852 research outputs found

    GIS-based two-dimensional numerical simulation of rainfall-induced debris flow

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    International audienceThis paper aims to present a useful numerical method to simulate the propagation and deposition of debris flow across the three dimensional complex terrain. A depth-averaged two-dimensional numerical model is developed, in which the debris and water mixture is assumed to be continuous, incompressible, unsteady flow. The model is based on the continuity equations and Navier-Stokes equations. Raster grid networks of digital elevation model in GIS provide a uniform grid system to describe complex topography. As the raster grid can be used as the finite difference mesh, the continuity and momentum equations are solved numerically using the finite difference method. The numerical model is applied to simulate the rainfall-induced debris flow occurred in 20 July 2003, in Minamata City of southern Kyushu, Japan. The simulation reproduces the propagation and deposition and the results are in good agreement with the field investigation. The synthesis of numerical method and GIS makes possible the solution of debris flow over a realistic terrain, and can be used to estimate the flow range, and to define potentially hazardous areas for homes and road section

    DEM slope-failure analysis of the Minami-Aso / Tateno area during the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes

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    The Kumamoto earthquakes, which occurred on April 16, 2016, included deep large-scale landslides in the Minami-Aso village / Tateno area; the Aso Bridge collapsed completely because of this slope failure. Aso Bridge is considered to have collapsed for various reasons, e.g., fault displacements, earthquake accelerations, and landslide sediment depositions on the bridge. In this study, the possibility of landslide-sediment depositions on the bridge was assessed as a reason for the bridge collapse using the discrete element method (DEM), and the landslides at Aso Bridge were reproduced. An experiment and analysis were conducted on the large deformation of aluminum-bar laminated ground with wall movement, to confirm the applicability of DEM to large ground-deformation problems. Next, the Aso Bridge slope-failure analysis was carried out, based on different analysis conditions, and the sediment distribution was compared with field observation results from qualitative and quantitative viewpoints. It was concluded that sediment deposition on the bridge was not a cause of the Aso Bridge failure

    Large deformation analysis of ground with wall movement or hallow foundation under extremely low confining pressure using PIV

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    Large-scale natural disasters have occurred frequently in recent years. In such disasters, large ground deformation has been a recurring phenomenon. As it directly affects the structure, has dureable design is necessitated to minimize the damages. Additionally, the fracture process zones are predicted using numerical analysis, and thereafter, the results of the analysis are validated after comparison with the experimental ones. In this study, image analysis is performed using particle image velocimetry (PIV), and subsequently, the analysis results are validated by the comparison. We herein aim to improve the precision of the image-analysis results, and examine the experimental or analytical condition of reproducing the deformation

    Ferroelectric materials for neuromorphic computing

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    Ferroelectric materials are promising candidates for synaptic weight elements in neural network hardware because of their nonvolatile multilevel memory effect. This feature is crucial for their use in mobile applications such as inference when vector matrix multiplication is performed during portable artificial intelligence service. In addition, the adaptive learning effect in ferroelectric polarization has gained considerable research attention for reducing the CMOS circuit overhead of an integrator and amplifier with an activation function. In spite of their potential for a weight and a neuron, material issues have been pointed out for commercialization in conjunction with CMOS processing and device structures. Herein, we review ferroelectric synaptic weights and neurons from the viewpoint of materials in relation to device operation, along with discussions and suggestions for improvement. Moreover, we discuss the reliability of HfO2 as an emerging material and suggest methods to overcome the scaling issue of ferroelectrics.11Ysciescopu

    Electronic Structure of Three-Dimensional Superlattices Subject to Tilted Magnetic Fields

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    Full quantum-mechanical description of electrons moving in 3D structures with unidirectional periodic modulation subject to tilted magnetic fields requires an extensive numerical calculation. To understand magneto-oscillations in such systems it is in many cases sufficient to use the quasi-classical approach, in which the zero-magnetic-field Fermi surface is considered as a magnetic-field-independent rigid body in k-space and periods of oscillations are related to extremal cross-sections of the Fermi surface cut by planes perpendicular to the magnetic-field direction. We point out cases where the quasi-classical treatment fails and propose a simple tight-binding fully-quantum-mechanical model of the superlattice electronic structure.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, RevTex, submitted to Phys. Rev.

    Quantum scattering in one dimension

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    A self-contained discussion of nonrelativistic quantum scattering is presented in the case of central potentials in one space dimension, which will facilitate the understanding of the more complex scattering theory in two and three dimensions. The present discussion illustrates in a simple way the concept of partial-wave decomposition, phase shift, optical theorem and effective-range expansion.Comment: 8 page

    ac-Field-Controlled Anderson Localization in Disordered Semiconductor Superlattices

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    An ac field, tuned exactly to resonance with the Stark ladder in an ideal tight binding lattice under strong dc bias, counteracts Wannier-Stark localization and leads to the emergence of extended Floquet states. If there is random disorder, these states localize. The localization lengths depend non-monotonically on the ac field amplitude and become essentially zero at certain parameters. This effect is of possible relevance for characterizing the quality of superlattice samples, and for performing experiments on Anderson localization in systems with well-defined disorder.Comment: 10 pages, Latex; figures available on request from [email protected]

    Bloch oscillations, Zener tunneling and Wannier-Stark ladders in the time-domain

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    We present a time-domain analysis of carrier dynamics in a semiconductor superlattice with two minibands. Integration of the density-matrix equations of motion reveals a number of new features: (i) for certain values of the applied static electric field strong interband transitions occur; (ii) in static fields the complex time-dependence of the density-matrix displays a sequence of stable plateaus in the low field regime, and (iii) for applied fields with a periodic time-dependence the dynamic response can be understood in terms of the quasienergy spectra.Comment: 4 pages, 6 PostScript figures available from [email protected], REVTEX 3.
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