A comparison of tectonic ambient shear stress value in China with that in western USA

A method is proposed to estimate average tectonic ambient shear stress value for a region. Thus the average stress values of 19 regions in western USA, and 43 regions (each region is 1010) in Chinese mainland and its surroundings have been obtained. The data of 15 993 earthquakes are from the Internet Centroid Moment Tensor solution made by Harvard University from 1997 to 1999. The results demonstrate that there are highest average stress values in the regions of south California of USA and its off coast sea, reach to 12.0 MPa and 13.7 MPa respectively, then gradually decrease toward north, south, and east. The lowest value is 8.7 MPa and 63% of highest value. The average stress values in northern Xinjiang and in the Chayu region of Tibet are 17.2 and 12.9 MPa respectively. They are highest values in China and higher than USAs. The average stress value in North China, Yunnan, Sichuan, Taiwan is similar to south California of USA. The average stress value in South-North seismic zone is about 13 MPa, a little higher than south California. The distribution of average stress value for two important regions provides basic data for geology. These results are useful to research earthquake activity background and attenuation relation of strong ground motion parameters (e.g. peak acceleration and response spectra).

An Overview of the Study on Stress Magnitude

Crustal stress field holds an important position in geodynamics research, such as in plate motion simulations, uplift of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau and earthquake preparation and occurrence. However, most of the crustal stress studies emphasize particularly on the determination of stress direction, with little study being done on stress magnitude at present. After reviewing ideas on a stress magnitude study from geological, geophysical and various other aspects, a method to estimate the stress magnitude in the source region according to the deflection of stress direction before and after large earthquakes and the stress drop tensor of earthquake rupture has been developed. The proposed method can also be supplemented by the average apparent stress before and after large earthquakes. The stress direction deflection before and after large earthquakes can be inverted by massive focal mechanisms of foreshocks and aftershocks and the stress drop field generated by the seismic source can be calculated by the detailed distribution of the earthquakes rupture. The mathematical relationship can then be constructed between the stress drop field, where its magnitude and direction are known and the stress tensor before and after large earthquakes, where its direction is known but magnitude is unknown, thereby obtaining the stress magnitude. The average apparent stress before and after large earthquakes can be obtained by using the catalog of broadband radiated energy and seismic moment tensor of foreshocks and aftershocks and the different responses to stress drops. This relationship leads to another estimation of stress magnitude before a large earthquake. The stress magnitude and its error are constrained by combining the two methods, which provide new constraints for the geodynamics study.

PROBABILISTIC MODELS FOR LONG FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH RATES OF LZ50 AXLE STEEL

Experimental study is performed on the probabilistic models for the long fatigue crack growth rates （da/dN） of LZ50 axle steel. An equation for crack growth rate was derived to consider the trend of stress intensity factor range going down to the threshold and the average stress effect. The probabilistic models were presented on the equation. They consist of the probabilistic da/dN-△K relations, the confidence-based da/dN-△K relations, and the probabilistic- and confidence-based da/dN-△K relations. Efforts were made respectively to characterize the effects of probabilistic assessments due to the scattering regularity of test data, the number of sampling, and both of them. These relations can provide wide selections for practice. Analysis on the test data of LZ50 steel indicates that the present models are available and feasible.

INSTANTANEOUS THERMAL EXPANSION BEHAVIOR OF HETEROGENEOUS MATERIALS WITH A WORK-HARDENING ELASTOPLASTIC MATRIX AND ELASTIC SPHEROIDAL INHOMOGENEITIES

The instantaneous thermal expansion behavior of-two-phase heterogeneous materials subjected to a uniform temperature change is explored in the present study. The matrix phase is assumed to be a work-hardening ductile metal and the dispersive phase is assumed to consist of either aligned or randomly-oriented, elastic,, spheroidal inhomogeneities. The plastic flow and decreasing stiffness of the matrix during Eshelby's transformation strain of the equivalent inclusions are accounted for by using the deformation theory of plasticity. The explicit results of the instantaneous overall thermal expansion coefficients and the critical inelastic temperature changes are presented for aligned disc- and fiber-inclusions. For the spherical and randomly-oriented spheroidal inclusion, the present study demonstrates that when the yielding of the composites is governed by the average matrix stress, the overall response is always elastic in spite of the temperature change.

The Third-Order Viscoelastic Acoustic Model Enables an Ice-Detection System for a Smart Deicing of Wind-Turbine Blade Shells

The present work is based on the third-order partial differential equation (PDE) of acoustics of viscoelastic solids for the quasi-equilibrium (QE) component of the average normal stress. This PDE includes the stress-relaxation time (SRT) for the material and is applicable at any value of the SRT. The notion of a smart deicing system (SDS) for blade shells (BSs) of a wind turbine is specified. The work considers the stress in a BS as the one caused by the operational load on the BS. The work develops key design issues of a prospective ice-detection system (IDS) able to supply an array of the heating elements of an SDS with the element-individual spatiotemporal data and procedures for identification of the material parameters of atmospheric-ice (AI) layer accreted on the outer surfaces of the BSs. Both the SDS and IDS flexibly allow for complex, curvilinear and space-time-varying shapes of BSs. The proposed IDS presumes monitoring of the QE components of the normal stresses in BSs. The IDS is supposed to include an array of pressure-sensing resistors, also known as force-sensing resistors (FSRs), and communication hardware, as well as the parameter-identification software package (PISP), which provides the identification on the basis of the aforementioned PDE and the data measured by the FSRs. The IDS does not have hardware components located outside the outer surfaces of, or implanted in, BSs. The FSR array and communication hardware are reliable, and both cost- and energy-efficient. The present work extends methods of structural-health/operational-load monitoring (SH/OL-M) with measurements of the operational-load-caused stress in closed solid shells and, if the prospective PISP is used, endows the methods with identification of material parameters of the shells. The identification algorithms that can underlie the PISP are computationally efficient and suitable for implementation in the real-time mode. The identification model and algorithms can deal with not only the single-layer systems such as the BS layer without the AI layer or two-layer systems but also multi-layer systems. The outcomes can be applied to not only BSs of wind turbines but also non-QE closed single- or multi-layer deformable solid shells of various engineering systems (e.g., the shells of driver or passenger compartments of ships, cars, busses, airplanes, and other vehicles). The proposed monitoring of the normal-stress QE component in the mentioned shells extends the methods of SH/OL-M. The topic for the nearest research is a better adjustment of the settings for the FSR-based measurement of the mentioned components and a calibration of the parameter-identification model and algorithms, as well as the resulting improvement of the PISP.

Calculation of stress intensity factor in two-dimensional cracks by strain energy density factor procedure

In order to calculate the stress intensity factor(SIF) of crack tips in two-dimensional cracks from the viewpoint of strain energy density, a procedure to use the strain energy density factor to calculate the SIF is proposed. In this paper, the procedure is presented to calculate the SIF of crack tips in mode I cracks, mode II cracks and I+II mixed mode cracks. Meanwhile, the results are compared to those calculated by traditional approaches or other approaches based on strain energy density and verified by theoretical solutions. Furthermore, the effect of mesh density near the crack tip is discussed, and the proper location where the strain energy density factor is calculated is also studied. The results show that the SIF calculated by this procedure is close to not only those calculated by other approaches but also the theoretical solutions, thus it is capable of achieving accurate results.Besides, the mesh density around the crack tip should meet such requirements that, in the circular area created, the first layer of singular elements should have a radius about 0.05 mm and each element has a circumferential directional meshing angle to be15°–20°. Furthermore, for a single element around the crack tip, the strain energy density factor is suggested to be calculated in the location where half of the sector element's radius from the crack tip.

Study on Drag and Noise Reduction of Bionic Blade of Centrifugal Pump and Mechanism

In order to study the relationship between the important parameters of internal flow and the effect of drag and noise reduction,the internal flow field and sound field characteristics of bionic centrifugal pump are studied in this paper.Based on the methods of theoretical analysis,numerical simulation and test,the relationship between wall average shear stress,drag reduction rate,increasing efficiency and noise reduction rate of internal sound field is studied.Internal flow parameters to judge and predict the effect of drag and noise reduction are revealed.The results show that the bionic pit can effectively increase the thickness of the boundary layer and reduce the Reynolds stress on the wall.The resistance on the wall is reduced and the hydraulic efficiency of the centrifugal pump is increased.The noise reduction rate is basically consistent with the changing trend of the drag reduction rate,increasing efficiency and wall average shear stress in the flow field.Wall average shear stress can reveal the effect of drag and noise reduction,so the effect of drag and noise reduction can be predicted and judged by the change of wall average shear stress.

MICROMECHANICS ANALYSIS FOR UNSATURATED GRANULAR SOILS

This paper aims at establishing an anisotropic stress expression for unsaturated pendular-state granular soils. Using the second-order fabric tensor, we formulate a micromechanics scheme of soils with statistically averaging method, and reveal that the macroscopic average stress of unsaturated granular soils in pendular-state is not isotropic. Not only is the stress from contact forces anisotropic due to the fabric, but also the capillary stress is directional dependent, which is different from the common point that the capillary stress is isotropic. The capillary stress of unsaturated pendular-state granular soils is determined by the orientation distribution of con- tact normals, so it is closely related to the initial and induced anisotropy of soils. Finally, DEM numerical simulations of triaxial compression tests of pendular-state soils at different degrees of saturation are used to verify the existence of above anisotropy of stresses.