Evaluation of a self-equilibrium cutting strategy for the contour method of residual stress measurement

An assessment of cutting-induced plasticity (CIP) is performed, by finite element (FE) prediction of the plastic strain accumulation along the cut tip when the EDM wire sections the NeT TG4 weld benchmark specimen along two cutting directions. The first direction corresponds to a conventional (C) cutting strategy, whereby the EDM wire cuts through the thickness of the weld specimen and travels in a direction transverse to the weld. The second direction corresponds to a self-equilibrating cutting (SE) strategy, whereby the EDM wire cuts across the transverse direction of the weld specimens and travels through the thickness of the plate. The cutting thus progresses simultaneously through the compression-tension-compression regions of present weld residual stress (WRS) field. This type of cutting strategy is believed to minimize the CIP by minimising residual stress redistribution during cutting, due to stress equilibration across the sectioned material. The simulated cutting procedures are conducted under a range of clamping conditions to assess whether mechanical restraint has a primary or secondary influence on CIP accumulation. Both predictions of CIP and the resultant back-calculated WRS demonstrate that (i) mechanical restraint is the primary variable influencing CIP development, and (ii) under no circumstance does a self-equilibrating cutting strategy perform significantly better than a conventional cutting approach. The reason that self-equilibrating cuts are not effective is illustrated by calculating the Mode I (KI) stress intensity factor (SIF) along the cut tip, and correlating trends in KI to CIP development

Heterogeneous-k-core versus Bootstrap Percolation on Complex Networks

We introduce the heterogeneous-$k$-core, which generalizes the $k$-core, and contrast it with bootstrap percolation. Vertices have a threshold $k_i$ which may be different at each vertex. If a vertex has less than $k_i$ neighbors it is pruned from the network. The heterogeneous-$k$-core is the sub-graph remaining after no further vertices can be pruned. If the thresholds $k_i$ are $1$ with probability $f$ or $k \geq 3$ with probability $(1-f)$, the process forms one branch of an activation-pruning process which demonstrates hysteresis. The other branch is formed by ordinary bootstrap percolation. We show that there are two types of transitions in this heterogeneous-$k$-core process: the giant heterogeneous-$k$-core may appear with a continuous transition and there may be a second, discontinuous, hybrid transition. We compare critical phenomena, critical clusters and avalanches at the heterogeneous-$k$-core and bootstrap percolation transitions. We also show that network structure has a crucial effect on these processes, with the giant heterogeneous-$k$-core appearing immediately at a finite value for any $f > 0$ when the degree distribution tends to a power law $P(q) \sim q^{-\gamma}$ with $\gamma < 3$.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Reduction of Dilute Ising Spin Glasses

The recently proposed reduction method for diluted spin glasses is investigated in depth. In particular, the Edwards-Anderson model with \pm J and Gaussian bond disorder on hyper-cubic lattices in d=2, 3, and 4 is studied for a range of bond dilutions. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of using bond dilution to elucidate low-temperature properties of Ising spin glasses, and provide a starting point to enhance the methods used in reduction. Based on that, a greedy heuristic call ``Dominant Bond Reduction'' is introduced and explored.Comment: 10 pages, revtex, final version, find related material at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher

Importance de l’intéraction entre les cultivars de blé et les souches du Fusarium graminearum dans l’évaluation de la résistance à la fusariose de l’épi

Des expériences factorielles ont été réalisées au champ à deux stations, le campus de l'Université Laval en 1991 et 1992 et la ferme de Saint-Louis-de-Pintendre en 1992 et 1993, pour préciser si le développement de la fusariose de l'épi du blé est influencé par l'interaction entre les cultivars et les souches du Fusarium graminearum. Neuf souches du F. graminearum ont été inoculées à onze cultivars de blé (Triticum aestivum) et un cultivar de triticale (x Triticosecale) représentatifs de la gamme de sensibilité à cette maladie au Québec. L'analyse de la variance combinée a mis en évidence des interactions significatives entre les cultivars, les souches et les environnements. Les interactions cultivars x souches et cultivars x environnements expliquent une faible proportion de la somme des carrés totale et n'entraînent pas de modifications majeures dans le classement moyen de la sensibilité des cultivars. Concernant l'interaction cultivars x souches, le classement moyen de la sensibilité des cultivars, notamment Casavant et Concorde, variait avec les souches. Cette recherche contre pour la première fois que l'importance relative des différentes interactions entre les souches, les cultivars et les environnements est comparable dans l'évaluation de la résistance à la fusariose de l'épi du blé.Factorial experiments were carried out in the field at the campus of Universite Laval in 1991 and 1992, and Saint-Louis-de-Pintendre station in 1992 and 1993. The objective was to specify if wheat scab development caused by Fusarium graminearum is significantly affected by cultivar x strain interactions. Eleven wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars and one triticale (x Triticosecale) cultivar representing the range of sensitivity to this disease in Quebec were inoculated with nine strains of F. graminearum. Significant interactions between cultivars, strains and environments were shown by the results of a combined analysis of variance. Cultivar x strain and cultivar x environment interactions explained a small proportion of the total sum of squares and did not have a strong impact on cultivar average ranking by environment or strain. However, the examination of cultivar x strain interactions revealed that the rank of cultivars such as Casavant and Concorde changed when different strains were compared. This research shows for the first time that all interactions involving cultivars, strains and environments have a similar impact on wheat scab resistance screening

Quantifying the modern recharge of the "fossil" Sahara aquifers

The North-Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS), one of the world's largest groundwater systems, shows an overall piezometric decline associated with increasing withdrawals. Estimating the recharge rate in such a semiarid system is challenging but crucial for sustainable water development. In this paper, the recharge of the NWSAS is estimated using a regional water budget based on GRACE terrestrial water storage monthly records, soil moisture from the GLDAS (a land data system that assimilates hydrological information), and groundwater pumping rates. A cumulated natural recharge rate of 1.40 +/- 0.90 km(3) yr(-1) is estimated for the two main aquifers. Our results suggest a renewal rate of about 40% which partly contradicts the premise that recharge in this area should be very low or even null. Aquifer depletion inferred from our analysis is consistent with observed piezometric head decline in the two main aquifers in the region. Annual recharge variations were also estimated and vary between 0 and 4.40 km(3) yr(-1) for the period 2003-2010. These values correspond to a recharge between 0 and 6.75 mm yr(-1) on the 650,000 km(2) of outcropping areas of the aquifers, which is consistent with the expected weak and sporadic recharge in this semiarid environment. These variations are also in line with annual rainfall variation with a lag time of about 1 year

Soil Microbial Community Changes in Wooded Mountain Pastures due to Simulated Effects of Cattle Grazing

The effect of cattle activity on pastures can be subdivided into three categories of disturbances: herbage removal, dunging and trampling. The objective of this study was to assess separately or in combination the effect of these factors on the potential activities of soil microbial communities and to compare these effects with those of soil properties and plant composition or biomass. Controlled treatments simulating the three factors were applied in a fenced area including a light gradient (sunny and shady situation): (i) repeated mowing; (ii) trampling; (iii) fertilizing with a liquid mixture of dung and urine. In the third year of the experiment, community level physiological profiles (CLPP) (Biolog Ecoplates™) were measured for each plots. Furthermore soil chemical properties (pH, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus), plant species composition and plant biomass were also assessed. Despite differences in plant communities and soil properties, the metabolic potential of the microbial community in the sunny and in the shady situations were similar. Effects of treatments on microbial communities were more pronounced in the sunny than in the shady situation. In both cases, repeated mowing was the first factor retained for explaining functional variations. In contrast, fertilizing was not a significant factor. The vegetation explained a high proportion of variation of the microbial community descriptors in the sunny situation, while no significant variation appeared under shady condition. The three components of cattle activities influenced differently the soil microbial communities and this depended on the light conditions within the wooded pasture. Cattle activities may also change spatially at a fine scale and short-term and induce changes in the microbial community structure. Thus, the shifting mosaic that has been described for the vegetation of pastures may also apply for below-ground microbial communitie

Hobo elements and their deletion-derivative sequences in Drosophila melanogaster and its sibling species D simulans, D mauritiana and D sechellia

International audienc