Advances in statistical mechanics of rock masses and its engineering applications

To efficiently link the continuum mechanics for rocks with the structural statistics of rock masses,a theoretical and methodological system called the statistical mechanics of rock masses(SMRM)was developed in the past three decades.In SMRM,equivalent continuum models of stressestrain relationship,strength and failure probability for jointed rock masses were established,which were based on the geometric probability models characterising the rock mass structure.This follows the statistical physics,the continuum mechanics,the fracture mechanics and the weakest link hypothesis.A general constitutive model and complete stressestrain models under compressive and shear conditions were also developed as the derivatives of the SMRM theory.An SMRM calculation system was then developed to provide fast and precise solutions for parameter estimations of rock masses,such as full-direction rock quality designation(RQD),elastic modulus,Coulomb compressive strength,rock mass quality rating,and Poisson’s ratio and shear strength.The constitutive equations involved in SMRM were integrated into a FLAC3D based numerical module to apply for engineering rock masses.It is also capable of analysing the complete deformation of rock masses and active reinforcement of engineering rock masses.Examples of engineering applications of SMRM were presented,including a rock mass at QBT hydropower station in northwestern China,a dam slope of Zongo II hydropower station in D.R.Congo,an open-pit mine in Dexing,China,an underground powerhouse of Jinping I hydropower station in southwestern China,and a typical circular tunnel in Lanzhou-Chongqing railway,China.These applications verified the reliability of the SMRM and demonstrated its applicability to broad engineering issues associated with jointed rock masses.     

Effect of 100 KeV Ar+ ion beam irradiation on ZnO thin films – Influence of morphology vis-a-vis electrode/electrolyte interface and its impact on photoelectrochemical water splitting

The present study attempts quantitative determination of changes in the morphological surface features viz. fractal dimension, lower and upper cut off length scale through Power Spectral Density analysis prior to and after irradiation of 100 KeV Ar⁺ ion beam at incidence angles of 0°, 40° and 60° on ZnO thin films. All the unirradiated and irradiated samples are subjected to photoelectrochemical characterization and a correlation between photoelectrochemical performance and morphological parameters is established. Sample irradiated at 40° angle at the fluence of 5 × 10¹⁶ ions/cm² is found to possess maximum fractal dimension of 2.72, lower and upper cut off length scale of 3.16 nm and 63.00 nm respectively. This sample exhibits maximum photocurrent density of 3.19 mA/cm² and applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 1.12% at 1.23 V/RHE. Hydrogen gas collected for duration of 1 h for the same sample was ~4.83 mLcm^?2.     

Robust method to provide exponential convergence of model parameters solving linear time-invariant plant identification problem

The scope of this research is a problem of parameters identification of a linear time-invariant plant, which (1) input signal is not frequency-rich, (2) is subjected to initial conditions and external disturbances. The memory regressor extension (MRE) scheme, in which a specially derived differential equation is used as a filter, is applied to solve the above-stated problem. Such a filter allows us to obtain a bounded regressor value, for which a condition of the initial excitation (IE) is met. Using the MRE scheme, the recursive least-squares method with the forgetting factor is used to derive an adaptation law. The following properties have been proved for the proposed approach. If the IE condition is met, then: (1) the parameter error of identification is bounded and converges to zero exponentially (if there are no external disturbances) or to a set (in the case of them) with an adjustable rate, (2) the parameters adaptation rate is a finite value. The above-mentioned properties are mathematically proved and demonstrated via simulation experiments.     

Effect of Sr doped the YFeO3 rare earth ortho-ferrite on structure,magnetic properties,and microwave absorption performance

Given the remarkable performances of rare earth multiferroic ortho-ferrites with magnetic optical and dielectric properties, the Y_1-xSr_xFeO₃ (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15) perovskite structure microwave absorbing ferrite materials was successfully synthesized by Sr²⁺ ions A-site doping based on sol-gel technology in this paper. The XRD of all samples was refined with FullProf software, which confirmed the formation of the orthogonal perovskite structure (SG: Pnma). The SEM and TEM results display the average particles size of the samples is distributed between 110 and 160 nm. The increase of Sr doping concentration leads to the increase of particles size, which may be related to the growth of preferred orientation and incomplete substitution. The XPS analysis shows that Fe³⁺ was accompanied by the presence of Fe²⁺ with the doping of Sr²⁺ ions and oxygen vacancies increased significantly. The samples change from weak ferromagnetic state to paramagnetic state with the increase of Sr content. The minimum reflection loss (RL) of the Y_0.95Sr_0.05FeO₃ samples at 12.2 GHz reached −30.87 dB with thickness of 2.2 mm, where its effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL ≤ −10 dB) reached 2.4 GHz (11.3–13.7 GHz). Moreover, the EAB of the Y_0.85Sr_0.15FeO₃ samples reached 2.64 GHz, and the corresponding range is 9.0–11.6 GHz (X-band).     

Optimization of structural,electrical, and magnetic properties of ytterbium substituted W-type hexaferrite for multi-layer chip inductors

The rare earth (Yb³⁺) substituted W-type hexagonal ferrites with composition CaPb_2-xYb_xFe₁₆O₂₇ (x = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0) were synthesized by a facile and cost-effective sol-gel auto combustion method with post heat treatment. The synthesized hexagonal ferrites were characterized by a variety of analytical techniques, and an impedance analyzer was used to investigate the effects of Ytterbium on structural, magnetic, spectral and dielectric properties. The relationship between their impedance, structure and dielectric properties was investigated. The X-ray diffraction patterns verify the presence of single-phase W-type hexagonal ferrites. Physical properties such as D_bulk (bulk density), D_xrd (X-ray density), and P (porosity) of the CaPb_2-xYb_xFe₁₆O₂₇ W-type hexagonal ferrites were calculated. The bulk density of all the samples was decreased, and X-ray intensity was increased with the Ytterbium replacement in the W-type hexaferrite. By adding Yb³⁺ ions, the lattice parameters, cell volume and X-ray density were reduced due to the substitution of ytterbium with smaller ionic radii compared to the lead ion with large ionic radii. The AC-conductivity was increased from (1.523 × 10^?5 to 6.699 × 10^?5) Ωcm^?1. The dielectric constant and tangent loss was found to decrease substantially. The magnetic properties were found to enhance by the substitution of Yb³⁺. The low coercivity value of Yb³⁺ substituted W-type hexagonal ferrites are suitable for magnetic recording media operated at a high-frequency regime. The enhancement of electrical, dielectric and magnetic characteristics suggests these materials as promising for multi-layer chip inductors (MLCIs) circuit applications.     

Influencing parameters in the electrochemical anodization of TiO2 nanotubes: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Comprehensive control of processing techniques is primordial when fine-tuning the morphological features of titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TNTs). This systematic review and meta-analysis compiled articles published from 2007 to date on the synthesis and growth mechanism of nanotubes fabricated via electrochemical anodization and evaluated the potential relationships between anodizing conditions and the resulting structures. Studies were gathered from the Science Direct online database, screened according to predefined criteria, and evaluated for their eligibility. Ninety-nine studies were assessed in the meta-analysis, 87 of them on tube length, 80 on tube diameter, and 33 on wall thickness. Multiple linear regression was performed to test if anodization parameters significantly predicted the resulting morphology of TiO₂ nanotubular structures. Overall regression for the three responses was statistically significant (length: R² = 0.487, p < 0.001; diameter: R² = 0.899, p < 0.001; wall thickness: R² = 0.792, p < 0.001). Applied potential was one of the main effects predicting all three responses (p < 0.001 in every model). Other important main predictors were anodizing time for tube length (p < 0.001), water percentage for tube diameter (p < 0.001) and ammonium fluoride (NH₄F) concentration for wall thickness (p < 0.001).     

4-aperture differential image motion monitor as a new approach for estimating atmospheric turbulence parameters

The present study aims to evaluate the possibility of simultaneous measurements of Fried parameter and atmospheric Zernike defocus by measuring defocus aberration with 4-aperture differential image motion monitor (DIMM) for a portable telescope. Based on the results, a relation was observed between the variances of the defocus aberration (4-aperture defocus) and Fried parameter for G-tilt and Z-tilt methods. In addition, the variance of the 4-aperture defocus was compared with those of the Zernike defocus and the conventional DIMM and the results indicated a linear relationship. Based on the telescope and 4-aperture specifications, the variance of the 4-aperture defocus was converted into the Zernike defocus or the DIMM variances. Finally, the ability of estimating atmospheric coherence time by measuring the variance of the Zernike defocus velocity or the sum of the variances of two astigmatisms velocities with 4-aperture DIMM was investigated.     

矿山深部卸压技术研究现状及展望

随着国内外矿山进入深部开采阶段，高应力特征显现，岩爆、冲击地压等地质灾害频发，增加了深部矿产资源开采的难度。卸压技术能够有效解决矿山深部局部高应力集中并防治矿山动力地质灾害，因而受到国内外学者的广泛关注。通过梳理国内外卸压技术研究现状，归纳总结了主要卸压技术（包括水力卸压、钻孔卸压、卸压槽/卸压巷道和爆破卸压等）及常用的研究手段（相似材料模拟和数值模拟），对比分析了各类卸压技术的优缺点。结合当前金属矿山深部开采的实际需求，提出未来卸压技术理论研究的若干重要方向：（1）深化理论研究，通过经验公式来确定合理的卸压参数，从而指导生产实践；（2）相比其他卸压技术，爆破卸压的应用前景广阔，同时多种卸压方法相结合是未来深部矿山开采的有效措施；（3）数值模拟在卸压技术及参数确定方面的优势显著，未来卸压技术研究应充分了解现场复杂地质条件，结合相似模拟、数值模拟与现场试验，提出一套适用于金属矿山深部开采实际的卸压技术方案。     

Deposition of UF5 on the surface of steel material having oxide coating in contact with gaseous UF6

When UF6 is handled in leak tight system, the amount of uranium compound formed on the surface of containers, valves, and others in UF6 handling facilities is not so significant for a short term that special attention has not been given to this problem. The present work was done to throw some more light on this problem based on the recent experiment. We discuss the possibility that the intermolecular transfer of a fluorine atom from UF6 to UF5 may participate in the formation of uranium compound. The discussion includes also the unique features contained in the experimental result, the reaction processes assumed in this problem, and the derivation of a rate equation for expressing the deposition of uranium compound. Furthermore, we propose a new method for determining nonlinear parameters included in a governing differential equation having two variables for expressing the deposition of uranium compound from experimental raw data.