Evaluation of the effect of geometrical parameters on stope probability of failure in the open stoping method using numerical modeling

Stress-induced failure is among the most common causes of instability in Canadian deep underground mines.Open stoping is the most widely practiced underground excavation method in these mines,and creates large stopes which are subjected to stress-induced failure.The probability of failure(POF)depends on many factors,of which the geometry of an open stope is especially important.In this study,a methodology is proposed to assess the effect of stope geometrical parameters on the POF,using numerical modelling.Different ranges for each input parameter are defined according to previous surveys on open stope geometry in a number of Canadian underground mines.A Monte-Carlo simulation technique is combined with the finite difference code FLAC3D,to generate model realizations containing stopes with different geometrical features.The probability of failure(POF)for different categories of stope geometry,is calculated by considering two modes of failure;relaxation-related gravity driven(tensile)failure and rock mass brittle failure.The individual and interactive effects of stope geometrical parameters on the POF,are analyzed using a general multi-level factorial design.Finally,mathematical optimization techniques are employed to estimate the most stable stope conditions,by determining the optimal ranges for each stope’s geometrical parameter.

Efficient and Stable Inverted Perovskite Solar Modules Enabled by Solid-Liquid Two-Step Film Formation

A considerable efficiency gap exists between large-area perovskite solar modules and small-area perovskite solar cells.The control of forming uniform and large-area film and perovskite crystallization is still the main obstacle restricting the efficiency of PSMs.In this work,we adopted a solid-liquid two-step film formation technique,which involved the evaporation of a lead iodide film and blade coating of an organic ammonium halide solution to prepare perovskite films.This method possesses the advantages of integrating vapor deposition and solution methods,which could apply to substrates with different roughness and avoid using toxic solvents to achieve a more uniform,large-area perovskite film.Furthermore,modification of the NiO_(x)/perovskite buried interface and introduction of Urea additives were utilized to reduce interface recombination and regulate perovskite crystallization.As a result,a large-area perovskite film possessing larger grains,fewer pinholes,and reduced defects could be achieved.The inverted PSM with an active area of 61.56 cm^(2)(10×10 cm^(2)substrate)achieved a champion power conversion efficiency of 20.56%and significantly improved stability.This method suggests an innovative approach to resolving the uniformity issue associated with large-area film fabrication.

A new two-step variational model for multiplicative noise removal with applications to texture images

Multiplicative noise removal problems have attracted much attention in recent years.Unlike additive noise,multiplicative noise destroys almost all information of the original image,especially for texture images.Motivated by the TV-Stokes model,we propose a new two-step variational model to denoise the texture images corrupted by multiplicative noise with a good geometry explanation in this paper.In the first step,we convert the multiplicative denoising problem into an additive one by the logarithm transform and propagate the isophote directions in the tangential field smoothing.Once the isophote directions are constructed,an image is restored to fit the constructed directions in the second step.The existence and uniqueness of the solution to the variational problems are proved.In these two steps,we use the gradient descent method and construct finite difference schemes to solve the problems.Especially,the augmented Lagrangian method and the fast Fourier transform are adopted to accelerate the calculation.Experimental results show that the proposed model can remove the multiplicative noise efficiently and protect the texture well.

Two-step growth of β-Ga_(2)O_(3) on c-plane sapphire using MOCVD for solar-blind photodetector

In this work,a two-step metal organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD)method was applied for growingβ-Ga_(2)O_(3) film on c-plane sapphire.Optimized buffer layer growth temperature(T_(B))was found at 700℃ and theβ-Ga_(2)O_(3) film with full width at half maximum(FWHM)of 0.66°was achieved.A metal−semiconductor−metal(MSM)solar-blind photodetector(PD)was fabricated based on theβ-Ga_(2)O_(3) film.Ultrahigh responsivity of 1422 A/W@254 nm and photo-to-dark current ratio(PDCR)of 10^(6) at 10 V bias were obtained.The detectivity of 2.5×10^(15) Jones proved that the photodetector has outstanding performance in detecting weak signals.Moreover,the photodetector exhibited superior wavelength selectivity with rejection ratio(R_(250 nm)/R_(400 nm))of 105.These results indicate that the two-step method is a promising approach for preparation of high-qualityβ-Ga_(2)O_(3)films for high-performance solar-blind photodetectors.

Effect of two-step solid solution on microstructure andδphase precipitation of Inconel 718 alloy

Inconel 718 is the most popular nickel-based superalloy and is extensively used in aerospace,automotive,and energy indus-tries owing to its extraordinary thermomechanical properties.The effects of different two-step solid solution treatments on microstructure andδphase precipitation of Inconel 718 alloy were studied,and the transformation mechanism fromγ″metastable phase toδphase was clarified.The precipitates were statistically analyzed by X-ray diffractometry.The results show that theδphase content firstly increased,and then decreased with the temperature of the second-step solid solution.The changes in microstructure andδphase were studied by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.An intragranularδphase formed in Inconel 718 alloy at the second-[100]_(δ)[011]γ step solid solution temperature of 925℃,and its orientation relationship withγmatrix was determined as//and(010)_(δ)//(111)γ.Furthermore,the Vickers hardness of different heat treatment samples was measured,and the sample treated by second-step solid solution at 1010℃ reached the maximum hardness of HV 446.84.

Novel two-step process to improve efficiency of bio-oxidation of Axi high-sulfur refractory gold concentrates

In order to improve the bio-oxidation efficiency of Axi refractory gold concentrate, a two-step process including a high temperature chemical oxidation and a subsequent bio-oxidation, combined with p H control during the bio-oxidation step was used. The results revealed that the optimum mode was to maintain solution p H at 1.0-1.2 during the biological oxidation stage. Under this condition, the activity of mixed culture could be sustained and the formation of jarosite could be diminished, thus the oxidation efficiency was improved. The oxidation levels of iron and sulfur were improved by 12.50% and 15.49%, and the gold recovery was increased by 21.02%. Therefore, the two-step process combined with p H control is an effective method for oxidizing the biohydrometallurgical process of Axi gold concentrate, and it will have a broad prospect of application in dealing with complex refractory gold concentrate.

Optimization of Sporulation Conditions of Biocontrol Bacteria B579 by Two-step Control Strategy

[Objective] For preparing the biopesticide of Bacillus subtilis B579 with high spore concentration,the sporulation conditions were optimized.[Method] Two-step fermentation control strategy was used,in which,the first phase（0-10 h）was to improve cell growth,and the second phase（10-30 h）was to promote spore formation.Four factors including initial glucose concentration,fermentation pH,temperature（in the second phase）and shaking speed（in the second phase）were optimized using the methods of single factor test and orthogonal experiment.[Result] The initial glucose concentration showed a significant effect on sporulation.The optimal conditions for the spore formation of B.subtilis B579 were as follows：initial glucose concentration 5 g/L,fermentation pH 7.0,the temperature for the first phase 37 ℃,and the shaking speed for the first phase 180 r/min,the temperature for the second phase 40 ℃,and the shaking speed for the second phase 200 r/min;in addition,the first phase was 10 h and the second phase of fermentation was conducted for 30 h.Under such conditions,the spore concentration and spore formation rate could reach 9.43×108 CFU/ml and 90.99%,respectively,which represented 6.70-fold and 2.43-fold increase compared with those before optimization.[Conclusion] The spores concentration of biocontrol agent was improved using two-step control strategy,which provided the basis for biopesticide production in large scale.

Arrhenius relationship and two-step scheme in AF hyperdynamics simulation of diffusion of Mg/Zn interface

The accelerating factor （AF） method is a simple and appropriate way to investigate the atomic long-time deep diffusion at solid-solid interface. In the framework of AF hyperdynamics （HD） simulation, the relationship between the diffusion coefficient along the direction of z-axis which is normal to the Mg/Zn interface and temperature was investigated, and the AF＇s impact on the diffusion constant （D0） and activation energy （Q^＊） was studied. Then, two steps were taken to simulate the atomic diffusion process and the formation of new phases： one for acceleration and the other for equilibration. The results show that： the Arrhenius equation works well for the description of Dz with different accelerating factors; the AF has no effect on the diffusion constant Do in the case of no phase transition; and the relationship between Q＊ and Q conforms to Q^＊=Q/A. Then, the new Arrhenius equation for AFHD is successfully constructed as Dz=Doexp[-Q/（ART）]. Meanwhile, the authentic equilibrium conformations at any dynamic moment can only be reproduced by the equilibration simulation of the HD-simulated configurations. Key words： accelerating factor method; Arrhenius equation; two-steps scheme; Mg/Zn interface; hyperdynamic simulation

Pre-reinforcement grout in fractured rock masses and numerical simulation for optimizing shrinkage stoping configuration

Proper room and pillar sizes are both critical factors for safe mining and high ore recovery rate in shrinkage stoping mining of underground metal mines. The rock masses of Tangdan copper mine of China are fractured, which needs much reinforcement and support prior to mining. Cement-sodium silicate grout technology was selected, then its related parameters such as grout pressure, diffusion radius and time were calculated and proposed. In order to test the effect of the pressured grout in the fractured No.4 ore block, field experiments were conducted. To optimize stoping configuration, three-dimensional numerical simulation with ANSYS and FLAC 3 D softwares was proposed. The results show that the drilling porosity and mechanical properties of the rock masses are increased obviously. After grout, ore recovery rate is increased by 10.2 % employing the newly designed stoping configuration compared with the previous. Last, analyzed from the surface movements, roof subsidence and the maximum principal stress of the pillars, the mining safety is probable of being ensured.

A new concept of backfll design—Application of wick drains in backflled stopes

Backflling represents an environmentally friendly mining waste disposal technique.It is increasingly used in underground mines all over the world.However,its primary purpose remains to improve ground stability and to reduce ore dilution.Previous investigations have shown that fll drainage plays a key role in backfll and barricade design.With a poor drainage system in the backflled stope,the required dimension of barricade,which is constructed at the base of the stope near the drift entrance,has to be increased.A poor backfll drainage system can also lead to a signifcant increase in drainage waiting time and further reduction in mining productivity.In this paper,the drainage of conventional backfll design in backflled stopes is briefly reviewed.For the frst time,the application of the wick drain is introduced in the backfll within mine stopes.The drainage improvement from the introduction of the wick drain is illustrated using numerical modeling.

Evaluation on Stability of Stope Structure Based on Nonlinear Dynamics of Coupling Artificial Neural Network

The nonlinear dynamical behaviors of artificial neural network (ANN) and their application to science and engineering were summarized. The mechanism of two kinds of dynamical processes, i.e. weight dynamics and activation dynamics in neural networks, and the stability of computing in structural analysis and design were stated briefly. It was successfully applied to nonlinear neural network to evaluate the stability of underground stope structure in a gold mine. With the application of BP network, it is proven that the neuro-com- puting is a practical and advanced tool for solving large-scale underground rock engineering problems.

A two-step quantum secure direct communication protocol with hyperentanglement

We propose a two-step quantum secure direct communication （QSDC） protocol with hyperentanglement in both the spatial-mode and the polarization degrees of freedom of photon pairs which can in principle be produced with a beta barium borate crystal. The secret message can be encoded on the photon pairs with unitary operations in these two degrees of freedom independently. This QSDC protocol has a higher capacity than the original two-step QSDC protocol as each photon pair can carry 4 bits of information. Compared with the QSDC protocol based on hyperdense coding, this QSDC protocol has the immunity to Trojan horse attack strategies with the process for determining the number of the photons in each quantum signal as it is a one-way quantum communication protocol.

Similarity model tests of movement and deformation of coal-rock mass below stopes

For a study of the movement and deformation of coal-rock mass and low protected seams below a stope,as well as for fracture developments and rules of evolution of permeability,we designed a plane strain model test stand to carry out model tests of similar materials in order to improve the effect of gas drainage from low protected seams and to measure the movement and deformation of coal-rock mass using a method of non-contact close-range photogrammetry.Our results show that 1) using paraffin melting to take the place of coal seam mining can satisfy the mining conditions of a protective seam;2) coal-rock mass under goafs has an upward movement after the protective seam has been mined,causing floor heaving;3) low protected seams become swollen and deformed,providing a good pressure-relief effect and causing the coal-rock mass under both sides of coal pillars to become deformed by compression and 4) the evolution of permeability of low protected seams follows the way of initial values→a slight decrease→a great increase→stability→final decrease.Simultaneously,the coefficient of air permeability increased at a decreasing rate with an increase in interlayer spacing.

Effects of the two-step ageing treatment on the microstructure and properties of 7B04 alloy pre-stretched thick plates

The effects of the two-step ageing parameters （temperature and time） on the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of 7B04 （A1-Zn-Mg-Cu） pre-stretched thick plates were studied. The results reveal that the initial T1 ageing contributes a major increase of the tensile strength, and the 0.2% proof stress value reaches 482 MPa after ageing for 7 h at 115℃. Behavioral differences in the tensile properties of the alloy after the two-step ageing treatment were less with the first-step ageing at 115~C for different time periods （7, 14, and 21 h）. The effects of the second ageing parameters on the properties and microstructure of the 7B04 alloy were remarkable. TEM analysis of the samples aged at Temper I （7 h at 115℃ ＋ 12 h at 160℃） and Temper II （7 h at 115℃ ＋ 16 h at 165℃） indicates that two kinds of phases, i.e. 11＇ and 11 phases, precipitate from the matrix and efficiently improve the tensile strength of the alloy, and the grain boundary precipitates are coarse and discrete. There are obvious precipitate free zones （PFZs） along the grain boundary in the microstructure of the alloy after the two-step ageing treatment.

Cryopreservation of Gametophytes of Laminaria japonica (Phaeophyta) Using Encapsulation-Dehydration with Two-Step Cooling Method

Gametophytes of Laminaria japonica were cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen using encapsulation-dehydration with two-step cooling method. Gametophytes cultured at 10℃ and under continuous irradiance of 30 μmol m^-2 s^-1 for 3 weeks were encapsulated in calcium alginate beads. The beads were dehydrated in 0.4 molLl sucrose prepared with seawater for 6 h, desiccated in an incubator set at 10℃ and 70% relative humidity for 4 h, pre-frozen at either -40℃ or -60℃ for 30 min, and stored in liquid nitrogen for 〉24 h. As high as 43% of survival rate was observed when gametophytes were thawed by placing the beads in 40℃ seawater and re-hydrated in 0.05 molL^-1 citrate sodium prepared using 30‰ NaCl 7 d later. More cells of male gametophytes survived the whole procedure in comparison with female gametophytes. The cells of gametophytes surviving the preservation were able to grow asexually and produce morphologically normal sporophytes.

Orthogonal design and numerical simulation of room and pillar configurations in fractured stopes

Room and pillar sizes are key factors for safe mining and ore recovery in open-stope mining. To investigate the influence of room and pillar configurations on stope stability in highly fractured and weakened areas, an orthogonal design with two factors, three levels and nine runs was proposed, followed by three-dimensional numerical simulation using ANSYS and FLAC3~. Results show that surface settlement after excavation is concentrically ringed, and increases with the decrease of pillar width and distances to stope gobs. In the meantime, the ore-control fault at the ore-rock boundary and the fractured argillaceous dolomite with intercalated slate at the hanging wall deteriorate the roof settlement. Additionally, stope stability is challenged due to pillar rheological yield and stress concentration, and both are induced by redistribution of stress and plastic zones after mining. Following an objective function and a constraint function, room and pillar configuration with widths of 14 m and 16 m, respectively, is presented as the optimization for improving the ore recovery rate while maintaining a safe working environment.

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence on organic inorganic metal halide perovskite CH_3NH_3Pb I_(3-)Cl_ prepared on ZnO/FTO substrates using a two-step method

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence characteristics of organic-inorganic halide perovskite CH3NH3Pb I3-xClx films prepared using a two-step method on ZnO/FTO substrates were investigated. Surface morphology and absorption characteristics of the films were also studied. Scanning electron microscopy revealed large crystals and substrate coverage. The orthorhombic-to-tetragonal phase transition temperature was-140 K. The films＇ exciton binding energy was 77.6 ± 10.9 meV and the energy of optical phonons was 38.8 ± 2.5 meV. These results suggest that perovskite CH3NH3Pb I（3-x）Clx films have excellent optoelectronic characteristics which further suggests their potential usage in perovskitebased optoelectronic devices.

Stability analysis of backflling in subsiding area and optimization of the stoping sequence

In underground mining by sublevel caving method, the deformation and damage of the surface induced by subsidence are the major challenging issues. The dynamic and soft backflling body increases the safety risks in the subsiding area. In this paper, taking Zhangfushan iron mine as an example, the ore body and the general layout are focused on the safety of backflling of mined-out area. Then, we use the ANSYS software to construct a three-dimensional(3D) model for the mining area in the Zhangfushan iron mine. According to the simulation results of the initial mining stages, the ore body is stoped step by step as suggested in the design. The stability of the backflling is back analyzed based on the monitored displacements, considering the stress distribution to optimize the stoping sequence. The simulations show that a reasonable stoping sequence can minimize the concentration of high compressive stress and ensure the safety of stoping of the ore body.

3D structure parameterization design and modeling for irregular structure of stope bottom

Stope mining design is a very important and complicated task in daily production design and technical management of an underground mine.Based on workface technology and human-computer interaction technology,this study introduces a method of 3D parametric design for the irregular structure of stope bottoms,and focuses on solving technical problems in surface modeling of stope bottom structure.Optimization of the minimum span length algorithm(MSLA) and the shortest path search algorithm(SPSA) is conducted to solve the problem of contour-line based instant modeling of stope bottom structures,which makes possible the 3D parametric design for irregular structure of stope bottom.Implementation process and relevant methods of the proposed algorithms are also presented.Feasibility and reliability of the proposed modeling method are testified in a case study.In practice,the proposed 3 D parameterization design method for irregular structure stope bottom proves to be very helpful to precise 3D parametric design.This method is capable of contributing to improved efficiency and precision of stope design,and is worthy of promotion.

Design System of the Two-step Gear Reducer on Case-based Reasoning

The design of the two-step gear reducer is a tedious and time-consuming process. For the purpose of improving the efficiency and intelligence of design process, case-based reasoning（CBR） technology was applied to the design of the two-step gear reducer. Firstly, the current design method for the two-step gear reducer was analyzed and the principle of CBR was described. Secondly, according to the characteristics of the reducer, three key technologies of CBR were studied and the corresponding methods were provided, which are as follows： （a） an object-oriented knowledge representation method, （b） a retrieval method combining the nearest neighbor with the induction indexing, and （c） a case adaptation algorithm combining the revision based on rule with artificial revision. Also, for the purpose of improving the credibility of case retrieval, a new method for determining the weights of characteristics and a similarity formula were presented, which is a combinatorial weighting method with the analytic hierarchy process（AHP） and roughness set theory. Lastly, according to the above analytic results, a design system of the two-step gear reducer on CBR was developed by VC＋＋, UG and Access 2003. A new method for the design of the two-step gear reducer is provided in this study. If the foregoing developed system is applied to design the two-step gear reducer, design efficiency is improved, which enables the designer to release from the tedious design process of the gear reducer so as to put more efforts on innovative design. The study result fully reflects the feasibility and validity of CBR technology in the process of the design of the mechanical parts.