The space and time distribution characteristics of the shear stress field for the sequence of the Wuding earthquake

Follow Chen and Duda's model of spectral fall-off of ω~3, the dependence of peak parameters of ground motion, peak displacement d_m, peak velocity vin and peak acceleration a_m, upon the environment stress τ_o-values are studied using near source seismic digital recordings for the sequence of the Wuding, Yunnan, M = 6.5 earthquake, in which, as a new thought, the peak parameters are assumed to be related to the medium Q-value. Three formulae for estimating the environment stress τ_o-values by the peak parameters of three types of ground motions are derived. Using these formulae, the environment stress τ_o-values are calculated for the sequence of the Wuding earthquake. The result show that τ_o-values calculated by the three formulae are constant largely, the averages of τ_o are in the range of 5.0-35 MPa for most earthquakes. It belongs to the high-stress earthquakes sequence: the high-stress values are restricted to the relatively small area closely near to the epicenter of the main shock. The fine distribu tion structure for the contours of the environment stress τ_o-values is related closely to the strong aftershocks. The analysis of spatial and temporal feature of To-values suggests that the earthquakes sequence in a rupture process generated at the specific intersection zone of seismo-tectonics under high-stress background.

Residual stress determination in friction stir butt welded joints using a digital image correlation-aided slitting technique

This paper presents an incremental cutting method for evaluating the longitudinal residual stresses in a butt welded thin plate via combining the traditional residual stress measurement methods and the advanced optical technique.The proposed approach,which can be called digital image correlation（DIC）-aided slitting technique,introduces a successive extension slot to a specimen and employs the DIC technique to measure the released displacement profiles of the cutting sections after each cutting increment.Then the displacement profiles are used to directly calculate the residual stress distributions up to the slot tip and hence,a stress distribution can be obtained after a cutting increment.Finally,all of the stress distributions are averaged to ultimately determine the original residual stress field.This method does not include any complex experimental operations or tedious derivation,and the resolution of stress variation is greatly improved by the continuous measurement of the released displacements.The presented method has been preliminarily verified by a specimen with residual stress introduced by a four-point bending test.The results show that residual stresses determined by the DIC-aided slitting technique agree well with those from finite element（FE） prediction.The residual stress in a friction stir welded aluminum specimen obtained by the presented technique is also consistent with the evaluations given by X-ray diffraction.Furthermore,the residual stresses obtained by the DIC-aided slitting technique demonstrate higher accuracy and stability than the evaluations derived by the DIC-aided contour method.

Evolving technologies for growing,imaging and analyzing 3D root system architecture of crop plants

A plant＇s ability to maintain or improve its yield under limiting conditions,such as nutrient de ficiency or drought,can be strongly in fluenced by root system architecture（RSA）,the three-dimensional distribution of the different root types in the soil. The ability to image,track and quantify these root system attributes in a dynamic fashion is a useful tool in assessing desirable genetic and physiological root traits. Recent advances in imaging technology and phenotyping software have resulted in substantive progress in describing and quantifying RSA. We have designed a hydroponic growth system which retains the three-dimensional RSA of the plant root system,while allowing for aeration,solution replenishment and the imposition of nutrient treatments,as well as high-quality imaging of the root system. The simplicity and flexibility of the system allows for modi fications tailored to the RSA of different crop species and improved throughput. This paper details the recent improvements and innovations in our root growth and imaging system which allows for greater image sensitivity（detection of fine roots and other root details）,higher ef ficiency,and a broad array of growing conditions for plants that more closely mimic those found under field conditions.