Implication of scaling hierarchy associated with nonequilibrium: field and particulate

The advent of nanotechnology has necessitated a better understanding of how material microstructure changes at the atomic level would affect the macroscopic properties that control the performance. Such a challenge has uncovered many phenomena that were not previously understood and taken for granted. Among them are the basic foundation of dislocation theories which are now known to be inadequate. Simplifying assumptions invoked at the macroscale may not be applicable at the micro- and/or nanoscale. There are implications of scaling hierrachy associated with in-homegeneity and nonequilibrium. of physical systems. What is taken to be homogeneous and equilibrium at the macroscale may not be so when the physical size of the material is reduced to microns. These fundamental issues cannot be dispensed at will for the sake of convenience because they could alter the outcome of predictions. Even more unsatisfying is the lack of consistency in modeling physical systems. This could translate to the inability for identifying the relevant manufacturing parameters and rendering the end product unpractical because of high cost. Advanced composite and ceramic materials are cases in point. Discussed are potential pitfalls for applying models at both the atomic and continuum levels. No encouragement is made to unravel the truth of nature. Let it be partiuclates, a smooth continuum or a combination of both. The present trend of development in scaling tends to seek for different characteristic lengths of material microstructures with or without the influence of time effects. Much will be learned from atomistic simulation models to show how results could differ as boundary conditions and scales are changed. Quantum mechanics, continuum and cosmological models provide evidence that no general approach is in sight. Of immediate interest is perhaps the establishment of greater precision in terminology so as to better communicate results involving multiscale physical events.

Collapsed isoparametric element as a singular element for a crack normal to the bi-material interface

It is shown that the variable power singularity of the strain field at the crack tip can be obtained by the simple technique of collapsing quadrilateral isoparametric elements into triangular elements around the crack tip and adequately shifting the side-nodes adjacent to this crack tip. The collapsed isoparametric elements have the desired singularity at crack tip along any ray. The strain expressions for a single element have been derived and in addition to the desired power singularity, additional singularities are revealed. Numerical examples have shown that triangular elements formed by collapsing one side lead to excellent results.

Pipeline Corrosion Analyzed by Fuzzy Reliability Methods

Fuzzy reliability methods are used to study the corrosion of pipelines. Three methods are used. They consist of using fracture failure modes, failure assessment diagram (FAD) and residual strength for establishing fuzzy reliability. Calculations are made by application of JC, improved GA-JC and Mente-carlo methods. Examples for oilfield injecting water pipeline show the residual strength well agree with field data. Mente-carlo methods appear to yield results that have better agreement with field data.

Spatial and Temporal Variation of LURR and Its Implication for the Tendency of Earthquake Occurrence in Southern California

Based on the theory of LURR and its recent development, spatial and temporal variation of Y/Y-c (value of LURR/critical value of LURR) in the Southern California region during the period from 1980 through March, 2001 was studied. According to the previous study on the fault system and stress field in Southern California, we zoned the Southern California region into 11 parts in each of which the stress field is almost uniform. With the time window of one year, time moving step of three months, space window of a circle region with a radius of 100 km and space moving step of 0.25 degree in latitude and longitude direction, the evolution of Y/Y-c were snapshot. The scanning results show that obvious Y/Y-c anomalies occurred before 5/6 of strong earthquakes considered with a magnitude of 6.5 or greater. The critical regions of Y/Y-c are near the epicenters of the strong earthquakes and the Y/Y-c anomalies occur months to years prior to the earthquakes. The tendency of earthquake occurrence in the California region is briefly discussed on the basis of the examination of Y/Y-c.

A delay model for noise-induced bi-directional switching

Many biological systems can switch between two distinct states. Once switched, the system remains stable for a period of time and may switch back to its original state. A gene network with bistability is usually required for the switching and stochastic effect in the gene expression may induce such switching. A typical bistable system allows one-directional switching, in which the switch from the low state to the high state or from the high state to the low state occurs under different conditions. It is usually difficult to enable bi-directional switching such that the two switches can occur under the same condition. Here, we present a model consisting of standard positive feedback loops and an extra negative feedback loop with a time delay to study its capability to produce bi-directional switching induced by noise. We find that the time delay in the negative feedback is critical for robust bi-directional switching and the length of delay affects its switching frequency.

Bi-doped BaF2 crystal for broadband near-infrared light source

Bi-doped BaF2 crystal was grown by the temperature gradient technique and its spectral properties were investigated. The absorption, emission and excitation spectra were measured at room temperature. Two broadband emissions centered at 1070 and 1500 nm were observed in Bi-doped BaF2 crystal. This extraordinary luminescence should be ascribed to Bi-related centers at distinct sites. We suggest Bi2+ or Bi+ centers adjacent to F vacancy defects are the origins of the observed NIR emissions. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America