急倾斜金属矿体开采岩体移动规律与变形趋势预测研究

Rockmass movement due to mining steep metallic ore body is a considerable question in the surface movement and deformation issue caused by underground mining. Research on coal mining induced rockmass movement and its prediction problem have been performed for a long-term, and have achieved great progress at home and abroad. However, the rockmass movement caused by mining steep metal mine is distinctivly different from coal seam mining.. Existing surface movement laws and deformation prediction methods are not applicable to the rockmass movement caused by mining steep metal mine. So far the home and abroad research to this theory is presently at an early stage, and there isn’t mature theory or practical prediction method, which made a great impact on production. In this paper, the research object—Jinchuan nickel mine, which is typical steep metal mine, characterized by complex geological conditions, developed faults, cracked rockmass, high geostress, and prominent engineering stability problems. In addition, backfill mining method is used in the mine, the features of rockmass movement caused by this mining method are also different from other mining methods. In this paper, the laws of rock mass movement, deformation and destroy mechanism, and its prediction were analyzed based on the collection of data, detailed in-sit engineering geology survey, ground movement monitoring by GPS, theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. According to the GPS monitoring of ground surface movement, ground subsidence basin with apparent asymmetry is developing, the influence scope is larger in the upper faulted block than in the lower faulted block, and the center of ground movement is moving along the upper faulted block direction with increasing depth of mining. During the past half and seven years, the largest settlement has amounted to 1287.5mm, and corresponding horizontal displacement has amounted to 664.6mm. On the ground surface, two fissure belts show a fast-growing trend of closure. To sum up, mining steep metal mine with backfill method also exist the same serious problem of rockmass movement hazards. Fault, as a low intensity zone in rockmass, when it located within the region of mining influence, the change of potential energy mainly consumed in fault deformation associated with rockmass structure surface friction, which is the essence of displacement and stress barrier effects characterized by fault rupture zone. when steep fault located in the tensile deformation region incurred by underground excavation, no matter excavation in hangingwall or in footwall of the fault, there will be additional tensile stress on the vertical fault plane and decrease in the shear strength, and always showing characteristics of normal fault slip, which is the main reason of fault escarpment appeared on the ground surface. The No.14 shaft deformation and failure is triggered by fault activation, which showed with sidewall move, rupture, and break down features as the main form of a concentrated expression of fault effects. The size and orientation of principal stress in surrounding rock changed regularly with mining; therefore, roadway deformation and damage at different stages have different characteristics and distribution models. During the process of mining, low-intensity weak structures surface always showed the most obvious reaction, accompany with surface normal stress decrease and shear strength bring down, to some extent, occurred with relative slide and deformation. Meanwhile, the impact of mining is a relatively long process, making the structure surface effect of roadway deformation and damage more prominent than others under the influence of mining. Roadway surrounding rockmass deformation caused by the change of strain energy density field after excavation mainly belongs to elastic deformation, and the correspondented damage mainly belongs to brittle rupture, in this circumstance, surrounding rockmass will not appear large deformation. The large deformation of surrounding rockmass can only be the deformation associated with structure surface friction or the plastic deformation of itself, which mainly caused by the permanent self-weigh volume force，and long-term effect of mining led to the durability of this deformation Good pitting fill effect and supporting effect of backfill, as well as the friction of rockmass structure surface lead to obvious macro-rockmass movement with long-lag characteristics. In addition, the loss of original intensity and new structure surface arisen increased flexibility in rockmass and fill deformation in structure surface, which made the time required for rockmass potential energy translate into deformation work associated with plastic deformation and structure surface friction consumed much, and to a large extent, eliminated the time needed to do those plastic work during repeated mining, all of which are the fundamental reason of rockmass movement aftereffect more significant than before. Mining steep deposits in high tectonic stress area and in gravity stress area have different movement laws and deformation mechanism. The steep deposit, when the vertical size of the mining areas is smaller than the horizontal size of the orebody, no matter mining in gravity stress area or in high tectonic stress area, they have similar features of ground movement with mining horizontal orebody; contrarily, there will appear double settlement centers on the ground surface under the condition of mining in high tectonic stress area, while there will always be a single center under the other condition. Meanwhile the ground movement lever, scale of mining influence area and macro features of ground movement, deformation and fracture are also different from mining in gravity stress area, and the fundamental reason lies in the impact of orientation of the maximum principal stress on rock movement features in in-site rock stress field. When mining thick and steep deposit, the ground surface movement and deformation characteristic curves are significantly different from excavating the horizontal ore bed and thin steep deposit. According to the features of rockmass movement rate, the development process of mining-induced rockmass movement is divided into three stages: raising stage, steadily stage and gradually decay stage. Considering the actual exploitation situation, GPS monitoring results and macro-characteristics of surface movement, the current subsidence pattern of Jinchuan No.2 mine is in the early stage of development. Based on analysis of surface movement rate, surface subsidence rate increase rapidly when mining in double lever at the same time, and reach its peak until the exploitation model ended. When double lever mining translate into single, production decreased, surface subsidence rate suddenly start to reduce and maintain a relatively low value, and the largest subsidence center will slowly move along with the hangingwall ore body direction with increasing depth of mining, at the same time, the scope and extent of subsidence in footwall ore body will begin magnify, and a sub-settlement center will appear on ground surface, accompanied with the development and closure trend of ground fissure, the surrounding rockmass of shaft and roadway will be confronted to more frequent and severe deformation and failure, and which will have a negative impact on the overall stability of No.2 mine mining. On the premise of continuity of rockmass movement, gray system model can be used in ground rockmass movement prediction for good results. Under the condition of backfill mining step by step, the loose effect of compact status of the hard, broken rockmass led to lower energy release rate, although surrounding rockmass has high elastic energy, loose and damage occurred in the horizontal ore body, which made the mining process safety without any large geological hazards. During the period of mining the horizontal ore body to end, in view of its special “residual support role”, there will be no large scale rockmass movement hazards. Since ground surface movement mainly related to the intensity of mining speed and backfill effect, on the premise of constant mining speed, during the period of mining the horizontal ore body to end, the rate of ground surface rockmass movement and deformation won’t have sudden change.

地幔对流理论及其在解释地球物理观测的应用

With the improving of mantle convection theory, the developing of computing method and increasing of the measurement data, we can numerically simulate more clearly about the effects on some geophysical observed phenomenons such as the global heat flow and global lithospheric stress field in the Earth's surface caused by mantle convection, which is the primary mechanism for the transport of heat from the Earth's deep interior to its surface and the underlying force mechanism of dynamics in the Earth.Chapter 1 reviews the historical background and present research state of mantle convection theory.In Chapter 2, the basic conception of thermal convection and the basic theory about mantle flow.The effects on generation and distribution of global lithospheric stres s field induced by mantle flow are the subject of Chapter 3. Mantle convection causes normal stress and tangential stresses at the bottom of the lithosphere, and then the sublithospheric stress field induces the lithospheric deformation as sixrface force and results in the stress field within the lithosphere. The simulation shows that the agreement between predictions and observations is good in most regions. Most of subduction zones and continental collisions are under compressive. While ocean ridges, such as the east Pacific ridge, the Atlantic ridge and the east African rift valley, are under tensile. And most of the hotspots preferentially occur in regions where calculated stress is tensile. The calculated directions of the most compressive principal horizontal stress are largely in accord with that of the observation except for some regions such as the NW-Pacifie subduction zone and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in which the directions of the most compressive principal horizontal stress are different. It shows that the mantel flow plays an important role in causing or affecting the large-scale stress field within the lithosphere.The global heat flow simulation based on a kinematic model of mantle convection is given in Chapter 4. Mantle convection velocities are calculated based on the internal loading theory at first, the velocity field is used as the input to solve the thermal problem. Results show that calculated depth derivatives of the near surface temperature are closely correlated to the observed surface heat flow pattern. Higher heat flow values around midocean ridge systems can be reproduced very well. The predicted average temperature as a function of function of depth reveals that there are two thermal boundary layers, one is close to the surface and another is close to the core-mantle boundary, the rest of the mantle is nearly isothermal. Although, in most of the mantle, advection dominates the heat transfer, the conductive heat transfer is still locally important in the boundary layers and plays an important role for the surface heat flow pattern. The existence of surface plates is responsible for the long wavelength surface heat flow pattern.In Chapter 5, the effects on present-day crustal movement in the China Mainland resulted from the mantle convection are introduced. Using a dynamic method, we present a quantitative model for the present-day crustal movement in China. We consider not only the effect of the India-Eurasia collision, the gravitational potential energy difference of the Tibet Plateau, but also the contribution of the shear traction on the bottom of the lithosphere induced by the global mantle convection. The comparison between our results and the velocity field obtained from the GPS observation shows that our model satisfactorily reproduces the general picture of crustal deformation in China. Numerical modeling results reveal that the stress field on the base of the lithosphere induced by the mantle flow is probably a considerable factor that causes the movement and deformation of the lithosphere in continental China with its eflfcet focuing on the Eastern China A numerical research on the small-scale convection with variable viscosity in the upper mantle is introduced in Chapter 6. Based on a two-dimensional model, small-scale convection in the mantle-lithosphere system with variable viscosity is researched by using of finite element method. Variation of viscosity in exponential form with temperature is considered in this paper The results show that if viscosity is strongly temperature-dependent, the upper part of the system does not take a share in the convection and a stagnant lid, which is identified as lithosphere, is formed on the top of system because of low temperature and high viscosity. The calculated surface heat flow, topography and gravity anomaly are associated well with the convection pattern, namely, the regions with high heat flow and uplift correspond to the upwelling flow, and vice versa.In Chapter 7, we give a brief of future research subject: The inversion of lateral density heterogeneity in the mantle by minimizing the viscous dissipation.

Time-Frequency Representations for Speech Signals

This work addresses two related questions. The first question is what joint time-frequency energy representations are most appropriate for auditory signals, in particular, for speech signals in sonorant regions. The quadratic transforms of the signal are examined, a large class that includes, for example, the spectrograms and the Wigner distribution. Quasi-stationarity is not assumed, since this would neglect dynamic regions. A set of desired properties is proposed for the representation: (1) shift-invariance, (2) positivity, (3) superposition, (4) locality, and (5) smoothness. Several relations among these properties are proved: shift-invariance and positivity imply the transform is a superposition of spectrograms; positivity and superposition are equivalent conditions when the transform is real; positivity limits the simultaneous time and frequency resolution (locality) possible for the transform, defining an uncertainty relation for joint time-frequency energy representations; and locality and smoothness tradeoff by the 2-D generalization of the classical uncertainty relation. The transform that best meets these criteria is derived, which consists of two-dimensionally smoothed Wigner distributions with (possibly oriented) 2-D guassian kernels. These transforms are then related to time-frequency filtering, a method for estimating the time-varying 'transfer function' of the vocal tract, which is somewhat analogous to ceptstral filtering generalized to the time-varying case. Natural speech examples are provided. The second question addressed is how to obtain a rich, symbolic description of the phonetically relevant features in these time-frequency energy surfaces, the so-called schematic spectrogram. Time-frequency ridges, the 2-D analog of spectral peaks, are one feature that is proposed. If non-oriented kernels are used for the energy representation, then the ridge tops can be identified, with zero-crossings in the inner product of the gradient vector and the direction of greatest downward curvature. If oriented kernels are used, the method can be generalized to give better orientation selectivity (e.g., at intersecting ridges) at the cost of poorer time-frequency locality. Many speech examples are given showing the performance for some traditionally difficult cases: semi-vowels and glides, nasalized vowels, consonant-vowel transitions, female speech, and imperfect transmission channels.

Ab initio configuration-interaction study of the ground and low-lying electronic states of NiI

For the first time, we have studied the potential-energy curves, spectroscopic terms, vibrational levels, and the spectroscopic constants of the ground and low-lying excited states of NiI by employing the complete active space self-consistent-field method with relativistic effective core potentials followed by multireference configuration-interaction calculations. We have identified six low-lying electronic states of NiI with doublet spin multiplicities, including three states of Delta symmetry and three states of Pi symmetry of the molecule within 15 000 cm(-1). The lowest (2)Delta state is identified as the ground state of NiI, and the lowest (2)Pi state is found at 2174.56 cm(-1) above it. These results fully support the previous conclusion of the observed spectra although our computational energy separation of the two states is obviously larger than that of the experimental values. The present calculations show that the low-lying excited states [13.9] (2)Pi and [14.6] (2)Delta are 3 (2)Pi and 3 (2)Delta electronic states of NiI, respectively. Our computed spectroscopic terms, vibrational levels, and spectroscopic constants for them are in good agreement with the experimental data available at present. In the present work we have not only suggested assignments for the observed states but also computed more electronic states that are yet to be observed experimentally. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Biomethane production from food waste and organic residues

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of biodegradable waste is an environmentally and economically sustainable solution which incorporates waste treatment and energy recovery. The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), which comprises mostly of food waste, is highly degradable under anaerobic conditions. Biogas produced from OFMSW, when upgraded to biomethane, is recognised as one of the most sustainable renewable biofuels and can also be one of the cheapest sources of biomethane if a gate fee is associated with the substrate. OFMSW is a complex and heterogeneous material which may have widely different characteristics depending on the source of origin and collection system used. The research presented in this thesis investigates the potential energy resource from a wide range of organic waste streams through field and laboratory research on real world samples. OFMSW samples collected from a range of sources generated methane yields ranging from 75 to 160 m3 per tonne. Higher methane yields are associated with source segregated food waste from commercial catering premises as opposed to domestic sources. The inclusion of garden waste reduces the specific methane yield from household organic waste. In continuous AD trials it was found that a conventional continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) gave the highest specific methane yields at a moderate organic loading rate of 2 kg volatile solids (VS) m-3 digester day-1 and a hydraulic retention time of 30 days. The average specific methane yield obtained at this loading rate in continuous digestion was 560 ± 29 L CH4 kg-1 VS which exceeded the biomethane potential test result by 5%. The low carbon to nitrogen ratio (C: N <14:1) associated with canteen food waste lead to increasing concentrations of volatile fatty acids in line with high concentrations of ammonia nitrogen at higher organic loading rates. At an organic loading rate of 4 kg VS m-3day-1 the specific methane yield dropped considerably (381 L CH4 kg-1 VS), the pH rose to 8.1 and free ammonia (NH3 ) concentrations reached toxicity levels towards the end of the trial (ca. 950 mg L-1). A novel two phase AD reactor configuration consisting of a series of sequentially fed leach bed reactors connected to an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) demonstrated a high rate of organic matter decay but resulted in lower specific methane yields (384 L CH4 kg-1 VS) than the conventional CSTR system.

A vibrational spectroscopic investigation of rhodanine and its derivatives in the solid state

Raman and infrared spectra are reported for rhodanine, 3-aminorhodanine and 3-methylrhodanine in the solid state. Comparisons of the spectra of non-deuterated/deuterated species facilitate discrimination of the bands associated with N-H, NH2, CH2 and CH3 vibrations. DFT calculations of structures and vibrational spectra of isolated gas-phase molecules, at the B3-LYP/cc-pVTZ and B3-PW91/cc-pVTZ level, enable normal coordinate analyses in terms of potential energy distributions for each vibrational normal mode. The cis amide I mode of rhodanine is associated with bands at ~ 1713 and 1779 cm-1, whereas a Raman and IR band at ~ 1457 cm-1 is assigned to the amide II mode. The thioamide II and III modes of rhodanine, 3-aminorhodanine and 3-methylrhodanine are observed at 1176 and 1066/1078; 1158 and 1044; 1107 and 984 cm-1 in the Raman and at 1187 and 1083; 1179 and 1074; 1116 and 983 cm-1 in the IR spectra, respectively.

Vibrational spectroscopy and DFT calculations of the di-amino acid peptide L-aspartyl-L-glutamic acid in the zwitterionic state

Solid state IR and Raman as well as aqueous solution state Raman spectra are reported for the linear di-amino acid peptide L-aspartyl-L-glutamic acid (L-Asp-L-Glu); the solution state Raman spectrum has also been obtained for the N,O-deuterated derivative. SCF-DFT calculations at the B3-LYP/cc-pVDZ level established that the structure and vibrational spectra of L-Asp-L-Glu can be interpreted using a model of the peptide with ten hydrogen-bonded water molecules, in conjunction with the conductor-like polarizable continuum solvation method. The DFT calculations resulted in the computation of a stable zwitterionic structure, which displays trans-amide conformation. The vibrational spectra were computed at the optimised molecular geometry, enabling normal coordinate analysis, which yielded satisfactory agreement with the experimental IR and Raman data. Computed potential energy distributions of the normal modes provided detailed vibrational assignments.

Vibrational spectroscopy and DFT calculations of di-amino acid cyclic peptides. Part I: cyclo(Gly-Gly), cyclo(L-Ala-L-Ala) and cyclo(L-Ala-Gly) in the solid state and in aqueous solution

Investigations of the vibrational spectra of cyclo(Gly-Gly), cyclo(L-Ala-L-Ala) and cyclo(t-Ala-Gly) are reported. Raman scattering and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of solid-state and aqueous protonated samples, as well as their corresponding N-deuterated isotopomers, have been examined. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) (B3-LYP/cc-pVDZ) calculations of molecular structures and their associated vibrational modes were carried out. In each case, the calculated structures of lowest energy for the isolated gas-phase molecules have boat conformations. Assignments have been made for the observed Raman and FTIR vibrational bands of the cyclic di-amino acid peptides (CDAPs) examined. Raman polarization studies of aqueous phase samples are consistent with C-2 and C-1 symmetries for the six-membered rings of cyclo(L-Ala-L-Ala) and cydo(L-Ala-Gly), respectively. There is a good correlation between experimental and calculated vibrational bands for the three CDAPs. These data are in keeping with boat conformations for cydo(L-Ala-L-Ala) and cyclo(L-Ala-Gly) molecules, predicted by the ab initio calculations, in both the solid and aqueous solution states. However, Raman spectroscopic results might infer that cyclo(L-AlaGly) deviates only slightly from planarity in the solid state. The potential energy distributions of the amide I and II modes of a cis-peptide linkage are shown to be significantly different from those of the trans-peptides. For example, deuterium shifts have shown that the cis-amide I vibrations found in cyclo(Gly-Gly), cyclo(L-Ala-L-Ala), and cyclo(L-Ala-Gly) have larger N-H contributions compared to their trans-amide counterparts. Compared to trans-amide II vibrations, cis-amide II vibrations show a considerable decrease in N-H character.

DFT calculations of the structures and vibrational spectra of the [Fe(bpy)(3)](2+) and [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) complexes

Structures of the [M(bpy)(3)](2+) complexes (M = Fe and Ru) have been calculated at the B3-LYP/DZVP level. IR and Raman spectra were calculated using the optimised geometries, employing a scaled quantum chemical force field, and compared with an earlier normal coordinate analysis of [Ru(bpy)(3) ](2+) which was based upon experimental data alone, and the use of a simplified model. The results of the calculations provide a highly satisfactory fit to the experimental data and the normal coordinate analyses, in terms of potential energy distributions, allow a detailed understanding of the vibrational spectra of both complexes. Evidence is presented for Jahn-Teller distortion in the E-1 MLCT excited state. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vibrational spectra of α-amino acids in the zwitterionic state in aqueous solution and the solid state: DFT calculations and the influence of hydrogen bonding

The zwitterionic forms of the two simplest alpha-amino acids, glycine and l-alanine, in aqueous solution and the solid state have been modeled by DFT calculations. Calculations of the structures in the solid state, using PW91 or PBE functionals, are in good agreement with the reported crystal structures, and the vibrational spectra computed at the optimized geometries provide a good fit to the observed IR and Raman spectra in the solid state. DFT calculations of the structures and vibrational spectra of the zwitterions in aqueous solution at the B3-LYP/cc-pVDZ level were found to require both explicit and implicit solvation models. Explicit solvation was modeled by inclusion of five hydrogen-bonded water molecules attached to each of the five possible hydrogen-bonding sites in the zwitterion and the integration equation formalism polarizable continuum model (IEF-PCM) was employed, providing a satisfactory fit to observed IR and Raman spectra. Band assignments are reported in terms of potential-energy distributions, which differ in some respects to those previously reported for glycine and l-alanine.

Strong parallel magnetic field effects on the hydrogen molecular ion

Equilibrium distances, binding energies and dissociation energies for the ground and low-lying states of the hydrogen molecular ion in a strong magnetic field parallel to the internuclear axis are calculated and refined, by using the two- dimensional pseudospectral method. High-precision results are presented for the binding energies over a wider field regime than already given in the literature (Kravchenko and Liberman 1997 Phys. Rev. A 55 2701). The present work removes a long- standing discrepancy for the R-eq value in the 1sigma(u) state at a field strength of 1.0 x 10(6) T. The dissociation energies of the antibonding 1pi(g) state induced by magnetic fields are determined accurately. We have also observed that the antibonding 1pi(g) potential energy curve develops a minimum if the field is sufficiently strong. Some unreliable results in the literature are pointed out and discussed. A way to efficiently treat vibrational processes and coupling between the nuclear and the electronic motions in magnetic fields is also suggested within a three-dimensional pseudospectral scheme.

Density functional and Monte Carlo studies of sulfur. II. Equilibrium polymerization of the liquid phase

The equilibrium polymerization of sulfur is investigated by Monte Carlo simulations. The potential energy model is based on density functional results for the cohesive energy, structural, and vibrational properties as well as reactivity of sulfur rings and chains [Part I, J. Chem. Phys. 118, 9257 (2003)]. Liquid samples of 2048 atoms are simulated at temperatures 450less than or equal toTless than or equal to850 K and P=0 starting from monodisperse S-8 molecular compositions. Thermally activated bond breaking processes lead to an equilibrium population of unsaturated atoms that can change the local pattern of covalent bonds and allow the system to approach equilibrium. The concentration of unsaturated atoms and the kinetics of bond interchanges is determined by the energy DeltaE(b) required to break a covalent bond. Equilibrium with respect to the bond distribution is achieved for 15less than or equal toDeltaE(b)less than or equal to21 kcal/mol over a wide temperature range (Tgreater than or equal to450 K), within which polymerization occurs readily, with entropy from the bond distribution overcompensating the increase in enthalpy. There is a maximum in the polymerized fraction at temperature T-max that depends on DeltaE(b). This fraction decreases at higher temperature because broken bonds and short chains proliferate and, for Tless than or equal toT(max), because entropy is less important than enthalpy. The molecular size distribution is described well by a Zimm-Schulz function, plus an isolated peak for S-8. Large molecules are almost exclusively open chains. Rings tend to have fewer than 24 atoms, and only S-8 is present in significant concentrations at all T. The T dependence of the density and the dependence of polymerization fraction and degree on DeltaE(b) give estimates of the polymerization temperature T-f=450+/-20 K. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Density functional/Monte Carlo study of ring-opening polymerization

Density functional calculations of the structure, potential energy surface and reactivity for organic systems closely related to bisphenol-A-polycarbonate (BPA-PC) provide the basis for a model describing the ring-opening polymerization of its cyclic oligomers by nucleophilic molecules. Monte Carlo simulations using this model show a strong tendency to polymerize that is increased by increasing density and temperature, and is greater in 3D than in 2D. Entropy in the distribution of inter-particle bonds is the driving force for chain formation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Path-integral study of a two-dimensional Lennard-Jones glass

The glass transition in a quantum Lennard-Jones mixture is investigated by constant-volume path-integral simulations. Particles are assumed to be distinguishable, and the strength of quantum effects is varied by changing h from zero (the classical case) to one (corresponding to a highly quantum-mechanical regime). Quantum delocalization and zero point energy drastically reduce the sensitivity of structural and thermodynamic properties to the glass transition. Nevertheless, the glass transition temperature T-g can be determined by analyzing the phase space mobility of path-integral centroids. At constant volume, the T-g of the simulated model increases monotonically with increasing h. Low temperature tunneling centers are identified, and the quantum versus thermal character of each center is analyzed. The relation between these centers and soft quasilocalized harmonic vibrations is investigated. Periodic minimizations of the potential energy with respect to the positions of the particles are performed to determine the inherent structure of classical and quantum glassy samples. The geometries corresponding to these energy minima are found to be qualitatively similar in all cases. Systematic comparisons for ordered and disordered structures, harmonic and anharmonic dynamics, classical and quantum systems show that disorder, anharmonicity, and quantum effects are closely interlinked.

Equilibrium polymerization of cyclic carbonate oligomers. II. Role of multiple active sites

Ring opening polymerization of bisphenol A polycarbonate is studied by Monte Carlo simulations of a model comprising a fixed number of Lennard-Jones particles and harmonic bonds [J. Chem. Phys. 115, 3895 (2001)]. Bond interchanges produced by a low concentration (0.10%less than or equal toc(a)less than or equal to0.36%) of chemically active particles lead to equilibrium polymerization. There is a continuous transition in both 2D and 3D from unpolymerized cyclic oligomers at low density to a system of linear chains at high density, and the polymeric phase is much more stable in three dimensions than in two. The steepness of the polymerization transition increases rapidly as c(a) decreases, suggesting that it is discontinuous in the limit c(a)-->0. The transition is entropy driven, since the average potential energy increases systematically upon polymerization, and there is a steady decline in the degree of polymerization as the temperature is lowered. The mass distribution functions for open chains and for rings are unimodal, with exponentially decaying tails that can be fitted by Zimm-Schulz functions and simpler exponential forms. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.