Ocnus sacculus new species (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea), a brood‐protecting holothurian from southeastern New Zealand

A new species in the dendrochirotid holothurian genus Ocnus sensu lato is described from approximately 600 m depth in Taiaroa Canyon, off Otago, New Zealand. Ocnus sacculus new species has single rows of tubefeet only in the 3 ventral radii. Body‐wall ossicles consist of cups, knobbed 4‐holed buttons, and multi‐layered plates averaging 0.7 mm in diameter. Three brood pouches lie anteriorly on the inner surface of the body wall in 3 dorsal interradii; the mid‐dorsal pouch is largest. The pouches apparently have no permanent contact with the exterior; presumably birth takes place by rupture of the body wall.     

Benthic community and biological trait composition in respect to artificial coastal defence structures: A study case in the northern Adriatic Sea

Biological Traits Analysis (BTA) is a method for addressing ecological functioning based on traits exhibited by members of biological assemblages. This study explores and compares species and biological trait patterns on either side (landward and seaward) of coastal breakwater structures in northwestern Adriatic Sea (Italy), with the aim of giving insights and knowledge for management of sandy beach systems affected by coastal development. Eight ecological traits of 96 benthic species were considered. Taxon composition evidenced differences in benthic assemblages across time and exposure: landward and seaward communities shared less than 50% of the total number of species. BTA suggested a no-management effect in the functioning of benthic assemblages. Dominant traits modalities were deposit-feeding, short life, small body size, short life span, iteroparity, gonocorism, with plankto-planktotrophic larvae. The results of BTA highlighted similarities and stability in trait composition contrary to species composition, suggesting a possible persistence in benthic functioning despite the occurrence of species replacements. To best of my knowledge, this study is one of the first attempts to investigate the effects of a management measure (submerged shore-parallel barriers with groynes) in a shallow marine system by means of BTA.     

Regional geomorphology of the continental slope of NW India: Delineation of the signatures of deep‐seated structures

Geomorphological features (derived from 16,000 lkm of echo‐sounding and bathymetric data) and deep‐seated tectonic structures of the continental margin off NW India are presented. The shelf break over the entire region occurs between 80 to 154 m water depth, and adjacent to Saurashtra and Bombay High the depth and orientation of the shelf edge show marked variations. The boundary of the slope is shallower in the northern portion (about 1450 m in the vicinity of the Indus) than in the southern region (2900 m off Bombay).

The steep slope off the Gulf of Kachchh has relatively smooth physiography due to higher input of fluvial sediment and burial of structures. The gentler slope off Saurashtra and the Bombay High area has numerous complex features, the most prominent among them being benches at depths of 180–230 m (width 2–10 km) and 650–780 m and a series of bathymetric highs and lows. Slope breaks are also observed between 400 and 600 m off Bombay and between 560 and 960 m off Saurashtra. These features are surface manifestations of the anticlinal features extending along the shelf in this region. Unevenness (order of 100–300 m) due to slumping is also observed at the base of the slope.

Based on the correlation between tectonic structures of this area and these subphysiographic features, extension of the Saurashtra Anticline onto the slope, a new strike slip fault (the southern boundary fault of Narmada graben) and an along‐shelf anticlinal structure off Saurashtra are delineated.     

随机结构动力可靠度估计算法的对比分析

对比分析了随机结构动力可靠度计算的三种估计算法.渐进展开法是基于Laplace算法对概率积分进行渐进估计的,此法通过计算最大被积分式值对应点,并将其代入概率积分的渐进估计表达式求解失效概率.由于概率积分的主要贡献来自于最大被积分式值对应点的周围,因此本文的重要抽样法假定重要抽样函数的最大似然值等于最大被积分式值对应点值.极值分布-泰勒展开法首先通过结构随机参数的极值分布函数给出失效概率的表达式,随后利用泰勒展开法对失效概率进行估计,其中采用中心差分法对极值分布函数的梯度进行估算.最后应用三种算法和Monte Carlo法对受高斯白噪声激励作用的单自由度随机结构进行了计算,结果表明三种方法不但运算简便,而且对比Monte Carlo法计算效率有显著提高.     

Dimensional analysis of the earthquake‐induced pounding between adjacent structures

In this paper the dynamic response of two and three pounding oscillators subjected to pulse‐type excitations is revisited with dimensional analysis. Using Buckingham's Π‐theorem the number of variables that govern the response of the system is reduced by three. When the response is presented in the dimensionless Π‐terms remarkable order emerges. It is shown that regardless of the acceleration level and duration of the pulse all response spectra become self‐similar and follow a single master curve. This is true despite the realization of finite duration contacts with increasing durations as the excitation level increases. All physically realizable contacts (impacts, continuous contacts, and detachments) are captured via a linear complementarity approach. The study confirms the existence of three spectral regions. The response of the most flexible among the two oscillators amplifies in the low range of the frequency spectrum (flexible structures); whereas, the response of the most stiff among the two oscillators amplifies at the upper range of the frequency spectrum (stiff structures). Most importantly, the study shows that pounding structures such as colliding buildings or interacting bridge segments may be most vulnerable for excitations with frequencies very different from their natural eigenfrequencies. Finally, by applying the concept of intermediate asymptotics, the study unveils that the dimensionless response of two pounding oscillators follows a scaling law with respect to the mass ratio, or in mathematical terms, that the response exhibits an incomplete self‐similarity or self‐similarity of the second kind with respect to the mass ratio. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decentralized ℋ︁∞ controller design for large‐scale civil structures

Complexities inherent to large‐scale modern civil structures pose many challenges in the design of feedback structural control systems for dynamic response mitigation. With the emergence of low‐cost sensors and control devices creating technologies from which large‐scale structural control systems can deploy, a future control system may contain hundreds, or even thousands, of such devices. Key issues in such large‐scale structural control systems include reduced system reliability, increasing communication requirements, and longer latencies in the feedback loop. To effectively address these issues, decentralized control strategies provide promising solutions that allow control systems to operate at high nodal counts. This paper examines the feasibility of designing a decentralized controller that minimizes the ??_∞ norm of the closed‐loop system. ??_∞ control is a natural choice for decentralization because imposition of decentralized architectures is easy to achieve when posing the controller design using linear matrix inequalities. Decentralized control solutions are investigated for both continuous‐time and discrete‐time ??_∞ formulations. Numerical simulation results using a 3‐story and a 20‐story structure illustrate the feasibility of the different decentralized control strategies. The results also demonstrate that when realistic semi‐active control devices are used in combination with the decentralized ??_∞ control solution, better performance can be gained over the passive control cases. It is shown that decentralized control strategies may provide equivalent or better control performance, given that their centralized counterparts could suffer from longer sampling periods due to communication and computation constraints. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the evaluation of seismic response of structures by nonlinear static methods

In the most recent seismic codes, the assessment of the seismic response of structures may be carried out by comparing the displacement capacity, provided by nonlinear static analysis, with the displacement demand. In many cases the code approach is based on the N2 method proposed by Fajfar, which evaluates the displacement demand by defining, as an intermediate step, a single degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) system equivalent to the examined structure. Other codes suggest simpler approaches, which do not require equivalent SDOF systems, but they give slightly different estimation of the seismic displacement demand. The paper points out the differences between the methods and suggests an operative approach that provides the same accuracy as the N2 method without requiring the evaluation of an equivalent SDOF system. A wide parametric investigation allows an accurate comparison of the different methods and demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed operative approach. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

近地空中爆炸作用下钢框架结构冲击响应

采用多物质欧拉与拉格朗日耦合算法,对框架结构和混凝土地面采用Lagrange单元、空气和炸药采用多物质ALE单元,建立流固耦合有限元模型,对一个五层的钢框架结构在近地爆炸作用下冲击压力波的传播过程、结构冲击响应和变形以及破坏过程进行了数值模拟.数值模拟分析结果表明,拉格朗日-欧拉耦合算法较好地模拟了爆炸冲击波在介质中的传播和作用在结构上的爆炸荷载效应.在爆炸近区,空气爆炸冲击波的衰减速率快;爆炸产生强烈的冲击波首先使钢框架结构正面的柱和梁柱节点区产生很大的塑性变形,钢框架柱在发生爆炸的瞬间失去承载能力,最终导致建筑物整体倒塌.考虑结构变形和流体荷载间的相互影响可以较真实地模拟结构在爆炸荷载作用下的连续倒塌过程,为研究结构在爆炸荷载作用下的连续倒塌提供了有效手段.     

岩浆岩和变质岩边坡岩体结构类型的划分

在研究岩浆岩和变质岩特点的基础上,根据岩浆岩岩体结构体的大小、有无缓倾的结构面及岩浆岩散粒状边坡岩体的特征,将岩浆岩边坡岩体结构划分为4大类7个亚类;根据部分正变质岩边坡岩体结构与岩浆岩边坡岩体结构类似,部分副变质岩中发育的板理、千枚理、片理类似沉积岩中的层理,以及边坡岩体具有似层状岩体结构的特征,把变质岩边坡岩体的结构划分为5大类11个亚类。岩体结构的划分为边坡稳定性研究、边坡病害治理及其工程效果评价提供了依据。     

Nonlinear seismic analysis of reinforced concrete frames using the force analogy method

A method of nonlinear seismic analysis for RC framed structures considering full‐range factors, including stiffness and strength degradation, geometric nonlinearity, and structural member failure, is established based on the fundamental concept of the force analogy method. The strong material nonlinearity, large geometric deformation, and internal forces redistribution due to the member failure can be depicted by the proposed local plastic mechanisms, the rotation hinges at the member ends and the slide hinges assigned to the columns, of which the measurement relationships are moment versus plastic rotation and shear force versus shear plastic deformation, respectively. They are capable of evaluating the exact response of RC structures. Because only unchanging initial stiffness matrices are used through the whole computation process, the state‐space formulation was used for solving the equations of motion. The advantages of the force analogy method, such as high efficiency and stability, are still retained. The exactness of the proposed local plastic mechanisms is verified against a group of tests data, and the application of the proposed procedure is performed to an RC framed structure to simulate the full‐range nonlinear response by increasing the excitation step by step until failure of partial structural members appear. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.