Extended finite element-based cohesive zone method for modeling simultaneous hydraulic fracture height growth in layered reservoirs

In this study,a fully coupled hydromechanical model within the extended finite element method(XFEM)-based cohesive zone method(CZM)is employed to investigate the simultaneous height growth behavior of multi-cluster hydraulic fractures in layered porous reservoirs with modulus contrast.The coupled hydromechanical model is first verified against an analytical solution and a laboratory experiment.Then,the fracture geometry(e.g.height,aperture,and area)and fluid pressure evolutions of multiple hydraulic fractures placed in a porous reservoir interbedded with alternating stiff and soft layers are investigated using the model.The stress and pore pressure distributions within the layered reservoir during fluid injection are also presented.The simulation results reveal that stress umbrellas are easily to form among multiple hydraulic fractures’tips when propagating in soft layers,which impedes the simultaneous height growth.It is also observed that the impediment effect of soft layer is much more significant in the fractures suppressed by the preferential growth of adjoining fractures.After that,the combined effect of in situ stress ratio and fracturing spacing on the multi-fracture height growth is presented,and the results elucidate the influence of in situ stress ratio on the height growth behavior depending on the fracture spacing.Finally,it is found that the inclusion of soft layers changes the aperture distribution of outmost and interior hydraulic fractures.The results obtained from this study may provide some insights on the understanding of hydraulic fracture height containment observed in filed.

Methods for Estimating Mean Annual Rate of Earthquakes in Moderate and Low Seismicity Regions

Two kinds of methods for determining seismic parameters are presented, that is, the potential seismic source zoning method and grid-spatially smoothing method. The Gaussian smoothing method and the modified Gaussian smoothing method are described in detail, and a comprehensive analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of these methods is made. Then, we take centrai China as the study region, and use the Gaussian smoothing method and potential seismic source zoning method to build seismic models to calculate the mean annual seismic rate. Seismic hazard is calculated using the probabilistic seismic hazard analysis method to construct the ground motion acceleration zoning maps. The differences between the maps and these models are discussed and the causes are investigated. The results show that the spatial smoothing method is suitable for estimating the seismic hazard over the moderate and low seismicity regions or the hazard caused by background seismicity; while the potential seismic source zoning method is suitable for estimating the seismic hazard in well-defined seismotectonics. Combining the spatial smoothing method and the potential seismic source zoning method with an integrated account of the seismicity and known seismotectonics is a feasible approach to estimate the seismic hazard in moderate and low seismicity regions.

区熔法生长近化学计量比铌酸锂晶体

The congruently melting composition of Lithium Niobate(LN) is 48.6mol% Li 2O,rather than stoichiometric 50mol%Li 2O.By means of conventional Czochralski(CZ) method,it is easy to grow the congruent LN crystal with high quality,but difficult to grow the stoichiometric LN crystal with homogeneous composition. In contrast to CZ method,Melting Zone(MZ) method makes use of the segregation of solute,and is likely to grow homogeneous crystal.By MZ method,we have grown near stoichiometric LN crystal (Li%mol=49.5%) from stoichiometric LN raw material. The difference between the raw material and the crystal is due to the volatilization loss of Lithium at the growing temperature.With 50.5mol%Li 2O LN raw material,stoichiometric LN crystal could be grown. Li rich LN solvent zone preplaced in the melting zone makes the crystal much more homogeneous than that without the solvent zone.The preplaced Li rich zone heightens the starting [Li] concentration of the liquid phase,so that the initial [Li] concentration of LN crystal is close to the stable value,and the process of stabilization is shortened.

Crystal growth,structure and optical properties of Pr^(3+)-doped yttria-stabilized zirconia single crystals

The development of blue semiconductor light-emitting diodes(LEDs)has produced potential applications for Prdoped materials that can absorb blue light,especially crystals,and we now report structure and optical properties for high-quality Pr-doped single crystals of yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ)grown by the optical floating zone(FZ)method.X-ray diffraction(XRD)and Raman spectroscopy showed that all of the single crystal samples were in the cubic phase,whereas the corresponding ceramic samples contained a mixture of monoclinic and cubic phases.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)and electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR)spectroscopy showed that Pr was present as the Pr^(3+)ion in ceramic rods and single crystals after heating to high temperatures.The absorption and photoluminescence excitation(PLE)spectra of the Pr-doped YSZ crystals measured at room temperature showed strong absorption of blue light,while their photoluminescence(PL)spectra showed five emission peaks at 565 nm,588 nm,614 nm,638 nm,and 716 nm under450 nm excitation.The optimum luminescence properties were obtained with the crystal prepared using 0.15 mol%Pr_(6)O_(11),and those with higher concentrations showed evidence of quenching of the luminescence properties.In addition,the color purity of Pr-doped YSZ single crystal reached 98.9%in the orange–red region.

Prediction of plastic zone size around circular tunnels in non-hydrostatic stress field

This paper discusses the calculation of plastic zone properties around circular tunnels to rock-masses that satisfy the Hoek–Brown failure criterion in non-hydrostatic condition,and reviews the calculation of plastic zone and displacement,and the basis of the convergence–confinement method in hydrostatic condition.A two-dimensional numerical simulation model was developed to gain understanding of the plastic zone shape.Plastic zone radius in any angles around the tunnel is analyzed and measured,using different values of overburden(four states)and stress ratio(nine states).Plastic zone radius equations were obtained from fitting curve to data which are dependent on the values of stress ratio,angle and plastic zone radius in hydrostatic condition.Finally validation of this equation indicate that results predict the real plastic zone radius appropriately.

Fracture development around deep underground excavations: Insights from FDEM modelling

Over the past twenty years, there has been a growing interest in the development of numerical modelsthat can realistically capture the progressive failure of rock masses. In particular, the investigation ofdamage development around underground excavations represents a key issue in several rock engineeringapplications, including tunnelling, mining, drilling, hydroelectric power generation, and the deepgeological disposal of nuclear waste. The goal of this paper is to show the effectiveness of a hybrid finitediscreteelement method （FDEM） code to simulate the fracturing mechanisms associated with theexcavation of underground openings in brittle rock formations. A brief review of the current state-of-theartmodelling approaches is initially provided, including the description of selecting continuum- anddiscontinuum-based techniques. Then, the influence of a number of factors, including mechanical and insitu stress anisotropy, as well as excavation geometry, on the simulated damage is analysed for threedifferent geomechanical scenarios. Firstly, the fracture nucleation and growth process under isotropicrock mass conditions is simulated for a circular shaft. Secondly, the influence of mechanical anisotropy onthe development of an excavation damaged zone （EDZ） around a tunnel excavated in a layered rockformation is considered. Finally, the interaction mechanisms between two large caverns of an undergroundhydroelectric power station are investigated, with particular emphasis on the rock mass responsesensitivity to the pillar width and excavation sequence. Overall, the numerical results indicate that FDEMsimulations can provide unique geomechanical insights in cases where an explicit consideration offracture and fragmentation processes is of paramount importance. 2014 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Meteorological impacts on evapotranspiration in different climatic zones of Pakistan

Arid regions are highly vulnerable and sensitive to drought. The crops cultivated in arid zones are at high risk due to the high evapotranspiration and water demands. This study analyzed the changes in seasonal and annual evapotranspiration（ET） during 1951–2016 at 50 meteorological stations located in the extremely arid, arid, and semi-arid zones of Pakistan using the Penman Monteith（PM） method. The results show that ET is highly sensitive and positively correlated to temperature, solar radiation, and wind speed whereas vapor pressure is negatively correlated to ET. The study also identifies the relationship of ET with the meteorological parameters in different climatic zones of Pakistan. The significant trend analysis of precipitation and temperature（maximum and minimum） are conducted at 95% confidence level to determine the behaviors of these parameters in the extremely arid, arid, and semi-arid zones. The mean annual precipitation and annual mean maximum temperature significantly increased by 0.828 mm/a and 0.014℃/a in the arid and extremely arid zones, respectively. The annual mean minimum temperature increased by 0.017℃/a in the extremely arid zone and 0.019℃/a in the arid zone, whereas a significant decrease of 0.007℃/a was observed in the semi-arid zone. This study provides probabilistic future scenarios that would be helpful for policy-makers, agriculturists to plan effective irrigation measures towards the sustainable development in Pakistan.

Numerical modeling for the coupled thermo-mechanical processes and spalling phenomena in sp Pillar Stability Experiment (APSE)

In this paper, the coupled thermo-mechanical （TM） processes in the AEspoe Pillar Stability Experiment （APSE） carried out by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company （SKB） were simulated using both continuum and discontinuum based numerical methods. Two-dimensional （2D） and three- dimensional （3D） finite element method （FEM） and 2D distinct element method （DEM） with particles were used. The main objective for the large scale in situ experiment is to investigate the yielding strength of crystalline rock and the formation of the excavation disturbed/damaged zone （EDZ） during excavation of two boreholes, pressurizing of one of the boreholes and heating. For the DEM simulations, the heat flow algorithm was newly introduced into the original code. The calculated stress, displacement and temperature distributions were compared with the ones obtained from in situ measurements and FEM simulations. A parametric study for initial microcracks was also performed to reproduce the spalling phenomena observed in the APSE.

Optical phonon behavior and magnetism of columbite Zn0.8Co0.2Nb2O6

Columbite Zn0.8Co0.2Nb2O6 crystals were grown by optical floating zone methods. The x-ray diffraction(XRD) was used to check the structure information of the grown Zn0.8Co0.2Nb2O6 crystal. The room temperature and temperature-dependent Raman spectra were tested to investigate the optical phonon behaviors of columbite Zn0.8Co0.2Nb2O6, which exhibited a temperature stable property. The magnetics properties of Zn0.8Co0.2Nb2O6, measured by a physical property measurement system(PPMS), were also presented in this work.

Floating zone growth and magnetic and specific heat properties of La0.67Ca0.33Mn1-xFexO3（x=0.00,0.04）single crystals

Single crystals of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 and La0.67Ca0.33Mn0.96Fe0.04O3 were obtained by floating zone method. Laue diffraction pattern and rocking curve of the single crystals show that their quality is good. The magnetic behaviours of these compounds have been studied. Fe doping significantly depresses the magnetic contribution to the total specific heat Cp, but slightly influences the lattice contribution at temperatures above 50K. The peak of Cp shifts towards high temperatures with increasing magnetic field. Both single crystals exhibit the first-order magnetic transition around the Curie temperature.

输运溶剂浮区法生长Bi_(2+x)Sr_(2-x)Ca_(n-1)Cu_nO_(2n+4+d)晶体

The growth of crystals of the high T c oxide superconductors has been hampe red by the complexities of the materials and their phase diagrams.The most common crys tal growth technique adopted for these oxides is the “flux”method,where the st arting materials are solved in a melt,which is usually formed by excess CuO and BaO or a KCl/NaCl mixture.The crystals are produced by slow cooling of the heate d solvent.This method,however,suffers from several disadvantages: (1) the crystals are contaminated with the crucible material, (2) the crystals are difficult to remove from the crucible, (3) the crystals contain flux inclusions.

Paleotectonic residual strain energy in Southwest China

Based on the orthotropic elastic theory of rock masses, the X-ray method was used to measure the distribution of macro-residual strain energy density along a depth profile,using core samples taken from 47 large-aperture deep boreholes in four regions of Southwest China： the Longmenshan, Anninghe, Honghe, and Xianshuihe fault zones.Then, the vertical gradients of the macro-residual strain energy density and the macroresidual strain energy contained in high-energy cuboid block segments along each fault zone were determined. The results demonstrate that the macro-residual strain energy stored at shallow levels in the rock mass in these fault zones may be partly responsible for generating many large earthquakes and may explain why the large earthquakes in this region are typically shallow.

Building climate zones of major marine islands in China defined using two-stage zoning method and clustering analysis

The current scheme of building climate zones in China generally assumes that building climate zones of island cities are identical to adjacent land stations.Consequently,building design strategies for island buildings usually refer to those developed for inland cities.This approach has to some extent hindered the energy-saving design and green development of island buildings in China.This research takes a first step on this issue by defining the building climate zones of 36 marine islands over China marine area using two-stage zoning methodology adopted by current building climate zoning standard(GB50178-1993).The meteorological data used for analysis was obtained from the National Climate Center of China over the 30-year period from 1985 to 2014.As comparison,40 coastal stations which are adjacent to the inves-tigated marine islands were also included in this study.Subsequently a more obiective techni-que-cluster analysis was operated as an effective supplement to discover the climate characteristics among different observations.The results of both methodologies consistentlyshow that among the 36 islands investigated,the majority of islands located in northern and eastern marine area belong to the same climate zones as their adjacent coastal cities.Howev-er,island cities in southern marine area cannot be assigned to any current climate zone,which was demonstrated by its distinctive climate features different from any other sites investi-gated through cluster analysis as well as different energy use patterns.Thus a new zone was defined to supplement the current building climate zoning scheme to cover marine area of China.

Zoning strategy of zonal modeling for thermally stratified large spaces

Large space buildings play a significant role in modern society because of their environmental advantages and market value.While the zonal model is promising for the efficient and rapid evaluation of the stratified thermal environment,there is a lack of a reasonable and convenient zoning strategy with the advent of modern computing.This paper presents a universal and practical zonal model,in which a simplified momentum equation is applied to consider air momentum preservation,transformation,and dissipation.Hence,the zoning structure is generalized and flexible.Moreover,limiting the dimensionless temperature constraint between adjacent zones establishes the connection between thermal nonuniformity and zoning results automatically.Simultaneously,the dimension and number of zones should be restricted within reasonable ranges to satisfy the characteristics of zonal simulation and reach the criteria of convergence.To further explore and validate the zonal model,a reduced-scale experimental model was constructed to replicate the thermal stratification in a mechanically ventilated large space by considering many crucial realistic factors.A particle image velocimetry(PIV)measurement was then conducted to visualize the airflow pattern and support the partition of zones.The results showed that the zonal simulation with adaptive zoning method can realize a similar accuracy with fewer zones and exhibit a better tolerance for zoning results compared to the conventional empirical zoning method.Furthermore,a case study of an atrium was performed to demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the method for long-term dynamic simulations of complex thermal environments and building energy use.

White light luminescence in Dy/Tm co-doped yttria stabilized zirconia single crystals

A series of high quality Dy_(2)O_(3) and Tm_(2)O_(3)co-doped yttria stabilized zirconia(YSZ) single crystals was synthesized.These crystals have a single cubic structure,and exhibit the characteristic of Dy^(3+)(blue and yellow emissions) and Tm^(3+)(blue emission) under excitation with NUV light.Impo rtantly,the hue can be varied between blue and white by modifying the Tm^(3+)/Dy^(3+)ratio.The photoluminescence and decay curves are consistent with the existence of resonance-type energy transfer from Tm^(3+)to Dy^(3+)ions via an electric multipole interaction mechanism.Maximum luminescence intensity is observed in YSZ doped with 0.50 mol% Tm_(2)O_(3) and 0.75 mol% Dy_(2)O_(3),and this sample has CIE coordinates(x = 0.33,y = 0.33) in accordance with those for white chromaticity.Thus,the outstanding luminescence properties of these single crystals suggest potential applications in white light emission devices.

Total Heat Exchange Factor Based on Non-Gray Radiation Properties of Gas in Reheating Furnace

Modified mathematical models based on imaginary plane zone method in reheating furnace were developed in which non-gray radiation properties of gas were considered,and the Newton＇s method and the finite difference method were adopted. Effects of productivity,fuel consumption,fuel-air ratio,calorific value of fuel and inserting depth of thermocouple on total heat exchange factor along the length of reheating furnace were investigated. The results show that total heat exchange factor increases with productivity or inserting depth of thermocouple,and it decreases when fuel consumption,fuel-air ratio or calorific value of fuel increases. The results are valuable for dynamical compensation of total heat exchange factor for online control mathematical models in reheating furnace.

Crystal characterization and optical spectroscopy of Eu^(3+)-doped CaGdAlO_4 single crystal fabricated by the floating zone method

A highly transparent Eu3＋-doped CaGdA104 （CGA） single crystal is grown by the floating zone method. The segregation coefficient, x ray diffraction, and x ray rocking curve are detected, and the results reveal that the single crystal is of high quality. The f-f transitions of Eu3＋ in the host lattice are discussed. The 5D0-7F2 emis- sion transition at 621 nm （red light） is dominant over the 5D0-7F1 emission transitions at 591 and 599 nm （orange light）, agreeing well with the random crystal environment of Eu3＋ ions in a CGA crystal. The decay time of Eu：5D0 is measured to be 1.02 ms. All the results show that the Eu：CGA crystal has good optical char- acterization and promises to be an excellent red- fluorescence material.

Reentry trajectory optimization for hypersonic vehicle satisfying complex constraints

The reentry trajectory optimization for hypersonic vehicle（HV）is a current problem of great interest.Some complex constraints,such as waypoints for reconnaissance and no-fly zones for threat avoidance,are inevitably involved in a global strike mission.Of the many direct methods,Gauss pseudospectral method（GPM）has been demonstrated as an effective tool to solve the trajectory optimization problem with typical constraints.However,a series of diffculties arises for complex constraints,such as the uncertainty of passage time for waypoints and the inaccuracy of approximate trajectory near no-fly zones.The research herein proposes a multi-phase technique based on the GPM to generate an optimal reentry trajectory for HV satisfying waypoint and nofly zone constraints.Three kinds of specifc breaks are introduced to divide the full trajectory into multiple phases.The continuity conditions are presented to ensure a smooth connection between each pair of phases.Numerical examples for reentry trajectory optimization in free-space flight and with complex constraints are used to demonstrate the proposed technique.Simulation results show the feasible application of multi-phase technique in reentry trajectory optimization with waypoint and no-fly zone constraints.

Mathematical Models Developed by Zone Method Considering Non-Gray Radiation Properties of Gas in Combustion Chamber

Water vapour and carbon dioxide as the main products in combustion chamber have strong non-gray radiation properties. Multidimensional mathematical models were developed by zone method considering the non-gray radiation properties of gas in combustion chamber. Edwards exponential wide band model （EBWM） was adopted to calculate the non-gray radiation properties of gas, and the three-point Gauss-Legendre integral formula was used to calculate direct radiation exchange areas. Reflected radiation heat fluxes were obtained by Gauss elimination method, and energy balance equations were solved by main variable correction method. An example was given to validate the developed models, and further investigation of effects of flame distribution on heat transfer was carried on.