Construction of an Intraplate Fault System Model of South Australia, and Simulation Tool for the iSERVO Institute Seed Project

To foster ongoing international cooperation beyond ACES (APEC Cooperation for Earthquake Simulation) on the simulation of solid earth phenomena, agreement was reached to work towards establishment of a frontier international research institute for simulating the solid earth: iSERVO = International Solid Earth Research Virtual Observatory institute (http://www.iservo.edu.au). This paper outlines a key Australian contribution towards the iSERVO institute seed project, this is the construction of: (1) a typical intraplate fault system model using practical fault system data of South Australia (i.e., SA interacting fault model), which includes data management and editing, geometrical modeling and mesh generation; and (2) a finite-element based software tool, which is built on our long-term and ongoing effort to develop the R-minimum strategy based finite-element computational algorithm and software tool for modelling three-dimensional nonlinear frictional contact behavior between multiple deformable bodies with the arbitrarily-shaped contact element strategy. A numerical simulation of the SA fault system is carried out using this software tool to demonstrate its capability and our efforts towards seeding the iSERVO Institute.

Aerodynamic Drag Reduction for Satellites in Low Earth Orbit

Stalker (AIAA Paper 87-0403) has suggested that, by ejecting molecules directly upstream from the entire face of a satellite, it is possible to reduce the drag on a satellite in low-Earth orbit and hence maintain orbit with a total fuel mass (for forward ejection and conventional reaction rockets) less than the typical mass requirements of conventional rockets. An analytical analysis is presented here, as well as Monte Carlo simulations. These indicate that to reduce the overall drag on the satellite significantly, collisions between the freestream and ejected molecules must occur at least two satellite diameters upstream. This can be achieved if the molecules are ejected far upstream from the satellite’s surface through a sting that projects forward from the satellite. Using some estimates of what would be feasible sting arrangements, we find that the drag on the satellite can be reduced to such an extent that the satellite’s orbit can be maintained with a total fuel mass of less than 60% of that required for reaction rockets alone. Upstream ejection is effective in reducing the drag for freestream Knudsen numbers less than approximately 250, but not otherwise.

Interior under construction, Carpenter Hall house, Wilston, Brisbane

View to upper tower from lower section of house.

Interior under construction, Carpenter Hall house, Wilston, Brisbane

Triangular window openings to upper section of house.

Interior under construction, Carpenter Hall house, Wilston, Brisbane

Timber structure to upper floors, as seen from interior.

Under construction, PNG Coffee Industry Board Office and Warehouse, Goroka

View of post being hoisted into position during construction.

Sillon de Talbert, Pleubian, Bretagne, France

Coastal photograph of Sillon du Talbert, L'Armor, Pleubian on 16 April 2004 low tide. End of the Sillon, looking N-N-E at the Archipel d'Ollone. The Sillon du Talbert is a natural thin 3-km long tongue made of "galets" (pebbles about 5 to 20 cm) and sand. It is located at the tip of a peninsula between the estuaries of the rivers Jaudy (Le Jaudy) and Trieux (Le Trieux) next to Ile de Bre´hat. At the end of the Sillon, there is an archipel of small islands and rocks called "Archipel d'Ollone" (Ollone archipel), also called the Talbert islands (Iles de Talbert) by the locals. The Sillon du Talbert (or Sillon de Talbert) is an important reserve of flora and fauna. The Sillon was damaged by locals using stones for construction until 1928, and by the Germans, who used stones for the Ile Blanche bunker system construction in 1943 as part of the WWII Atlantic wall. (Coastal Photograph by Hubert Chanson, Department of Civil Engineering, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.)

Northern entrance court under construction, Sunshine Coast University Library, Maroochydore

View to library entrance court under construction.

On the construction of nearest neighbour balanced row-column designs

Nearest–neighbour balance is considered a desirable property for an experiment to possess in situations where experimental units are influenced by their neighbours. This paper introduces a measure of the degree of nearest–neighbour balance of a design. The measure is used in an algorithm which generates nearest–neighbour balanced designs and is readily modified to obtain designs with various types of nearest–neighbour balance. Nearest–neighbour balanced designs are produced for a wide class of parameter settings, and in particular for those settings for which such designs cannot be found by existing direct combinatorial methods. In addition, designs with unequal row and column sizes, and designs with border plots are constructed using the approach presented here.

A unified and complete construction of all finite dimensional irreducible representations of gl(2|2)

Representations of the non-semisimple superalgebra gl(2/2) in the standard basis are investigated by means of the vector coherent state method and boson-fermion realization. All finite-dimensional irreducible typical and atypical representations and lowest weight (indecomposable) Kac modules of gl(2/2) are constructed explicity through the explicit construction of all gl(2) circle plus gl(2) particle states (multiplets) in terms of boson and fermion creation operators in the super-Fock space. This gives a unified and complete treatment of finite-dimensional representations of gl(2/2) in explicit form, essential for the construction of primary fields of the corresponding current superalgebra at arbitrary level.

Erluanbi, Southern Taiwan

Erluanbi is the most southern tip of Taiwan (Formosa) where the Taiwan (Formosa) Strait meets the Pacific Ocean. The Erluanbi national park is renown for its lighthouse, and its coral reef, and it hosts also some prehistoric sites bating back to 5,000 to 6,500 years. The Erluanbi (or Eluan Pi) lighthouse was completed in 1883, following requests from the American and Japanese governments to the Chinese government after several ship wrecks in the 1860s. Chinese troops were sent to protect the lighthouse construction from attacks by local tribesmen, and the lighthouse was surrounded a small fort with cannons and a ditch to protect it. It is a rare example of a fortified lighthouse in the world. The lighthouse itself is 21.4 m high and its light is 56.4 m above high water. The light flashes every 10 seconds and its range is 27.2 nautical miles. The surrounding Erluanbi national park is located on a raised coral reef with some huge fringing reef : e.g., the "sea pavillon". With the topical oceanic climate, the elevated reef hosts an unique vegetation and ecology. Since 1956, numerous prehistoric artefacts were uncovered including stone slab coffins and pottery (plain and painted), that encompassed at least four cultural stages from BC 4,500 to AD 800.