A novel binary effective medium model to describe the prepeak stressstrain relationship of combined bodies of rock-like material and rock

Combined bodies of rock-like material and rock are widely encountered in geotechnical engineering,such as tunnels and mines.The existing theoretical models describing the stress-strain relationship of a combined body lack a binary feature.Based on effective medium theory,this paper presents the governing equation of the“elastic modulus”for combined and single bodies under triaxial compressive tests.A binary effective medium model is then established.Based on the compressive experiment of concretegranite combined bodies,the feasibility of determining the stress threshold based on crack axial strain is discussed,and the model is verified.The model is further extended to coal-rock combined bodies of more diverse types,and the variation laws of the compressive mechanical parameters are then discussed.The results show that the fitting accuracy of the model with the experimental curves of the concretegranite combined bodies and various types of coal-rock combined bodies are over 95%.The crack axial strain method can replace the crack volumetric strain method,which clarifies the physical meanings of the model parameters.The variation laws of matrix parameters and crack parameters are discussed in depth and are expected to be more widely used in geotechnical engineering.

Basic Characteristics of a New Flexible Pneumatic Bending Joint

Several typical flexible pneumatic actuators （FPA） and different mechanical models describing their behaviors have been proposed, however, it is difficult to balance compliance and load capacity in conventional designs, and these models still have limitations in predicting behavior of FPAs. A new flexible pneumatic bending joint （FPBJ） with special anisotropic rigidity structure is proposed. The FPBJ is developed as an improvement with regard to existing types of FPA, and its principal characteristic is derived from the special anisotropic rigidity structure. With this structure, the load capacity in the direction perpendicular to bending plane is strengthened. The structure of the new FPBJ is explained and a mathematical model is derived based on Euler-Bernoulli beam model and Hook’s law. To obtain optimum design and usage, some key structure parameters and input-output characteristics are simulated. The simulation results reveal that the relationship between the structure parameters and FPBJ’s bending angle is nonlinear. At last, according to the simulation results, the FPBJ is manufactured with optional parameters and tested. The experimental results show that the joint’s statics characteristics are reflected by the mathematical model accurately when the FPBJ is deflated. The maximum relative error between simulation and experimental results is less than 6%. However, the model still has limitations. When the joint is inflated, the maximum relative error reaches 20%. This paper proposes a new flexible pneumatic bending joint which has sufficient load capacity and compliance, and the mathematical model provides theoretical guidance for the FPBJ’s structure design.

Dynamic Design of Thick Orthotropic Cantilever Plates with Consideration of Bimoments

The paper is devoted to dynamic design of thick orthotropic cantilever plates by applying the bimoment theory of plates, which takes into account the forces, moments and bimoments;and the theory takes into account nonlinear law of displacements distribution in cross section of the plate. The methods for constructing bimoment theory are based on Hooke’s Law, three-dimensional equations of the theory of dynamic elasticity and the method of displacements expansion into Maclaurin series. The article gives the expressions to determine the forces, moments and bimoments. Bimoment theory of plates is described by two unrelated two-dimensional systems with nine equations in each. On each edge of the plate, depending on the type of fastening, nine boundary conditions are given. As an example, the solution of the problem of dynamic bending of thick isotropic and orthotropic plate under the influence of transverse dynamic loads in the form of the Heaviside function is given. The equations of motion of the plate are solved by numerical method of finite differences. The numerical results are obtained for isotropic and orthotropic plate. The graphs of changes of displacements and stresses of faces surfaces of the plate are presented. Maximum values of these displacements are found and analyzed. It is shown that by Timoshenko theory numerical values of stresses are much smaller compared to the ones obtained by bimoment theory of plates. Maximum numerical values of generalized displacements, forces, moments, and bimoments are obtained and presented in tabular form. The analysis of numerical results is done and the conclusions are drawn.

A Simple Theory of Asymmetric Linear Elasticity

Rotation is antisymmetric and therefore is not a coherent element of the classical elastic theory, which is characterized by symmetry. A new theory of linear elasticity is developed from the concept of asymmetric strain, which is defined as the transpose of the deformation gradient tensor to involve rotation as well as symmetric strain. The new theory basically differs from the prevailing micropolar theory or couple stress theory in that it maintains the same basis as the classical theory of linear elasticity and does not need extra concepts, such as “microrotation” and “couple stresses”. The constitutive relation of the new theory, the three-parameter Hooke’s law, comes from the theorem about isotropic asymmetric linear elastic materials. Concise differential equations of translational motion are derived consequently giving the same velocity formula for P-wave and a different one for S-wave. Differential equations of rotational motion are derived with the introduction of spin, which has an intrinsic connection with rotation. According to the new theory, S-wave essentially has rotation as large as deviatoric strain and should be referred to as “shear wave” in the context of asymmetric strain. There are nine partial differential equations for the deformation harmony condition in the new theory;these are given with the first spatial differentiations of asymmetric strain. Formulas for rotation energy, in addition to those for (symmetric) strain energy, are derived to form a complete set of formulas for the total mechanical energy.

Matrices and Division by Zero z/0 = 0

In this paper, a new viewpoint of the division by zero z/0 = 0 in matrices is introduced and the results will show that the division by zero is our elementary and fundamental mathematics. New and practical meanings for many mathematical and physical formulas for the denominator zero cases may be given. Furthermore, a new space idea for the point at infinity for the Eucleadian plane is also introduced.