Fully coupled elastoplastic hydro-mechanical analysis of unsaturated porous media using a meshfree method

This paper presents the first application of an advanced meshfree method, ie, the edge-based smoothed point interpolation method (ESPIM), in simulation of the coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated porous media. In the proposed technique, the problem domain is spatially discretised using a triangular background mesh, and the polynomial point interpolation method combined with a simple node selection scheme is adopted for creating nodal shape functions. Smoothing domains are formed on top of the background mesh, and a constant smoothed strain, created by applying the smoothing operation over the smoothing domains, is assigned to each smoothing domain. The deformation and flow models are developed based on the equilibrium equation of the mixture, and linear momentum and mass balance equations of the fluid phases, respectively. The effective stress approach is followed to account for the coupling between the flow and deformation models. Further coupling among the phases is captured through a hysteretic soil water retention model that evolves with changes in void ratio. An advanced elastoplastic constitutive model within the context of the bounding surface plasticity theory is employed for predicting the nonlinear behaviour of soil skeleton. Time discretisation is performed by adopting a three-point discretisation method with growing time steps to avoid temporal instabilities. A modified Newton-Raphson framework is designed for dealing with nonlinearities of the discretised system of equations. The performance of the numerical model is examined through a number of numerical examples. The state-of-the-art computational scheme developed is useful for simulation of geotechnical engineering problems involving unsaturated soils.     

Fast genetic mapping in barley: case studies of cuticle mutants using RNA-sequencing

Barley(Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the earliest domesticated crop species and ranked as the fourth largest cereal production worldwide. Forward genetic studies in barley have greatly advanced plant genetics during the last century; however, most genes are identified by the conventional mapping method. Array genotyping and exome-capture sequencing have also been successfully used to target the causal mutation in barley populations, but these techniques are not widely adopted because of associated costs and partly due to the huge genome size of barley. This review summarizes three mapping cases of barley cuticle mutants in our laboratory with the help of RNA-sequencing. The causal mutations have been successfully identified for two of them and the target genes are located in the pericentromeric regions. Detailed information on the mapping-by-sequencing, mapping-and-sequencing, and RNA-sequencing assisted linkage mapping are presented and some limitations and challenges on the mapping assisted by RNA sequencing are also discussed. The alternative and elegant methods presented in this review may greatly accelerate forward genetics of barley mapping, especially for laboratories without large funding.     

Evolutionary Processes in Low-Mass Binary Systems

We consider the evolution of certain low-mass binaries, incorporating models of (a) internal evolution, (b) tidal friction, (c) dynamo activity driven by an elementary α,Ω dynamo, (d) stellar wind driven by the activity, and (e) magnetic braking as a consequence of wind and poloidal dynamo-generated magnetic field. In some circumstances the stellar wind is found to remove mass on a nuclear timescale, as is necessary to explain some observed systems. We can hope that various uncertainties in the model may be clarified by a careful comparison of the models with such observed quantities as rotation periods. These are modified by processes (a), (b) and (e). Assuming that stellar evolution is slow, rotation rate should in some circumstances represent a balance between magnetic braking trying to slow the star down and tidal friction trying to spin it up. Preliminary attempts are promising, but indicate that some fine tuning is necessary. When there is a third body present, in an orbit which is inclined but not necessarily of short period, the eccentricity of a close binary can be strongly modified by ‘Kozai cycles’. We show that this may complicate attempts to account for spin rates of stars in close binaries.     

冰碛扇型砂金矿床特征及其成矿初探

成生于冰碛扇内，经一定的生物、物理、化学成矿作用，以砂金形态分布而富集成矿的金矿称为冰碛扇型砂金矿床。它具有沿造山带一定标高范围成群、成带分布，沉积物为近源且半胶结，砂金呈面状分布，并以粒金、块金为主，具胶状、浑圆状、包块状构造形态，分布极不均匀等特征。冰碛扇型砂金矿床的成矿作用与河成砂金矿床有本质的区别。它的成矿作用模式是：造山带下地壳富含的活化金通过新构造运动活化的断裂运移地表，经地下流体和地表流体的迁移聚集到冰碛扇这一封闭稳定的生物、物理、化学障环境中，主要经高效聚金微生物有机胶体成矿作用沉淀、再生加大形成砂金，逐步富集成矿床。而红色磨拉石建造中风化离解的Ｆｅ，Ｍｎ物质对沉淀环境ｐＨ值起着一定的调节作用。冰碛扇型砂金矿床在我国西部造山带内广泛分布，具有一定的工业价值，是砂金矿床中一重要类型，应予以重视     

西安地区单桩桩土相互作用数值模拟分析

随着计算机技术和数值方法的不断发展和完善,使有限元法得到越来越多的应用。根据西安地区原型摩擦桩的地层特点和土性条件,运用有限元基础理论,利用相应的边界条件与假设条件,建立单桩数学模型。通过模型研究了单桩的沉降特性与土共同作用的影响因素,对西安地区单桩桩土相互作用机理进行了探讨。     

紫阳滑坡治理工程实例分析

本文介绍紫阳骨坡治理工程中有关抗滑桩的设计与施工。文中详细地论述了设计中设计人员应根据工程的具体情况去灵活处理的一些技术问题，如确定有关参数的选择原则，计算上的条件简化和一些具体技术细节的处理方法等．     

基于统一强度理论的地基临界荷载公式

基于统一强度理论,按照临界荷载公式的推导方法,得到地基临界荷载的统一解公式。Mohr-Coulomb强度理论计算的结果为其特例。把计算结果与《建筑地基基础设计规范》中的结果进行了对比分析,认为当不同程度地考虑中间主应力σ2的影响时,可以有效地发挥地基的强度潜能。并通过实例计算了统一强度理论参数b取不同值时地基承载力特征值,并进行了对比分析。     

The Expansion of the Distance Between Two Arbitrary Gravitating Points as Applied to Specific Models of Celestial Bodies

For the complete system of biharmonic functions a suitable representation in spheroidal coordinates is found. It is used for expanding the distance between two arbitrary gravitating points and its inverse quantity in appropriate series. Such expansions can be of interest and useful in a number of problems of celestial mechanics and stellar dynamics.     

Application of stress release models to historical earthquakes from North China

Univariate and multivariate stress release models are fitted to historical earthquake data from North China. It is shown that a better fit is obtained by treating separately the Eastern part of the region, including the North China Plain and Bohai Sea, and the Western part of the region, including the Ordos Plateau and its Eastern boundary. Further improvement is obtained by fitting the large events (M7.6) and smaller events in the Western region by different stress release models. The comparisons are made by computing the likelihoods of the fitted models and discounting the number of parameters used by Akaike's AIC criterion. The models are used to develop long-term risk scenarios for the East and West regions.     

Electromagnetic signals associated with stick–slip of quartz-free rocks

We recorded clear transients in the electric and magnetic fields upon sudden slip in stick–slip experiments on dry, cylindrically shaped, quartz-free rock specimens of basalt and peridotite with a 30° saw-cut (representing a fault) at confining pressures of up to 120 MPa. The amplitudes of the measured electric field signals were always higher at the electrode pair oriented parallel to the strike of the fault than at the pair oriented perpendicular. This anisotropy suggests a preferred electric polarization normal to the slip surface. The transients in the electric and magnetic fields were observed only when the fault slip occurred by stick–slip mode, not by a stable mode of the sliding, and the amplitudes of the electric field signals increased with increasing stress drop. It is suggested that the generation process of the electromagnetic signals is closely related to the characteristic behavior of the fault at the time of the initiation of slip during stick–slip events, probably with respect to the intensity of the signals. We propose that one or both of the following two processes characteristic of the fault at the time of the initiation of slip during stick–slip events are essential for the generation of detectable electromagnetic signals: rapid slip along the simulated fault and separation of the rock masses across the fault.