Three-Dimensional Conjugate Tooth Surface Design and Contact Analysis of Harmonic Drive with Double-Circular-Arc Tooth Profle

A three-dimensional conjugate tooth surface design method for Harmonic Drive with a double-circular-arc tooth profle is proposed. The radial deformation function of the fexspline (FS), obtained through Finite Element (FE) analysis, is incorporated into the kinematics model. By analyzing the FS tooth enveloping process, the optimization of the overlapping conjugate tooth profle is achieved. By utilizing the hobbing process, the three-dimensional machinable tooth surface of FS can be acquired. Utilizing the coning deformation of the FS, simulations are conducted to analyze the multi-section assembly and meshing motion of the machinable tooth surface. The FE method is utilized to analyze and compare the loaded contact characteristics. Results demonstrate that the proposed design method can achieve an internal gear pair consisting of a circular spline with a spur gear tooth surface and the FS with a machinable tooth surface. With the rated torque, approximately 24% of the FS teeth are engaged in meshing, and more than 4/5 of the tooth surface in the axial direction carries the load. The contact patterns, maximum contact pressure, and transmission error of the machinable tooth surface are 227.2%, 40.67%, and 71.24% of those on the spur gear tooth surface, respectively. It clearly demonstrates exceptional transmission performance.

Discontinuity development patterns and the challenges for 3D discrete fracture network modeling on complicated exposed rock surfaces

Natural slopes usually display complicated exposed rock surfaces that are characterized by complex and substantial terrain undulation and ubiquitous undesirable phenomena such as vegetation cover and rockfalls.This study presents a systematic outcrop research of fracture pattern variations in a complicated rock slope,and the qualitative and quantitative study of the complex phenomena impact on threedimensional(3D)discrete fracture network(DFN)modeling.As the studies of the outcrop fracture pattern have been so far focused on local variations,thus,we put forward a statistical analysis of global variations.The entire outcrop is partitioned into several subzones,and the subzone-scale variability of fracture geometric properties is analyzed(including the orientation,the density,and the trace length).The results reveal significant variations in fracture characteristics(such as the concentrative degree,the average orientation,the density,and the trace length)among different subzones.Moreover,the density of fracture sets,which is approximately parallel to the slope surface,exhibits a notably higher value compared to other fracture sets across all subzones.To improve the accuracy of the DFN modeling,the effects of three common phenomena resulting from vegetation and rockfalls are qualitatively analyzed and the corresponding quantitative data processing solutions are proposed.Subsequently,the 3D fracture geometric parameters are determined for different areas of the high-steep rock slope in terms of the subzone dimensions.The results show significant variations in the same set of 3D fracture parameters across different regions with density differing by up to tenfold and mean trace length exhibiting differences of 3e4 times.The study results present precise geological structural information,improve modeling accuracy,and provide practical solutions for addressing complex outcrop issues.

A Simple Monte Carlo Method for Locating the Three-dimensional Critical Slip Surface of a Slope

Based on the assumption of the plain-strain problem, various optimization or random search methods have been developed for locating the critical slip surfaces in slope-stability analysis, but none of such methods is applicable to the 3D case. In this paper, a simple Monte Carlo random simulation method is proposed to identify the 3D critical slip surface. Assuming the initial slip to be the lower part of a slip ellipsoid, the 3D critical slip surface is located by means of a minimized 3D safety factor. A column-based 3D slope stability analysis model is used to calculate this factor. In this study, some practical cases of known minimum safety factors and critical slip surfaces in 2D analysis are extended to 3D slope problems to locate the critical slip surfaces. Compared with the 2D result, the resulting 3D critical slip surface has no apparent difference in terms of only cross section, but the associated 3D safety factor is definitely higher.

A generalized three-dimensional failure criterion for rock masses

The smooth convex generalized failure function, which represents 1/6 part of envelope in tile deviatoric plane, is proposed. The proposed function relies on four shape parameters （L, a, b and c）, in which two parameters （a and b） are dependent on the others. The parameter Ls is called extension ratio. The proposed failure function could be incorporated with any two-dimensional （2D） failure criteria to make it a three-dimensional （3D） version. In this paper, a mathematical formulation for incorporation of Hoek-Brown failure criterion with the proposed function is presented. The Hoek-Brown failure criterion is the most suited 2D failure criterion tbr geomaterials. Two types of analyses for best-fitting solution of published true tri-axial test data were made by considering （1） constant extension ratio and （2） variable extension ratio. The shape and strength parameters for different types of rocks have been determined by best-fitting the published true tri-axial test data for both the analyses. It is observed from the best-fitting solution by considering uniform extension ratio （L~） that shape constants have a correlation with Hoek-Brown strength parameters. Thus, only two parameters （c~. and m） are needed for representing the 3D failure criterion for intact rock. The statistical expression between shape and Hoek-Brown strength parameters is given. In the second analysis, when considering varying extension ratio, another parameterfis introduced. The modified extension ratio is related tofand extension ratio. The results at minimum mean misfit for all the nine rocks indicate that the range off varies from 0.7 to 1.0. It is found that mean misfit by considering varying extension ratio is lower than that in the first analysis. But it requires three parameters. A statistical expression betweenfand Hoek-Brown strength parameters has been established. Though coefficient of correlation is not reasonable, we may eliminate it as an extra parameter. At the end of the paper, a methodology has also been given for its application to isotropic jointed rock mass, so that it can be implemented in a numerical code for stability analysis of jointed rock mass structures.

Stream Surface Strip Element Method and Simulation of Three-Dimensional Deformation of Continuous Hot Rolled Strip

A new method,the stream surface strip element method,for simulating the three-dimensional deformation of plate and strip rolling process was proposed.The rolling deformation zone was divided into a number of stream surface(curved surface)strip elements along metal flow traces,and the stream surface strip elements were mapped into the corresponding plane strip elements for analysis and computation.The longitudinal distributions of the lateral displacement and the altitudinal displacement of metal were respectively constructed to be a quartic curve and a quadratic curve,of which the lateral distributions were expressed as the third-power spline function,and the altitudinal distributions were fitted in the quadratic curve.From the flow theory of plastic mechanics,the mathematical models of the three-dimensional deformations and stresses of the deformation zone were constructed.Compared with the streamline strip element method proposed by the first author of this paper,the stream surface strip element method takes into account the uneven distributions of stresses and deformations along altitudinal direction,and realizes the precise three-dimensional analysis and computation.The simulation example of continuous hot rolled strip indicates that the method and the model accord with facts and provide a new reliable engineering-computation method for the three-dimensional mechanics simulation of plate and strip rolling process.

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of crown spike due to coupling effect between bubbles and free surface

The motion of gas bubbles beneath a free surface will lead to a spike of fluid on the free surface. The distance of the bubbles to the free surface is the key factor to different phenomena. When the inception distance varies in some range, crown phenomenon would happen after the impact of weak buoyancy bubbles, so this kind of spike is defined as crown spike in the present paper. Based on potential flow theory, a three-dimensional numerical model is established to simulate the motion of the free-surface spike generated by one bubble or a horizontal line of two in-phase bubbles. After the downward jet formed near the end of the collapse phase, the simulation of the free surface is performed to study the crown spike without regard to the toroidal bubble＇s effect. Calculations about the interaction between one bubble and free surface agree well with the experimental results conducted with a high-speed camera, and relative error is within 15%. Crown spike in both single- and two-bubble cases are simulated numerically. Different features and laws of the motion of crown spike, depending on the bubble-boundary distances and the inter-bubble distances, have been investigated.

Surface characteristics analysis of fractures induced by supercritical CO_(2)and water through three-dimensional scanning and scanning electron micrography

Morphology of hydraulic fracture surface has significant effects on oil and gas flow,proppant migration and fracture closure,which plays an important role in oil and gas fracturing stimulation.In this paper,we analyzed the fracture surface characteristics induced by supercritical carbon dioxide(SC-CO_(2))and water in open-hole and perforation completion conditions under triaxial stresses.A simple calculation method was proposed to quantitatively analyze the fracture surface area and roughness in macro-level based on three-dimensional(3D)scanning data.In micro-level,scanning electron micrograph(SEM)was used to analyze the features of fracture surface.The results showed that the surface area of the induced fracture increases with perforation angle for both SC-CO_(2)and water fracturing,and the surface area of SC-CO_(2)-induced fracture is 6.49%e58.57%larger than that of water-induced fracture.The fractal dimension and surface roughness of water-induced fractures increase with the increase in perforation angle,while those of SC-CO_(2)-induced fractures decrease with the increasing perforation angle.A considerable number of microcracks and particle peeling pits can be observed on SC-CO_(2)-induced fracture surface while there are more flat particle surfaces in water-induced fracture surface through SEM images,indicating that fractures tend to propagate along the boundary of the particle for SC-CO_(2)fracturing while water-induced fractures prefer to cut through particles.These findings are of great significance for analyzing fracture mechanism and evaluating fracturing stimulation performance.

Evaluation of Left Ventricular Function by Three-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography in Patients with Chronic Kidney Failure

Objective:To establish a quantitative evaluation of the left ventricle's systolic function in patients with chronic kidney failure(CKF)by three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography.Methods:Two-dimensional and three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography was performed on 30 patients with CKF.The ejection fraction,mass and global peak longitudinal strain,global circumferential strain,global area strain,and global radial strain of the left ventricle were calculated.Results:The ejection fraction,mass and global peak longitudinal strain(GLS),global circumferential strain(GCS),global area strain(GAS),and global radial strain(GRS)in the CKF group were significantly lower than those in the control group.Simultaneously,the GLS,GCS,GAS and GRS were well correlated with the ejection fraction.For patients with normal ejection fraction in the CKF group,the GLS,GCS,GAS and GRS were lower than those in the control group,while the left ventricular mass was significantly higher in CKF patients than in the control group.For patients with hypertension in the CKF group,ejection fraction,GLS,GCS,GAS and GRS calculated using three-dimensional echocardiography were significantly lower than those in patients with normal blood pressure;however,the myocardial mass was higher.Conclusions:The parameters(GLS,GCS,GAS and GRS)calculated using three-dimensional speckle-tracking software were lower in the CKF group.Simultaneously,the left ventricular mass was higher in CFK patients than in the control group,thus showing that the myocardial contraction function was impaired and that myocardial remodeling had occurred.

Three-dimensional FDEM numerical simulation of failure processes observed in Opalinus Clay laboratory samples

This study presents the first step of a research project that aims at using a three-dimensional （3D） hybridfinite-discrete element method （FDEM） to investigate the development of an excavation damaged zone（EDZ） around tunnels in a clay shale formation known as Opalinus Clay. The 3D FDEM was first calibratedagainst standard laboratory experiments, including Brazilian disc test and uniaxial compression test. Theeffect of increasing confining pressure on the mechanical response and fracture propagation of the rockwas quantified under triaxial compression tests. Polyaxial （or true triaxial） simulations highlighted theeffect of the intermediate principal stress （s2） on fracture directions in the model： as the intermediateprincipal stress increased, fractures tended to align in the direction parallel to the plane defined by themajor and intermediate principal stresses. The peak strength was also shown to vary with changing s2. 2014 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection in the statistical analysis of single photon emission computed tomography data for distinguishing between Alzheimer's disease and depression

AIM To evaluate usefulness of single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT) with three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection(3D-SSP) in distinguishing between Alzheimer's disease(AD) and depression.METHODS We studied 43 patients who presented with both depressive symptoms and memory disturbance. Each subject was evaluated using the following:(1) the Minimal Mental State Examination;(2) the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression;(3) Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale(CGI-S); and(4) SPECT imaging with 3D-SSP.RESULTS The MMSE scores correlated significantly with the maximum Z-scores of AD-associated regions. CGI-S scores correlated significantly with the maximum Z-scores of depression-associated regions. Factor analysis identified three significant factors. Of these, Factor 1 could be interpreted as favouring a tendency for AD, Factor 2 as favouring a tendency for pseudo-dementia, and Factor 3 as favouring a depressive tendency.CONCLUSION We investigated whether these patients could be categorized as types: Type A(true AD), Type B(pseudodementia), Type C(occult AD), and Type D(true depression). The factor scores in factor analysis supported the validity of this classification. Our results suggest that SPECT with 3D-SSP is highly useful for distinguishing between depression and depressed mood in the early stage of AD.

Microstructure-based three-dimensional characterization of chip formation and surface generation in the machining of particulate-reinforced metal matrix composites

Particulate-reinforced metal matrix composites(PRMMCs)are difficult to machine due to the inclusion of hard,brittle reinforcing particles.Existing experimental investigations rarely reveal the complex material removal mechanisms(MRMs)involved in the machining of PRMMCs.This paper develops a three-dimensional(3D)microstructure-based model for investigating the MRM and surface integrity of machined PRMMCs.To accurately mimic the actual microstructure of a PRMMC,polyhedrons were randomly distributed inside the matrix to represent irregular SiC particles.Particle fracture and matrix deformation and failure were taken into account.For the model’s capability comparison,a two-dimensional(2D)analysis was also conducted.Relevant cutting experiments showed that the established 3D model accurately predicted the material removal,chip morphology,machined surface finish,and cutting forces.It was found that the matrix-particle-tool interactions led to particle fractures,mainly in the primary shear and secondary deformation zones along the cutting path and beneath the machined surface.Particle fracture and dilodegment greatly influences the quality of a machined surface.It was also found that although a 2D model can reflect certain material removal features,its ability to predict microstructural variation is limited.

New double yield surface model for coarse granular materials incorporating nonlinear unified failure criterion

A new double-yield-surface (DYS) model was developed to characterize the strength and deformation behaviors of coarse granular materials (CGMs).Two kinds of deformation mechanisms,including the shear and compressive plastic deformation,were taken into account in this model.These two deformation mechanisms were described by the shear and compressive yield functions,respectively.The Lode angle dependent formulations of proposed model were deduced by incorporating a 3D nonlinear unified failure criterion.Some comparisons were presented between the numerical predictions of proposed model and test data of true triaxial tests on the modeled rockfills.The model predictions are in good agreement with the test data and capture the strain hardening and plastic volumetric dilation of CGMs.These findings verify the reasonability of current DYS model,and indicate that this model is well suited to reproduce the stress-strain-volume change behavior of CGMs in general.

Failure mechanism of large-diameter shield tunnels and its effects on ground surface settlements

A new technique for the analysis of the three-dimensional collapse failure mechanism and the ground surface settlements for the large-diameter shield tunnels were presented.The technique is based on a velocity field model using more different truncated solid conical blocks to clarify the multiblock failure mechanism.Furthermore,the shape of blocks between the failure surface and the tunnel face was considered as an entire circle,and the supporting pressure was assumed as non-uniform distribution on the tunnel face and increased with the tunnel embedded depth.The ground surface settlements and failure mechanism above large-diameter shield tunnels were also investigated under different supporting pressures by the finite difference method.

Boundary effect of toppling failure based on three-dimensional mechanical model

Previous researches on the mechanical model of toppling failure mainly concentrated on twodimensional mechanical model(TwDM) analysis. The TwDM analysis assumes the width of the slab beam is unit width without considering the lateral constraint force. The assumed conditions are obviously different from the site conditions, thus there is a certain difference between the calculated results and the field work. A three-dimensional mechanical model(ThDM)of toppling failure was established, considering that the slab beam was mainly subject to self-weight, the frictional resistance of interlayer and lateral constraint force. Due to the progressive characteristics of toppling failure, the concept and the formula of the first fracture depth(FFD) of toppling was raised and constructed. The case study indicates that the ThDM is more effective and can be accurately used to calculate the toppling fracture depth of the slab beam. The FFD decreases proportionally with the increase of slab beam width. FFD grows fast when the slab beam width is less than 2.0 m and it tends to be stable when the slab beam width is above 2.0 m. The FFD decreases with the increase of the lateral constraint coefficient, indicating that the boundary condition of the free space is positively correlated with the stability and depth of toppling. This is a good explanation of the free space effect. This study provides a reference for the stability evaluation and prevention-control design of toppling slope in the future.

Optimization of Three-Dimensional Culture Conditions of HepG2 Cells with Response Surface Methodology Based on the VitroGel System

Objective This study optimizes three-dimensional(3D) culture conditions of HepG2 using response surface methodology(RSM) based on the VitroGel system to facilitate the cell model in vitro for liver tissues.Method HepG2 cell was 3D cultured on the VitroGel system.Cell viability was detected using Cell Counting Kit-8(CCK-8) assay of HepG2 lived cell numbers.The proliferation of HepG2 cell and clustering performance was measured via fluorescence staining test.Albumin concentration in the culture medium supernatant as an index of HepG2 cell biological function was measured with ELISA kit.Independent factor tests were conducted with three key factors:inoculated cell concentration,cultured time,and dilution degree of the hydrogel.The preliminary results of independent factor tests were used to determine the levels of factors for RSM.Result The selected optimal culture conditions are as follows:concentration of inoculated cells was4.44 × 10^(5)/mL,culture time was 4.86 days,and hydrogel dilution degree was 1:2.23.The result shows that under optimal conditions,the predicted optical density(OD) value of cell viability was 3.10 and measured 2.978 with a relative error of 3.94%.Conclusion This study serves as a reference for the 3D HepG2 culture and constructs liver tissues in vitro.Additionally,it provides the foundation for repeated dose high-throughput toxicity studies and other scientific research work.

Clinical Application of Surface Mode on Three-dimensional Ultrasonography: A Preliminary Study

To investigate the methodology and evaluate the clinical value of surface mode on three- dimensional ultrasonography (3DUS) in static anatomical structures, 62 patients with various diseases were studied. The equipment used here was Voluson 530D 3DUS imaging system and 3D volume trahsducer with frequency being 3. 0-5. 0 MHz. The 3DUS rendering method was surface mode. The results showed that: 1 ) Surface mode of 3DUS could demonstrate clearly the anatomical characteristics of the region-of-interest (ROI) and the inner wall of lesions or organs that contained fluid. The anatomic details, such as location, size, shape, and number of the ROI, could be visualized intuitively; 2) The outer anatomic features (e. g. contour, edge, configuration, etc. ) of some organs or lesions surrounded by fluid could be displayed clearly. It could be concluded that surface mode on 3DUS could provide more diagnostic information than two-dimensional ultrasonography (2DUS) in some cases and could served as a beneficial supplement to ZDUS in clinical practice.

Reply to Discussion on “A generalized three-dimensional failure criterion for rock masses”

General:Jaiswal and Shrivastva(2012)proposed the mathematical formulations,i.e.the J–S criterion for converting generalized H-B failure criterion into 3D smooth convex failure criterion at deviatoric plane.The J–S strength criterion is in two versions:uniform and variable extension ratio.It has been observed from the analysis that at uniform extension ratio,the required strength parameters are only UCS and m(other parameters such as Ls,a,b and c are related with m).In the case of variable extension ratio,extra parameter f is required along with UCS and m.Thus,it has minimal strength parameters compared to You strength criterion.Furthermore,You strength criterion does not obey the smooth convex condition at deviatoric plane.

Tubular limiting stream surface: “tornado” in three-dimensional vortical flow

A new physical structure of vortical flow, i.e., tubular limiting stream surface(TLSS), is reported. It is defined as a general mathematical structure for the physical flow field in the neighborhood of a singularity, and has a close relationship with limit cycles.The TLSS is a tornado-like structure, which separates a vortex into two regions, i.e., the inner region near the vortex axis and the outer region further away from the vortex axis.The flow particles in these two regions can approach to(or leave) the TLSS, but never could reach it.

Global Annual Mean Surface Air Temperature Anomalies and Their Link with Indian Summer Monsoon Failures

Analysis of the global mean annual temperature anomalies based on land and marine data for the last 88 years (1901-1988) of this century has been carried out with a view to find any relationship with failures in Indian summer monsoon rainfall. On the climatological scale (i.e. 30 years) it has been noticed that there is an abnormal increase in the frequency of drought years during epochs of global warming and cooling, while it is considerably less when global temperatures are near normal. Results are unchanged even when the data are filtered out for ENSO (El-Nino Southern Oscillation) effect.It has also been noticed that during warm and cold epochs in global temperatures the amount of summer monsoon rainfall decreases as compared to the rainfall during a normal temperature epoch.

Level Statistics Crossover of Chiral Surface States in a Three-Dimensional Quantum Hall System

Recent experiments have demonstrated the realization of the three-dimensional quantum Hall effect in highly anisotropic crystalline materials, such as ZrTe|_5 and BaMnSb_2. Such a system supports chiral surface states in the presence of a strong magnetic field, which exhibit a one-dimensional metal-insulator crossover due to suppression of surface diffusion by disorder potential. We study the nontrivial surface states in a lattice model and find a wide crossover of the level-spacing distribution through a semi-Poisson distribution. We also discover a nonmonotonic evolution of the level statistics due to the disorder-induced mixture of surface and bulk states.