Numerical Study of the Plastic Behaviour of a Low Alloy Steel during Phase Transformation

IntroductionItiswellknownthaphasetrapsformationsplayanimPortantroleontheresidualstressesandstrainsinducedbythermalprocessessuchasweldingandquenching.lnthispaPer,wefocusourattentiononthebehaviourofsteelsduringphasetransformations.AtheoreticalaPproachhasbeenachievedbyLeblondetal[1]andhasledtOamacroscopicmodelinthecaseofideal-plasticphases[2][3].Thenthemodelhasbeengeneralizedtotakestrainhardeningphenomenaintoaccount[4].ThetheoreticalaPproachhasbeenassessedandcompletedusingflniteelementsimulati…     

Frequency domain analysis of a tension leg platform with statistical linearization of the tendon restoring forces

The dynamics of a tension leg platform have important nonlinearities which must be approximated in some manner in a frequency domain analysis. For irregular waves, the well-documented method of statistical linearization is commonly employed for the drag forces, but it is seldom applied to the restoring forces. In earlier studies, the stiffness linearization has been limited to the surge motion. This paper presents the formulation for the linearization in all six degrees-of-freedom. To this end, the nonlinear restoring function and tangent stiffness matrix are derived, and extensive nonlinear couplings between the different modes are found to exist. The performance of the linearized frequency domain approach is benchmarked against time domain simulations for a problem involving large platform motions. It is found that subject to certain conditions, which are relatively mild, the linearization technique facilitates accurate predictions of the mean offsets and the response variances, including the slow-drift component.     

A Novel Approach to Vehicle Dynamics using the Theory of a Cosserat Point and its Application to Collision Analyses of Platooning Vehicles

A fully three-dimensional, computationally inexpensive vehicular model is presented. In contrast to traditional rigid body models, the vehicle's sprung mass is modeled as a (nonlinearly) deformable body. The formulation of the equations of motion is based on a continuum theory known as the theory of a Cosserat point. These equations largely preserve the relative simplicity of rigid body dynamics but incorporate deformable features. The ease of computer implementation permits the simultaneous simulation of vehicle and collision dynamics of multiple vehicles and highway objects. In this paper, the theory of a Cosserat point is summarized and its general application to vehicle and collision dynamics is illustrated. A three-dimensional collision algorithm is discussed with emphasis on small closing velocities (negligible residual crush, elastic rebound). The novel model is compared to standard procedures.     

Primary productivity of the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research Area and the Southern Ocean

A major objective of the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (Palmer LTER) project is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the various components of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Phytoplankton production plays a key role in this so-called high nutrient, low chlorophyll environment, and factors that regulate production include those that control cell growth (light, temperature, and nutrients) and those that control cell accumulation rate and hence population growth (water column stability, grazing, and sinking). Sea ice mediates several of these factors and frequently conditions the water column for a spring bloom which is characterized by a pulse of production restricted in both time and space. This study models the spatial and temporal variability of primary production within the Palmer LTER area west of the Antarctic Peninsula and discusses this production in the context of historical data for the Southern Ocean. Primary production for the Southern Ocean and the Palmer LTER area have been computed using both light-pigment production models [Smith, R.C., Bidigare, R.R., Prézelin, B.B., Baker, K.S., Brooks, J.M., 1987. Optical characterization of primary productivity across a coastal front. Mar. Biol. (96), 575–591; Bidigare, R.R., Smith, R.C., Baker, K.S., Marra, J., 1987. Oceanic primary production estimates from measurements of spectral irradiance and pigment concentrations. Global Biogeochem. Cycles (1), 171–186; Morel, A., Berthon, J.F., 1989. Surface pigments, algal biomass profiles and potential production of the euphotic layer—relationships reinvestigated in view of remote-sensing applications. Limnol. Oceanogr. (34), 1545–1562] and an ice edge production model [Nelson, D.M., Smith, W.O., 1986. Phytoplankton bloom dynamics of the western Ross Sea ice edge: II. Mesoscale cycling of nitrogen and silicon. Deep-Sea Res. (33), 1389–1412; Wilson, D.L., Smith, W.O., Nelson, D.M., 1986. Phytoplankton bloom dynamics of the Western Ross Sea ice edge: I. primary productivity and species-specific production. Deep-Sea Res., 33, 1375–1387; Smith, W.O., Nelson, D.M., 1986. Importance of ice edge phytoplankton production in the Southern Ocean. BioScience (36), 251–257]. Chlorophyll concentrations, total photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) and sea ice concentrations were derived from satellite data. These same parameters, in addition to hydrodynamic conditions, have also been determined from shipboard and Palmer Station observations during the LTER program. Model results are compared, sensitivity studies evaluated, and productivity of the Palmer LTER region is discussed in terms of its space time distribution, seasonal and interannual variability, and overall contribution to the marine ecology of the Southern Ocean.     

市郊列车用全封闭式永磁同步电动机

风冷式感应电动机广泛用作铁道车辆的牵引电动机.但它们需要大修进行内部清洁,而且还是噪声的主要来源.为解决这些问题,建议使用全封闭式永磁同步电动机作牵引电动机,它具有与传统的风冷式感应电动机相同的功率-重量比.报告了温升试验、噪声测定和能耗计算的结果.结果表明噪声等级下降10 dB,能耗约降低10%.     

Model-scale experiments of symmetric ship collisions

This study was initiated due to the lack of experimental data on ship collisions. The feasibility of model-scale ship collision experiments was examined and a series of model-scale ship collision experiments is presented. The theoretical background for the analysis of experiments is given together with the principles of scaling. Proper scaling should assure physical similarity to the large-scale experiments conducted in the Netherlands. The Froude scaling law was followed, resulting in the improper scaling of some forces: the effects of this are discussed. The study concentrates on the dynamics of collisions. The structural response, properly scaled from the large-scale experiments, was modelled using polyurethane foam as the ship’s side structure. The collision process was analysed and the results of model-scale tests, large-scale experiments, and a simple analytical model were compared, showing that there was both quantitative and qualitative agreement in the results of the experiments conducted at different scales. The analytical model yielded good quantitative assessment of the deformation energy.     

Seasonal variability of the Black Sea chlorophyll-a concentration

The optimal spectral decomposition (OSD) method is used to reconstruct seasonal variability of the Black Sea horizontally averaged chlorophyll-a concentration from data collected during the NATO SfP-971818 Black Sea Project in 1980–1995. During the reconstruction, quality control is conducted to reduce errors caused by measurement accuracy, sampling strategy, and irregular data distribution in space and time. A bi-modal structure with winter/spring (February–March) and fall (September–October) blooms is uniquely detected and accurately documented. The chlorophyll-a enriched zone rises to 15 m depth in winter and June, and deepens to 40 m in April and 35 m in August. The June rise of the chlorophyll-a enriched zone is accompanying by near-continuous reduction of upper layer maximum chlorophyll-a concentration.     

Maritime policy, management and research: role and potential

This special issue of Maritime Policy and Management includes a collection of the best papers presented at the recent conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) 2005. On the basis of a review and conceptual synthesis of the six papers selected for the special issue, this paper provides a discussion of the role and potential of research in informing managerial decision-making and policy-making in the context of the maritime industry and makes recommendations for elevating the discipline-related credentials of the maritime area as a field of study.     

Effects of small-scale turbulence on the growth of two diatoms of different size in a phosphorus-limited medium

The effect of turbulence on the nutrient flux towards osmotrophic cells is predicted to be size dependent. This should translate into growth. We experimentally followed and modelled the growth of two marine diatoms of different size (Thalassiosira pseudonana, 6 μm in diameter and Coscinodiscus sp., ca. 109 μm in diameter) under still water and turbulent conditions, using a shaker table. Experiments were done with phosphorus-limited cultures and lasted for ca. 5 days. Turbulence enhanced the growth of Coscinodiscus sp. in agreement with theory but not the growth of T. pseudonana, which was actually slightly lower under turbulence. At the end of the experiments there were about 1.7 times as many Coscinodiscus sp. cells in the turbulent treatment than in the still treatment, while for T. pseudonana almost the same cell concentration was found in both conditions. In addition, the Coscinodiscus sp. cells growing under still conditions presented a higher specific alkaline phosphatase activity than those growing in turbulence which indicates a higher need for phosphorus in the still cultures. A simple dynamic model, based on Michaelis–Menten nutrient uptake kinetics, needed nearly no optimisation other than using observed initial conditions of phosphate and cell concentrations. The model showed how an increased nutrient flux towards the cells translates non-linearly into cell growth, most likely by affecting the half-saturation constant (K_M). However, since Coscinodiscus sp. experienced significant mortality and cells partially settled to the bottom of the containers, unequivocal support for the size-dependent effect of turbulence on nutrient uptake will require further experiments and more sophisticated modelling. The mechanisms to connect an increased nutrient flux towards cells with population growth and whether this process is size dependent are important in parameterizing the effects of turbulence on marine plankton in coupled physical–biological models.     

Shipping finance: time to follow a new track?

In this paper we introduce, for the first time, a methodology from the most recent literature of finance to reveal the duration of shipping cycles and then show the benefit of the use of this information to make more successful shipping loans. This is so as banks are willing to finance, during boom periods, shipping loans for new buildings but by this way 'create' oversupply and thus depress the freight market by their own actions. The information about cycles, especially their forecasting, is mostly important as shipping loans are based on project financing/cash flow financing, which means that ship revenue is of utmost importance. The Rescaled Range Analysis is applied here to 379 monthly freight trips—made stationary—between 1971 and 2002 (July), due to Hurst 1 and elaborated and popularized by Mandelbrot 2. The most important effect, however, is that shipping freight series exhibit non-normality and long-run dependence rendering the use of random walk models such as GARCH (Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity) problematic. Thus an adequate literature review is carried out with criticism against the models used. The cycles have been calculated as equal to 4.5 years and 2.25 years. This is almost compatible with the most recent paper of Stopford 3. The Hurst exponent was found equal to 0.93, alternating over the periods examined (0.65, 0.73, 0.62, 0.59 and 0.55) and indicating long-term persistence but seriously away from normal/random walk domain. Most studies have said the same using the Jarque--Bera test for normality but provided no alternative.