Reliability-Based Topology Optimization of Fail-Safe Structures Using Moving Morphable Bars

This paper proposes an effective reliability design optimizationmethod for fail-safe topology optimization(FSTO)considering uncertainty based on the moving morphable bars method to establish the ideal balance between cost and robustness,reliability and structural safety.To this end,a performancemeasure approach(PMA)-based doubleloop optimization algorithmis developed tominimize the relative volume percentage while achieving the reliability criterion.To ensure the compliance value of the worst failure case can better approximate the quantified design requirement,a p-norm constraint approach with correction parameter is introduced.Finally,the significance of accounting for uncertainty in the fail-safe design is illustrated by contrasting the findings of the proposed reliabilitybased topology optimization(RBTO)method with those of the deterministic design method in three typical examples.Monte Carlo simulation shows that the relative error of the reliability index of the optimized structure does not exceed 3%.

基于BARS法的高校学生党员考核方法探究

深入有效地开展大学生党员考核工作是增强学生党员教育管理,构建发挥党员先锋模范作用长效机制的重要举措。在当前的学生党员考核中,评价量表法是广为采用的一种考核工具。作为一种数量化考核,该法使用方便,操作简单,测评面广。但也存在着主观随意性大,晕轮效应概率高,测评针对性低。

基于BARS的高校教务人员绩效考核研究

高等院校教学质量的提高,不单只是以高素质教师队伍为前提和保证,高效的教务管理也是教学质量的有效保障之一.针对现有高校教务人员绩效考核的不足,提出了基于BARS(行为锚定等级量表法)的有限360度绩效考核以完善教务人员的绩效考核,进而打造高效的教务管理.

Numerical Simulation of Wave Field near Submerged Bars by PLIC-VOF Model

Investigating the wave field near structures in coastal and offshore engineering is of increasing significance. In the present study, simulation is done of the wave profile and flow field for waves propagating over submerged bars, using PLIC-VOF （Pieeewise Linear Interface Construction） to trace the free surface of wave and finite difference method to solve vertical 2D Navier-Stokes （N-S） equations. A comparison of the numerical results for two kinds of submerged bars with the experimental ones shows that the PLIC-VOF model used in this study is effective and can compute the wave field precisely.

Blast resistance evaluation of urban utility tunnel reinforced with BFRP bars

To improve corrosion-resistance of shallow-buried concrete urban utility tunnels(UUTs),basalt fiber reinforced polymer(BFRP)bars are applied to reinforce UUTs.As the UUT must have excellent survival capability under accidental explosions,a shallow-buried BFRP bars reinforced UUT(BBRU)was designed and constructed.Repetitive blast experiments were carried out on this BBRU.Dynamic responses,damage evolutions and failure styles of the BBRU under repetitive explosions were revealed.The tunnel roof is the most vulnerable component and longitudinal cracks develop along the tunnel.When the scaled distance is larger than 1.10 m/kg1/3,no cracks are observed in the experiments.When the BBRU is severely damaged,there are five cracks forming and developing along the roof.The roof is simplified as a clamped-supported one-way slab,proved by the observation that the maximum strain of the transverse bar is much larger than that of the longitudinal bar.Dynamic responses of the roof slab are predicted by dynamic Euler beam theory,which can consistently predict the roof displacement under large-scaleddistance explosion.Compared with the UUT reinforced with steel bars,the BBRU has advantages in blast resistance with smaller deflections and more evenly-distributed cracks when the scaled distance is smaller than 1.260 m/kg1/3 and the steel bars enter plastic state.Longer elastic defamation of the BFRP bars endows the UUT more excellent blast resistance under small-scaled-distance explosions.

Bragg Reflection of Waves by Different Shapes of Artificial Bars

Experiments are performed in a wave flume to demonstrate the Bragg reflection of linear gravity waves by artificial bars. Three different artificial bars with rectangular, triangular and rectified cosinoidal shapes are placed discretely on the seabed for measurement of the Bragg reflection. A series of experimental conditions including the number of bars, the periodic bar spacing, the water depth and various wave conditions are tested. Key parameters influencing the Bragg resonances are investigated. The experimental data are compared with the values from both theoretical and numerical models. Some key parameters have proved to be effective in describing the primary resonances. Predictive equations of the characteristics for the Bragg reflection are proposed in this paper.

Effect of Freeze-thaw Cycles on Bond Strength between Steel Bars and Concrete

The effect of freezing and thawing cycles on mechanical properties of concrete （compressive, splitting tensile strength） was experimentally investigated. According to the pullout test data of three kinds of deformed steel bars, the bond stress-slip curves after freezing and thawing were obtained. The empirical equations of peak bond strength were proposed that the damage accounted for effects of freezing and thawing cycle. Meanwhile, the mechanism of bond deterioration between steel bars and concrete after freezing and thawing cycles was discussed. All these conclusions will be useful to the durability design and reliability calculation of RC structures in cold region.

Effect of austempering parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of horizontal continuous casting ductile iron dense bars

In the present research, the orthogonal experiment was carried out to investigate the influence of different austempering process parameters （i.e. austenitizing temperature and time, and austempering temperature and time） on microstructure and mechanical properties of LZQT500-7 ductile iron dense bars with 172 mm in diameter which were produced by horizontal continuous casting （HCC）. The results show that the major factors influencing the hardness of austempered ductile iron （ADI） are austenitizing temperature and austempering temperature. The fraction of retained austenite increases as the austenitizing and austempering temperatures increase. When austenitizing temperature is low, acicular ferrite and retained austenite can be efifciently obtained by appropriately extending the austenitizing time. The proper austmepering time could ensure enough stability of retained austenite and prevent high carbon austenite decomposition. The optimal mechanical properties of ADI can be achieved with the fol owing process parameters： austenitizing temperature and time are 866 ＆#176;C and 135 min, and austempering temperature and time are 279 ＆#176;C and 135 min, respectively. The microstructure of ADI under the optimal austempering process consists of ifne acicular ferrite and a smal amount of retained austenite, and the hardness, tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and impact toughness of the bars are HBW 476, 1670 MPa, 1428 MPa, 2.93%and 25.7 J, respectively.

Modeling and cyclic behavior of segmental bridge column connected with shape memory alloy bars

This paper examines the quasi-static cyclic behavior, lateral strength and equivalent damping capacities of a system of post-tensioned segmental bridge columns tied with large diameter martensitic Shape Memory Alloy （SMA） link-bars. Moment-curvature constitutive relationships are formulated and analysis tools are developed for the PT column, including a modified four-spring model prepared for the SMA bars. The suggested system is exemplified using a column with an aspect ratio of 7.5 and twelve 36.5 mm diameter NiTi martensitic SMA bars. A post-tensioning force of 40% to 60% of the tendon yield strength is applied in order to obtain a self re-centering system, considering the residual stress of the martensitie SMA bars. The cyclic response results show that the lateral strength remains consistently around 10% of the total vertical load and the equivalent viscous damping ratios reach 10%-12% of critical. When large diameter NiTi superelastic SMA bars are incorporated into the column system, the cyclic response varies substantially. The creep behavior of the superelastic SMA bar is accounted for since it affects the re-centering capability of the column. Two examples are presented to emphasize the modeling sensitivities for these special bars and quantify their cyclic behavior effects within the column assembly.

Study of seismic behavior of PHC piles with partial normal-strength deformed bars

Nine PHC piles with partial normal-strength deformed bars were prepared in present study,and cyclic loading tests were implemented to evaluate these piles’seismic performance.The influence of the axial compression ratio and the amount of normal-strength deformed bars on failure modes,crack patterns,strength,stiffness,and ductility were examined.The test findings indicate that the change of axial compression ratio has a noticeable influence on the failure mode of PHC piles.A larger axial compression ratio results in a higher cracking bending resistance,ultimate bending resistance,and initial stiffness,but the propagation heights of flexural cracks decrease as the axial compression ratio increases.Furthermore,increasing the amount of normal-strength deformed bars causes a slight decrease in ductility.Finally,a calculation formula was proposed to predict the flexural capacity of PHC piles with partial normal-strength deformed bars.

Tensile Strength Characteristics of GFRP Bars in Concrete Beams with Work Cracks under Sustained Loading and Severe Environments

To investigate the effect of different environmental conditions of GFRP bars in concrete beams with work cracks subjected to sustained loads, the beams were exposed in indoor, freeze/thaw cycles and immersed in alkaline solution at elevated temperature. The bars were carefully extracted from the beams and tested in order to evaluate residual tensile properties. The results show that the tensile strength decreased significantly in the highly aggressive conditions but not in the natural conditions. The effect of GFRP bars casting in concrete beams demonstrated approximately 2.5% decrease of tensile strength caused by pore water environment in concrete beams on basis of those of the original bars. The effect of sustained loading plus work cracks demonstrated about 10.5% tensile strength decrease on basis of those of the bars only casted in concrete beams. The effect of environments under sustained loading plus work cracks demonstrated about 17% tensile strength decrease caused by a saturated solution of Ca（OH）2 and 60-2 ℃ tap water （pH=12-13） and about 8% tensile strength decrease caused by freezing and thawing cycle （F/T）, both on basis of those of the bars of the indoor beams only under sustained loading plus work cracks. The results demonstrate the effects of the tensile strengths under different environmental conditions of GFRP bars in concrete beams with work cracks subjected to sustained loads.

Oblique Wave Motion over Multiple Submerged Porous Bars near a Vertical Wall

This study examines oblique wave motion over multiple submerged porous bars in front of a vertical wall. Based on linear potential theory, an analytical solution for the present problem is developed using matched eigenfunction expansions. A complex dispersion relation is adopted to describe the wave elevation and energy dissipation over submerged porous bars. In the analytical solution, no limitations on the bar number, bar size, and spacing between adjacent bars are set. The convergence of the analytical solution is satisfactory, and the correctness of the analytical solution is confirmed by an independently developed multi-domain BEM （boundary element method） solution. Numerical examples are presented to examine the reflection and transmission coefficients of porous bars, CR and Cv, respectively, for engineering applications. The calculation results show that when the sum of widths for all the porous bars is fixed, increasing the bar number can significantly improve the sheltering function of the bars. Increasing the bar height can cause more wave energy dissipation and lower CR and Cr. The spacing between adjacent bars and the spacing between the last bar and the vertical wall are the key parameters affecting CR and Ct. The proposed analytical method may be used to analyze the hydrodynamic performance of submerged porous bars in preliminary engineering designs.

IBPSO-Based MUSIC Algorithm for Broken Rotor Bars Fault Detection of Induction Motors

In spectrum analysis of induction motor current, the characteristic components of broken rotor bars（BRB） fault are often submerged by the fundamental component. Although many detection methods have been proposed for this problem, the frequency resolution and accuracy are not high enough so that the reliability of BRB fault detection is a ected. Thus, a new multiple signal classification（MUSIC） algorithm based on particle swarm intelligence search is developed. Since spectrum peak search in MUSIC is a multimodal optimization problem, an improved bare?bones particle swarm optimization algorithm（IBPSO） is proposed first. In the IBPSO, a modified strategy of subpopulation determination is introduced into BPSO for realizing multimodal search. And then, the new MUSIC algorithm, called IBPSO?based MUSIC, is proposed by replacing the fixed?step traversal search with IBPSO. Meanwhile, a simulation signal is used to test the e ectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results show that its frequency precision reaches 10-5, and the computational cost is only comparable to that of traditional MUSIC with 0.1 search step. Finally, the IBPSO?based MUSIC is applied in BRB fault detection of an induction motor, and the e ectiveness and superiority are proved again. The proposed research provides a modified MUSIC algorithm which has su cient frequency precision to detect BRB fault in induction motors.

Wave decomposition phenomenon and spectrum evolution over submerged bars

Wave decomposition phenomenon and spectrum evolution over submerged bars are investigated by a previously developed numerical model. First, the computed free surface displacements of regular waves at various locations are compared with the available experimental data to confirm the validity of the numerical model, and satisfactory agreements are obtained. In addition, variations of decomposition characteristics with incident wave parameters and the change of energy spectrum for regular waves are also studied. Then the spectrum evolution of irregular waves over submerged bars, as well as the influence of incident peak wave period and the steepness of the front slope of the bar on spectrum evolution, is investigated. Wave decomposition and spectral shape are found to be significantly influenced by the incident wave conditions. When the upslope of the bar becomes 1：2, the length of the slope becomes shorter and will not benefit the generation of high frequency energy, so spectrum evolution is not significant.

Tensile bond anchorage properties of Australian 500N steel bars in concrete

In order to investigate the tensile bond anchorage properties of Australian 500N steel bars in concrete, 111 pullout tests were conducted. The precise bond slip values have been gained by using the laser displacement sensor with high resolution, including the complete bond-slip curves. How the main anchorage factors such as concrete strength, bar diameter （8, I0, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32 and 36 mm） the concrete covered, embedded length and transverse reinforcement influencing the bond anchorage properties was studied under tensile condition. The process of the tensile force-slip failure for Australian 500N reinforcing steel can be divided into five stages： elastic stage, local slip stage, slip in ascent stage, slip in descent stage and remnant stage. The formula for calculating the tensile bond strength of Australian 500N reinforcing bar in concrete was proposed according to the test results, including the consistent model for tensile bond-slip relationship.

Anti-seismic behavior of HRB400 reinforced steel bars

The properties of anti-seismic HRB400 steel bars with 25 mm diameter were systematically investigated. The results showed that the properties of the HRB400 reinforced steel bars had been greatly enhanced comparing with HRB335 steel bars, i.e. coordination of strength and ductility, strain-aging sensibility, low temperature impact toughness, weld ability and high strain low cycle fatigue. The ductile-brittle transit temperatures of hot-rolled and strain-aged steel bars were evaluated as –17 °C and ?8 °C respectively, and the low temperature impact toughness of HRB400 steel bars remains to be improved. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron diffraction showed little vanadium existed in ferrite as VN, most of which existed in pearlite as alloy cementite which resulted in the declination of impact toughness. Methods were suggested to improve the anti- seismic properties of steel bars.

Microstructure and properties of ductile iron bars for plunger pump prepared by horizontal continuous casting process

Ductile iron bars(DIBs) with a diameter of 145 mm, used for plunger pump production, were made by the horizontal continuous casting(HCC). The microstructure of the samples cut at three locations with different distances away from the surface(~20 mm from the surface, half of the radius and the center of the HCCDIBs)were investigated. The mechanical properties were measured by tensile and torsion tests. Results show that after the spheroidization of graphite, the iron matrix incorporates the nodules of Format I, Size 8 close to the surface, Format I, Size 7 at the half of the radius from the surface, and Format II, Size 6 in the centre of the bar,according to the ASTM A247 standard. The content of pearlite in the matrix changes from 55%(~20 mm from the surface) to 70%(half of the radius) and 80%(the center of the HCCDIBs). The strengths in tension are 552, 607 and 486 MPa with the elongations of 12.5%, 10.5% and 5.8% in samples cut at these three locations from the surface to the centre, respectively. The strength in torsion is equal to 558, 551 and 471 MPa at corresponding torsion angles of 418°, 384° and 144° respectively to the same distance from the bar surface. Fracture in tension is manifested via crack propagation through the interface between graphite nodules and matrix(Mode I), while in torsion the fracture is caused by the shear of graphite nodules(Mode II). It is shown that the transition between two fracture modes is also dependent on the size of graphite nodule. Typically, fracture Mode I was observed for nodules of smaller diameter(less than 22.7 μm) and fracture Mode II was seen for nodules of greater diameter(more than 24.8 μm).

High performance GaSb based digital-grown InGaSb/AlGaAsSb mid-infrared lasers and bars

InGaSb/AlGaAsSb double-quantum-well diode lasers emitting around 2 μm are demonstrated. The AlGaAsSb barriers of the lasers are grown with digital alloy techniques consisting of binary AlSb/AlAs/GaSb short-period pairs. Peak power conversion efficiency of 26% and an efficiency higher than 16% at 1 W are achieved at continuous-wave operation for a 2-mm-long and 100-μm-wide stripe laser. The maximum output power of a single emitter reaches to 1.4 W at 7 A.19-emitter bars with maximum efficiency higher than 20% and maximum power of 16 W are fabricated. Lasers with the short-period-pair barriers are proved to have improved temperature properties and wavelength stabilities. The characteristic temperature(T_0) is up to 140?C near room temperature(25–55?C).

2D hierarchical lattices' imperfection sensitivity to missing bars defect

Commercially available lattices contain various kinds of morphological imperfections which result in great degradation in lattices＇ mechanical properties, therefore, to obtain imperfection insensitive lattice structure is obviously a practical research subject. Hierarchical structure materials were found to be a class of promising anti-defect materials, This paper builds hierarchical lattice by adding soft adhesion to lattice＇s cell edges and numerical results show that its imperfection sensitivity to missing bars is minor compared with the classic lattice. Soft adhesion with appropriate properties reinforce cell edge＇s bending stiffness and thus reduce the bending deformation in lattice caused by missing bars defect, which is confirmed by statistical analysis of normalized node displacements of imperfect lattices under hydrostatic compression and shear loads.

Temporal and spatial variations of the Huanghe River mouth bars

On the basis of the bathymetric records of 371 survey sections in the present Huanghe mouth area from 1996 to 2001, the temporal and spatial variations of the Huanghe mouth bars were studied by using GIS technology. The variation of the mouth bars is closely related to the water and sediment discharges from the Huanghe River to the sea that has been decreasing drastically in recent years, and to coastal hydrodynamic regimes. The characteristics of the mouth bars are unique in contrast with those of other estuaries in the world. (1) The mouth bars of the Huanghe River consist of many small sandbars. Usually the sandbars are of ellipse-shape with the long axis of about 1~6 km, and short axis of about 1~4 km. The long axis is parallel to the principal direction of tidal current, and the short axis is variable, depending on the local dynamics. The crest of the sandbars is only about 0.4 m below the water surface at low tide. They are distributed within an area of 20 km2, not far from the river mouth area. The present mouth bars are in small-medium size, quite different from the large one formed during the 1970s and 1980s, when the river sediment discharge was several times larger than that after 1996. (2) The scale of a river mouth bar is related to the river discharge of that year. In 1997 sediment discharge from the Huanghe River was 42 Mt, and the mouth bar consisted of several small scattered sandbars. In 1998 the size of mouth bars was much larger than that in 1997, as the sediment discharge from the Huanghe River increased to 363 Mt. Variation of the mouth bars largely depends on the sediment discharge with a correlation coefficient of 0.78. The calculation of the volume of the mouth bar area shows that about 30%~40% of the river's into-sea sediment is deposited in the mouth bar area. (3) Compared with other large estuaries in the world, the Huanghe mouth bars have three unique features in responding to its high sediment concentration: small size, steep slope gradient and shallow crest depth.