Spatial Distribution and Influencing Factors of Urban Shrinkage from the Perspective of Factor Flow - A Case Study of National Urban Agglomerations

This paper examines national urban agglomerations by taking factor flows as the focal point as the research subject.By dividing the stages of urban agglomeration development,a comprehensive framework of urban shrinkage is constructed,encompassing economic,population,and social shrinkage.The study explores the spatial distribution characteristics of urban shrinkage during different stages of urban agglomeration and investigates the influencing factors using a geographic detector model.The findings reveal that urban shrinkage within urban agglomerations is widely spread,predominantly in peripheral areas.During the diffusion stage,urban shrinkage is scattered,with population shrinkage concentrated in peripheral regions,economic shrinkage concentrated on old industrial cities,and social shrinkage concentrated on the northeast.The outcomes of the geographic detector model indicate that traffic flow,capital flow,information flow,node importance,network connectivity,government investment,openness,and environmental regulations all play significant roles in shaping the spatial distribution of urban shrinkage.

Sap Flow of Abies georgei var. smithii and Its Relationship with the Environment Factors in the Tibetan Subalpine Region, China

Abies georgei var. smithii is a dominant species playing an important role in protecting biodiversity and sustaining the forestry ecosystems in Southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Stem sap flows of five different diameters at the breast height(DBH) A. georgei var. smithii samples were monitored continuously with the thermal dissipation probe for the entire growing period in order to understand the water transportation mechanism and the effects of environmental factors on its transpiration and growth. Relative environment factors, temperature and humidity of air, photosynthetically active radiation, rainfall, and wind speed, soil moisture, etc. were measured by the automatic weather stations. Diurnal and seasonal variations in sap flow rate with the different stem diameters and their correlations with meteorological factors were analyzed. The diurnal change in sap flow velocity showed a single-peak curve at the daily time scale, whereas a lower sap flow velocity can be observed in the largest DBH sample tree at night. The maximum average velocity was observed in August, whereas the minimum velocity was observed in January, and a large amount of water evaporated in summer owing to the higher sap flow velocity. In addition, sap flow velocity was closely related to changes in the micrometeorological factors, with average sap flow velocity showing significant linear correlations with air temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, rainfall, and vapor pressure deficit of air and soil moisture. Therefore, some measures, improving the light and temperature conditions, should be taken for protecting A. georgei var. smithii population in the Tibetan Plateau.

Energy analysis of stability on shallow tunnels based on non-associated flow rule and non-linear failure criterion

On the basis of upper bound theorem, non-associated flow rule and non-linear failure criterion were considered together.The modified shear strength parameters of materials were obtained with the help of the tangent method. Employing the virtual power principle and strength reduction technique, the effects of dilatancy of materials, non-linear failure criterion, pore water pressure,surface loads and buried depth, on the stability of shallow tunnel were studied. In order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the solutions in the present work agree well with the existing results when the non-associated flow rule is reduced to the associated flow rule and the non-linear failure criterion is degenerated to the linear failure criterion. Compared with dilatancy of materials, the non-linear failure criterion exerts greater impact on the stability of shallow tunnels. The safety factor of shallow tunnels decreases and the failure surface expands outward when the dilatancy coefficient decreases. While the increase of nonlinear coefficient, the pore water pressure coefficient, the surface load and the buried depth results in the small safety factor. Therefore, the dilatancy as well as non-linear failure criterion should be taken into account in the design of shallow tunnel supporting structure. The supporting structure must be reinforced promptly to prevent potential mud from gushing or collapse accident in the areas with abundant pore water, large surface load or buried depth.

Water slip flow in superhydrophobic microtubes within laminar flow region

The fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces and the studies on water flow characteristics therein are of great significance to many industrial areas as well as to science and technology development. Experiments were car- ried out to investigate slip characteristics of water flowing in circular superhydrophobic microtubes within lam- inar flow region. The superhydrophobic microtubes of stainless steel were fabricated with chemical etching- fluorination treatment. An experimental setup was designed to measure the pressure drop as function of water flow rate. For comparison, superhydrophilic tubes were also tested. Poiseuille number Po was found to be smaller for the superhydrophobic microtubes than that for superhydrophilic ones. The pressure drop reduc- tion ranges from 8% to 31%. It decreases with increasing Reynolds number when Re 〈 900, owing to the transition from Cassie state to Wenze] state. However, it is almost unchanged with further increasing Re after Re 〉 900. The slip length in superhydrophobic microtubes also exhibits a Reynolds number dependence similarly to the pressure drop reduction. The relation between slip length and Darcy friction factor is theoretically analyzed with consideration of surface roughness effect, which was testified with the experimental results.

New application of open source data and Rock Engineering System for debris flow susceptibility analysis

This research describes a quantitative,rapid,and low-cost methodology for debris flow susceptibility evaluation at the basin scale using open-access data and geodatabases.The proposed approach can aid decision makers in land management and territorial planning,by first screening for areas with a higher debris flow susceptibility.Five environmental predisposing factors,namely,bedrock lithology,fracture network,quaternary deposits,slope inclination,and hydrographic network,were selected as independent parameters and their mutual interactions were described and quantified using the Rock Engineering System(RES)methodology.For each parameter,specific indexes were proposed,aiming to provide a final synthetic and representative index of debris flow susceptibility at the basin scale.The methodology was tested in four basins located in the Upper Susa Valley(NW Italian Alps)where debris flow events are the predominant natural hazard.The proposed matrix can represent a useful standardized tool,universally applicable,since it is independent of type and characteristic of the basin.

Stress-drop effect on brittleness evaluation of rock materials

Uniaxial or triaxial compression test of cylindrical rock specimens using rock mechanics testing machine is a basic experimental method to study the strength and deformation characteristics of rock and the development process of rock fracture. Extensive literature review has been conducted on this issue;meanwhile, experimental and numerical studies have been conducted on the stress-drop effect on the brittleness of rock materials. A plastic flow factor of λ is proposed to describe the stress-drop effect. Evaluation methods of the factor λ corresponding to the four yield criteria of rock mass are proposed. Those four yield criteria are Tresca criterion, von-Mises criterion, Mohr-Coulomb criterion and Drucker-Prager criterion. For simplicity purposes, an engineering approximation approach has been proposed to evaluate the stress-drop with a non-zero strain increment. Numerical simulation results validated the effectiveness of the plastic flow factors λ as well as the engineering approximation approach. Based on the results in this study, finite element code can be programmed for brittle materials with stress-drop, which has the potential to be readily incorporated in finite element codes.

A MIXED LUBRICATION MODEL MODIFIED BY SURFACES' FRACTAL CHARACTERISTICS

Fractal characteristics are introduced into solving lubrication problems. Based on the analysis of the relationship between roughness and engineering surfaces' fractal characteristics and by introducing fractal parameters into the mixed lubrication equation, the relationship between flow factors and fractal dimensions is analyzed. The results show that the pressure flow factors' values increase, while the shear flow factor decreases, with the increasing length to width ratio of a representative asperity γ at the same fractal dimension. It can be also found that these factors experience more irregular and significant variations and show the higher resolution and the local optimal and the worst fractal dimensions, by a fractal dimension D , compared with the oil film thickness to roughness ratio h/R q . As an example of application of the model to solve the lubrication of the piston skirt in an engine, the frictional force and the load capacity of the oil film in a cylinder were analyzed. The results reveal that the oil film frictional force and the load capacity fluctuate with increasing fractal dimension, showing big values at the small D and smaller ones and slightly variable in the range of bigger one, at the same crank angle.

ERRATUM TO “CHARACTERISTICS OF PRESSURE DROP AND CORRELATION OF FRICTION FACTORS FOR SINGLE-PHASE FLOW IN ROLLING HORIZONTAL PIPE”

This is the erratum to the article [zhang Jin-hong, Yan Chang-qi, Gao Pu-zhen, Journal of Hydrodynamics, 2009, 21(5)]. The Fig.5 is corrected.

The Phenomenal Alleviation of Transmission Congestion by Optimally Placed Multiple Distributed Generators Using PSO

In the current electricity paradigm, the rapid elevation of demands in industrial sector and the process of restructuring are the main causes for the overuse of transmission systems. Hence, the evolution of novel technology is the ultimate need to avoid the damages in the available transmission systems. An appreciable volume of renewable energy sources is used to produce electric power, after the implementation of deregulation in power system. Even though, they are intended to improve the reliability of power system, the unpredictable outages of generators or transmission lines, an impulsive increase in demand and the sudden failures of vital equipment cause transmission congestion in one or some transmission lines. Generation rescheduling and load shedding can be used to alleviate congestion, but some cases require quite few improved methods. With the extensive application of Distributed Generation (DG), congestion management is also performed by the optimal placement of DGs. Therefore, this research employs a Line Flow Sensitivity Factor (LFSF) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) for the determination of optimal location and size of multiple DG units, respectively. This proposed problem is formulated to minimize the total system losses and real power flow performance index. This approach is experimented in modified IEEE-30 bus test system. The results of N-1 contingency analysis with DG units prove the competence of this proposed approach, since the total numbers of congested lines get reduced from 15 to 2. Hence, the results show that the proposed approach is robust and simple in alleviating transmission congestion by the optimal placement and sizing of multiple DG units.

The Realization of a Strong Trade Power and China’s Direct Investment in SCO Countries

China’s path to becoming a strong trade power can be divided into three levels:the micro level of promoting factor cultivation,the meso level of achieving industrial dominance,and the macro level of participating in the establishment of the world system.As a feature of globalization,factor flow is the foundation and key to achieve the above three-level goals.In the first stage of reform and opening-up,China complied with the globalization characteristics of factor flow and gathered a large number of capital factors.It is now the second stage of reform and opening-up;that is,the stage of export-oriented investment.International investment may help in the path to become a strong trade power,or it may become an obstacle.The maximization of benefits and evasion of disadvantages are influenced by the grasp of investment risks.Therefore,special attention should be paid to identifying potential risks and controlling risks.

Hydraulic characteristics of an anaerobic baffled reactor as onsite wastewater treatment system

The feasibility of using anaerobic baffled reactor （ABR） as onsite wastewater treatment system was discussed. The ABR consisted of one sedimentation chamber and three up-flow chambers in series was experimented under different peak flow factors （PFF of 1 to 6）, superficial gas velocities （between 0.6 and 3.1 cm/hr） and hydraulic retention times （HRT） （24, 36 and 48 hr）. Residence time distribution （RTD） analyses were carded out to investigate the hydraulic characteristics of the ABR. It was found that the PFF resulted in hydraulic dead space. The dead space did not exceed 13% at PFF of 1, 2 and 4 while there was 2-fold increase （26%） at PFF of 6. Superficial gas velocities did not result in more （biological） dead space. The mixing pattern of ABR tended to be a completely- mixed reactor when PFF increased. Superficial gas velocities did not affect mixing pattern. The effects of PFF on mixing pattern could be minimized by higher HRT （48 hr）. The tank-in-series （TIS） model （N = 4） was suitable to describe the hydraulic behaviour of the studied system. The HRT of 48 hr was able to maintain the mixing pattern under different flow patterns, introducing satisfactory hydraulic efficiency. Chemical oxygen demand （COD） and total suspended solids （TSS） removals under all flow patterns were achieved more than 85% and 90%, respectively. The standard deviation of effluent COD and TSS concentration did not exceed 15 mg/L.

Study and Application of Camber Control Model of Intermediate Slab in Rough Rolling

In order to solve the camber problem of intermediate slab in a domestic conventional hot rolling mill, a three dimensional elastic-plastic dynamic model was built through finite element method to quantitatively calculate the influence of lateral flow factors in different entry thicknesses, reductions, reduction ratios differences on both sides and width factors. Thus, the extending difference at outlet of intermediate slab in length was transformed into thickness difference on both sides by the results, and then the tilting value of roll gap reduction to control the camber was calculated. Based on the above results, the camber control model of intermediate slab in rough rolling was estab- lished. The practical application on the rough rolling mill obtained a decent control effect, and it proved that this model had a high accuracy.

Postrift Rapid Subsidence Characters in Qiongdongnan Basin,South China Sea

In this article,the backstripping technique was used in studying the subsidence charac-ters of the Qiongdongnan（琼东南） basin（QDNB） in order to understand its dynamic mechanism of formation and evolution.Meanwhile,the geothermal characteristics of this area were summarized,and the stretching factors（β） of the upper crust,the whole crust,and the whole lithosphere were calculated.The QDNB is characterized by high subsidence rate,high geothermal gradient,high geothermal heat flow,and the lithosphere stretching and thinning of this area are depth dependent.An asthenosphere zone must have been confined under the lithosphere of Southeast Asian continent because of the mutual subductions of the Eurasian plate,the Pacific plate,the Indian-Australian plate,and the Philippine Sea plate.These characters indicate that strong mantle convection occurred and the lower crust materials flowed away in the domain,which lead to the rapid flexural isostasy subsidence of the upper crust and the uplift of the asthenosphere.