Numerical investigation of the effects of soil-structure and granular material-structure interaction on the seismic response of a flat-bottom reinforced concrete silo

In this work,a numerical study of the effects of soil-structure interaction(SSI)and granular material-structure interaction(GSI)on the nonlinear response and seismic capacity of flat-bottomed storage silos is conducted.A series of incremental dynamic analyses(IDA)are performed on a case of large reinforced concrete silo using 10 seismic recordings.The IDA results are given by two average IDA capacity curves,which are represented,as well as the seismic capacity of the studied structure,with and without a consideration of the SSI while accounting for the effect of GSI.These curves are used to quantify and evaluate the damage of the studied silo by utilizing two damage indices,one based on dissipated energy and the other on displacement and dissipated energy.The cumulative energy dissipation curves obtained by the average IDA capacity curves with and without SSI are presented as a function of the base shear,and these curves allow one to obtain the two critical points and the different limit states of the structure.It is observed that the SSI and GSI significantly influence the seismic response and capacity of the studied structure,particularly at higher levels of PGA.Moreover,the effect of the SSI reduces the damage index of the studied structure by 4%.

A METHOD FOR CALCULATING TRANSIENT FUNCTIONS OF EQUIVALENT DETERMINISTIC INPUT

In the present paper the analytical formulas for calculating the equivalent deterministic transients for multivariable cross correlated random processes are developed.The formulas permit the determination of the Root-mean-square of the responses of a linear time-invariant system to stationary multiple random inputs in the time domain.The method is applicable in the study of flight of airplanes in atmospheric turbulence and is also useful for general engineering applications of stochastc processes control.

Modeling wave propagation across rock masses using an enriched 3D numerical manifold method

The three-dimensional numerical manifold method(3DNMM) method is further enriched to simulate wave propagation across homogeneous/jointed rock masses. For the purpose of minimizing negative effects from artificial boundaries, a viscous nonreflecting boundary, which can effectively absorb the energy of a wave, is firstly adopted to enrich 3DNMM. Then, to simulate the elastic recovery property of an infinite problem domain, a viscoelastic boundary, which is developed from the viscous nonreflecting boundary, is further adopted to enrich 3DNMM. Finally, to eliminate the noise caused by scattered waves, a force input method which can input the incident wave correctly is incorporated into 3DNMM. Five typical numerical tests on P/S-wave propagation across jointed/homogeneous rock masses are conducted to validate the enriched 3DNMM. Numerical results indicate that wave propagation problems within homogeneous and jointed rock masses can be correctly and reliably modeled with the enriched 3DNMM.

Nonlinear Response of Tunnel Portal under Earthquake Waves with Different Vibration Directions

Tunnel portal sections often suffer serious damage in strong earthquake events.Earthquake waves may propagate in different directions,producing various dynamic responses in the tunnel portal.Based on the Galongla tunnel,which is located in a seismic region of China,three-dimensional seismic analysis is conducted to investigate the dynamic response of a tunnel portal subjected to earthquake waves with different vibration directions.In order to simulate the mechanic behavior of slope rock effectively,an elastoplastic damage model is adopted and applied to ABAQUS software by a self-compiled user material(UMAT)subroutine.Moreover,the seismic wave input method for tunnel portal is established to realize the seismic input under vertically incident earthquake waves with different vibration directions,e.g.,S waves with a vibration direction perpendicular or parallel to the tunnel axis and P waves with a vibration direction perpendicular to the tunnel axis.The numerical results indicate that the seismic response and damage mechanisms of the tunnel portal section are related to the vibration direction of the earthquake waves.For vertically incident S waves running perpendicular to the tunnel axis,the hoop tensile strain at the spandrel and arch foot and the hoop shear strain at the vault and arch bottom are the main contributors to the plastic damage of the tunnel.The strain is initially concentrated around the tunnel foot and spandrel,before shifting to the tunnel vault and bottom farther away from the tunnel entrance.For vertically incident S waves running parallel to the tunnel axis,very large hoop shear strain and plastic damage appear at the tunnel haunches.This strain first increases and then decreases with distance from the tunnel entrance.For vertically incident P waves running perpendicular to the tunnel axis,the maximum damage factor of the slope rock and the maximum plastic strain of the tunnel are significantly lower than for S waves.Moreover,with increasing distance from the tunnel entrance,the plastic damage to the tunnel lining rapidly decreases.

Design of space-centered interaction using invisible and intangible spatial inputs

In this paper,we investigate methodologies to improve direct-touch interaction on invisible and intangible spatial input.We firstly discuss about the motive of looking for a new input method for whole body interaction and how it can be meaningful.We also describe the role that can play spatial interaction to improve the freedom of interaction for a user.We propose a method of spatial centered interaction using invisible and intangible spatial inputs.However,given their lack of tactile feedback and visual representation,direct touch interaction on such input can be confused.In order to make a step toward understanding causes and solutions for such phenomena,we made 2 user experiments.In the first one,we test 5 setups of helper that provide information of the location of the input by constraining the dimension it is located at.The results show that using marker on the ground and a relationship with the height of the user’s body improve significantly the locative task.In the second experiment,we create a dancing game using invisible and intangible spatial inputs and we stress the results obtained in the first experiment within this cognitively demanding context.Results show that the same setup of helper is still providing very good results in that context.

Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling

Human beings are wired for stories.Throughout our existence,stories have been an integral part of our meaning making,and informational transportation.Stories are embedded in our biology.We do not just tell stories and hear stories,we experience stories emotionally and cognitively,and we feel stories physically in the body.Stories have been used in every aspect of human life,and have always been part of language teaching as well.Researches have shown that narrative films and readings help to develop empathy,perspective taking,understanding ourselves and others and increase literacy.TPRS is a fun and effective method in teaching foreign languages in a classroom setting.It takes advantage of the power of story in comprehensible input-oriented method.This paper describes what is TPRS and how it works.

An Efficient Spectral Method for Acoustic Scattering from Rough Surfaces

An efficient and accurate spectral method is presented for scattering problems with rough surfaces.A probabilistic framework is adopted by modeling the surface roughness as random process.An improved boundary perturbation technique is employed to transform the original Helmholtz equation in a random domain into a stochastic Helmholtz equation in a fixed domain.The generalized polynomial chaos(gPC)is then used to discretize the random space;and a Fourier-Legendre method to discretize the physical space.These result in a highly efficient and accurate spectral algorithm for acoustic scattering from rough surfaces.Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the present algorithm.

A useful method for determination of optimal fiber input power in spontaneous Brillouin-scattering-based sensing system

A method for the optimal fiber input power determination is presented by employing the variation characteristics of signal to noise ratio(SNR) in spontaneous Brillouin-scattering-based sensing system. And a heterodyne detection system is constructed for measuring the Brillouin scattering spectra with different fiber input powers. The Brillouin spectrum width and system SNR can be simultaneously measured from these spectra, and the optimal fiber input power can be obtained from such information. In the experiment, for 48.8-km-long standard single-mode fiber(SSMF), the optimal fiber input power values are all approximately 0 dBm obtained by the maximum SNR position for different local oscillator power values and average times.

Hanzix and Chinese Open System Platform

International use of the UNIX system in recent years provokes a need to expand its functionality. Extensions are needed to process data in various languages as the market requirement dictate[1,2]. With the advent of open systems and interfaces, the method of internationalization (I18N) has become standardized. Hanzix Association was founded by the fortitute of Software, The Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISAS, Beijing), Institute of Information Industry (III, Taipei) and Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK, Hong Kong), and its aim is to promote an open system standard for Chinese character (Hanzi) processing. This paper presents Hanzix, an open system environment to support Hanzi processing, including enhancemed recommended for Hanzi API,input method mechedsm, codeset conversion and armuncement, and reviews the current work.