2,299 research outputs found
Quantifying the effect of end support restraints on vibration serviceability of mass timber floor systems: Testing
Design of mass timber floor systems is commonly governed by vibration serviceability due to high stiffness-to-weight ratio and low inherent damping of timber. Research and design practice have shown that static deflection under a concentrated load and fundamental natural frequency can be effective and robust indicators for vibration performance of mass timber floors. These design parameters are normally calculated by assuming simply supported conditions in existing design methods. However, such an assumption deviates from actual floor supports, especially in platform-framed buildings, and in-situ end support restraints have been widely recognized as a significant factor affecting the vibration performance. The purpose of the study is to quantify the influence of end support restraints on vibration serviceability of mass timber floors in platform construction through a comprehensive experimental program and analytical treatment. This paper is the first part and focus specifically on the experimental work on cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. In particular, extensive laboratory tests have been conducted on different CLT floor panels with various end support restraints induced by top loads, self-tapping screws and steel angle brackets. The fundamental natural frequency and mid-span deflection under a concentrated load were measured for each end support configuration. The rotational restraint stiffness was determined by comparing results of restrained supports to those of simple supports and represented as end fixity factors. The analysis of test results shows that the CLT floor-to-wall connection exhibited inherent non-linear behaviour and such characteristic was more significant for higher top loads. Compared with screws and brackets, the top loads dominated the partially restrained effect but such dominance gradually diminished for lower-level top loads. In addition, support wall thickness notably impacts the support restraint. It was then suggested that the clear span could be used to determine deflection and frequency in the design, but further investigation is needed
Generating entanglement between microwave photons and qubits in multiple cavities coupled by a superconducting qutrit
We discuss how to generate entangled coherent states of four
\textrm{microwave} resonators \textrm{(a.k.a. cavities)} coupled by a
superconducting qubit. We also show \textrm{that} a GHZ state of four
superconducting qubits embedded in four different resonators \textrm{can be
created with this scheme}. In principle, \textrm{the proposed method} can be
extended to create an entangled coherent state of resonators and to prepare
a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state of qubits distributed over
cavities in a quantum network. In addition, it is noted that four resonators
coupled by a coupler qubit may be used as a basic circuit block to build a
two-dimensional quantum network, which is useful for scalable quantum
information processing.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Symmetric-Asymmetric transition in mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates
We propose a new kind of quantum phase transition in phase separated mixtures
of Bose-Einstein condensates. In this transition, the distribution of the two
components changes from a symmetric to an asymmetric shape. We discuss the
nature of the phase transition, the role of interface tension and the phase
diagram. The symmetric to asymmetric transition is the simplest quantum phase
transition that one can imagine. Careful study of this problem should provide
us new insight into this burgeoning field of discovery.Comment: 6 pages, 3 eps figure
Co-ordination between Rashba spin-orbital interaction and space charge effect and enhanced spin injection into semiconductors
We consider the effect of the Rashba spin-orbital interaction and space
charge in a ferromagnet-insulator/semiconductor/insulator-ferromagnet junction
where the spin current is severely affected by the doping, band structure and
charge screening in the semiconductor. In diffusion region, if the the
resistance of the tunneling barriers is comparable to the semiconductor
resistance, the magnetoresistance of this junction can be greatly enhanced
under appropriate doping by the co-ordination between the Rashba effect and
screened Coulomb interaction in the nonequilibrium transport processes within
Hartree approximation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Dynamical Properties of a Growing Surface on a Random Substrate
The dynamics of the discrete Gaussian model for the surface of a crystal
deposited on a disordered substrate is investigated by Monte Carlo simulations.
The mobility of the growing surface was studied as a function of a small
driving force and temperature . A continuous transition is found from
high-temperature phase characterized by linear response to a low-temperature
phase with nonlinear, temperature dependent response. In the simulated regime
of driving force the numerical results are in general agreement with recent
dynamic renormalization group predictions.Comment: 10 pages, latex, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. E (RC
Soliton Staircases and Standing Strain Waves in Confined Colloidal Crystals
We show by computer simulation of a two-dimensional crystal confined by
corrugated walls that confinement can be used to impose a controllable
mesoscopic superstructure of predominantly mechanical elastic character. Due to
an interplay of the particle density of the system and the width D of the
confining channel, "soliton staircases" can be created along both parallel
confining boundaries, that give rise to standing strain waves in the entire
crystal. The periodicity of these waves is of the same order as D. This
mechanism should be useful for structure formation in the self-assembly of
various nanoscopic materials.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure
Acceleration effects of microbial inoculum on palm oil mill organic waste composting.
ABSTRACT
The acceleration effects of inoculum in composting of empty fruit bunches were investigated. Composting of empty fruit bunches fibres in two sizes, 4 cm and 2 cm length, were treated with microbial inoculum consisting of Agromonas, Aspergillus, Azotobacter, Bacillus, Celhdomonas, Chaetomium, Clostridium, Coprinus, Microbispora, Penicillium, Pseudomonas, Thermoactinomyces, Trichoderma and Trichurus in separate laboratory scale in-vessel of 30 liters volume. A control without inoculum with 4 cm length empty fruit bunches was also conducted in parallel. The compost piles were shift-turned weekly. Parameters such as moisture content, temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity were used to monitor the composting processes. The carbon-nitrogen ratio, UV-vis spectrophotometer test, and germination test were used to assess the maturity of compost. The results showed that the inoculum was effective in reducing the C/N ratio by 54% compared to control 46% and rapidly increasing the UV-vis absorption ratio in first three weeks. By using functional microbes, the composting of empty fruit bunches was reduced to 5 weeks compared to 9 weeks for those without inoculation. The acceleration effect was more prominent for the 2 cm length samples
Motion of Vacancies in a Pinned Vortex Lattice: Origin of the Hall Anomaly
Physical arguments are presented to show that the Hall anomaly is an effect
of the vortex many-body correlation rather than that of an individual vortex.
Quantitatively, the characteristic energy scale in the problem, the vortex
vacancy formation energy, is obtained for thin films. At low temperatures a
scaling relation between the Hall and longitudinal resistivities is found, with
the power depending on sample details. Near the superconducting transition
temperature and for small magnetic fields the Hall conductivity is found to be
proportional to the inverse of the magnetic field and to the quadratic of the
difference between the measured and the transition temperatures.Comment: minor change
A unified wavelet-based modelling framework for non-linear system identification: the WANARX model structure
A new unified modelling framework based on the superposition of additive submodels, functional components, and
wavelet decompositions is proposed for non-linear system identification. A non-linear model, which is often represented
using a multivariate non-linear function, is initially decomposed into a number of functional components via the wellknown
analysis of variance (ANOVA) expression, which can be viewed as a special form of the NARX (non-linear
autoregressive with exogenous inputs) model for representing dynamic input–output systems. By expanding each functional
component using wavelet decompositions including the regular lattice frame decomposition, wavelet series and
multiresolution wavelet decompositions, the multivariate non-linear model can then be converted into a linear-in-theparameters
problem, which can be solved using least-squares type methods. An efficient model structure determination
approach based upon a forward orthogonal least squares (OLS) algorithm, which involves a stepwise orthogonalization
of the regressors and a forward selection of the relevant model terms based on the error reduction ratio (ERR), is
employed to solve the linear-in-the-parameters problem in the present study. The new modelling structure is referred to
as a wavelet-based ANOVA decomposition of the NARX model or simply WANARX model, and can be applied to
represent high-order and high dimensional non-linear systems
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