A FINITE ELEMENT MODEL OF CONTAMINANT MOVEMENT IN GROUNDWATER1

ABSTRACT. Transient, two-dimensional solutions are developed which describe the movement and distribution of a conservative substance in a stream-aquifer system. The solutions are obtained by solving sequentially the groundwater flow and mass transport equations. A variational approach in conjunction with the finite element method is used to solve the groundwater flow equation. Galerkin's approach coupled with the finite element method is used to solve the mass transport equation. Linear approximated triangular elements and a centered scheme of numerical integration are employed to calculate the hydraulic head distribution and the concentration of solute in the flow region. The linear approximation used to define the concentration function within each element is not appropriate for cases involving steep concentration gradients. For such cases, higher order approximations are necessary to assure the continuity of gradients across interelemental boundaries. Numerical examples that illustrate the applicability of the model are presented.     

长江中游城市群经济-城市-社会-环境耦合度空间差异分析

以长江中游城市群的36个城市为例,构建了经济发展、城市化、社会保障、生态环境综合评价指标体系,运用耦合度模型评估了36个城市2011~2013年的耦合度,并利用GIS技术分析系统的得分与耦合度的空间分布特征。结果表明:长江中游城市群的36个城市的经济发展、城市化和社会保障水平的空间分布比较相似,三者间存在显著的正相关关系。但是,存在显著性的地区差异。36个城市生态环境得分均值很高,城市之间差异很小。从耦合度的空间分布来看,长江中游城市群明显存在3个高耦合度的聚集区域,即长株潭城市圈,武汉-南昌(含鄂州、黄石和九江)城市带和鄂北4市,即十堰、襄阳、宜昌和荆门。最后,36个城市之间耦合度的差异呈现逐年缩小的趋势。     

重型自卸汽车车架横梁异常断裂原因分析

针对无副车架的重型自卸汽车在使用过程中出现的车架横梁异常断裂问题,建立了以板壳单元为基本单元的自卸汽车车架有限元分析模型,采用NASTRAN有限元分析软件对车架强度进行分析.有限元分析结果表明,车架横梁异常断裂现象是横梁连接部位应力值大于材料的屈服强度引起的,这与实车车架断裂结果吻合.根据实际工艺要求,改造车架结构,将连接第2根横梁和纵梁的L板厚度变大,并将平衡悬架推力杆支座由整体式支撑改为分体式支撑,从而使两处的最大应力值分别比原结构下降20.4%和51.7%.改进后车架断裂区的强度明显提高,这表明改造方法有效.     

吸力式桶形基础多桶组合结构承载力特性研究

海洋采油平台结构中一般采用多桶组合基础型式,然而迄今对多桶组合结构尚缺乏理论分析和实验研究。本文针对我国第一座吸力式桶形基础采油平台CB20B,基于单桶基础在复合加载模式下的承载力特性,建立了双桶、四桶组合基础的三维有限元数值计算模型,探讨了对称多桶基础结构与单桶基础结构的承载力特性之间的相互关系,阐述了不同桶间距的多桶组合结构地基破坏机制,为工程设计提供参考依据。     

The Grain-population Relationship and the Effect of Main Food Producing Areas in China

With the increase of global population, grain-popula- tion relationship has attracted great attention worldwide. In China, grain-population relationship has become an increasingly impor- tant economic ...     

典型可燃物燃烧烟尘物化特性差异性研究

开展对典型可燃物燃烧烟尘的物化特性差异性研究,是全面了解烟尘信息的基础.基于可控条件下的燃烧试验,对典型可燃物燃烧烟尘物理特性和化学组分进行了分析.通过对比分析汽油燃烧烟尘、聚苯乙烯燃烧烟尘、ABS燃烧烟尘及柴油烟尘和正庚烷烟尘的透射电镜图片,对透射电镜图的紧凑性、复杂性及灰度值进行了深入分析,探讨了燃烧烟尘的物理差异性.利用固相微萃取-气质联用技术(SPME-GC-MS),对汽油燃烧烟尘、聚苯乙烯燃烧烟尘、ABS燃烧烟尘化学组分进行了分析和对比.通过燃烧烟尘的特征物质组分的分析,得到3种燃烧烟尘在特征物质的分布和出峰时间等方面的差异性.这些差异性可作为对烟尘来源及燃烧条件等因素判别的依据.     

Development and Validation of the Total HUman Model for Safety (THUMS) Toward Further Understanding of Occupant Injury Mechanisms in Precrash and During Crash

Objective: Active safety devices such as automatic emergency brake (AEB) and precrash seat belt have the potential to accomplish further reduction in the number of the fatalities due to automotive accidents. However, their effectiveness should be investigated by more accurate estimations of their interaction with human bodies. Computational human body models are suitable for investigation, especially considering muscular tone effects on occupant motions and injury outcomes. However, the conventional modeling approaches such as multibody models and detailed finite element (FE) models have advantages and disadvantages in computational costs and injury predictions considering muscular tone effects. The objective of this study is to develop and validate a human body FE model with whole body muscles, which can be used for the detailed investigation of interaction between human bodies and vehicular structures including some safety devices precrash and during a crash with relatively low computational costs.

Methods: In this study, we developed a human body FE model called THUMS (Total HUman Model for Safety) with a body size of 50th percentile adult male (AM50) and a sitting posture. The model has anatomical structures of bones, ligaments, muscles, brain, and internal organs. The total number of elements is 281,260, which would realize relatively low computational costs. Deformable material models were assigned to all body parts. The muscle–tendon complexes were modeled by truss elements with Hill-type muscle material and seat belt elements with tension-only material. The THUMS was validated against 35 series of cadaver or volunteer test data on frontal, lateral, and rear impacts. Model validations for 15 series of cadaver test data associated with frontal impacts are presented in this article. The THUMS with a vehicle sled model was applied to investigate effects of muscle activations on occupant kinematics and injury outcomes in specific frontal impact situations with AEB.

Results and Conclusions: In the validations using 5 series of cadaver test data, force–time curves predicted by the THUMS were quantitatively evaluated using correlation and analysis (CORA), which showed good or acceptable agreement with cadaver test data in most cases. The investigation of muscular effects showed that muscle activation levels and timing had significant effects on occupant kinematics and injury outcomes. Although further studies on accident injury reconstruction are needed, the THUMS has the potential for predictions of occupant kinematics and injury outcomes considering muscular tone effects with relatively low computational costs.     

Development of a Computationally Efficient Full Human Body Finite Element Model

Introduction: A simplified and computationally efficient human body finite element model is presented. The model complements the Global Human Body Models Consortium (GHBMC) detailed 50th percentile occupant (M50-O) by providing kinematic and kinetic data with a significantly reduced run time using the same body habitus.

Methods: The simplified occupant model (M50-OS) was developed using the same source geometry as the M50-O. Though some meshed components were preserved, the total element count was reduced by remeshing, homogenizing, or in some cases omitting structures that are explicitly contained in the M50-O. Bones are included as rigid bodies, with the exception of the ribs, which are deformable but were remeshed to a coarser element density than the M50-O. Material models for all deformable components were drawn from the biomechanics literature. Kinematic joints were implemented at major articulations (shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, and ankle) with moment vs. angle relationships from the literature included for the knee and ankle. The brain of the detailed model was inserted within the skull of the simplified model, and kinematics and strain patterns are compared.

Results: The M50-OS model has 11 contacts and 354,000 elements; in contrast, the M50-O model has 447 contacts and 2.2 million elements. The model can be repositioned without requiring simulation. Thirteen validation and robustness simulations were completed. This included denuded rib compression at 7 discrete sites, 5 rigid body impacts, and one sled simulation. Denuded tests showed a good match to the experimental data of force vs. deflection slopes. The frontal rigid chest impact simulation produced a peak force and deflection within the corridor of 4.63 kN and 31.2%, respectively. Similar results vs. experimental data (peak forces of 5.19 and 8.71 kN) were found for an abdominal bar impact and lateral sled test, respectively. A lateral plate impact at 12 m/s exhibited a peak of roughly 20 kN (due to stiff foam used around the shoulder) but a more biofidelic response immediately afterward, plateauing at 9 kN at 12 ms. Results from a frontal sled simulation showed that reaction forces and kinematic trends matched experimental results well. The robustness test demonstrated that peak femur loads were nearly identical to the M50-O model. Use of the detailed model brain within the simplified model demonstrated a paradigm for using the M50-OS to leverage aspects of the M50-O. Strain patterns for the 2 models showed consistent patterns but greater strains in the detailed model, with deviations thought to be the result of slightly different kinematics between models. The M50-OS with the deformable skull and brain exhibited a run time 4.75 faster than the M50-O on the same hardware.

Conclusions: The simplified GHBMC model is intended to complement rather than replace the detailed M50-O model. It exhibited, on average, a 35-fold reduction in run time for a set of rigid impacts. The model can be used in a modular fashion with the M50-O and more broadly can be used as a platform for parametric studies or studies focused on specific body regions.     

Effect of Aging on Brain Injury Prediction in Rotational Head Trauma—A Parameter Study with a Rat Finite Element Model

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of age-related intracranial changes on the potential outcome of diffuse axonal injuries and acute subdural hematoma under rotational head loading.

Methods: A simulation-based parametric study was conducted using an updated and validated finite element model of a rat head. The validation included a comparison of predicted brain cortex sliding with respect to the skull. Further, model material properties were modified to account for aging; predicted tissue strains were compared with experimental data in which groups of rats in 2 different lifecycle stages, young adult and mature adult, were subjected to rotational trauma. For the parameter study, 2 age-dependent factors—brain volume and region-specific brain material properties—were implemented into the model. The models young adult and old age were subjected to several injurious and subinjurious sagittal plane rotational acceleration levels.

Results: Sequential analysis of the simulated trauma progression indicates that an increase in acute subdural hematoma injury risk indicator occurs at an early stage of the trauma, whereas an increase in diffuse axonal injury risk indicators occurs at a later stage. Tissue stiffening from young adult to mature adult rats produced an increase in strain-based thresholds accompanied by a wider spread of strain distribution toward the rear part of the brain, consistent with rotational trauma experiments with young adult and mature adult rats. Young adult to old age brain tissue softening and brain atrophy resulted in an increase in diffuse axonal injuries and acute subdural hematoma injury risk indicators, respectively.

Conclusions: The findings presented in this study suggest that age-specific injury thresholds should be developed to enable the development of superior restraint systems for the elderly. The findings also motivate other further studies on age-dependency of head trauma.     

超高速瞬态测试系统软硬件构架设计研究

目的研究采样频率为2~10 MHz的64通道超高速同步瞬态测试系统的设计技术,实现两类典型超高速瞬态测试系统的硬件架构设计与软件架构设计。方法一类采用PXI-Express高带宽总线和高速RAID磁盘阵列架构构建持续流盘存储的连续高速测试系统,另一类是采用大容量板载数据缓存和PXI总线事后下载传输数据的架构构造高速测试系统。在高性能测试软件设计方面,主要应用生产者/消费者结构与有限状态机相结合的软件架构进行高性能测试系统软件设计。结果目前64通道下基于持续流盘架构的测试系统受数据记录的速度限制系统最高采样频率仅达2.5 MHz,而基于板载缓存数据与PXI总线事后下载数据架构的测试系统最高采样频率可达10 MHz,测试时长可达5 s。结论当前两类架构的测试系统均可满足超高速瞬态测试需求,设计时需根据需求的最高采样频率决定使用的架构形式。