13,056 research outputs found
Topological characterization of antireflective and hydrophobic rough surfaces: are random process theory and fractal modeling applicable?
The random process theory (RPT) has been widely applied to predict the joint
probability distribution functions (PDFs) of asperity heights and curvatures of
rough surfaces. A check of the predictions of RPT against the actual statistics
of numerically generated random fractal surfaces and of real rough surfaces has
been only partially undertaken. The present experimental and numerical study
provides a deep critical comparison on this matter, providing some insight into
the capabilities and limitations in applying RPT and fractal modeling to
antireflective and hydrophobic rough surfaces, two important types of textured
surfaces. A multi-resolution experimental campaign by using a confocal
profilometer with different lenses is carried out and a comprehensive software
for the statistical description of rough surfaces is developed. It is found
that the topology of the analyzed textured surfaces cannot be fully described
according to RPT and fractal modeling. The following complexities emerge: (i)
the presence of cut-offs or bi-fractality in the power-law power-spectral
density (PSD) functions; (ii) a more pronounced shift of the PSD by changing
resolution as compared to what expected from fractal modeling; (iii) inaccuracy
of the RPT in describing the joint PDFs of asperity heights and curvatures of
textured surfaces; (iv) lack of resolution-invariance of joint PDFs of textured
surfaces in case of special surface treatments, not accounted by fractal
modeling.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figure
Numerical Methods of Multifractal Analysis in Information Communication Systems and Networks
In this chapter, the main principles of the theory of fractals and multifractals are stated. A singularity
spectrum is introduced for the random telecommunication traffic, concepts of fractal dimensions and
scaling functions, and methods used in their determination by means of Wavelet Transform Modulus
Maxima (WTMM) are proposed. Algorithm development methods for estimating multifractal spectrum
are presented. A method based on multifractal data analysis at network layer level by means of WTMM
is proposed for the detection of traffic anomalies in computer and telecommunication networks. The
chapter also introduces WTMM as the informative indicator to exploit the distinction of fractal dimen-
sions on various parts of a given dataset. A novel approach based on the use of multifractal spectrum
parameters is proposed for estimating queuing performance for the generalized multifractal traffic on
the input of a buffering device. It is shown that the multifractal character of traffic has significant impact
on queuing performance characteristics
Multifractal analysis of discretized X-ray CT images for the characterization of soil macropore structures
A correct statistical model of soil pore structure can be critical for understanding flow and transport processes in soils, and creating synthetic soil pore spaces for hypothetical and model testing, and evaluating similarity of pore spaces of different soils. Advanced visualization techniques such as X-ray computed tomography (CT) offer new opportunities of exploring heterogeneity of soil properties at horizon or aggregate scales. Simple fractal models such as fractional Brownian motion that have been proposed to capture the complex behavior of soil spatial variation at field scale rarely simulate irregularity patterns displayed by spatial series of soil properties. The objective of this work was to use CT data to test the hypothesis that soil pore structure at the horizon scale may be represented by multifractal models. X-ray CT scans of twelve, water-saturated, 20-cm long soil columns with diameters of 7.5 cm were analyzed. A reconstruction algorithm was applied to convert the X-ray CT data into a stack of 1480 grayscale digital images with a voxel resolution of 110 microns and a cross-sectional size of 690 × 690 pixels. The images were binarized and the spatial series of the percentage of void space vs. depth was analyzed to evaluate the applicability of the multifractal model. The series of depth-dependent macroporosity values exhibited a well-defined multifractal structure that was revealed by singularity and Rényi spectra. The long-range dependencies in these series were parameterized by the Hurst exponent. Values of the Hurst exponent close to one were observed indicating the strong persistence in variations of porosity with depth. The multifractal modeling of soil macropore structure can be an efficient method for parameterizing and simulating the vertical spatial heterogeneity of soil pore space
Recent developments on fractal-based approaches to nanofluids and nanoparticle aggregation
This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41572116, 51576114, ​41630317), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) (No. CUG160602) and the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China (No. 2016J01254). The authors of the figures that used in presented review are also highly appreciated.Peer reviewedPostprin
Two Sets of Simple Formulae to Estimating Fractal Dimension of Irregular Boundaries
Irregular boundary lines can be characterized by fractal dimension, which
provides important information for spatial analysis of complex geographical
phenomena such as cities. However, it is difficult to calculate fractal
dimension of boundaries systematically when image data is limited. An
approximation estimation formulae of boundary dimension based on square is
widely applied in urban and ecological studies. However, the boundary dimension
is sometimes overestimated. This paper is devoted to developing a series of
practicable formulae for boundary dimension estimation using ideas from
fractals. A number of regular figures are employed as reference shapes, from
which the corresponding geometric measure relations are constructed; from these
measure relations, two sets of fractal dimension estimation formulae are
derived for describing fractal-like boundaries. Correspondingly, a group of
shape indexes can be defined. A finding is that different formulae have
different merits and spheres of application, and the second set of boundary
dimensions is a function of the shape indexes. Under condition of data
shortage, these formulae can be utilized to estimate boundary dimension values
rapidly. Moreover, the relationships between boundary dimension and shape
indexes are instructive to understand the association and differences between
characteristic scales and scaling. The formulae may be useful for the
pre-fractal studies in geography, geomorphology, ecology, landscape science,
and especially, urban science.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figures, 9 table
Fractal dimension evolution and spatial replacement dynamics of urban growth
This paper presents a new perspective of looking at the relation between
fractals and chaos by means of cities. Especially, a principle of space filling
and spatial replacement is proposed to explain the fractal dimension of urban
form. The fractal dimension evolution of urban growth can be empirically
modeled with Boltzmann's equation. For the normalized data, Boltzmann's
equation is equivalent to the logistic function. The logistic equation can be
transformed into the well-known 1-dimensional logistic map, which is based on a
2-dimensional map suggesting spatial replacement dynamics of city development.
The 2-dimensional recurrence relations can be employed to generate the
nonlinear dynamical behaviors such as bifurcation and chaos. A discovery is
made that, for the fractal dimension growth following the logistic curve, the
normalized dimension value is the ratio of space filling. If the rate of
spatial replacement (urban growth) is too high, the periodic oscillations and
chaos will arise, and the city system will fall into disorder. The spatial
replacement dynamics can be extended to general replacement dynamics, and
bifurcation and chaos seem to be related with some kind of replacement process.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, 2 table
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