Finite element modeling of hydrostatic stress distribution in copper dual-damascene interconnects

Hydrostatic stresses of copper dual-damascene interconnects are calculated by a commercial finite element software in this paper. The analytical work is performed to examine the effects of different low-k (k is permittivity) dielectrics, barrier layer and aspect ratio of via on hydrostatic stress distribution in the copper interconnects. The results of calculation indicate that the hydrostatic stresses are highly non-uniform throughout the copper interconnects and the highest tensile hydrostatic stress exists on the top interface of lower level interconnect near via. Both the high coefficient of thermal expansion and the low elastic modulus of the low-k dielectrics and barrier layer can decrease the highest hydrostatic stress on the top interface, which can improve the reliability of the copper interconnects.     

The enforcement of shipping standards under UNCLOS

This article discusses the enforcement of shipping standards, with a particular focus on Part XII of UNCLOS. Section 6 of Part XII contains the only comprehensive set of vessel-related enforcement provisions in the Convention, but the Part’s scope is limited to “the preservation and protection of the marine environment.” Therefore, not all shipping standards fall clearly within Part XII’s ambit, including those centered on safety, security, and crewing considerations. The enforcement provisions of Section 6 are favorable to flag states and their vessels, and Section 7 contains a number of safeguards for their benefit, so it is in the interests of these parties to have coastal state enforcement governed by Part XII. However, the ability of coastal states to establish and enforce shipping standards that apply within the territorial sea extends to more than just environmental matters. The result is that different standards give rise to different enforcement powers, depending on the maritime zone in which a vessel is located, even if those standards arise from the same international agreement. It is suggested that to remedy these problems, UNCLOS would need to be amended in order to provide a comprehensive enforcement regime for the enforcement of shipping standards.     

聚合物改性剂和石油沥青相容性评价方法研究进展

综述了6类聚合物改性剂和石油沥青的相容性评价方法,即定性观察法、流变学方法、热力学方法、化学分析法、形貌图法和数值模拟法,分析并比较了各种方法的优缺点与适用性,在此基础上针对聚合物改性剂和石油沥青的共混反应类型特点,建议了适宜的相容性评价方法,并展望了未来聚合物改性剂和石油沥青相容性评价的研究方向。研究结果表明：聚合物改性沥青属于黏弹性材料,基于流变学方法的相分离系数对于检测聚合物改性剂与石油沥青之间的差异较为敏感,适于评价两者之间的相容性;单一评价指标不宜准确评价聚合物改性剂和石油沥青的相容性,建议采用多种分析方法综合评价;对于物理共混的聚合物改性沥青,可以优先采用基于流变学的相分离系数结合形貌图法评价聚合物改性剂和石油沥青的相容性;对于反应型聚合物改性剂和石油沥青的相容性评价,建议采用相分离系数和红外光谱法;基于热力学的分子动力学模拟方法可以通过设置适宜的聚合物模型、作用温度等参数从微观角度进一步模拟和阐释聚合物改性剂和石油沥青的相互作用机理;未来结合聚合物改性沥青实际储存条件建立Cigar Tube试验储存时间区间范围,在此基础上通过适宜的相容性评价方法,动态连续地评价聚合物改性剂和石油沥青的相容性。     

First-principles prediction of ductility in β-type Ti-Mo binary alloys

Recent studies suggest that the ratio of the shear modulus (G) to the bulk modulus (B) and the Poisson’s ratio (ν) are good indicators of ductility. Using the method of supercell and the first-principles pseudopotential plane-wave method, the G/B and ν of the β-type Ti-Mo binary alloys with Mo molar fraction (x _Mo) ranging from 6.25% to 37.5% are calculated. The results show that the ductility of β-type Ti-Mo binary alloys first increases with increasing x _Mo and reaches the maximum when x _Mo is about 25%, and then reduces with more increasing x _Mo. The charge density difference calculations suggest that the x _Mo dependence of the ductility can be ascribed to the change of bonding characteristics between Ti and Mo atoms in the [111] direction.     

Investigation on transient dynamic behaviors of low-tension undersea cables

This paper presents a numerical analysis of the dynamic transient behaviors of undersea cables. In this numerical study, the governing equations based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory are adopted, and they can satisfy many applications no matter what the magnitude of the cable tension is. The nonlinear coupled equations are solved by a popular central finite difference method, and the numerical results of transient behaviors are presented when several kinds of surrounding conditions, such as different towing speeds of surface vessel, different currents and waves with various frequencies and amplitudes, are exerted. Then a detailed comparison of the results, including the upper end tension and cable shape in time-domain, is made under the above external excitations, and finally the possible reasons for these are further explained.     

Industry foundation classes based integration of architectural design and structural analysis

The numerous construction projects in China provide the best environment for the development of information technology applied in building design. Various commercial CAD/CAE software applications are purchased by design firms for multi-disciplinary design tasks. However, researches on integration and interoperability are seldom considered. This study pursues a breakthrough point of integration in the architectural and structural domains and expects further development in other aspects. A central building information modeling (BIM) framework based on the industry foundation classes (IFC) is proposed to handle the data exchange between IFC-compatible architectural models and structural models. A central XML(extensible markup language)-based unified finite element model (FEM) is proposed for model conversion among various commercial structural CAE software applications. In addition to bidirectional data interfaces among IFC-based BIM, XML-based FEM and various commercial FEMs, some other components such as visualization, calculation and model editing/check are also equipped into the prototype system.     

Model test for dynamic construction mechanical effect of large-span loess tunnel

It has been a focus of debate for a large time on construction methods for large-span loess tunnel. Reasonable construction method has much effect on stability of tunnel and construction schedule. Deformation and failure of surrounding rock are quite complex. Associating with the large-span loess tunnel of Zhengzhou—Xi’an high-speed passenger rail line in China, large scale model test with geometric proportion 1:20 is applied to study on dynamic mechanical behavior of various construction methods. They include full-face excavation with support and no support, and benching method with support. It is found that pre-deformation and stress accumulation take place ahead of working face. The effects of three construction methods are further studied, particularly in terms of tunnel displacement and stress changes. It is revealed that benching method transfers load to an unexcavated area, limits horizontal deformation, reduces stress concentration effectively, lengthens the distance between location of peak for stress concentration and working face, and consequently increases stability. The model test results not only supply theoretical foundation for determination of reasonable construction method, but also can act as reference for similar tunnel and underground engineering construction.     

Fusion of remote sensing images based on nonsubsampled contourlet transform and region segmentation

The purpose of remote sensing images fusion is to produce a fused image that contains more clear, accurate and comprehensive information than any single image. A novel fusion method is proposed in this paper based on nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) and region segmentation. Firstly, the multispectral image is transformed to intensity-hue-saturation (IHS) system. Secondly, the panchromatic image and the component intensity of the multispectral image are decomposed by NSCT. Then the NSCT coefficients of high and low frequency subbands are fused by different rules, respectively. For the high frequency subbands, the fusion rules are also unalike in the smooth and edge regions. The two regions are segregated in the panchromatic image, and the segmentation is based on particle swarm optimization. Finally, the fusion image can be obtained by performing inverse NSCT and inverse IHS transform. The experimental results are evaluated by both subjective and objective criteria. It is shown that the proposed method can obtain superior results to others.     

Efficient democratic group signatures with threshold traceability

Democratic group signature (DGS) is a group-oriented primitive with great flexibilities, i.e., no group manager, anonymity, and traceability. In a DGS scheme with (t, n)-threshold traceability, any subset of not less than t members can jointly reveal the identity of the signer while preserving security even in the presence of an active adversary can corrupt up to t − 1 group members. This paper proposes an efficient DGS scheme. We use publicly verifiable secret sharing (PVSS) to distribute the trapdoor via which the real signer is revealed. The computation cost and communication overhead of our DGS signatures are greatly reduced, compared with the existing work. For example, the size of the resulting signature contains only 2n + 1 elements of Z _q , except the PVSS output.     

Color image segmentation by edge linking and region grouping

A novel method toward color image segmentation is proposed based on edge linking and region grouping. Firstly, the edges extracted by the Canny detector are linked to form regions. Each of the end points of edges is connected by a direct line to the nearest pixel on another edge segment within a sub-window. A new distance is defined based on the feature that the edge tends to preserve its original direction. By sampling the lines to the image, the image is over-segmented to labeled regions. Secondly, the labeled regions are grouped both locally and globally. A decision tree is constructed to decide the importance of properties that affect the merging procedure. Finally, the result is refined by user’s selection of regions that compose the desired object. Experiments show that the method can effectively segment the object and is much faster than the state-of-the-art color image segmentation methods.