A novel coupled FDM-DEM modelling method for flexible membrane boundary in laboratory tests

Difficulties are involved in discrete element method (DEM) modelling of the flexible boundary, that is, the membranes covering the soil sample, which can be commonly found in contemporary laboratory soil tests. In this paper, a novel method is proposed wherein the finite difference method (FDM) and DEM are coupled to simulate the rubber membrane and soil body, respectively. Numerical plane strain and triaxial tests, served by the flexible membrane, are implemented and analysed later. The effect of the membrane modulus on the measurement accuracy is considered, with analytical formulae derived to judge the significance of this effect. Based on an analysis of stress-strain responses and the grain rotation field, the mechanical performances produced by the flexible and rigid lateral boundaries are compared for the plane strain test. The results show that (1) the effect of the membrane on the test result becomes more significant at larger strain level because the membrane applies additional lateral confining pressure to the soil body; (2) the tested models reproduce typical stress and volumetric paths for specimens with shear bands; (3) for the plane strain test, the rigid lateral boundary derives a much higher peak strength and larger bulk dilatation, but a similar residual strength, compared with the flexible boundary. The latter produces a more uniform (or ‘diffuse') rotation field and more mobilised local kinematics than does the former. All simulations show that the proposed FDM-DEM coupling method is able to simulate laboratory tests with a flexible boundary membrane.     

An approximate method for evaluating the shear band thickness in saturated soils

A formula for the thickness of a shear band formed in saturated soils under a simple shear or a combined stress state has been proposed. It is shown that the shear band thickness is dependent on the pore pressure properties of the material and the dilatancy rate, but is independent of the details of the combined stress state. This is in accordance with some separate experimental observations. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-consistent response of a galactic disc to vertical perturbations

We study the self-consistent, linear response of a galactic disc to vertical perturbations, as induced, say, by a tidal interaction. We calculate the self-gravitational potential corresponding to a non-axisymmetric, self-consistent density response of the disc using the Green's function method. The response potential is shown to oppose the perturbation potential because the self-gravity of the disc resists the imposed potential, and this resistance is stronger in the inner parts of a galactic disc. For the   m = 1  azimuthal wavenumber, the disc response opposes the imposed perturbation up to a radius that spans a range of 4–6 disc scalelengths, so that the disc shows a net warp only beyond this region. This physically explains the well known but so far unexplained observation that warps typically set in beyond this range of radii. We show that the inclusion of a dark matter halo in the calculation only marginally changes (by ∼10 per cent) the radius for the onset of warps. For perturbations with higher azimuthal wavenumbers, the net signature of the vertical perturbations can only be seen at larger radii – for example, beyond 7 exponential disc scalelengths for   m = 10  . Also, for the high- m cases, the magnitude of the negative disc response due to the disc self-gravity is much smaller. This is shown to result in corrugations of the mid-plane density, which explains the puzzling scalloping with   m = 10  detected in H  i in the outermost regions ∼30 kpc in the Galaxy.     

Can gas dynamics in centres of galaxies reveal orbiting massive black holes?

If supermassive black holes in centres of galaxies form by merging of black hole remnants of massive Population III stars, then there should be a few black holes of mass one or two orders of magnitude smaller than that of the central ones, orbiting around the centre of a typical galaxy. These black holes constitute a weak perturbation in the gravitational potential, which can generate wave phenomena in gas within a disc close to the centre of the galaxy. Here, we show that a single orbiting black hole generates a three-arm spiral pattern in the central gaseous disc. The density excess in the spiral arms in the disc reaches values of 3–12 per cent when the orbiting black hole is about 10 times less massive than the central black hole. Therefore, the observed density pattern in gas can be used as a signature in detecting the most massive orbiting black holes.     

电离氢区S140,S141和S142的红外发射研究

本文使用红外天文卫星（IRAS）巡天数据的最新版本IRAS天空巡天图（ISSA），经过进一步处理，得到了S140S141和S142SharplessHII区－分子云复合体的红外发射强度、温度及其光深的分布．在此基础上对各HII区的一些物理参量进行了统计分析，得到了分子云复合体的红外发射总光度以及复合体中尘埃的分布情况，对小尺度尘埃（VSG）的丰度进行了分析．并对各恒星形成区中的致密团块进行了研究，揭示出其中一些可能的恒星形成区域．同时，对S140区中的有关红外点源作出了能谱分析，并对S141区的激发星进行了讨论．     

Chemo-spectrophotometric evolution of spiral galaxies – IV. Star formation efficiency and effective ages of spirals

We study the star formation history of normal spirals by using a large and homogeneous data sample of local galaxies. For our analysis we utilize detailed models of chemical and spectrophotometric galactic evolution, calibrated on the Milky Way disc. We find that star formation efficiency is independent of galactic mass, while massive discs have, on average, lower gas fractions and are redder than their low-mass counterparts; put together, these findings convincingly suggest that massive spirals are older than low-mass ones. We evaluate the effective ages of the galaxies of our sample and we find that massive spirals must be several Gyr older than low-mass ones. We also show that these galaxies (having rotational velocities in the 80–400 km s⁻¹ range) cannot have suffered extensive mass losses, i.e. they cannot have lost during their lifetime an amount of mass much larger than their current content of gas+stars.