A Radial Basis Function Method with Improved Accuracy for Fourth Order Boundary Value Problems

Accurately approximating higher order derivatives is an inherently difficult problem. It is shown that a random variable shape parameter strategy can improve the accuracy of approximating higher order derivatives with Radial Basis Function methods. The method is used to solve fourth order boundary value problems. The use and location of ghost points are examined in order to enforce the extra boundary conditions that are necessary to make a fourth-order problem well posed. The use of ghost points versus solving an overdetermined linear system via least squares is studied. For a general fourth-order boundary value problem, the recommended approach is to either use one of two novel sets of ghost centers introduced here or else to use a least squares approach. When using either ghost centers or least squares, the random variable shape parameter strategy results in significantly better accuracy than when a constant shape parameter is used.

Shape retrieval using multi-level included angle functions-based Fourier descriptor

An effective shape signature namely multi-level included angle functions MIAFs is proposed to describe the hierarchy information ranging from global information to local variations of shape.Invariance to rotation translation and scaling are the intrinsic properties of the MIAFs.For each contour point the multi-level included angles are obtained based on the paired line segments derived from unequal-arc-length partitions of contour.And a Fourier descriptor derived from multi-level included angle functions MIAFD is presented for efficient shape retrieval.The proposed descriptor is evaluated with the standard performance evaluation method on three shape image databases the MPEG-7 database the Kimia-99 database and the Swedish leaf database. The experimental results of shape retrieval indicate that the MIAFD outperforms the existing Fourier descriptors and has low computational complexity.And the comparison of the MIAFD with other shape description methods also shows that the proposed descriptor has the highest precision at the same recall value which verifies its effectiveness.

Shape control on probability density function in stochastic systems

A novel strategy of probability density function （PDF） shape control is proposed in stochastic systems. The control er is designed whose parameters are optimal y obtained through the improved particle swarm optimization algorithm. The parameters of the control er are viewed as the space position of a particle in particle swarm optimization algorithm and updated continual y until the control er makes the PDF of the state variable as close as possible to the expected PDF. The proposed PDF shape control technique is compared with the equivalent linearization technique through simulation experiments. The results show the superiority and the effectiveness of the proposed method. The control er is excellent in making the state PDF fol ow the expected PDF and has the very smal error between the state PDF and the expected PDF, solving the control problem of the PDF shape in stochastic systems effectively.

Solving the Optimal Control Problems of Nonlinear Duffing Oscillators By Using an Iterative Shape Functions Method

In the optimal control problem of nonlinear dynamical system,the Hamiltonian formulation is useful and powerful to solve an optimal control force.However,the resulting Euler-Lagrange equations are not easy to solve,when the performance index is complicated,because one may encounter a two-point boundary value problem of nonlinear differential algebraic equations.To be a numerical method,it is hard to exactly preserve all the specified conditions,which might deteriorate the accuracy of numerical solution.With this in mind,we develop a novel algorithm to find the solution of the optimal control problem of nonlinear Duffing oscillator,which can exactly satisfy all the required conditions for the minimality of the performance index.A new idea of shape functions method(SFM)is introduced,from which we can transform the optimal control problems to the initial value problems for the new variables,whose initial values are given arbitrarily,and meanwhile the terminal values are determined iteratively.Numerical examples confirm the high-performance of the iterative algorithms based on the SFM,which are convergence fast,and also provide very accurate solutions.The new algorithm is robust,even large noise is imposed on the input data.

Improved shape hardening function for bounding surface model for cohesive soils

A shape hardening function is developed that improves the predictive capabilities of the generalized bounding surface model for cohesive soils, especially when applied to overconsolidated specimens. This improvement is realized without any changes to the simple elliptical shape of the bounding surface, and actually reduces the number of parameters associated with the model by one.

Thermo-mechanical Behaviors of Functionally Graded Shape Memory Alloy Timoshenko Composite Beams

This paper focuses on the thermo-mechanical behaviors of functionally graded(FG)shape memory alloy(SMA)composite beams based on Timoshenko beam theory.The volume fraction of SMA fiber is graded in the thickness of beam according to a power-law function and the equivalent parameters are formulated.The governing differential equations,which can be solved by direct integration,are established by employing the composite laminated plate theory.The influences of FG parameter,ambient temperature and SMA fiber laying angle on the thermo-mechanical behaviors are numerically simulated and discussed under different boundary conditions.Results indicate that the neutral plane does not coincide with the middle plane of the composite beam and the distribution of martensite is asymmetric along the thickness.Both the increments of the functionally graded parameter and ambient temperature make the composite beam become stiffer.However,the influence of the SMA fiber laying angle can be negligent.This work can provide the theoretical basis for the design and application of FG SMA structures.

THE APPLICATION OF SPLINE FUNCTION IN THE GEOMETRIC REPRODUCTION OF LOG SHAPE

The paper introduces a method to get three-dimensional reproduction of log shape by adopting Spline Function in fitting the curve of the finite log data. The method has ad-vantages of higher accuracy, less acquired data, easier to use, etc. Making use of high-precision drawing function of computer, the graphs of log geometric shape in different visual angles can be achieved easily with this method. It also provided a firm foundation for the determination of optimum saw cutting scheme.

The choosing of reproducing kernel particle shape function with mathematic proof

Many mechanical problems can be induced from differential equations with boundary conditions; there exist analytic and numerical methods for solving the differential equations. Usually it is not so easy to obtain analytic solutions. So it is necessary to give numerical solutions. The reproducing kernel particle （RKP） method is based on the Carlerkin Meshless method. According to the Sobolev space and Fourier transform, the RKP shape function is mathematically proved in this paper.

3D analysis of functionally graded material plates with complex shapes and various holes

In this paper, the basic formulae for the semi-analytical graded FEM on FGM members are derived. Since FGM parameters vary along three space coordinates, the parameters can be integrated in mechanical equations. Therefore with the parameters of a given FGM plate, problems of FGM plate under various conditions can be solved. The approach uses 1D discretization to obtain 3D solutions, which is proven to be an effective numerical method for the mechanical analyses of FGM structures. Examples of FGM plates with complex shapes and various holes are presented.

Influence of Inclusion Shape on Thermoelasto-Plastic Optimun Design of Ceramic Metal Functionally Graded Materials

A nonlinear finite element method is applied to observe how inclusion shape influence the thermal response of a ceramic-metal functionally graded material (FGM). The elastic and plastic behaviors of the layers which are two-phase isotropic composites consisting of randomly oriented elastic spheroidal Inclusions and a ductile matrix are predicted by cc mean field method. The prediction results show that inclusion shape has remarkable influence on the overall behavior of the composite. The consequences of the thermal response analysis of the FGM are that the response is dependent on inclusion shape and its composition profile cooperatively and that the plastic behavior of each layer should be taken into account in optimum design of a ceramic-metal FGM.

ON THE SELECTION OF SHAPE FUNCTION SPACES OF TRIANGULAR PLATE ELEMENTS

Using the method of undetermined coefficients, we construct a set of shape function spaces of nine-node triangular plate elements converging for any meshes, which generalize Spect's element and Veubeke's element.

Grain Shape Genes:Shaping the Future of Rice Breeding

The main goals of rice breeding nowadays include increasing yield,improving grain quality,and promoting complete mechanized production to save labor costs.Rice grain shape,specified by three dimensions,including grain length,width and thickness,has a more precise meaning than grain size,contributing to grain appearance quality as well as grain weight and thus yield.Furthermore,the divergence of grain shape characters could be utilized in mechanical seed sorting in hybrid rice breeding systems,which has been succeeded in utilizing heterosis to achieve substantial increase in rice yield in the past decades.Several signaling pathways that regulate rice grain shape have been elucidated,including G protein signaling,ubiquitination-related pathway,mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling,phytohormone biosynthesis and signaling,micro RNA process,and some other transcriptional regulatory pathways and regulators.This review summarized the recent progress on molecular mechanisms underlying rice grain shape determination and the potential of major genes in future breeding applications.

Balanced Functional Maps for Three-Dimensional Non-Rigid Shape Registration

Three-dimensional(3D)shape registration is a challenging problem,especially for shapes under non-rigid transformations.In this paper,a 3D non-rigid shape registration method is proposed,called balanced functional maps(BFM).The BFM algorithm generalizes the point-based correspondence to functions.By choosing the Laplace-Beltrami eigenfunctions as the function basis,the transformations between shapes can be represented by the functional map(FM)matrix.In addition,many constraints on shape registration,such as the feature descriptor,keypoint,and salient region correspondence,can be formulated linearly using the matrix.By bi-directionally searching for the nearest neighbors of points’indicator functions in the function space,the point-based correspondence can be derived from FMs.We conducted several experiments on the Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications(TOSCA)dataset and the Shape Completion and Animation of People(SCAPE)dataset.Experimental results show that the proposed BFM algorithm is effective and has superior performance than the state-of-the-art methods on both datasets.

Modeling unbalanced rotor system with continuous viscoelastic shaft by frequency-dependent shape function

A reduced-order dynamic model for an unbalanced rotor system is developed, taking the coupling between torsional and lateral vibrations into account. It is assumed that a shaft is regarded as a continuous viscoelastic shaft with unbalanced and small deformation properties. The equations of motion for the torsional and lateral vibrations are derived using Lagrange's approach with the frequency-dependent shape function. The rotor torsional vibration is coupled with the lateral vibrations by unbalance elements in a way of excitations. Simulation and experiment results show clearly that the torsional vibration has strong impact on the rotor lateral vibrations, and it causes subharmonic and superharmonic excitations through unbalance elements, which leads to the superharmonic resonances in the lateral vibrations. This model with low-order and high accuracy is suitable for rotor dynamic analysis in real time simulation as well as for active vibration control syntheses.

ON SHAPE PRESERVING EXTENSION AND APPROXIMATION OF FUNCTIONS

We establish the concept of shapes of functions by using partial differential inequalites. Our definition about shapes includes some usual shapes such as convex,subharmonic,etc.,and gives many new shapes of functions.The main results show that the shape preserving approxi- mation has close relation to the shape preserving extension.One of our main results shows that if f∈C(Ω)has some shape defined by our definition,then f can be uniformly approximated by polynomials P_n ∈p_n(n∈N)which have the same shape in Ω,and the degree of the ap- proximation is Cω(f,n^(-β))with constants C,β>0.

PENALTY FUNCTION METHOD OF CONTINUUM SHAPE OPTIMIZAION

The penalty function method of continuum shape optimization and its sensitivity analysis technique are presented. A relatively simple integrated shape optimization system is developed and used to optimize the design of the inner frame shape of a three-axis test table. The result shows that the method converges well, and the system is stable and reliable.

Star-shaped Differentiable Functions and Star-shaped Differentials

Based on the isomorphism between the space of star-shaped sets and the space of continuous positively homogeneous real-valued functions, the star-shaped differential of a directionally differentiable function is defined. Formulas for star-shaped differential of a pointwise maximum and a pointwise minimum of a finite number of directionally differentiable functions, and a composite of two directionaUy differentiable functions are derived. Furthermore, the mean-value theorem for a directionaUy differentiable function is demonstrated.

Digital Image Correlation Using Specific Shape Function for Stress Intensity Factor Measurement

The stress intensity factor (SIF) is a critical parameter associated with the fracture behaviour of materials. In this paper, we select the displacement function around a crack tip as the shape function of the digital image correlation (DIC), which makes it possible to directly calculate the SIF by the correlation scheme. Moreover, we use a non-rectangular subset, which can reduce the influence of plastic deformation and crack width on the DIC measurement accuracy. We measured the SIF of a mode I crack in a super-hard aluminium alloy specimen to verify the performance of the proposed method. Our experimental results show that a DIC with a specific shape function can be used to accurately and efficiently calculate the SIF. Furthermore, we also present a practical application of our proposed method for determining the SIF, crack propagation angle and crack tip displacement. © 2017, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Local Radial Basis Function Methods: Comparison, Improvements, and Implementation

Radial Basis Function methods for scattered data interpolation and for the numerical solution of PDEs were originally implemented in a global manner. Subsequently, it was realized that the methods could be implemented more efficiently in a local manner and that the local approaches could match or even surpass the accuracy of the global implementations. In this work, three localization approaches are compared: a local RBF method, a partition of unity method, and a recently introduced modified partition of unity method. A simple shape parameter selection method is introduced and the application of artificial viscosity to stabilize each of the local methods when approximating time-dependent PDEs is reviewed. Additionally, a new type of quasi-random center is introduced which may be better choices than other quasi-random points that are commonly used with RBF methods. All the results within the manuscript are reproducible as they are included as examples in the freely available Python Radial Basis Function Toolbox.

TORSIONAL IMPACT RESPONSE OF A PENNY-SHAPED CRACK IN A FUNCTIONAL GRADED STRIP

The torsional impact response of a penny-shaped crack in a nonhomogeneous strip is considered. The shear modulus is assumed to be functionally graded such that the mathematics is tractable. Laplace and Hankel transforms were used to reduce the problem to solving a Fredholm integral equation. The crack tip stress field is obtained by considering the asymptotic behavior of Bessel function. Explicit expressions of both the dynamic stress intensity factor and the energy density factor were derived.And it is shown that, as crack driving force, they are equivalent for the present crack problem. Investigated are the effects of material nonhomogeneity and (strip's) highness on the dynamic fracture behavior. Numerical results reveal that the peak of the dynamic stress intensity factor can be suppressed by increasing the nonhomogeneity parameter of the shear modulus, and that the dynamic behavior varies little with the adjusting of the strip's highness.