Stability analysis of the heave motion of marine cable-body systems

The dynamic stability of the heave motion of marine cable-body systems operating in alternating taut–slack conditions is considered, based upon a single-degree-of-freedom model. In this model the fluid damping is linearised and the cable is replaced by a spring of bi-linear stiffness. The period-one Poincare map is derived, and its stability is analysed by examining its Jacobian matrix. Numerical simulations are also carried out to show the transition from a periodic response to a chaotic one through period doubling.     

Extrapolation of symplectic Integrators

We build high order numerical methods for solving differential equations by applying extrapolation techniques to a Symplectic Integrator of order 2n. We show that, in general, the qualitative properties are preserved at least up to order 4n+1. This new procedure produces much more efficient methods than those obtained using the Yoshida composition technique. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Symplectic Tangent map for Planetary Motions

Equations are presented for the computation of tangent maps for use in nearly Keplerian motion, approximated by use of a symplectic leapfrog map. The resulting algorithms constitute more accurate and efficient methods to obtain the Liapunov exponents and the state transition matrix, and can be used to study chaos in planetary motions, as well as in orbit determination procedures from observations. Applications include planetary systems, satellite motions and hierarchical, nearly Keplerian systems in general. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

极地吊舱推进船舶回转性能的离散元分析

吊舱推进装置在极地船舶中被广泛应用,其转舵模块可以带动螺旋桨摆动从而产生任意方向的推进力,使船舶操纵更为灵活。提出了一种吊舱推进船舶冰区操纵的离散元方法,对具有吊舱推进装置的冰区船舶破冰过程进行了数值模拟。以“雪龙2”号破冰船为研究对象,计算分析了船舶定速直航时的冰阻力,并通过与Lindqvist经验公式的对比验证了冰阻力计算的合理性。在此基础上进一步对船舶在不同冰厚、不同吊舱转向角下的回转破冰运动进行了离散元模拟,分析了回转半径与船长比值随冰厚的变化规律。计算结果表明：船舶的回转性能随冰厚的增大而降低,并随吊舱转向角的增大而显著提高。     

潮流能发电装置现状分析

潮流能是海洋新能源中相对稳定且可提前预报的一类,较传统的拦坝式潮汐能开发具有环境影响小、开发规模灵活等优点,其大力发展可为海岛经济发展和海洋观测设备提供能源。文章对潮流能发电技术的研究现状进行了总结分析,详细介绍了水平轴、垂直轴和其他形式潮流能发电装置的构造以及国际上主流装置的设计参数和试验示范情况,重点对比分析了不同类型潮流能发电装置的特点和技术参数,简要总结了我国潮流能示范电站安装运行情况,并对其装置类型、导流罩作用以及布放形式等内容进行了讨论,可为我国潮流能资源的开发利用和潮流能装置测试区建设提供科学参考和设计依据。     

Burial and infilling of a karst in Papua New Guinea by road erosion sediments

The anthropogenic impact on karst in Papua New Guinea is briefly introduced and a specific case is presented detailing the effect of road erosion sediments on a small karst. The karst is in the perennially humid tropics and covered with primary rain forest. The road was placed high above the karst on steep friable rock and traverses several of its catchments. The changes to and the rate of burial of parts of the karst and the infilling of the caves are described. The karst drainage has altered, and there is increased water storage. The sediment build-up ceased in less than a year due to vegetation and stabilization of the road embankments. It is concluded that any construction within a catchment leading to a karst should be assessed as to its impact on the karst.     

On the application of optimization methods to the determination of members of families of periodic solutions

The techniques used for the numerical computation of families of periodic orbits of dynamical systems rely on predictor-corrector algorithms. These algorithms usually depend on the solution of systems of approximate equations constructed from the periodicity conditions of these orbits. In this contribution we transform the root finding procedure to an optimization one which is applied on an objective function based on the exact periodicity conditions. Thus, the determination of periodic solutions and families of such orbits can be accomplished through unconstrained optimization. In this paper we apply and compare some well-known minimization methods for the solution of this problem. The obtained results are promising. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.