A virtual experiment technique on the elementary behaviour of granular materials with discrete element method

Multi‐scale investigations aided by the discrete element method (DEM) play a vital role for current state‐of‐the‐art research on the elementary behaviour of granular materials. Similar to laboratory tests, there are three important aspects to be considered carefully, which are the proper stress/strain definition and measurement, the application of target loading paths and the designed experiment setup, to be addressed in the present paper. Considering the volume sensitive characteristics of granular materials, in the proposed technique, the deformation of the tested specimen is controlled and measured by deformation gradient tensor involving both the undeformed configuration and the current configuration. Definitions of Biot strain and Cauchy stress are adopted. The expressions of them in terms of contact forces and particle displacements, respectively, are derived. The boundary of the tested specimen consists of rigid massless planar units. It is suggested that the representative element uses a convex polyhedral (polygonal) shape to minimize possible boundary arching effects. General loading paths are described by directly specifying the changes in the stress/strain invariants or directions. Loading can be applied in the strain‐controlled mode by specifying the translations and rotations of the boundary units, or in the stress‐controlled mode by using a servo‐control mechanism, or in the combination of the two methods to realize mixed boundary conditions. Taking the simulation results as the natural consequences originated from a complex system, virtual experiments provide particle‐scale information database to conduct multi‐scale investigations for better understanding in granular material behaviours and possible development of the constitutive theories provided the qualitative similarity between the simulation results from virtual experiments and observations on real material behaviour. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

非均匀下垫面边界层研究现状与展望

评述了非均匀下垫面大气边界层研究的现状和当前发展所面临的一些问题,就近年来非均匀下垫面边界层这一大气边界层研究中的难点和热点问题的由来,所使用的研究方法和手段的发展以及目前面临和亟待解决的问题做了系统的归纳,并对未来非均匀边界层研究发展的趋势和研究方法做了展望。     

Runoff and erosion processes and rates in the Zin valley badlands,northern Negev,Israel

Badland areas are usually regarded as impermeable zones which generate high runoff and are very vulnerable to sheetwash and rainsplash. To test those considerations sprinkling experiments using two rainfall simulators were carried out on slopes of varying aspect in the northern Negev (Israel). For one unit 1·5 m² plots were used with rainfall of natural characteristics at 36 mm/hr intensity and 43–48 minute duration, runoff being recorded and water/sediment samples taken every 5 minutes. The second unit was used on 30–50 m² plots but rainfall energy production was below that of natural rainfall. Results show that due to the high stability and strong flocculation of clay-rich aggregates rainsplash is ineffective in surface sealing so that infiltration capacities remain high despite intense, prolonged rainfall. Aspect differences are reflected in variation of surface properties despite homogenous bed-rock, which cause marked differences in hydrological response. North-facing slopes respond more quickly, more frequently and produce more runoff than south-facing slopes. Non-uniform runoff generation is also seen within plots of one aspect reflecting subtle variations in surface properties. Comparison of rainfall intensity and duration used during the experiments with those prevailing under natural conditions shows that under present day conditions surface flow in the Zin valley badlands must be extremely infrequent and denudation rates very low.     

星载GPS自主定轨的长期稳定性

通过模拟长达100天的星载GPS伪距观测资料,进行卡尔曼滤波定轨仿真计算．重点研究：1)采用简化的动力学模型与简化状态转移矩阵,是否保证滤波的长期稳定性；2)模型误差矩阵Q的选取对滤波定轨精度的影响；3)与事后最小二乘批处理相比较,在简化模型下自主定轨的精度．同时给出了相应的结论．     

Threshold of motion of bivalve and gastropod shells under oscillatory flow in flume experiments

The threshold of motion of non-fragmented mollusc shells was studied for the first time under oscillatory flow. In this regard, flume experiments were used to investigate the threshold of motion of three bivalve and three gastropod species, two typical mollusc classes of coastal coquina deposits. The sieve diameters ranged from 2·0 to 15·9 mm. These experiments were performed on a flat-bottom setup under regular non-breaking waves (swell) produced by a flap-type wave generator. The critical Shields values for each species of mollusc were plotted against the sieve and nominal diameter. Moreover, the dimensionless Corey shape factor of the shells was evaluated in order to investigate the effect of mollusc shell shapes on the threshold of motion. According to their critical Shields parameter, the mollusc threshold data under oscillatory flow present smaller values than the siliciclastic sediments when considering their sieve diameter. In addition, the mollusc datasets are below the empirical curves built from siliciclastic grain data under current and waves. When considering the nominal diameter, the critical Shields parameter increases and the mollusc data are closer to siliciclastic sediments. Bivalves, which have a flat-concave shape (form factor: 0·27 to 0·37), have a higher critical Shields parameter for smaller particles and more uniform datasets than the gastropod scattered data, which have a rounded shape (form factor: 0·58 to 0·62) and have varied morphologies (ellipsoidal, conical and cubic). The comparison between previous current-driven threshold data of bioclastic sediment motion and the data of mollusc whole shells under oscillatory flow shows a fair correlation on the Shields diagram, in which all datasets are below the mean empirical curves for siliciclastic sediments. These findings indicate that the shape effect on the transport initiation is predominant for smaller shells. The use of the nominal diameter is satisfactory to improve the bioclastic and siliciclastic data correlation.     

一次局地大暴雨的地面观测资料同化预报试验研究

基于WRF（Weather Research and Forecasting）模式及其3DVAR（3-Dimentional Variational）资料同化系统,采用36 km、12 km 、4 km三层嵌套网格进行逐3 h资料同化和快速更新循环预报,对2011年5月8日鲁中一次局地大暴雨过程进行了资料同化敏感性试验。试验结果表明,地面观测资料同化和快速更新循环对本次降水的预报起到了关键性作用。在快速更新循环预报时不同化地面观测资料,或同化全部观测资料进行冷启动预报,模式均不能预报出山东的降水。同化地面观测资料后,显著改进了模式降水落区预报。地面观测资料同化可以影响到700 hPa高度以上温压湿风要素的变化,从而改变了大气初始场的温湿结构,导致模式预报的700 hPa附近高空大气湿度和热力不稳定增强,700 hPa以下低层风场更强,850 hPa鲁中以南风速较无观测资料同化的偏强2～4 m·s-1,低层风场的动力作用触发高空的不稳定大气,降水出现在山东。     

零价铁去除Cr（Ⅵ）的批实验研究

零价铁去除Cr(Ⅵ)的一系列批实验结果表明：水溶液中发生的氧化还原反应符合准一级反应；对于相同粒度的铁屑(比表面积2．89m^2／g)，固液比由05g／100mL增加到2．0g／100mL，Cr(Ⅵ)质量浓度达到排放标准所需反应时间从26．7min降为3．6min；在固液比相同、原水中Cr(Ⅵ)质量浓度不超过30mg／L时，原水质量浓度增大，达到饮用水标准的反应时间增加；其他条件相同，升高温度可提高零价铁与Cr(Ⅵ)的反应速率。     

Effects of CO2 on benthic biota: An in situ benthic chamber experiment in Storfjorden (Norway)

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) methods, either sub-seabed or in ocean depths, introduces risk of CO₂ leakage and subsequent interaction with the ecosystem. It is therefore important to obtain information on possible effects of CO₂. In situ CO₂ exposure experiments were carried out twice for 10 days during 2005 using a Benthic Chamber system at 400 m depth in Storfjorden, Norway. pCO₂ in the water above the sediment in the chambers was controlled at approximately 500, 5000 and 20,000 μatm, respectively. This article describes the experiment and the results from measured the biological responses within the chamber sediments. The results show effects of elevated CO₂ concentrations on biological processes such as increased nanobenthos density. Methane production and sulphate reduction was enhanced in the approximately 5000 μatm chamber.     

ENCLOSURE EXPERIMENTS ON AND LACUSTRINE PRACTICE FOR ELIMINATING MICROCYSTIS BLOOM

Microcystis bloom, one of the most objectionable characteristics of eutrophication in tropical and subtropical waters, occurred in Donghu Lake (East lake) of Wuhan every summer from the 1970s up to 1984, but from 1985 up to now failed to occur there. The cause of its disappearance rema-ined in obscurity until recently. In situ enclosure experiments in the lake for three years showed that the stocking of the filter-feeding silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix ) and big-head carp (Aristichthys nobilis ) played a decisive role in eliminating Microcystis bloom from the lake; but that recurrence of the bloom is possible under certain conditions. This paper presents the details and the results of enclosure ex-periments. The authors‘ analysis of fish biomass data obtained by echo-sounding and the fishery produc-tion of the lake over the years, revealed that the recurrence of Microcystis bloom can be prevented so long as the combined biomnss of silver carp and big-head carp remains at or exceeds 50 g per cubic meter of lakewater, as was the case in the lake‘s 1985 fish yield of 1015 t.     

沙尘输送模式的不确定性分析

利用一个远距离输送的沙尘模式估计了由于参数化过程 (干沉降速度) 和输入资料 (源强和水平风场) 的误差造成沙尘模拟的不确定性。通过对以上参数分别进行敏感性试验, 分析了模式对2002年3月15～24日期间中国东部地区两次主要沙尘过程模拟的不确定性。结果显示, 源区的潜在源强和气象水平风场的不确定性对模拟结果的影响最大, 而干沉降速度的影响相对较小。同时, 对不同区域 ［西部 (＜95°E)、中部 (95°E～110°E) 和东部 (＞110°E)］ 的潜在源强和干沉降速度参数进行敏感性试验发现, 中部区域的参数设置对模拟结果的影响最大, 而西部和东部区域的参数变化对模拟结果的影响很小。此外, 不同高度的风场影响也不一样: 地面风速影响最大, 中层的影响较小, 而高层 (约6 km高度以上) 的风场几乎没有影响。