Geotechnical stability analysis considering strain softening using micro-polar continuum finite element method

Geotechnical stability analyses based on classical continuum may lead to remarkable underestimations on geotechnical safety.To attain better estimations on geotechnical stability,the micro-polar continuum is employed so that its internal characteristic length(lc)can be utilized to model the shear band width.Based on two soil slope examples,the role of internal characteristic length in modeling the shear band width of geomaterial is investigated by the second-order cone programming optimized micro-polar continuum finite element method.It is recognized that the underestimation on factor of safety(FOS)calculated from the classical continuum tends to be more pronounced with the increase of lc.When the micro-polar continuum is applied,the shear band dominated by lc is almost kept unaffected as long as the adopted meshes are fine enough,but it does not generally present a slip surface like in the cases from the classical continuum,indicating that the micro-polar continuum is capable of capturing the non-local geotechnical failure characteristic.Due to the coupling effects of lc and strain softening,softening behavior of geomaterial tends to be postponed.Additionally,the bearing capacity of a geotechnical system may be significantly underestimated,if the effects of lc are not modeled or considered in numerical analyses.

Semi-analytic solution of Eringen's two-phase local/nonlocal model for Euler-Bernoulli beam with axial force

Eringen’s two-phase local/nonlocal model is applied to an Euler-Bernoulli nanobeam considering the bending-induced axial force, where the contribution of the axial force to bending moment is calculated on the deformed state. Basic equations for the corresponding one-dimensional beam problem are obtained by degenerating from the three-dimensional nonlocal elastic equations. Semi-analytic solutions are then presented for a clamped-clamped beam subject to a concentrated force and a uniformly distributed load, respectively. Except for the traditional essential boundary conditions and those required to be satisfied by transferring an integral equation to its equivalent differential form, additional boundary conditions are needed and should be chosen with great caution, since numerical results reveal that non-unique solutions might exist for a nonlinear problem if inappropriate boundary conditions are used. The validity of the solutions is examined by plotting both sides of the original integro-differential governing equation of deflection and studying the error between both sides. Besides, an increase in the internal characteristic length would cause an increase in the deflection and axial force of the beam.

Specific Elements of the Public Internal Control in Countries of the European Union

The concern for greater efficiency in the public sector has determined the application in countries of the European Union of the public internal control systems, stemm from the desire of management of national funds in economic conditions. This paper addresses such issues relating to highlighting elements reflecting the importance of the control function in the management process; and identifying the characteristics of the elements constituting the control systems in countries belonging to the European Union, which were grouped into two categories depending on the date of accession to the union, using public internal control related data provided by the European Commission. Particular attention is given to highlight the characteristics of the control system applied in Romania compared to other states. Research has revealed a greater number of similarities in the characteristics of the control systems of internal public in countries that joined the Union after 1990, compared with those who became members before this year, concerning the financing of the sector public, the accounting system applied, the coordination of such a system, who bears responsibility for financial management, or the limits of managerial responsibility.

Experimental and numerical investigation on the gas leakage regime for ventilated tail cavity of an underwater vehicle

The objective of this paper is mainly to investigate the ventilated tail cavity flow of an underwater vehicle with focus on the gas leakage regime by experimental and numerical methods.A high-speed camera and pressure measurement system are used to record the cavity flow patterns and pressure behavior,respectively.The numerical simulation is carried out with volume of fluid(VOF)model and Filter-based turbulence model(FBM).Good agreement can be obtained between the experimental and numerical results.There are three gas leakage types in the evolution of the intact tail cavity,i.e.,twin-vortex tube entrainment(TVTE),toroidal vortex shedding(TVS)and hybrid twin-vortex tube entrainment and toroidal vortex shedding(TVTE-TVS).With the increase of Fr,the unsteady behavior of the cavity with different gas leakage types becomes more apparent.The internal flow characteristics revealed three distinct regions including the ventilation influence region,the reverse flow region and the high shear flow region and have an important effect on the transition of gas leakage regime.

Effect of Inlet Guide Vanes on the Performance of Small Axial Flow Fan

Effects of the inlet guide vanes on the static characteristics, aerodynamic noise and internal flow characteristics of a small axial flow fan are studied in this work. The inlet guide vanes with different outlet angle are designed, which are mounted on the casing and located at the upstream of the impeller of the prototype fan. Both steady and unsteady flow simulations arc performed. The steady flow is simulated by the calculations of Navier-Stokes equa- tions coupled with RNG k-epsilon turbulence model, while the unsteady flow is computed with large eddy simu- lation. According to the theoretical analysis, the inlet guide vanes with outlet angle of 60° are regarded as the op- timal inlet guide vanes. The static characteristic experiment is carried out in a standard test rig and the aerody- namic noise is tested in a semi-anechoic room. Then, performances of the fan with optimal inlet guide vanes are compared with those of the prototype fan. The results show that there is reasonable agreement between the simu- lation results and the experimental data. It is found that the static characteristics of small axial flow fan is im- proved obviously after installing the optimal inlet guide vanes. Meanwhile, the optimal inlet guide vanes have effect on reducing noise at the near field, but have little effect on the noise at the far field.