Buckling of un—stiffened cylindrical shell under non—uniform axial compressive stress

This paper provides a review of recent research advances and trends in the area of stability of unstiffened circular cylindrical shells subjected to general non-uniform axial compressive stresses.Only the more important and interesting aspects of the research,judged from a personal viewpoint,are discussed.They can be crudely classified into four categories:(1) shells subjected to non-uniform loads;(2) shells on discrete supports;(3) shells with intended cutouts/holes;and (4) shells with non-uniform settlements.

An improved binarization algorithm of wood image defect segmentation based on non-uniform background

In this study,an image binarization optimization algorithm,based on local threshold algorithms,is proposed because global and traditional local threshold segmentation algorithms cannot effectively address the problems of nonuniform backgrounds of wood defect images.The proposed algorithm calculates the threshold by the mean,standard deviation and the extreme value of the window.The results indicate that this modified algorithm enhances the image segmentation for wood defect images on a complex background,which is much superior to the global threshold algorithm and the Bernsen algorithm,and slightly better than the Niblack algorithm and Sauvola algorithm.Compared with similar models,the algorithm proposed in this paper has higher segmentation accuracy,as high as 92.6%for wood defect images with a complex background.

Experimental Study on Occupant's Thermal Responses under the Non-uniform Conditions in Vehicle Cabin during the Heating Period

The existing investigations on thermal comfort mostly focus on the thermal environment conditions, especially of the air-flow field and the temperature distributions in vehicle cabin. Less attention appears to direct to the thermal comfort or thermal sensation of occupants, even to the relationship between thermal conditions and thermal sensation. In this paper, a series of experiments were designed and conducted for understanding the non-uniform conditions and the occupant＇s thermal responses in vehicle cabin during the heating period. To accurately assess the transient temperature distribution in cabin in common daily condition, the air temperature at a number of positions is measured in a full size vehicle cabin under natural winter environment in South China by using a discrete thermocouples network. The occupant body is divided into nine segments, the skin temperature at each segment and the occupant＇s local thermal sensation at the head, body, upper limb and lower limb are monitored continuously. The skin temperature is observed by using a discrete thermocouples network, and the local thermal sensation is evaluated by using a seven-point thermal comfort survey questionnaire proposed by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc（ASHRAE） Standard. The relationship between the skin temperature and the thermal sensation is discussed and regressed by statistics method. The results show that the interior air temperature is highly non-uniform over the vehicle cabin. The locations where the occupants sit have a significant effect on the occupant＇s thermal responses, including the skin temperature and the thermal sensation. The skin temperaWa-e and thermal sensation are quite different between body segments due to the effect of non-uniform conditions, clothing resistance, and the human thermal regulating system. A quantitative relationship between the thermal sensation and the skin temperature at each body segment of occupant in real life traffic is presented. The investigation result indicates that the skin temperature is a robust index to evaluate the thermal sensation. Applying the skin temperature to designing and controlling parameters of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning（HVAC） system may benefit the thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption.

Turbulent Variance Characteristics of Temperature and Humidity over a Non-uniform Land Surface for an Agricultural Ecosystem in China

This paper describes the application of the variance method for flux estimation over a mixed agricultural region in China. Eddy covariance and flux variance measurements were conducted in a near-surface layer over a non-uniform land surface in the central plain of China from 7 June to 20 July 2002. During this period, the mean canopy height was about 0.50 m. The study site consisted of grass （10% of area）, beans （15%）, corn （15%） and rice （60%）. Under unstable conditions, the standard deviations of temperature and water vapor density （normalized by appropriate scaling parameters）, observed by a single instrument, followed the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. The similarity constants for heat （CT） and water vapor （Cq） were 1.09 and 1.49, respectively. In comparison with direct measurements using eddy covariance techniques, the flux variance method, on average, underestimated sensible heat flux by 21% and latent heat flux by 24%, which may be attributed to the fact that the observed slight deviations （20% or 30% at most） of the similarity ＂constants＂ may be within the expected range of variation of a single instrument from the generally-valid relations.

Free vibration of non-uniform axially functionally graded beams using the asymptotic development method

The asymptotic development method is applied to analyze the free vibration of non-uniform axially functionally graded(AFG) beams, of which the governing equations are differential equations with variable coefficients. By decomposing the variable flexural stiffness and mass per unit length into reference invariant and variant parts, the perturbation theory is introduced to obtain an approximate analytical formula of the natural frequencies of the non-uniform AFG beams with different boundary conditions.Furthermore, assuming polynomial distributions of Young's modulus and the mass density, the numerical results of the AFG beams with various taper ratios are obtained and compared with the published literature results. The discussion results illustrate that the proposed method yields an effective estimate of the first three order natural frequencies for the AFG tapered beams. However, the errors increase with the increase in the mode orders especially for the cases with variable heights. In brief, the asymptotic development method is verified to be simple and efficient to analytically study the free vibration of non-uniform AFG beams, and it could be used to analyze any tapered beams with an arbitrary varying cross width.

Numerical Prediction of Marine Propeller Noise in Non-Uniform Inflow

A numerical study on the acoustic radiation of a propeller interacting with non-uniform inflow has been conducted. Real geometry of a marine propeller DTMB 4118 is used in the calculation, and sliding mesh technique is adopted to deal with the rotational motion of the propeller. The performance of the DES （Detached Eddy Simulation） approach at capturing the unsteady forces and moments on the propeller is compared with experiment. Far-field sound radiation is predicted by the formation 1A developed by Farassat, an integral solution of FW-H （Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings） equation in time domain. The sound pressure and directivity patterns of the propeller operating in two specific velocity distributions are discussed.

Structural strength deterioration of coastal bridge piers considering non-uniform corrosion in marine environments

In the aggressive marine environment over a long-term service period,coastal bridges inevitably sustain corrosion-induced damage due to high sea salt and humidity.This paper investigates the strength reduction of coastal bridges,especially focusing on the effects of non-uniform corrosion along the height of bridge piers.First,the corrosion initiation time and the degradation of reinforcement and concrete are analyzed for bridge piers in marine environments.To investigate the various damage modes of the concrete cover,a discretization method with fiber cells is used for calculating time-dependent interaction diagrams of cross-sections of the bridge piers at the atmospheric zone and the splash and tidal zone under a combination of axial force and bending moment.Second,the shear strength of these aging structures is analyzed.Numerical simulation indicates that the strength of a concrete pier experiences dramatic reduction from corrosion initiation to the spalling of the concrete cover.Strength loss in the splash and tidal zone is more significant than in the atmospheric zone when structures’service time is assumed to be the same.

A simple algorithm to improve the performance of the WENO scheme on non-uniform grids

This paper presents a simple approach for improving the performance of the weighted essentially nonoscillatory(WENO) finite volume scheme on non-uniform grids. This technique relies on the reformulation of the fifthorder WENO-JS(WENO scheme presented by Jiang and Shu in J. Comput. Phys. 126:202–228, 1995) scheme designed on uniform grids in terms of one cell-averaged value and its left and/or right interfacial values of the dependent variable.The effect of grid non-uniformity is taken into consideration by a proper interpolation of the interfacial values. On nonuniform grids, the proposed scheme is much more accurate than the original WENO-JS scheme, which was designed for uniform grids. When the grid is uniform, the resulting scheme reduces to the original WENO-JS scheme. In the meantime,the proposed scheme is computationally much more efficient than the fifth-order WENO scheme designed specifically for the non-uniform grids. A number of numerical test cases are simulated to verify the performance of the present scheme.

Effects of La^(3+) Non-Uniformly Doping in TiO_2 Films on Photocatalytic Activities

TiO2 thin films non-uniformly doped by La^3＋ were prepared by sol-gel method. The comparison of thin film activities, which was characterized by photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange, shows that doping modes have great activities. The non-uniformly effects on photocatalytic doped TiO2 films resuh in good photocatalytic activities with an optimal concentration; about 0. 5% （ atom fraction ）. UV-Vis transmittance spectra indicate that the absorption edges of these TiO2 thin films shift to ward longer wave- lengths remarkably, and electrochemical behavior also reveales that e^- -h^＋ pairs are prone to formation and separation under UV irradiation. The mechanism of photocatalytic activities are enhanced by La^3＋ non-uniformly doping was discussed on the analogy of the theory of “window effect” of solar cell heterojunction.

Modeling of PD Mechanism in Non-uniform Field at High Pressure

Partial discharges in air in non-uniform electric field occur in surroundings made of high curvature elements.The equivalent electrode system,needle-plane refers both to external components of high voltage insulating systems and to micro sharpness in the internal structure of those systems.The ionization zone,accumulation of space charge and formation of corresponding current pulses depend on electrode configuration,voltage level,pressure,temperature and humidity of air.The assessment of pressure influence on discharge mechanism in non-homogenous electric field has been performed on the basis of empirical density distributions of discharge charges at different voltage levels,electrode distance,curvature of high voltage electrode and taking into account solid dielectric barrier in serial configuration.The measurement results obtained at variable voltage level yield the influence of electric field strength in the needle electrode zone.While increasing voltage,a deviation from normal distribution may be observed that reveals other forms of discharge.

Longitudinal waves in one dimensional non-uniform waveguides

Wave approach is used to analyze the longitudinal wave motion in one dimensional non-uniform waveguides.With assumptions of constant wave velocity and no wave conversion,there exist four types of non-uniform rods and corresponding traveling wave solutions are investigated.The obtained results indicate that the kinetic energy is preserved as a constant and the wave amplitude is inversely proportional to square root of the cross-sectional area of the rod.Under certain condition,there exists a cut-off frequency for the rod with variation in geometric or material properties,below which waves do not propagate along the non-uniform rod.For the rod with arbitrary variable cross-section, the conclusions are similar if the wave frequency is high enough.And a series solution of the wave motion is presented.

Numerical Simulation of the Impact of Urban Non-uniformity on Precipitation

To evaluate the influence of urban non-uniformity on precipitation, the area of a city was divided into three categories （commercial, high-density residential, and low-density residential） according to the building density data from Landsat satel- lites. Numerical simulations of three corresponding scenarios （urban non-uniformity, urban uniformity, and non-urban） were performed in Nanjing using the WRF model. The results demonstrate that the existence of the city results in more precip- itation, and that urban heterogeneity enhances this phenomenon. For the urban non-uniformity, uniformity, and non-urban experiments, the mean cumulative summer precipitation was 423.09 mm, 407.40 mm, and 389.67 mm, respectively. Urban non-uniformity has a significant effect on the amount of heavy rainfall in summer. The cumulative precipitation from heavy rain in the summer for the three numerical experiments was 278.2 mm, 250.6 mm, and 236.5 mm, respectively. In the non- uniformity experiments, the amount of precipitation between 1500 and 2200 （LST） increased significantly. Furthermore, the adoption of urban non-uniformity into the WRF model could improve the numerical simulation of summer rain and its daily variation.

Natural convection of an alumina-water nanofluid inside an inclined wavy-walled cavity with a non-uniform heating using Tiwari and Das' nanofluid model

The present study is devoted to numerical analysis of natural convective heat transfer and fluid flow of alumina-water nanofluid in an inclined wavy-walled cavity under the effect of non-uniform heating. A single-phase nanofluid model with experimental correlations for the nanofluid viscosity and thermal conductivity has been included in the mathematical model. The considered governing equations formulated in dimensionless stream function, vorticity, and temperature have been solved by the finite difference method. The cavity inclination angle and irregular walls(wavy and undulation numbers)are very good control parameters for the heat transfer and fluid flow. Nowadays, optimal parameters are necessary for the heat transfer enhancement in different practical applications. The effects of the involved parameters on the streamlines and isotherms as well as on the average Nusselt number and nanofluid flow rate have been analyzed. It has been found that the heat transfer rate and fluid flow rate are non-monotonic functions of the cavity inclination angle and undulation number.

ELECTRICALLY FORCED VIBRATION OF A THICKNESS-TWIST MODE PIEZOELECTRIC RESONATOR WITH NON-UNIFORM ELECTRODES

We study the effect of electrodes with varying thickness on thickness-twist vibration of a piezoelectric plate resonator of crystals of 6 mm symmetry. An exact theoretical analysis is performed. Results show that non-uniform electrodes have a strong effect on mode shapes, and suggest the possibility of using nonuniform electrodes for strong energy trapping.

Discharge Characteristics of SF_6 in a Non-Uniform Electric Field Under Repetitive Nanosecond Pulses

The characteristics of high pressure sulphur hexafluoride（SF6） discharges in a highly non-uniform electric field under repetitive nanosecond pulses are investigated in this paper.The influencing factors on discharge process,such as gas pressure,pulse repetition frequency（PRF）,and number of applied pulses,are analyzed.Experimental results show that the corona intensity weakens with the increase of gas pressure and strengthens with the increase of PRF or number of applied pulses.Spark discharge images suggest that a shorter and thicker discharge plasma channel will lead to a larger discharge current.The number of applied pulses to breakdown descends with the increase of PRF and ascends with the rise of gas pressure.The reduced electric field（E/p） decreases with the increase of PRF in all circumstances.The experimental results provide significant supplements to the dielectric characteristics of strongly electronegative gases under repetitive nanosecond pulses.

Iterative Learning Fault Diagnosis Algorithm for Non-uniform Sampling Hybrid System

For a class of non-uniform output sampling hybrid system with actuator faults and bounded disturbances,an iterative learning fault diagnosis algorithm is proposed.Firstly,in order to measure the impact of fault on system between every consecutive output sampling instants,the actual fault function is transformed to obtain an equivalent fault model by using the integral mean value theorem,then the non-uniform sampling hybrid system is converted to continuous systems with timevarying delay based on the output delay method.Afterwards,an observer-based fault diagnosis filter with virtual fault is designed to estimate the equivalent fault,and the iterative learning regulation algorithm is chosen to update the virtual fault repeatedly to make it approximate the actual equivalent fault after some iterative learning trials,so the algorithm can detect and estimate the system faults adaptively.Simulation results of an electro-mechanical control system model with different types of faults illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this algorithm.

Photocatalytic oxidation activity of titanium dioxide film enhanced by Mn non-uniform doping

The thin films of TiO2 doped by Mn non-uniformly were prepared by sol-gel method under process control. Each film was characterized by XPS, SEM, UV-vis spectrophotometry and electrochemistry workstation analysis. The activity of the photocatalyst was evaluated by the kinetics of photocatalytic degradation of aqueous methyl orange under the UV radiation. The results show that Mn non-uniform doping evidently enhances the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 thin film. In 80 min, the degradation rates of aqueous methyl orange are 62%, 12% and 34% for Mn non-uniformly doped film (0.7%), the uniformly doped film (0.7%) and pure titanium dioxide film, respectively. The characteristic of PN junction in the film was proved by electrochemical characterization. A mechanism for enhanced photocatalytic activity of Mn non-uniformly doped titanium dioxide film was discussed based on the effective separation of the photon-generated carrier because of the existence of the PN junction.

Inverse approach to determine piston profile from impact stress waveform on given non-uniform rod

An essential problem in the design of mechanical impact systems is the impact of a piston on a rod. The impact of a semi finite cylindrical piston on a non uniform rod was studied. Based on wave mechanics and characteristic line theory, an inverse numerical approach to determine the piston profile was proposed, by means of which the geometry of an impact piston may be determined from the given stress waveform for a given rod profile. Numerical results show that the given stress waveform may be produced by means of the alternatives of design of piston and rod. There is good agreement between the experimental results and numerical results. [

A well test model for stress-sensitive and heterogeneous reservoirs with non-uniform thicknesses

In view of the anisotropy,heterogeneity and stress-sensitive permeability in low permeability reservoirs,an analytical well test model was established by introducing the concept of permeability modulus.This model considered the permeability stress-sensitivity,wellbore storage effect,and the skin effect.The perturbation technique and Laplace transformation were used to solve the mathematical model analytically in Laplace space,and the bottom-hole pressure type curves were plotted and analyzed in real space by using the Stehfest numerical inversion.

Heat transfer in boundary layer stagnation-point flow towards a shrinking sheet with non-uniform heat flux

In this paper, the effect of non-uniform heat flux on heat transfer in boundary layer stagnation-point flow over a shrinking sheet is studied. The variable boundary heat fluxes are considered of two types： direct power-law variation with the distance along the sheet and inverse power-law variation with the distance. The governing partial differential equations （PDEs） are transformed into non linear self-similar ordinary differential equations （ODEs） by similarity transformations, and then those are solved using very efficient shooting method. The direct variation and inverse variation of heat flux along the sheet have completely different effects on the temperature distribution. Moreover, the heat transfer characteristics in the presence of non-uniform heat flux for several values of physical parameters are also found to be interesting.