A justification of the Marguerre-von Kármán equations

The method of asymptotic expansions, with the thickness as the small parameter, is applied to the general three-dimensional equations for the equilibrium of nonlinearly elastic shells with specific geometries, subjected to suitable loadings and boundary conditions. Then it is shown that the leading term of the expansion is the solution of a system of equations equivalent to those of Marguerre-von Karman (the case of a clamped shell is also considered). In addition, without making any a priori assumption regarding the variation of the unknowns across the thickness of the shell, it is found that the displacement field is of Kirchhoff-Love type, and that the stresses have polynomial variations with respect to the thickness.This approach clearly delineates the types of three-dimensional loadings, boundary conditions, and shallowness, for which a three-dimensional problem may be deemed asymptotically equivalent to a two-dimensional shallow shell model.Dedicated to Professor Joachim A. Nitsche on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday     

Application of the boundary-domain element method to the pre/post-buckling problem of von Kármán plates

Based on the BEM formulations for the finite deflection problem of von-Kármán-type plates, this paper presents an incremental boundary-domain element method for the pre/post-buckling problem of thin elastic plates. As the governing equations involve the coupled in-plane and out-of-plane deformations as the nonlinear terms, the boundary integral equations are formulated in terms of the increment by using the fundamental solutions for the linear parts of the differential operators. Some of the innovations are made in order to improve the accuracy and accelerate the convergence of the solution procedure. The load-incrementation method and also the arc-length-incrementation method are employed for each incremental step. Numerical analysis is carried out and the results are compared with the available analytical solutions to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Absolute instability of the von Kármán, Bödewadt and Ekman flows between a rotating disc and a stationary lid

The stability of a family of boundary-layer flows, which includes the von Kármán, B?dewadt and Ekman flows for a rotating incompressible fluid between a rotating disc and a stationary lid, is investigated. Numerical computations with the use of a spectral method are carried out to analyse absolute and convective instability. It is shown that the stability of the system is enhanced with a decrease in distance between the disc and the lid.     

Active primary mirror support for the 2.1-m telescope at the San Pedro Mártir Observatory

We have designed and installed a new set of actuators for the suspension of the primary mirror of the 2.1-m telescope at San Pedro Mártir. This active optics system has allowed us to correct low-order aberrations identified by several wave-front analysis techniques.     

Reflections around ‘the cautionary use’ of the h-index: response to Teixeira da Silva and Dobránszki

Scientometrics - In a recent Letter to the Editor Teixeira da Silva and Dobránszki (2018) present a discussion of the issues regarding the h-index as an indicator for the evaluation of...     

Photothermal Radiometry Characterization of Limestone Rocks from the Península of Yucatán

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed of calcium carbonate with minor amounts of silica, iron oxide, clay, dolomite, and organic material. These types of stones have been used extensively as building materials. Due to this, determination of their thermal properties is of the utmost importance. These properties depend on the microstructure and composition of each type of rock. In this study, the effect of the thermal treatment of three different limestone rocks from the Peninsula of Yucatán were studied, in the range from 100?°C up to 600?°C, using photothermal radiometry. These studies were complemented by the characterization of the crystalline phases using X-ray diffraction and effective porosity measurements performed by the saturation technique. It is shown that the thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, and specific heat of the limestone decrease as the temperature increases. This behavior can be related to increases in microcracks and effective porosity due to thermal treatments.     

Optimal defocus distance for testing the 2.1 m telescope at San Pedro Mártir

Within the preliminary development of a low-cost active optics system (AOS), computer simulations have been performed. The general purpose of simulations is to find an optimal scheme for the wavefront control of the primary mirror. We present results for the wavefront sensor of the AOS proposed for the 2.1 m telescope at San Pedro Mártir. The method presented here can be used for any other telescopes as well.     

Distribution of copper in the vicinity of a deactivated mining site at Carajás in the Amazon region of Brazil

In this work the re-fixation of mobilized copper (Cu) that was released from a deactivated pilot Cu ore dressing plant in the tropical rain forest at Southeastern Amazon (Carajás) was studied. Samples of top soils, decay leaf litter deposited on soils, roots and leaves of standing biomass were taken for the determination of Cu concentration in order to evaluate the distribution of it between different environmental compartments. In the sampling points near to the now extinct plant, total Cu concentrations in the soil reached an average value of 2140 microg g(-1) above the natural level of about 40 microg g(-1), being that bioavailable Cu estimated by DTPA method varied from 1.9 to 20.7% of this total. From the data was possible to calculate that the soil compartment is able to hold around 10 kg Cu/m(2) of ground. Roots of the standing biomass in that area hold around 17 g Cu/m(2), while the Cu content in leaves showed to be largely independent of the Cu level in the soil. Copper in the leaves was estimated as around 1g/m(2) of ground area. In turn, the decay leaf litter deposited on soil can hold about 1.6 g Cu/m(2). The terrestrial system surrounding the abandoned pilot plant demonstrated great buffer capacity to retain mobile Cu released by anthropogenic activities in the area.     

Prof. Tibor Jávor, M. Sc., PhD. DrSc

RILEM Bulletin

Prof. Tibor Jávor, M. Sc., PhD. DrSc     

The driver,the road,the rules … and the rest? A systems-based approach to young driver road safety

The persistent overrepresentation of young drivers in road crashes is universally recognised. A multitude of factors influencing their behaviour and safety have been identified through methods including crash analyses, simulated and naturalistic driving studies, and self-report measures. Across the globe numerous, diverse, countermeasures have been implemented; the design of the vast majority of these has been informed by a driver-centric approach. An alternative approach gaining popularity in transport safety is the systems approach which considers not only the characteristics of the individual, but also the decisions and actions of other actors within the road transport system, along with the interactions amongst them. This paper argues that for substantial improvements to be made in young driver road safety, what has been learnt from driver-centric research needs to be integrated into a systems approach, thus providing a holistic appraisal of the young driver road safety problem. Only then will more effective opportunities and avenues for intervention be realised.     

Illustrating the ‘Reports by the Juries’ of the great exhibition of 1851; Talbot,Henneman, and their failed commission

Abstract

A major publishing event in the history of photography has gone largely unnoticed in the scholarship of the field. This was the appearance, in 1852, of the Reports by the Juries of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Published in four volumes, the Reports were illustrated with 155 photographs. 140 presentation sets of this work were ordered by the Royal Commissioners of the Exhibition to be g1ven to notables of countries participating in the exhibition as a record of the great event.¹     

Luting Cement,the Stronghold or the Weak Link in Ceramic Restorations?

A luting agent for fixing indirect dental restorations has to be a sophisticated material as, apart from being biocompatible, it must allow complete seating, provide mechanical support, has to secure the retention and to seal the gap between restoration and tooth structure for many years of function in an aggressive bio‐chemical and mechanical environment. Because of their adhesive potential, the latest generations of dental cements, the glass‐ionomer and resin‐based composites offer improved results. However, a major disadvantage of both classes of materials is their setting, being accompanied by shrinkage, which eventually leads to fracturing of the brittle ceramic. Apparently conflicting interests like being at the same time flexible as well as rigid, hold for luting cements for full ceramic restorations. The interaction between layer thickness, curing shrinkage stress, visco‐elasticity, module and strength for a thin adhesive cement layer will be discussed in the perspective of durable functioning of ceramic restorations.     

Lag,lock, sync,slip: the many ‘phases’ of coupled flagella

In a multitude of life''s processes, cilia and flagella are found indispensable. Recently, the biflagellated chlorophyte alga Chlamydomonas has become a model organism for the study of ciliary motility and synchronization. Here, we use high-speed, high-resolution imaging of single pipette-held cells to quantify the rich dynamics exhibited by their flagella. Underlying this variability in behaviour are biological dissimilarities between the two flagella—termed cis and trans, with respect to a unique eyespot. With emphasis on the wild-type, we derive limit cycles and phase parametrizations for self-sustained flagellar oscillations from digitally tracked flagellar waveforms. Characterizing interflagellar phase synchrony via a simple model of coupled oscillators with noise, we find that during the canonical swimming breaststroke the cis flagellum is consistently phase-lagged relative to, while remaining robustly phase-locked with, the trans flagellum. Transient loss of synchrony, or phase slippage, may be triggered stochastically, in which the trans flagellum transitions to a second mode of beating with attenuated beat envelope and increased frequency. Further, exploiting this alga''s ability for flagellar regeneration, we mechanically induced removal of one or the other flagellum of the same cell to reveal a striking disparity between the beatings of the cis and trans flagella, in isolation. These results are evaluated in the context of the dynamic coordination of Chlamydomonas flagella.