Discrete/finite element modelling of rock cutting with a TBM disc cutter

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00603-016-1133-7This paper presents advanced computer simulation of rock cutting process typical for excavation works in civil engineering. Theoretical formulation of the hybrid discrete/finite element model has been presented. The discrete and finite element methods have been used in different subdomains of a rock sample according to expected material behaviour, the part which is fractured and damaged during cutting is discretized with the discrete elements while the other part is treated as a continuous body and it is modelled using the finite element method. In this way, an optimum model is created, enabling a proper representation of the physical phenomena during cutting and efficient numerical computation. The model has been applied to simulation of the laboratory test of rock cutting with a single TBM (tunnel boring machine) disc cutter. The micromechanical parameters have been determined using the dimensionless relationships between micro- and macroscopic parameters. A number of numerical simulations of the LCM test in the unrelieved and relieved cutting modes have been performed. Numerical results have been compared with available data from in-situ measurements in a real TBM as well as with the theoretical predictions showing quite a good agreement. The numerical model has provided a new insight into the cutting mechanism enabling us to investigate the stress and pressure distribution at the tool–rock interaction. Sensitivity analysis of rock cutting performed for different parameters including disc geometry, cutting velocity, disc penetration and spacing has shown that the presented numerical model is a suitable tool for the design and optimization of rock cutting process.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

The São Paulo Declaration (1998): Nothing dates more rapidly than the present

The Sao Paulo Declaration (1998) committed leisure professionals to extending Rights, Inclusion and Social Order in leisure customs and practice. The engine for this intervention consisted of the twin processes of globalization and cosmopolitanism. Both were seen as dissolving economic and political barriers. The Declaration did not make use of the term 'world society'. On the other hand it clearly defined itself to be part of a global movement that addressed leisure for all. In the last 20 years, the progress made n fulfilling the terms of the Declaration has been disappointing. Economic barriers of wealth inequality and uneven development in globalization and cosmopolitanism have blocked many aspects of the Rights, Inclusion and Order articulated in the Declaration. This paper examines how far globalization and cosmopolitanism have progressed in achieving the principle that 'all persons have the right to leisure.' It examines data on wealth inequality, debt and unemployment rates to consider some of the concrete impediments. It concludes by maintaining that there is a need to go beyond the Sao Paulo Declaration by addressing the economic and political barriers that currently prevent leisure from being a right for all

The Belle Gibson scandal: The rise of lifestyle gurus as micro-celebrities in low-trust societies

The Belle Gibson scandal that broke in 2015 is a testament to the growing phenomenon of lifestyle gurus in the twenty-first century. In this article, our aim is not to explain the psychology behind Gibson’s lies. Rather, we focus on the social, cultural and technological conditions that enabled Gibson’s persona to flourish and their impact on contemporary understandings of the self. Lifestyle gurus embody the para-social, trading off the appeal of intimacy, authenticity and integrity. We demonstrate how social media has increased the levels of emotional investment, trust and attention capital in para-social relationships by providing ubiquitous access to native experts and creating the platform to achieve influence and microcelebrity status. Finally, we contend that the growing number of lifestyle gurus providing the public with health advice and scientific knowledge, points to the need to examine critically the social and cultural landscape that enables micro-celebrities to emerge

Enhancing the work of the Islington Integrated Gangs Team: A pilot study on the response to serious youth violence in Islington

This report is the result of research conducted by the Centre for City Criminology at City, University of London, in partnership with Islington’s Integrated Gangs Team (IGT) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The research was co-funded by MPS and the School of Arts and Social Sciences, City, University of London. Following a collaborative research event in October 2017, City Criminologists were commissioned to carry out a small-scale research project to capture the work of the IGT and to make recommendations regarding its operations, coherence, effectiveness and sustainability. The research team conducted semi-structured interviews over several months with 23 practitioners across the services that constitute the IGT. This report presents the findings and recommendations

NUMISTAMP: a research project for assessment of finite-element models for stamping processes

This paper describes the objectives and current status of the research project NUMISTAMP currently under development at the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering of (CIMNE) located in Barcelona, Spain. The aim of this project is the assesment of different finite element models for simulation of sheet stamping processes. The models currently analyzed include: quasistatic viscoplastic flow and elastoplastic solid models and explicit dynamic models. Both shell and continuum elements are considered in most of these cases. The paper presents an overview of the basic features of the different models. Examples of application including some benchmark test cases proposed at NUMISHEET are also presented

John Locke, Private Property and the Birth of Achieved Celebrity

This article argues that John Locke’s defence of Natural Rights and private property are prerequisites in the rise of Achieved Celebrity. It addresses how the rights of private property are anterior to taking ‘the ordinary citizen’ as an object of attention capital

The longue durée of Spengler’s thesis of the decline of the West

Spengler’s The Decline of the West was a major publishing success in Weimar Germany. The study presents the end of Western civilization as an inevitable process of birth, maturity and death. Civilization is conceived as an inflexible ‘morphology’. Spengler’s thinking was influenced by a profound distaste with the optimism of the Belle Epoque, which he found to be complacent. The argument had a good deal of attraction to readers, especially German readers, who were suffering under the ‘Carthaginian Peace’ of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. Adorno and others were critical of Spengler’s thesis. The article examines Spengler’s thesis and its implications for the West today

The larceny of the last second: the case for transcendence

This paper submits that the hegemonic order in celebrity studies is fixated upon questions of utility, yield and economic asset value. These technical considerations support a technocratic engagement with celebrity that exaggerates the importance of technology and linearity. By the same token, it devalues philosophical perspectives that address questions of Transcendence and Ultimate Meaning. The term ‘Triangulation’ is introduced to describe the dominant paradigm in celebrity studies. The paper develops the case that to ignore these philosophical issues impoverishes the domain of celebrity studies. The value of these questions is demonstrated by discussing the relevance of Kant’s concepts of noumena and noumena, Hegel’s account of World Historical Individuals. This material is used to advance the value of phenomenological perspectives, notably the contributions of Bergson and Husserl, in respect of time and space, in the analysis of celebrity