Energy consumption in rock fragmentation at intermediate strain rate

In order to determine the relationship among energy consumption of rock and its fragmentation, dynamic strength and strain rate, granite, sandstone and limestone specimens were chosen and tested on large-diameter split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) equipment with half-sine waveform loading at the strain rates ranging from 40 to 150 s- 1. With recorded signals, the energy consumption, strain rate and dynamic strength were analyzed. And the fragmentation behaviors of specimens were investigated. The experimental results show that the energy consumption density of rock increases linearly with the total incident energy. The energy consumption density is of an exponent relationship with the average size of rock fragments. The higher the energy consumption density, the more serious the fragmentation, and the better the gradation of fragments. The energy consumption density takes a good logarithm relationship with the dynamic strength of rock. The dynamic strength of rock increases with the increase of strain rate, indicating higher strain rate sensitivity.

Complete splitting process of steel fiber reinforced concrete at intermediate strain rate

The complete splitting process of steel fiber reinforced concrete （SFRC） at intermediate strain rate was studied by experiment. The basic information of a self-developed SFRC dynamic test system matching with lnstron 1342 materials testing machine was given, and the experiment principle and the loading mode of cubic split specimen were introduced. During the experiment, 30 cubes of 150 mm×150 mm×150 mm and 36 cubes of 100 mm×100 mm×100 mm, designed and prepared according to C20 class SFRC with different volume fractions of steel fiber （0, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%） were tested and analyzed. At the same time, the size effect of SFRC at intermediate strain rate was investigated. The experimental study indicates that SFRC size effect is not influenced by the loading speed or strain rate. When the steel fiber content increases from 0 to 4%, the splitting strength of SFRC increases from 100% to 261%, i.e. increasing by 161% compared with that of the common concrete. The loading rate increases from 1.33 kN/s to 80.00 kN/s, and the splitting tensile strength increases by 43.55%.

The Choice of Exchange Rate Regime: The Relevance of International Experience to China’s Decision

The Chinese exchange rate has been the focus of discussion for many months, with bothinternal and external considerations seemingly pointing to the desirability of a currencyrevaluation. This paper draws from the lessons of international experience with exchange-rate regimes in the period since World War Two. It lays out the conditions necessary tovalidate a fixed exchange rate and some intermediate regimes that might work when a fixedrate is inappropriate. It then discusses what the analysis implies for contemporary China.

Evaluation of Slip Rate on Astara Fault System, North Iran

Due to its strategic location, the Astara fault system （AFS）, which is located in Iran, has given rise to a number of earthquakes. In spite of its frequent seismic events, limited information is available for AFS. Slip rate is one of the important variables for future scrutiny of seismic risk of this fault system. The main objective of this research is to study slip rates at intermediate and short terms for this fault system using geological, geodetic observations and empirical method. Using the geological data, the intermediate-term horizontal and vertical slip rates for AFS have been determined to be 2.8±0.2 and 0.27±0.03 mm/year, respectively. In addition, the short-term slip rates of the fault, based on the geodetic method （using displacement values of two GPS stations： HASH and DAMO） and assuming attenuation of 60% （to fold the sediment of South Caspian Basin and shortening of Talesh Mountain range）, determined to be 1.23±0.03 and 2.05±0.05 mm/year for the horizontal and vertical slips, respectively. Finally, evaluation of the slip rate using empirical relationship yields 10 mm/year for the entire fault system, which seems rather implausible.