2,122 research outputs found
REBOUND: An open-source multi-purpose N-body code for collisional dynamics
REBOUND is a new multi-purpose N-body code which is freely available under an
open-source license. It was designed for collisional dynamics such as planetary
rings but can also solve the classical N-body problem. It is highly modular and
can be customized easily to work on a wide variety of different problems in
astrophysics and beyond.
REBOUND comes with three symplectic integrators: leap-frog, the symplectic
epicycle integrator (SEI) and a Wisdom-Holman mapping (WH). It supports open,
periodic and shearing-sheet boundary conditions. REBOUND can use a Barnes-Hut
tree to calculate both self-gravity and collisions. These modules are fully
parallelized with MPI as well as OpenMP. The former makes use of a static
domain decomposition and a distributed essential tree. Two new collision
detection modules based on a plane-sweep algorithm are also implemented. The
performance of the plane-sweep algorithm is superior to a tree code for
simulations in which one dimension is much longer than the other two and in
simulations which are quasi-two dimensional with less than one million
particles.
In this work, we discuss the different algorithms implemented in REBOUND, the
philosophy behind the code's structure as well as implementation specific
details of the different modules. We present results of accuracy and scaling
tests which show that the code can run efficiently on both desktop machines and
large computing clusters.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted by A&A, source code available at
https://github.com/hannorein/reboun
Experimental study of the formation and collapse of an overhang in the lateral spread of smouldering peat fires
Smouldering combustion is the driving phenomenon of wildfires in peatlands, and is responsible for large amounts of carbon emissions and haze episodes world wide. Compared to flaming fires, smouldering is slow, low-temperature, flameless, and most persistent, yet it is poorly understood. Peat, as a typical organic soil, is a porous and charring natural fuel, thus prone to smouldering. The spread of smouldering peat fire is a multidimensional phenomenon, including two main components: in-depth vertical and surface lateral spread. In this study, we investigate the lateral spread of peat fire under various moisture and wind conditions. Visual and infrared cameras as well as a thermocouple array are used to measure the temperature profile and the spread rate. For the first time the overhang, where smouldering spreads fastest beneath the free surface, is observed in the laboratory, which helps understand the interaction between oxygen supply and heat losses. The periodic formation and collapse of overhangs is observed. The overhang thickness is found to increase with moisture and wind speed, while the spread rate decreases with moisture and increases with wind speed. A simple theoretical analysis is proposed and shows that the formation of overhang is caused by the spread rate difference between the top and lower peat layers as well as the competition between oxygen supply and heat losses
Feature link propagation across variability representations with Isabelle/HOL
When dealing with highly complex product lines it is usually indispensable to somehow subdivide the overall product line into several smaller, subordinate product lines and to define orthogonal views on the line’s variability tailored to partic- ular purposes, such as end-customer configuration. In this article we report on an ongoing research effort for dealing with feature links, i.e. logical constraints between features, in such a setting, by propagating such logical constraints defined in lower-level product lines to a higher level or from one view to another
Self-ignition of natural fuels: can wildfires of carbon-rich soil start by self-heating?
Carbon-rich soils, like histosols or gelisols, cover more than 3% of the Earth's land surface, and store roughly three times more carbon than the Earth's forests. Carbon-rich soils are reactive porous materials, prone to smouldering combustion if the inert and moisture contents are low enough. An example of soil combustion happens in peatlands, where smouldering wildfires are common in both boreal and tropical regions. This work focuses on understanding soil ignition by self-heating, which is due to spontaneous exothermic reactions in the presence of oxygen under certain thermal conditions. We investigate the effect of soil inorganic content by creating under controlled conditions soil samples with inorganic content (IC) ranging from 3% to 86% of dry weight: we use sand as a surrogate of inorganic matter and peat as a surrogate of organic matter. This range is very wide and covers all IC values of known carbon-rich soils on Earth. The experimental results show that self-heating ignition in different soil types is possible, even with the 86% inorganic content, but the tendency to ignite decreases quickly with increasing IC. We report a clear increase in ambient temperature required for ignition as the IC increases. Combining results from 39 thermostatically-controlled oven experiments, totalling 401 h of heating time, with the Frank-Kamenetskii theory of ignition, the lumped chemical kinetic and thermal parameters are determined. We then use these parameters to upscale the laboratory experiments to soil layers of different thicknesses for a range of ambient temperatures ranging from 0 °C to 40 °C. The analysis predicts the critical soil layer thicknesses in nature for self-ignition at various possible environmental temperatures. For example, at 40 °C a soil layer of 3% inorganic content can be ignited through self-heating if it is thicker than 8.8 m, but at 86% IC the layer has to be 1.8 km thick, which is impossible to find in nature. We estimate that the critical IC for a ambient temperature of 40 °C and soil thickness of 50 m is 68%. Because those are extreme values of temperature and thickness, no self-heating ignition of soil can be expected above the 68% threshold of inorganic content. This is the first in-depth experimental quantification of soil self-heating and shows that indeed it is possible that wildfires are initiated by self-heating in some soil types and conditions
Experimental measurement of particle size effects on the self-heating ignition of biomass piles: Homogeneous samples of dust and pellets
Biomass can become an important fuel source for future power generation worldwide. However biomass piles are prone to self-heating and can lead to fire. When storing and transporting biomass, it is usually in the form of pellets which vary in diameter but are on average in the order of 7 mm. However, pellets tend to break up into smaller particles and into dust down to the µm size. For self-heating, size of particles is known to matter but the topic is poorly studied for biomass piles. This work presents an experimental study on the self-heating ignition behaviour of different particle sizes of wheat biomass. We study for the first time homogeneous samples from the dust scale to pellet diameter size, ranging from diameters of 300 µm to 6.5 mm. Experiments are done in an isothermal oven to find minimum ignition temperatures as a function of sample volume. The results are analysed using Frank-Kamenetskii theory. For the homogeneous biomass samples studied, we show that particle diameter variation does not bring a large change in self-heating ignition behaviour. The present work can be used to help quantify size effects on biomass ignition and help address the safety problems of biomass fires
Probabilistic study of the resistance of a simply-supported reinforced concrete slab according to Eurocode parametric fire
We present the application of a simple probabilistic methodology to determine the reliability of a structural element exposed to fire when designed following Eurocode 1-1-2 (EC1). Eurocodes are being used extensively within the European Union in the design of many buildings and structures. Here, the methodology is applied to a simply-supported, reinforced concrete slab 180 mm thick, with a standard load bearing fire resistance of 90 min. The slab is subjected to a fire in an office compartment of 420 m 2 floor area and 4 m height. Temperature time curves are produced using the EC1 parametric fire curve, which assumes uniform temperature and a uniform burning condition for the fire. Heat transfer calculations identify the plausible worst case scenarios in terms of maximum rebar temperature. We found that a ventilation-controlled fire with opening factor 0.02 m 1/2 results in a maximum rebar temperature of 448°C after 102 min of fire exposure. Sensitivity analyses to the main parameters in the EC1 fire curves and in the EC1 heat transfer calculations are performed using a one-at-a-time (OAT) method. The failure probability is then calculated for a series of input parameters using the Monte Carlo method. The results show that this slab has a 0.3% probability of failure when the compartment is designed with all layers of safety in place (detection and sprinkler systems, safe access route, and fire fighting devices are available). Unavailability of sprinkler systems results in a 1% probability of failure. When both sprinkler system and detection are not available in the building, the probability of failure is 8%. This novel study conducts for the first time a probabilistic calculation using the EC1 parametric curve, helping engineers to identify the most critical design fires and the probabilistic resistance assumed in EC1
The externides of Wopmay Orogen, Point Lake and Kikerk Lake map areas, District of Mackenzie
Some results of recent field work are briefly discussed as they pertain to the following topics: (1) north-south stratigraphic continuity of the Precambrian continental-terrace wedge, (2) stromatolite elongation, paleowind direction and global polarity during deposition of the Rocknest dolomite shelf, (3) evidence for primary aragonitic mineralogy of the Rocknest Formation, (4) attempted quantitative paleobathymetry of the upper continental slope, (5) eastward migration of foredeep flysch, (6) nature of basement involvement in Asiak Fold-Thrust Belt, (7) relation of thrusting to the foredeep molasse, (8) mysterious basement-involved cross folding of regional extent, (9) normal faults associated with late transcurrent faulting , and (10) the first reported minor leadzinc vein mineralization in Rocknest dolomite. Future field work is outlined
Forward Flux Sampling-type schemes for simulating rare events: Efficiency analysis
We analyse the efficiency of several simulation methods which we have
recently proposed for calculating rate constants for rare events in stochastic
dynamical systems, in or out of equilibrium. We derive analytical expressions
for the computational cost of using these methods, and for the statistical
error in the final estimate of the rate constant, for a given computational
cost. These expressions can be used to determine which method to use for a
given problem, to optimize the choice of parameters, and to evaluate the
significance of the results obtained. We apply the expressions to the
two-dimensional non-equilibrium rare event problem proposed by Maier and Stein.
For this problem, our analysis gives accurate quantitative predictions for the
computational efficiency of the three methods.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figure
The Mean-Field Limit for a Regularized Vlasov-Maxwell Dynamics
The present work establishes the mean-field limit of a N-particle system
towards a regularized variant of the relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system,
following the work of Braun-Hepp [Comm. in Math. Phys. 56 (1977), 101-113] and
Dobrushin [Func. Anal. Appl. 13 (1979), 115-123] for the Vlasov-Poisson system.
The main ingredients in the analysis of this system are (a) a kinetic
formulation of the Maxwell equations in terms of a distribution of
electromagnetic potential in the momentum variable, (b) a regularization
procedure for which an analogue of the total energy - i.e. the kinetic energy
of the particles plus the energy of the electromagnetic field - is conserved
and (c) an analogue of Dobrushin's stability estimate for the
Monge-Kantorovich-Rubinstein distance between two solutions of the regularized
Vlasov-Poisson dynamics adapted to retarded potentials.Comment: 34 page
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