Numerical Exploration of Asymmetrical Impact Dynamics: Unveiling Nonlinearities in Collision Problems and Resilience of Reinforced Concrete Structures

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of collision and impact problems’ numerical solutions, focusing ongeometric, contact, and material nonlinearities, all essential in solving large deformation problems during a collision.The initial discussion revolves around the stress and strain of large deformation during a collision, followedby explanations of the fundamental finite element solution method for addressing such issues. The hourglassmode’s control methods, such as single-point reduced integration and contact-collision algorithms are detailedand implemented within the finite element framework. The paper further investigates the dynamic responseand failure modes of Reinforced Concrete (RC) members under asymmetrical impact using a 3D discrete modelin ABAQUS that treats steel bars and concrete connections as bond slips. The model’s validity was confirmedthrough comparisons with the node-sharing algorithm and system energy relations. Experimental parameterswere varied, including the rigid hammer’s mass and initial velocity, concrete strength, and longitudinal and stirrupreinforcement ratios. Findings indicated that increased hammer mass and velocity escalated RC member damage,while increased reinforcement ratios improved impact resistance. Contrarily, increased concrete strength did notsignificantly reduce lateral displacement when considering strain rate effects. The study also explores materialnonlinearity, examining different materials’ responses to collision-induced forces and stresses, demonstratedthrough an elastic rod impact case study. The paper proposes a damage criterion based on the residual axialload-bearing capacity for assessing damage under the asymmetrical impact, showing a correlation betweendamage degree hammer mass and initial velocity. The results, validated through comparison with theoreticaland analytical solutions, verify the ABAQUS program’s accuracy and reliability in analyzing impact problems,offering valuable insights into collision and impact problems’ nonlinearities and practical strategies for enhancingRC structures’ resilience under dynamic stress.

Comparative Study of the Reliability and Complexity of Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Cryptosystems for the Protection of Academic Data in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In the digital age, the data exchanged within a company is a wealth of knowledge. The survival, growth and influence of a company in the short, medium and long term depend on it. Indeed, it is the lifeblood of any modern company. A companys operational and historical data contains strategic and operational knowledge of ever-increasing added value. The emergence of a new paradigm: big data. Today, the value of the data scattered throughout this mother of knowledge is calculated in billions of dollars, depending on its size, scope and area of intervention. With the rise of computer networks and distributed systems, the threats to these sensitive resources have steadily increased, jeopardizing the existence of the company itself by drying up production and losing the interest of customers and suppliers. These threats range from sabotage to bankruptcy. For several decades now, most companies have been using encryption algorithms to protect and secure their information systems against the threats and dangers posed by the inherent vulnerabilities of their infrastructure and the current economic climate. This vulnerability requires companies to make the right choice of algorithms to implement in their management systems. For this reason, the present work aims to carry out a comparative study of the reliability and effectiveness of symmetrical and asymmetrical cryptosystems, in order to identify one or more suitable for securing academic data in the DRC. The analysis of the robustness of commonly used symmetric and asymmetric cryptosystems will be the subject of simulations in this article.

Monte Carlo simulation of asymmetrical growth of cube-shaped nanoparticles

We simulated the asymmetrical growth of cube-shaped nanoparticles by applying the Monte Carlo method.The influence of the specific mechanisms on the crystal growth of nanoparticles has been phenomenologically described by efficient growth possibilities along different directions（or crystal faces）.The roles of the thermodynamic and kinetic factors have been evaluated in three phenomenological models.The simulation results would benefit the understanding about the cause and manner of the asymmetrical growth of nanoparticles.

Event-Triggered Asymmetric Bipartite Consensus Tracking for Nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems Based on Model-Free Adaptive Control

In this paper,an asymmetric bipartite consensus problem for the nonlinear multi-agent systems with cooperative and antagonistic interactions is studied under the event-triggered mechanism.For the agents described by a structurally balanced signed digraph,the asymmetric bipartite consensus objective is firstly defined,assigning the agents'output to different signs and module values.Considering with the completely unknown dynamics of the agents,a novel event-triggered model-free adaptive bipartite control protocol is designed based on the agents'triggered outputs and an equivalent compact form data model.By utilizing the Lyapunov analysis method,the threshold of the triggering condition is obtained.Subsequently,the asymptotic convergence of the tracking error is deduced and a sufficient condition is obtained based on the contraction mapping principle.Finally,the simulation example further demonstrates the effectiveness of the protocol.

Influence of asymmetric tidal mixing on sediment dynamics in a partially mixed estuary

To investigate the influence of asymmetric tidal mixing(ATM) on sediment dynamics in tidal estuaries, we developed a vertically one-dimensional idealized analytical model, in which the M_2 tidal flow, residual flow and suspended sediment concentration(SSC) are described. Model solutions are obtained in terms of tidallyaveraged, and tidally-varying components(M_2 and M_4) of both hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics. The effect of ATM was considered with a time-varying eddy viscosity and time-varying eddy diffusivity of SSC. For the first time, an analytical solution for SSC variation driven by varying diffusivity could be derived. The model was applied to York River Estuary, where higher(or lower) eddy diffusivity was observed during flood(or ebb) in a previous study. The model results agreed well with the observation in both hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics. The vertical sediment distribution under the influence of ATM was analyzed in terms of the phase lag of the M_2 component of SSC relative to tidal flow. The phase lag increases significantly in estuaries with typical ATM(higher diffusivity during flood and lower diffusivity during ebb) for the case of seaward-directed net bottom shear stress(e.g., strong river discharge). In contrary, the phase lag is reduced by ATM, if the tidally-averaged bottom shear stress is landward(e.g., strong horizontal density gradient). The dynamics of sediment transport was analyzed as a function of ATM phase lag to identify the time of highest sediment diffusivity, as well as a function of the residual flow, to evaluate the relative importance of seaward and landward residual flows. In estuaries with relative strong fresh water discharge or weak tidal forcing(in case of flood season or neap tide), the near bottom SSC could be higher during ebb than during flood, since the bottom shear stress is higher during ebb due to seaward residual flow. However, landward net sediment transport can be expected in these estuaries in case of a typical ATM, because higher diffusivity causes higher SSC and landward transport during the flood period, while both SSC and seaward transport could be lower during ebb. On the contrary, seaward sediment transport can be expected in estuaries with landward tidally mean bottom shear stress in case of a reverse ATM,where sediment diffusivity is higher during the ebb.

Coordinated Rotor-Side Control Strategy for Doubly-FedWind Turbine under Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Grid Faults

In order to solve the problems of rotor overvoltage,overcurrent and DC side voltage rise caused by grid voltage drops,a coordinated control strategy based on symmetrical and asymmetrical low voltage ride through of rotor side converter of the doubly-fed generator is proposed.When the power grid voltage drops symmetrically,the generator approximate equation under steady-state conditions is no longer applicable.Considering the dynamic process of stator current excitation,according to the change of stator flux and the depth of voltage drop,the system can dynamically provide reactive power support for parallel nodes and suppress the rise of DC side voltage and rotor over-current.When the grid voltage drops asymmetrically,the positive and negative sequence components are separated in the rotating coordinate system.The doubly fed generator model is established to suppress the rotor positive sequence current and negative sequence current respectively.At the same time,the output voltage limit of the converter is discussed,and the reference value is adjusted within the allowable output voltage range.In order to adapt to the occurrence of different types of power grid faults and complex operating conditions,a fast switching module of fault type detection and rotor control mode is designed to detect the type of power grid faults and voltage drop depth in real time and switch the rotor side control mode dynamically.Finally,the simulation model of the doubly fed wind turbine is constructed in Matlab/Simulink.The simulation results verify that the proposed control strategy can improve the low-voltage ride through performance of the system when dealing with the symmetrical and asymmetric voltage drop of the power grid and identify the power grid fault type and provide the correct control strategy.

Thermal Properties of Earth Bricks Stabilised with Cement and Sawdust Residue Using the Asymmetrical Hot-Plane Method

This paper presents an experimental study of the characterisation of local materials used in the construction and thermal insulation of buildings. These materials are compressed earth bricks stabilised with cement and sawdust. The thermal conductivity, diffusivity, effusivity, and specific heat of earth-based materials containing cement or sawdust have been determined. The results show that the blocks with earth + sawdust are better thermal insulators than the blocks with simple earth. We observe an improvement in thermal efficiency depending on the presence of sawdust or cement stabilisers. For cement stabilisation, the thermal conductivity increases (λ: 1.04 to 1.36 W·m-1·K-1), the diffusivity increases (from 4.32 × 10-7 to 9.82 × 10-7 m2·s-1), and the effusivity decreases (1404 - 1096 J·m-2·K-1·s-1/2). For sawdust stabilisation, the thermal conductivity decreases (λ: 1.04 to 0.64 W·m-1·K-1), the diffusivity increases (from 4.32 × 10-7 to 5.9 × 10-7 m2·s-1), and the effusivity decreases (1404 - 906 J·m-2·K-1·s-1/2). Improving the structural and thermal efficiency of BTC via stabilisation with derived binders or cement is beneficial for the load-bearing capacity and thermal performance of buildings.

Dynamics and vibration reduction performance of asymmetric tristable nonlinear energy sink

With its complex nonlinear dynamic behavior,the tristable system has shown excellent performance in areas such as energy harvesting and vibration suppression,and has attracted a lot of attention.In this paper,an asymmetric tristable design is proposed to improve the vibration suppression efficiency of nonlinear energy sinks(NESs)for the first time.The proposed asymmetric tristable NES(ATNES)is composed of a pair of oblique springs and a vertical spring.Then,the three stable states,symmetric and asymmetric,can be achieved by the adjustment of the distance and stiffness asymmetry of the oblique springs.The governing equations of a linear oscillator(LO)coupled with the ATNES are derived.The approximate analytical solution to the coupled system is obtained by the harmonic balance method(HBM)and verified numerically.The vibration suppression efficiency of three types of ATNES is compared.The results show that the asymmetric design can improve the efficiency of vibration reduction through comparing the chaotic motion of the NES oscillator between asymmetric steady states.In addition,compared with the symmetrical tristable NES(TNES),the ATNES can effectively control smaller structural vibrations.In other words,the ATNES can effectively solve the threshold problem of TNES failure to weak excitation.Therefore,this paper reveals the vibration reduction mechanism of the ATNES,and provides a pathway to expand the effective excitation amplitude range of the NES.

Activation Redistribution Based Hybrid Asymmetric Quantization Method of Neural Networks

The demand for adopting neural networks in resource-constrained embedded devices is continuously increasing.Quantization is one of the most promising solutions to reduce computational cost and memory storage on embedded devices.In order to reduce the complexity and overhead of deploying neural networks on Integeronly hardware,most current quantization methods use a symmetric quantization mapping strategy to quantize a floating-point neural network into an integer network.However,although symmetric quantization has the advantage of easier implementation,it is sub-optimal for cases where the range could be skewed and not symmetric.This often comes at the cost of lower accuracy.This paper proposed an activation redistribution-based hybrid asymmetric quantizationmethod for neural networks.The proposedmethod takes data distribution into consideration and can resolve the contradiction between the quantization accuracy and the ease of implementation,balance the trade-off between clipping range and quantization resolution,and thus improve the accuracy of the quantized neural network.The experimental results indicate that the accuracy of the proposed method is 2.02%and 5.52%higher than the traditional symmetric quantization method for classification and detection tasks,respectively.The proposed method paves the way for computationally intensive neural network models to be deployed on devices with limited computing resources.Codes will be available on https://github.com/ycjcy/Hybrid-Asymmetric-Quantization.

Asymmetric Drying and Wetting Trends in Eastern and Western China

As an important factor that directly affects agricultural production, the social economy, and policy implementation,observed changes in dry/wet conditions have become a matter of widespread concern. However, previous research has mainly focused on the long-term linear changes of dry/wet conditions, while the detection and evolution of the non-linear trends related to dry/wet changes have received less attention. The non-linear trends of the annual aridity index, obtained by the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition(EEMD) method, reveal that changes in dry/wet conditions in China are asymmetric and can be characterized by contrasting features in both time and space in China. Spatially, most areas in western China have experienced transitions from drying to wetting, while opposite changes have occurred in most areas of eastern China. Temporally, the transitions occurred earlier in western China compared to eastern China. Research into the asymmetric spatial characteristics of dry/wet conditions compensates for the inadequacies of previous studies, which focused solely on temporal evolution;at the same time, it remedies the inadequacies of traditional research on linear trends over centennial timescales. Analyzing the non-linear trend also provides for a more comprehensive understanding of the drying/wetting changes in China.

Effects of asymmetric coupling and boundary on the dynamic behaviors of a random nearest neighbor coupled system

This study investigates the dynamical behaviors of nearest neighbor asymmetric coupled systems in a confined space.First, the study derivative analytical stability and synchronization conditions for the asymmetrically coupled system in an unconfined space, which are then validated through numerical simulations. Simulation results show that asymmetric coupling has a significant impact on synchronization conditions. Moreover, it is observed that irrespective of whether the system is confined, an increase in coupling asymmetry leads to a hastened synchronization pace. Additionally, the study examines the effects of boundaries on the system's collective behaviors via numerical experiments. The presence of boundaries ensures the system's stability and synchronization, and reducing these boundaries can expedite the synchronization process and amplify its effects. Finally, the study reveals that the system's output amplitude exhibits stochastic resonance as the confined boundary size increases.

Night warming increases wheat yield by improving pre-anthesis plant growth and post-anthesis grain starch biosynthesis

Global climate change is characterized by asymmetric warming,i.e.,greater temperature increases in winter,spring,and nighttime than in summer,autumn,and daytime.Field experiments were conducted using four wheat cultivars,namely‘Yangmai 18’(YM18),‘Sumai 188’(SM188),‘Yannong 19’(YN19),and‘Annong 0711’(AN0711),in the two growing seasons of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021,with passive night warming during different periods in the early growth stage.The treatments were night warming during the tillering-jointing(NW_(T-J)),jointing-booting(NWJ-B),and booting-anthesis(NWB-A)stages,with ambient temperature(NN)as the control.The effects of night warming during different stages on wheat yield formation were investigated by determining the characteristics of dry matter accumulation and translocation,as well as sucrose and starch accumulation in wheat grains.The wheat yields of all four cultivars were significantly higher in NW_(T-J)than in NN in the 2-year experiment.The yield increases of semi-winter cultivars YN19 and AN0711 were greater than those of spring cultivars YM18 and SM188.Treatment NW_(T-J)increased wheat yield mainly by increasing the 1,000-grain weight and the number of fertile spikelets,and it increased dry matter accumulation in various organs of wheat at the anthesis and maturity stages by increasing the growth rate at the vegetative growth stage.The flag leaf and spike showed the largest increases in dry matter accumulation.NW_(T-J)also increased the grain sucrose and starch contents in the early and middle grain-filling stages,promoting yield formation.Overall,night warming between the tillering and jointing stages increased the pre-anthesis growth rate,and thus,wheat dry matter production,which contributed to an increase in wheat yield.

Enhanced and asymmetric signatures of hybridization at climatic margins: Evidence from closely related dioecious fig species

Hybridization plays a significant role in biological evolution. However, it is not clear whether ecological contingency differentially influences likelihood of hybridization, particularly at ecological margins where parental species may exhibit reduced fitnesses. Moreover, it is unknown whether future ecosystem change will increase the prevalence of hybridization. Ficus heterostyla and F. squamosa are closely related species co-distributed from southern Thailand to southwest China where hybridization, yielding viable seeds, has been documented. As a robust test of ecological factors driving hybridization, we investigated spatial hybridization signatures based on nuclear microsatellites from extensive population sampling across a widespread contact range. Both species showed high population differentiation and strong patterns of isolation by distance. Admixture estimates exposed asymmetric interspecific gene flow.Signatures of hybridization increase significantly towards higher latitude zones, peaking at the northern climatic margins. Geographic variation in reproductive phenology combined with ecologically challenging marginal habitats may promote this phenomenon. Our work is a first systematic evaluation of such patterns in a comprehensive, latitudinally-based clinal context, and indicates that tendency to hybridize appears strongly influenced by environmental conditions. Moreover, that future climate change scenarios will likely alter and possibly augment cases of hybridization at ecosystem scales.

Decentralized Optimal Control and Stabilization of Interconnected Systems With Asymmetric Information

The paper addresses the decentralized optimal control and stabilization problems for interconnected systems subject to asymmetric information.Compared with previous work,a closed-loop optimal solution to the control problem and sufficient and necessary conditions for the stabilization problem of the interconnected systems are given for the first time.The main challenge lies in three aspects:Firstly,the asymmetric information results in coupling between control and estimation and failure of the separation principle.Secondly,two extra unknown variables are generated by asymmetric information(different information filtration)when solving forward-backward stochastic difference equations.Thirdly,the existence of additive noise makes the study of mean-square boundedness an obstacle.The adopted technique is proving and assuming the linear form of controllers and establishing the equivalence between the two systems with and without additive noise.A dual-motor parallel drive system is presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm.

Acoustic Bilayer Gradient Metasurfaces for Perfect and Asymmetric Beam Splitting

We experimentally and theoretically present a paradigm for the accurate bilayer design of gradient metasurfaces for wave beam manipulation,producing an extremely asymmetric splitting effect by simply tailoring the interlayer size.This concept arises from anomalous diffraction in phase gradient metasurfaces and the precise combination of the phase gradient in bilayer metasurfaces.Ensured by different diffraction routes in momentum space for incident beams from opposite directions,extremely asymmetric acoustic beam splitting can be generated in a robust way,as demonstrated in experiments through a designed bilayer system.Our work provides a novel approach and feasible platform for designing tunable devices to control wave propagation.

Dynamics of information diffusion and disease transmission in time-varying multiplex networks with asymmetric activity levels

While the interaction between information and disease in static networks has been extensively investigated,many studies have ignored the characteristics of network evolution.In this study,we construct a new two-layer coupling model to explore the interactions between information and disease.The upper layer describes the diffusion of disease-related information,and the lower layer represents the disease transmission.We then use power-law distributions to examine the influence of asymmetric activity levels on dynamic propagation,revealing a mapping relationship characterizing the interconnected propagation of information and diseases among partial nodes within the network.Subsequently,we derive the disease outbreak threshold by using the microscopic Markov-chain approach(MMCA).Finally,we perform extensive Monte Carlo(MC)numerical simulations to verify the accuracy of our theoretical results.Our findings indicate that the activity levels of individuals in the disease transmission layer have a more significant influence on disease transmission compared with the individual activity levels in the information diffusion layer.Moreover,reducing the damping factor can delay disease outbreaks and suppress disease transmission,while improving individual quarantine measures can contribute positively to disease control.This study provides valuable insights into policymakers for developing outbreak prevention and control strategies.

Failure mechanism and safety control technology of a composite strata roadway in deep and soft rock masses:a case study

The construction of coal mines often encounters deep composite soft rock roadways,which is characterized by significant deformation and poor stability.To deeply study the failure mechanism and large deformation challenges of a composite strata roadway in deep and soft rock masses,a numerical model of 3DEC tetrahedral blocks was established based on the method of rock quality designation(RQD).The results showed that original support cannot prevent asymmetric failure and large deformation due to the adverse geological environment and unsuitable support design.According to the failure characteristics,a coupling support of“NPR bolt/cable+mesh+shotcrete+steel pipe”was proposed to control the stability of the surrounding rock.The excellent mechanical properties of large deformation(approximately 400 mm)and high constant resistance force(bolt with 180 k N;cable with 350 k N)were evaluated by the tensile tests.The numerical results showed that the maximum deformation was minimized to 243 mm,and the bearing capacity of the surrounding rock of the roadway was enhanced.The field test results showed that the maximum deformation of the surrounding rock was 210 mm,and the forces of the NPR bolt and cable were stable at approximately 180 k N and 350 k N,respectively.This demonstrated the effectiveness of the coupling support with the NPR bolt and cable,which could be a guiding significance for the safety control of large deformation and failure in deep composite soft rock roadways.

Coexistence behavior of asymmetric attractors in hyperbolic-type memristive Hopfield neural network and its application in image encryption

The neuron model has been widely employed in neural-morphic computing systems and chaotic circuits.This study aims to develop a novel circuit simulation of a three-neuron Hopfield neural network(HNN)with coupled hyperbolic memristors through the modification of a single coupling connection weight.The bistable mode of the hyperbolic memristive HNN(mHNN),characterized by the coexistence of asymmetric chaos and periodic attractors,is effectively demonstrated through the utilization of conventional nonlinear analysis techniques.These techniques include bifurcation diagrams,two-parameter maximum Lyapunov exponent plots,local attractor basins,and phase trajectory diagrams.Moreover,an encryption technique for color images is devised by leveraging the mHNN model and asymmetric structural attractors.This method demonstrates significant benefits in correlation,information entropy,and resistance to differential attacks,providing strong evidence for its effectiveness in encryption.Additionally,an improved modular circuit design method is employed to create the analog equivalent circuit of the memristive HNN.The correctness of the circuit design is confirmed through Multisim simulations,which align with numerical simulations conducted in Matlab.

12.6μm-Thick Asymmetric Composite Electrolyte with Superior Interfacial Stability for Solid-State Lithium-Metal Batteries

Solid-state lithium metal batteries(SSLMBs)show great promise in terms of high-energy-density and high-safety performance.However,there is an urgent need to address the compatibility of electrolytes with high-voltage cathodes/Li anodes,and to minimize the electrolyte thickness to achieve highenergy-density of SSLMBs.Herein,we develop an ultrathin(12.6μm)asymmetric composite solid-state electrolyte with ultralight areal density(1.69 mg cm^(−2))for SSLMBs.The electrolyte combining a garnet(LLZO)layer and a metal organic framework(MOF)layer,which are fabricated on both sides of the polyethylene(PE)separator separately by tape casting.The PE separator endows the electrolyte with flexibility and excellent mechanical properties.The LLZO layer on the cathode side ensures high chemical stability at high voltage.The MOF layer on the anode side achieves a stable electric field and uniform Li flux,thus promoting uniform Li^(+)deposition.Thanks to the well-designed structure,the Li symmetric battery exhibits an ultralong cycle life(5000 h),and high-voltage SSLMBs achieve stable cycle performance.The assembled pouch cells provided a gravimetric/volume energy density of 344.0 Wh kg^(−1)/773.1 Wh L^(−1).This simple operation allows for large-scale preparation,and the design concept of ultrathin asymmetric structure also reveals the future development direction of SSLMBs.

Asymmetric Electrolytes Design for Aqueous Multivalent Metal Ion Batteries

With the rapid development of portable electronics and electric road vehicles,high-energy-density batteries have been becoming front-burner issues.Traditionally,homogeneous electrolyte cannot simultaneously meet diametrically opposed demands of high-potential cathode and low-potential anode,which are essential for high-voltage batteries.Meanwhile,homogeneous electrolyte is difficult to achieve bi-or multi-functions to meet different requirements of electrodes.In comparison,the asymmetric electrolyte with bi-or multi-layer disparate components can satisfy distinct requirements by playing different roles of each electrolyte layer and meanwhile compensates weakness of individual electrolyte.Consequently,the asymmetric electrolyte can not only suppress by-product sedimentation and continuous electrolyte decomposition at the anode while preserving active substances at the cathode for high-voltage batteries with long cyclic lifespan.In this review,we comprehensively divide asymmetric electrolytes into three categories:decoupled liquid-state electrolytes,bi-phase solid/liquid electrolytes and decoupled asymmetric solid-state electrolytes.The design principles,reaction mechanism and mutual compatibility are also studied,respectively.Finally,we provide a comprehensive vision for the simplification of structure to reduce costs and increase device energy density,and the optimization of solvation structure at anolyte/catholyte interface to realize fast ion transport kinetics.