of the stiffness of the soil-Plate anchor svstem.

An Elastoplastic Fracture Model Based on Bond-Based Peridynamics

Fracture in ductile materials often occurs in conjunction with plastic deformation.However,in the bond-based peridynamic(BB-PD)theory,the classic mechanical stress is not defined inherently.This makes it difficult to describe plasticity directly using the classical plastic theory.To address the above issue,a unified bond-based peridynamics model was proposed as an effective tool to solve elastoplastic fracture problems.Compared to the existing models,the proposed model directly describes the elastoplastic theory at the bond level without the need for additional calculation means.The results obtained in the context of this model are shown to be consistent with FEM results in regard to force-displacement curves,displacement fields,stress fields,and plastic deformation regions.The model exhibits good capability of capturing crack propagation in ductile material failure problems.

High-strain dynamic model of large-diameter pipe piles with soil plug for vertical vibration analysis

A rigorous analytical model is developed for simulating the vibration behaviors of large-diameter openended pipe piles(OEPPs)and surrounding soil undergoing high-strain impact loading.To describe the soil behavior,the soil along pile shaft is divided into slip and nonslip zones and the base soil is modeled as a fictitious-soil pile(FSP)to account for the wave propagation in the soil.True soil properties are adopted and slippage at the pile-soil interface is considered,allowing realistic representation of largediameter OEPP mechanics.The developed model is validated by comparing with conventional models and finite element method(FEM).It is further used to successfully simulate and interpret the behaviors of a steel OEPP during the offshore field test.It is found that the variation in the vertical vibrations of shaft soil along radial direction is significant for large-diameter OEPPs,and the velocity amplitudes of the internal and external soil attenuate following different patterns.The shaft soil motion may not attenuate with depth due to the soil slippage,while the wave attenuation at base soil indicates an influence depth,with a faster attenuation rate than that in the pile.The findings from the current study should aid in simulating the vibration behaviors of large-diameter OEPP-soil system under high-strain dynamic loading.

The effect of reactive plasticizer on viscoelastic and mechanical properties of solid rocket propellants based on different types of HTPB resin

Conventional plasticizers deteriorate mechanical and viscoelastic properties of the propellants due to their migration upon aging and long-term storage,which affects reliability and safety properties during exploitation.To address this issue,conventional plasticizer,dioctyl adipate(DOA),is replaced by reactive one,castor oil(CO).In addition,three different types of HTPB were used to obtain propellants with designed viscoelastic and mechanical properties.The CO increased propellants viscosity,without a significant impact on the propellant processability,regardless to the type of prepolymer.Conversely,mechanical properties were different depending on the type of resin,which were further analyzed by gel permeation chromatography(GPC).Addition of CO formed a denser polymer network and shifted T_(g) to higher values,compared to the compositions with DOA.The tensile strength of CO-containing propellants was lower at +20℃ and +50℃ compared to the reference compositions,while the strain at maximum load and strain at break were significantly increased with pronounced plastic deformation,especially for samples at -30℃.The inclusion of CO in the propellants composition gives more room for adjusting a wide range of mechanical properties.

Free vibration and buckling analysis of polymeric composite beams reinforced by functionally graded bamboo fbers

Natural fibers have been extensively researched as reinforcement materials in polymers on account of their environmental and economic advantages in comparison with synthetic fibers in the recent years.Bamboo fibers are renowned for their good mechanical properties,abundance,and short cycle growth.As beams are one of the fundamental structural components and are susceptible to mechanical loads in engineering applications,this paper performs a study on the free vibration and buckling responses of bamboo fiber reinforced composite(BFRC)beams on the elastic foundation.Three different functionally graded(FG)layouts and a uniform one are the considered distributions for unidirectional long bamboo fibers across the thickness.The elastic properties of the composite are determined with the law of mixture.Employing Hamilton’s principle,the governing equations of motion are obtained.The generalized differential quadrature method(GDQM)is then applied to the equations to obtain the results.The achieved outcomes exhibit that the natural frequency and buckling load values vary as the fiber volume fractions and distributions,elastic foundation stiffness values,and boundary conditions(BCs)and slenderness ratio of the beam change.Furthermore,a comparative study is conducted between the derived analysis outcomes for BFRC and homogenous polymer beams to examine the effectiveness of bamboo fibers as reinforcement materials,demonstrating the significant enhancements in both vibration and buckling responses,with the exception of natural frequencies for cantilever beams on the Pasternak foundation with the FG-◇fiber distribution.Eventually,the obtained analysis results of BFRC beams are also compared with those for carbon nanotube reinforced composite(CNTRC)beams found in the literature,indicating that the buckling loads and natural frequencies of BFRC beams are lower than those of CNTRC beams.

On Elastic-plasticity Dynamic Analysis for Complicated Hiuh-rise Buildinus

介绍复杂高层建筑结构弹塑性动力分析方法，并结合工程实例，说明用工程常用软件PKPM、ANSYS对复杂高层建筑进行弹塑性动力分析的可行性和必要性。

Free Vibration Analysis of Rectangular Plate with Cutouts under Elastic Boundary Conditions in Independent Coordinate Coupling Method

Based on Kirchhoff plate theory and the Rayleigh-Ritz method,the model for free vibration of rectangular plate with rectangular cutouts under arbitrary elastic boundary conditions is established by using the improved Fourier series in combination with the independent coordinate coupling method(ICCM).The effect of the cutout is taken into account by subtracting the energies of the cutouts from the total energies of the whole plate.The vibration displacement function of the hole domain is based on the coordinate system of the hole domain in this method.From the continuity condition of the vibration displacement function at the cutout,the transition matrix between the two coordinate systems is constructed,and the mass and stiffness matrices are completely obtained.As a result,the calculation is simplified and the computational efficiency of the solution is improved.In this paper,numerical examples and modal experiments are presented to validate the effectiveness of the modeling methods,and parameters related to influencing factors of the rectangular plate are analyzed to study the vibration characteristics.

Elasto-plastic analysis of masonry with anisotropic plastic material model

This paper establishes an anisotropic plastic material model to analyze the elasto-plastic behavior of masonry in plane stress state.Being an anisotropic material,masonry has different constitutive relation and fracture energies along each orthotropic axes.Considering the unique material properties of masonry,a new yield criterion for masonry is proposed combining the Hill's yield criterion and the Rankine's yield criterion.The new yield criterion not only introduces compression friction coefficient of shear but also considers yield functions for independent stress state along two material axes of tension.To solve the involved nonlinear equations in numerical analysis,several nonlinear methods are implemented,including Newton-Raphson method for nonlinear equations and Implicit Euler backward mapping algorithm to update stresses.To verify the proposed material model of masonry,a series of tests are operated.The simulation results show that the new developed material model implements successfully.Compared with isotropic material model,the proposed model performs better in elasto-plastic analysis of masonry in plane stress state.The proposed anisotropic model is capable of simulating elasto-plastic behavior of masonry and can be used in related applications.

ELASTIC-PLASTIC FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL CONTACT-IMPACT AT RAIL JOINT

Using the finite element code ANSYS/LS-DYNA, a dynamic finite element modelwith an elastic-linear-kinematic-hardening plastic material is established to analyzeelastic-plastic stresses in the railhead in the impact process of wheel and rail occurring at thegap of rail joint. The model is based on the discrete elastic support condition of the rails, whichis suitable for the actual situation of wheel/track rolling contact. In the analysis the influencesof axle load, yield stress and tangent modulus of rail material on the stresses and strains areinvestigated in detail. The distribution of stresses and strains in the jointed railhead are given.It is found that the axle load, yield stress and tangent modulus of rail material greatly affect thestresses and strains in the railhead during impacting. The study provides a reliable method anduseful datum for the further research on fatigue and wear of railhead and improving the rail jointmode.

Fatigue Analysis of Steel Catenary Risers Based on a Plasticity Model

The most critical issue in the steel catenary riser design is to evaluate the fatigue damage in the touchdown zone accurately. Appropriate modeling of the riser-soil resistance in the touchdown zone can lead to significant cost reduction by optimizing design. This paper presents a plasticity model that can be applied to numerically simulate riser-soil interaction and evaluate dynamic responses and the fatigue damage of a steel catenary riser in the touchdown zone. Utilizing the model, numerous riser-soil elements are attached to the steel catenary riser finite elements, in which each simulates local foundation restraint along the riser touchdown zone. The riser-soil interaction plasticity model accounts for the behavior within an allowable combined loading surface. The model will be represented in this paper, allowing simple numerical implementation. More importantly, it can be incorporated within the structural analysis of a steel catenary riser with the finite element method. The applicability of the model is interpreted theoretically and the results are shown through application to an offshore 8.625 steel catenary riser example. The fatigue analysis results of the liner elastic riser-soil model are also shown. According to the comparison results of the two models, the fatigue life analysis results of the plasticity framework are reasonable and the horizontal effects of the riser-soil interaction can be included.

Elastic-plastic analysis of antiplane crack near crack surface region

The elastic-plastic stress distribution and the elastic-plastic boundary con- figuration near a crack surface region are significant but hard to obtain by means of the conventional analysis. A crack line analysis method is developed in this paper by consid- ering the crack surface as an extension of the crack line. The stresses in the plastic zone, the length, and the unit normal vector of the elastic-plastic boundary near a crack surface region are obtained for an antiplane crack in an elastic-perfectly plastic solid. The usual small scale yielding assumptions are not needed in the analysis.

Seismic elastic-plastic time history analysis and reliability study of quayside container crane

Quayside container crane is a kind of huge dimension steel structure,which is the major equipment used for handling container at modern ports.With the aim to validate the safety and reliability of the crane under seismic loads,besides conventional analysis,elastic-plastic time history analysis under rare seismic intensity is carried out.An ideal finite element（FEM） elastic-plastic mechanical model of the quayside container crane is presented by using ANSYS codes.Furthermore,according to elastic-plastic time history analysis theory,deformation,stress and damage pattern of the structure under rare seismic intensity are investigated.Based on the above analysis,the established reliability model according to the reliability theory,together with seismic reliability analysis based on Monte-Carlo simulation is applied to practical analysis.The results show that the overall structure of the quayside container crane is generally unstable under rare seismic intensity,and the structure needs to be reinforced.

Stability and reinforcement analysis of rock slope based on elasto-plastic finite element method

The rigid body limit equilibrium method(RBLEM) and finite element method(FEM) are two widely used approaches for rock slope's stability analysis currently. RBLEM introduced plethoric assumptions; while traditional FEM relied on artificial factors when determining factor of safety(FOS) and sliding surfaces. Based on the definition of structure instability that an elasto-plastic structure is not stable if it is unable to satisfy simultaneously equilibrium condition, kinematical admissibility and constitutive equations under given external loads, deformation reinforcement theory(DRT) is developed. With this theory, plastic complementary energy(PCE) can be used to evaluate the overall stability of rock slope, and the unbalanced force beyond the yield surface could be the identification of local failure. Compared with traditional slope stability analysis approaches, the PCE norm curve to strength reduced factor is introduced and the unbalanced force is applied to the determination of key sliding surfaces and required reinforcement. Typical and important issues in rock slope stability are tested in TFINE(a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element program), which is further applied to several representatives of high rock slope's stability evaluation and reinforcement engineering practice in southwest of China.

MIXED ENERGY METHOD FOR SOLUTION OF QUADRATIC PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS AND ELASTIC-PLASTIC ANALYSIS OF TRUSS STRUCTURES

A new algorithm for the solution of quadratic programming problemsis put forward in terms of the mixed energy theory and is furtherused for the incremental solution of elastic-plastic trussstructures. The method proposed is different from the traditionalone, for which the unknown variables are selected just in one classsuch as displacements or stresses. The present method selects thevariables in the mixed form with both displacement and stress. As themethod is established in the hybrid space, the information found inthe previous incremental step can be used for the solution of thepresent step, making the algorithm highly effi- cient in thenumerical solution process of quadratic programming problems. Theresults obtained in the exm- ples of the elastic-plastic solution ofthe truss structures verify what has been predicted in thetheoretical anal- ysis.

Analysis of fluoxetine-induced plasticity mechanisms as a strategy for understanding plasticity related neural disorders

Fluoxetine hydrochloride,better known for its commercial name Prozac,is one of the most widely prescribed antidepressant drugs all over the world.This drug was considered a＂breakthrough drug＂for the treatment of depression because of its very high selectivity as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor and because it presented a lower side-effectprofile than previous drugs （Wong et al., 2005）.

NEAR CRACK LINE ELASTIC－PLASTIC ANALYSIS FOR A CRACK LOADED BY ANTIPLANE POINT FORCES

In this paper, the improved near crack line analysis method proposed in Refs. [1]and [2] is used to investigate a mode Ⅲ crack loaded by antiplane point forces in aninfinite plate in an elastic-perfectly plastic solid. The solutions of this paper aresufficiently precise near the crack line region because. the assumptions of the smallscale yielding theory have not been used and no other assumptions have been taken.

Analysis of the elastic-plastic indentation properties of materials with varying ratio of hardness to Young’s modulus

The elastic-plastic indentation properties of materials with varying ratio of hardness to Young’s modulus(H/E) were analyzed with the finite element method. And the indentation stress fields of materials with varying ratio H/E on the surface were studied by the experiment. The results show that the penetration depth, contact radius, plastic pile-up and the degree of elastic recovery depend strongly on the ratio H/E. Moreover, graphs were established to describe the relationship between the elastic-plastic indentation parameters and H/E. The established graphs can be used to predict the H/E of materials when compared with experimental data.

An elastic-plastic analysis of short-leg shear wall structures during earthquakes

Short-leg shear wall structures are a new form of building structure that combine the merits of both frame and shear wall structures. Its architectural features, structure bearing and engineering cost are reasonable. To analyze the elastic-plastic response of a short-leg shear wall structure during an earthquake, this study modified the multiple-vertical-rod element model of the shear wall, considered the shear lag effect and proposed a multiple-vertical-rod element coupling beam model with a new local stiffness domain. Based on the principle of minimum potential energy and the variational principle, the stiffness matrixes of a short-leg shear wall and a coupling beam are derived in this study. Furthermore, the bending shear correlation for the analysis of different parameters to describe the structure, such as the beam height to span ratio, short-leg shear wall height to thickness ratio, and steel ratio are introduced. The results show that the height to span ratio directly affects the structural integrity; and the short-leg shear wall height to thickness ratio should be limited to a range of approximately 6.0 to 7.0. The design of short-leg shear walls should be in accordance with the ＂strong wall and weak beam＂ principle.