Nonlinear Static Finite Element Stress Analysis of Pipe-in-Pipe Risers

Owing to the complexity of the pipe-in-pipe (PIP) riser system in structure, load and restraint, many problems arise in the structural analysis of the system. This paper presents a new method for nonlinear static finite element stress analysis of the PIP riser system. The finite element (FE) model of the PIP riser system is built via software AutoPIPE 6.1. According to the specialties of a variety of components in the PIP riser system, different elements are used so as to model the system accurately. Allowing for the complication in modeling the effects of seabed restraint, a technique based on the bilinear spring concept is developed to calculate the soil properties. Then, based on a pipeline project, the entire procedure of stress analysis is discussed in detail, including creation of an FE model, processing of input data and analysis of results. A wide range of loading schemes is investigated to ascertain that the stresses remain within the acceptable range of the pipe material strength. Finally, the effects of the location of flanges, the thermal expansion of submarine pipelines and the seabed restraint on stress distribution in the riser and expansion loop are studied, which are valuable for pipeline designers.     

In situ and satellite observations of the eastward migration of the Western Alboran Sea Gyre

During October 2003 an intensive oceanographic survey (BIOMEGA) was carried out in the Alboran Sea, coinciding with a migration event of the Western Alboran Sea Gyre (WAG). The observations gathered during that cruise constitute the first field evidence of a migrated stage of the WAG. In this work we present the main differences between the 3D hydrodynamic fields observed during BIOMEGA and those corresponding to a WAG located at its usual position. The migration of the gyre was followed by satellite (altimetry and sea surface temperature) imagery. The causes of the gyre migration are explored in terms of the quasi-geostrophic tendency equation, in particular of the dynamics governing scales larger than the Rossby radius of deformation. It is shown that the steady state gyre must be almost equivalent barotropic and that the key process to break down the stationarity would be a density advection at gyre scale. The mechanisms to explain the migration of the WAG proposed by previous authors are discussed in light of the explanation proposed in this work.     

Steady Response of a Ventilated Thermocline to Enhanced Ekman Pumping

The steady response of the ventilated thermocline to an increase in Ekman pumping is investigated, focusing on the effect of the mixed layer depth distribution on the subsurface density anomaly. We consider only the subtropical gyre, and the mixed layer is assumed to be deep in the northwest and shallow elsewhere with a narrow transition zone separating the deep and shallow mixed layer regions. At the intersection of this narrow transition zone and the outcrop line, low potential vorticity fluid is subducted into and ventilates the thermocline. In such a situation, an enhancement of the Ekman pumping confined to the northern subtropical gyre leads to pronounced subsurface cold anomalies in the southern subtropics, which is free of anomalous forcing. These density anomalies are much greater than those that occur when either the mixed layer depth is zonally uniform or the Ekman pumping is enhanced in the whole subtropical gyre. They are caused by anomalous changes in the trajectory of the low potential vorticity fluid in response to anomalous Sverdrup flow. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

旧路改建高速公路中地基强夯效应测试与工艺参数分析

旧路改建高速公路遇到的最主要的问题是地基的不均匀沉降。数值分析表明,对新的天然地基进行处理是解决这一问题的关键。强夯是加固地基的一种有效措施,为了对强夯工艺参数进行优化研究,对夯锤冲击地面过程中产生的动孔隙水压力、动土应力以及夯后超静孔隙水压力的消散过程进行了跟踪测试与分析。结果表明,对以风化料为主的地基,最大夯击数不宜超过4击,而且铺底夯完成2d后就可进行满夯。     

成都地区大气平均温度建模及其在GPS/PWV计算中的应用研究

地基GPS气象学的关键技术是在于通过垂直方向上GPS信号的湿分量延迟值来确定大气可降水量-PWV,而这两个物理量间进行转换时需要用到一个关键性的参数——大气加权平均温度。本文首先讨论了估算加权平均温度的几种方法,然后利用成都地区2005年全年的大气探空数据,采用回归分析方法,建立了适合成都地区的大气加权平均温度模型,精度为±2.21K。最后将该公式应用到成都地区PWV的计算中,得到了非常理想的效果。     

A sub-pixel analysis of urbanization effect on land surface temperature and its interplay with impervious surface and vegetation coverage in Indianapolis,United States

This study developed an analytical procedure based upon a spectral unmixing model for characterizing and quantifying urban landscape changes in Indianapolis, Indiana, the United States, and for examining the environmental impact of such changes on land surface temperatures (LST). Three dates of Landsat TM/ETM+ images, acquired in 1991, 1995, and 2000, respectively, were utilized to document the historical morphological changes in impervious surface and vegetation coverage and to analyze the relationship between these changes and those occurred in LST. Three fraction endmembers, i.e., impervious surface, green vegetation, and shade, were derived with an unconstrained least-squares solution. A hybrid classification procedure, which combined maximum-likelihood and decision-tree algorithms, was developed to classify the fraction images into land use and land cover classes. Correlation analyses were conducted to investigate the changing relationships of LST with impervious surface and vegetation coverage. Results indicate that multi-temporal fraction images were effective for quantifying the dynamics of urban morphology and for deriving a reliable measurement of environmental variables such as vegetation abundance and impervious surface coverage. Urbanization created an evolved inverse relationship between impervious and vegetation coverage, and brought about new LST patterns because of LST's correlations with both impervious and vegetation coverage. Further researches should be directed to refine spectral mixture modeling by stratification, and by the use of multiple endmembers and hyperspectral imagery.     

Low multipath antennas for GNSS-based attitude determination systems applied to high-altitude platforms

High-altitude platforms (HAPs) are a flexible and attractive technology for providing innovative wireless services. These aerial platforms can be successfully employed for mobile or broadband communications and for disaster monitoring or response. However, one of the open issues is whether HAP stations can provide reliable services without temporal outages owing to stratospheric winds that can cause positional and attitude instabilities thus affecting the communication system operation. To counteract this issue, one possible solution is to use reconfigurable antennas whose pointing direction can be adjusted depending on the platform spatial orientation. However, this would require real-time three-axial attitude data. As a possible solution, this paper will review the potential of GNSS-based attitude determination systems with reference to HAP stations. In particular, it will be shown how the use of a particular class of low multipath and lightweight antennas can provide a high degree of accuracy without altering the avionic ballast.     

斜坡应力分布的系统测试与反演分析

采用简易、快速、经济的洞壁应力恢复法对某工程边坡勘探平硐洞壁应力场作了系统测试, 并采用FLAC2D软件对测试成果作了斜坡初始应力的反演分析。结果表明, 斜坡应力场随深度变化具有明显分带性, 应力量值随硐深曲线具有典型的驼峰式特征, 与理论分析结果相符, 表明该方法能较好地应用于斜坡应力场的系统测试和研究。成果对认识斜坡岩体的变形破裂及卸荷特征等具有重要意义。     

Time-dependent stress change during failure of rocks

The energy balance of a solid subject to fracture has been explored using heat and mass transfer equations with regard to the volumetric and superficial components. In the suggested model, brittle fracture of a cracked solid considered as a heterogeneous two-phase medium is described by an equation analogous to the Griffith’s criterion for propagation of a single crack. The derived equation is used, together with estimates of relative change in specific interface area, to study the respective change of free strain energy and pressure in rocks associated with failure.