Autonomic visiting in digital 3D scenes

Human-machine interactive visiting and fixed-route visiting are currently the main roaming modes in digital three-dimensional (3D) scenes. However, in general, when a person visits an attraction area, s/he does not follow a fixed path, but instead wander about according to his/her interests. Here, we propose a new roaming mode, called autonomic visiting. That is, in a digital 3D scene, a user selects several interest spots, then a route connecting these spots can be automatically determined and 3D scene can be seen along this route. This study presents a technical approach that enables the realization of autonomic visiting in 3D scenes. Firstly, Delaunay triangular meshes for the terrain in 3D scene are established. Secondly, a plane-growth algorithm and a line-connection algorithm are introduced to automatically mend the broken parts of these triangular meshes. Thirdly, the triangular meshes are then merged and differently weighted according to different layers. Finally, a progress-zone transmission algorithm is presented to optimal the shortest route, which is derived from A-Star (A*) algorithm. Digital 3D campus of Nanjing University, China, is taken as the experimental materials. The experimental results prove the effect of the proposed approach.     

Sand eddies induced by cyclic tilt of a retaining wall

The cyclic tilt of a retaining wall induces a peculiar motion in the backfill (sand), which exhibits closed trajectories (eddies). In this paper, the motion of the backfill has been optically traced and analyzed by means of particle image velocimetry, also known as digital image correlation. The results are of importance for cyclically loaded structures (e.g, piles for off-shore structures) and can also serve to test numerical simulations of large deformation.     

Immobilization of copper under an acid leach of colloidal pyrite waste rocks by a fixed-bed column

Colloidal pyrite waste rocks (CPWR) which are mainly composed of colloidal pyrite and siderite widely deposit in sulfide mines in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River belt, China, especially in Tongling City, Anhui Province, China. In this paper, a fixed-bed column was used to investigate the weathering and oxidation of CPWR and its role in immobilizing low-concentration Cu (10 mg L^?1) under weakly acidic leach (pH = 5.0). The experimental results indicated that the breakthrough capacity was around 14.0 mg Cu g^?1 CPWR when Cu²⁺ breakthrough concentration was 0.5 mg L^?1. Sequential extraction of Cu and dithionite–citrate–bicarbonate extraction of free iron in the used CPWR after the column breakthrough indicated that Cu removal by CPWR consisted of the following processes: oxidation of pyrite and dissolution of siderite in CPWR, ferrous oxidation, and adsorption of Cu on ferric (hydr)oxides. This study shows the potential application of CPWR as an effective sorbent for the removal of low-concentration Cu from acid mine drainage.     

Simulating train moving loads in physical model testing of railway infrastructure and its numerical calibration

Ballastless high-speed railways have dynamic performances that are quite different from those of conventional ballasted railways. The essential dynamic characteristics of high-speed railways due to passing train wheels, such as the cyclic effect, moving effect, and speed effect, were put forward and discussed. A full-scale accelerated railway testing platform for ballastless high-speed railways was proposed in this study. The feasibility of the sequential loading method in simulating train moving loads, and the boundary effect of the proposed physical model of ballastless railways, was investigated using three-dimensional finite element models. A full-scale physical model, 5 m long, 15 m wide, and 6 m high, was then established according to practical engineering design methods. Using a sequential loading system composed of eight high-performance hydraulic actuators, loads of a moving train with highest speed of 360 km/h were simulated. Preliminary experimental results of vibration velocities were presented and compared with field measurements of the Wuguang high-speed railway in China. Results showed that the experimental results coincided with the field measurements, demonstrating that the full-scale accelerated railway testing platform can simulate the process of a moving train and realistically reproduce the dynamic behaviors of ballastless high-speed railways.