724 research outputs found
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Grouping Individual Investment Preferences in Retirement Savings: A Cluster Analysis of a USS Members Risk Attitude Survey
Cluster analysis is used to identify homogeneous groups of members of USS in terms of risk attitudes. There are two distinct clusters of members in their 40s and 50s. One had previously âengagedâ with USS by making additional voluntary contributions. It typically had higher pay, longer tenure, less interest in ethical investing, lower risk capacity, a higher percentage of males, and a higher percentage of academics than members of the âdisengagedâ cluster. Conditioning only on the attitude to risk responses, there are 18 clusters, with similar but not identical membership, depending on which clustering method is used. The differences in risk aversion across the 18 clusters could be explained largely by differences in the percentage of females and the percentage of couples. Risk aversion increases as the percentage of females in the cluster increases, while it reduces as the percentage of couples increases because of greater risk sharing within the household. Characteristics that other studies have found important determinants of risk attitudes, such as age, income and (pension) wealth, do not turn out to be as significant for USS members. Further, despite being on average more highly educated than the general population, USS members are marginally more risk averse than the general population, controlling for salary, although the difference is not significant
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One size fits all: How many default funds does a pension scheme need?
In this paper, we analyse the number of default investment funds appropriate for an occupational defined contribution pension scheme. Using a unique dataset of member risk attitudes and characteristics from a survey of a large UK pension scheme, we apply cluster analysis to identify two distinct groups of members in their 40s and 50s. Further analysis indicated that the risk attitudes of the two groups were not significantly different, allowing us to conclude that a single lifestyle default fund is appropriate
Deformation and spallation of shocked Cu bicrystals with ÎŁ3 coherent and symmetric incoherent twin boundaries
We perform molecular dynamics simulations of Cu bicrystals with two important grain boundaries (GBs), ÎŁ3 coherent twin boundaries (CTB), and symmetric incoherent twin boundaries (SITB) under planar shock wave loading. It is revealed that the shock response (deformation and spallation) of the Cu bicrystals strongly depends on the GB characteristics. At the shock compression stage, elastic shock wave can readily trigger GB plasticity at SITB but not at CTB. The SITB can induce considerable wave attenuation such as the elastic precursor decay via activating GB dislocations. For example, our simulations of a Cu multilayer structure with 53 SITBs (âŒ1.5-ÎŒm thick) demonstrate a âŒ80% elastic shock decay. At the tension stage, spallation tends to occur at CTB but not at SITB due to the high mobility of SITB. The SITB region transforms into a threefold twin via a sequential partial dislocation slip mechanism, while CTB preserves its integrity before spallation. In addition, deformation twinning is a mechanism for inducing surface step during shock tension stage. The drastically different shock response of CTB and SITB could in principle be exploited for, or benefit, interface engineering and materials design
Left-right loading dependence of shock response of (111)//(112) Cu bicrystals: Deformation and spallation
We investigate with molecular dynamics the dynamic response of Cu bicrystals with a special asymmetric grain boundary (GB), (111)//(112)ă110ă, and its dependence on the loading directions. Shock loading is applied along the GB normal either from the left or right to the GB. Due to the structure asymmetry, the bicrystals demonstrate overall strong left-right loading dependence of its shock response, including compression wave features, compression and tensile plasticity, damage characteristics (e.g., spall strength), effective wave speeds and structure changes, except that spallation remains dominated by the GB damage regardless of the loading directions. The presence or absence of transient microtwinning also depends on the loading directions
Dynamic response of phenolic resin and its carbon-nanotube composites to shock wave loading
We investigate with nonreactive molecular dynamics simulations the dynamic response of phenolic resin and its carbon-nanotube (CNT) composites to shock wave compression. For phenolic resin, our simulations yield shock states in agreement with experiments on similar polymers except the
âphase changeâ observed in experiments, indicating that such phase change is chemical in nature. The elasticâplastic transition is characterized by shear stress relaxation and atomic-level slip, and phenolic resin shows strong strain hardening. Shock loading of the CNT-resin composites is applied parallel or perpendicular to the CNT axis, and the composites demonstrate anisotropy in wave
propagation, yield and CNT deformation. The CNTs induce stress concentrations in the composites and may increase the yield strength. Our simulations suggest that the bulk shock response of the composites depends on the volume fraction, length ratio, impact cross-section, and geometry of the CNT components; the short CNTs in current simulations have insignificant effect on the bulk
response of resin polymer
Shock compression and spallation of single crystal tantalum
We present molecular dynamics simulations of shock-induced plasticity and spall damage in single crystal Ta described by a recently developed embedded-atom-method (EAM) potential and a volumedependent qEAM potential. We use impact or Hugoniotstat simulations to investigate the Hugoniots, deformation and spallation. Both EAM and qEAM are accurate in predicting, e.g., the Hugoniots and Îł - surfaces. Deformation and spall damage are anisotropic for Ta single crystals. Our preliminary results show that twinning is dominant for [100] and [110] shock loading, and dislocation, for [111]. Spallation initiates with void nucleation at defective sites from remnant compressional deformation or tensile plasticity. Spall strength decreases with increasing shock strength, while its rate dependence remains to be explored
Formation of singularities on the surface of a liquid metal in a strong electric field
The nonlinear dynamics of the free surface of an ideal conducting liquid in a
strong external electric field is studied. It is establish that the equations
of motion for such a liquid can be solved in the approximation in which the
surface deviates from a plane by small angles. This makes it possible to show
that on an initially smooth surface for almost any initial conditions points
with an infinite curvature corresponding to branch points of the root type can
form in a finite time.Comment: 14 page
Three-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations of void coalescence during dynamic fracture of ductile metals
Void coalescence and interaction in dynamic fracture of ductile metals have
been investigated using three-dimensional strain-controlled multi-million atom
molecular dynamics simulations of copper. The correlated growth of two voids
during the coalescence process leading to fracture is investigated, both in
terms of its onset and the ensuing dynamical interactions. Void interactions
are quantified through the rate of reduction of the distance between the voids,
through the correlated directional growth of the voids, and through correlated
shape evolution of the voids. The critical inter-void ligament distance marking
the onset of coalescence is shown to be approximately one void radius based on
the quantification measurements used, independent of the initial separation
distance between the voids and the strain-rate of the expansion of the system.
The interaction of the voids is not reflected in the volumetric asymptotic
growth rate of the voids, as demonstrated here. Finally, the practice of using
a single void and periodic boundary conditions to study coalescence is examined
critically and shown to produce results markedly different than the coalescence
of a pair of isolated voids.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Dynamics of the Free Surface of a Conducting Liquid in a Near-Critical Electric Field
Near-critical behavior of the free surface of an ideally conducting liquid in
an external electric field is considered. Based on an analysis of three-wave
processes using the method of integral estimations, sufficient criteria for
hard instability of a planar surface are formulated. It is shown that the
higher-order nonlinearities do not saturate the instability, for which reason
the growth of disturbances has an explosive character.Comment: 19 page
Towards granular hydrodynamics in two-dimensions
We study steady-state properties of inelastic gases in two-dimensions in the
presence of an energy source. We generalize previous hydrodynamic treatments to
situations where high and low density regions coexist. The theoretical
predictions compare well with numerical simulations in the nearly elastic
limit. It is also seen that the system can achieve a nonequilibrium
steady-state with asymmetric velocity distributions, and we discuss the
conditions under which such situations occur.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, revtex, references added, also available from
http://arnold.uchicago.edu/?ebn
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