164 research outputs found
Near-field blast loading and transient target response : a collaboration between Sheffield and Cape Town
Near-field blast loads are high in magnitude, short in duration, and non-uniformly distributed across the loaded face of a structural element. Experimental characterisation of near-field blast loading and the resulting deformation of a blast loaded target is made difficult by conflicting requirements, namely: robustness to survive the extreme loading conditions; and sensitivity to accurately measure transient behaviour at high
sampling frequencies. As such, there is little definitive experimental data in the literature, and the deformation
behaviour of plates subjected to non-uniform impulsive loading is yet to be properly quantified. This paper presents an update on the ongoing collaborative research effort between the University of Sheffield, UK, and the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Direct experimental measurements of blast pressure and impulse using an array of Hopkinson pressure bars (Sheffield), and high-fidelity transient plate deformation measurements using digital image correlation (Cape Town) are jointly-used to assess, and develop predictive methods for, the
response of blast loaded plates. Simplified predictive methods, based on knowledge of the applied load rather than an assumed distribution, have been developed which show very good correlation with the experiments and physics-based numerical models
Predicting the response of plates subjected to near-field explosions using an energy equivalent impulse
Recent experimental work by the current authors has provided highly spatially and temporally resolved measurements of the loading imparted to, and the subsequent dynamic response of, structures subjected to near-field explosive loading [1]. In this article we validate finite element models of plates subjected to near-field blast loads and perform a parametric study into the relationship between imparted load and peak and residual plate deformation. The energy equivalent impulse is derived, based on the theory of upper bound kinetic energy uptake introduced herein, which accounts for the additional energy imparted to a structure from a spatially non-uniform blast load. Whilst plate deflection is weakly correlated to total impulse, there is shown to be a strong positive correlation between deflection and energy equivalent impulse. The strength of this correlation is insensitive to loading distribution and mode of response. The method developed in this article has clear applications for the generation of fast-running engineering tools for the prediction of structural response to near-field explosions
Maternal pregnancy vitamin D supplementation increases offspring bone formation in response to mechanical loading : findings from a MAVIDOS trial sub-study
The Maternal Vitamin D Osteoporosis (MAVIDOS) trial reported higher total body bone mineral content in winter-born infants of mothers receiving vitamin D supplementation [1000 IU/day cholecalciferol] compared with placebo from 14 weeks gestation until delivery. This sub-study aimed to determine whether antenatal vitamin D supplementation altered postnatal bone formation in response to mechanical stimulation. Thirty-one children born to MAVIDOS participants randomised to either placebo (n=19) or cholecalciferol (n=12) were recruited at age 4-5 years.
Children received whole body vibration (WBV) for 10 minutes on 5 consecutive days. Fasting blood samples for bone homeostasis, 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and bone turnover markers (Pro-collagen Type 1 N-terminal propeptide, P1NP; Cross-linked C-telopeptide of Type I Collagen, CTX) were collected pre-WBV and on day 8 (D8). Mean changes (D) in P1NP (ng/ml) between baseline and D8 in the vitamin-D intervention and placebo groups were 40.6 and -92.6 respectively and mean changes (Δ) in CTX (ng/ml) were 0.034 (intervention) and -0.084 (placebo) respectively. Between-group DP1NP difference was 133.2ng/ml [95% CI 0.4, 266.0; p=0.049] and ΔCTX 0.05ng/ml (95% CI -0.159, 0.26ng/mL; p=0.62). Antenatal vitamin-D supplementation resulted in increased P1NP in response to WBV, suggesting early life vitamin D supplementation increases the anabolic response of bone to mechanical loading in children
Improved diagnostics for structural response and impulse transfer in blast experiments
This paper describes collaboration into experimental techniques for measuring spatial impulse
distribution across target plates subjected to air-blast. In South Africa, the transient responses were obtained
from digital image correlation and stereo-imaging of a flexible target plate. Specific impulse distributions were
inferred from the velocity profiles. At the University of Sheffield, scaled blast tests employed a Hopkinson
pressure bar array to obtain directly measured values at discrete locations across a rigid target. The findings
demonstrate the usefulness of improved diagnostics and techniques in blast experiments, and demonstrate
the potential of high speed imaging and DIC for determining impulse profiles
Optical diagnostics in near-field blast measurements
The understanding of structural and material response to air-blast loading is a necessary prerequisite to the development of effective blast protection and mitigation systems. Computational tools have advanced significantly, enabling extensive simulations of the loading and ensuing structural response that occur as the result of an explosive detonation. Experimental techniques, however, have lagged behind in providing robust, high fidelity measurements regarding the transient response and spatial distribution of specific impulse across a structure.
This article discusses recent advances in these techniques at the University of Sheffield and describes the results that can be obtained. It details proof of concept testing via a bilateral collaboration between the UK and South Africa involving single-blind experimentation using high-speed imaging, digital image correlation and comparisons with results from near-field blast experiments performed at the University of Sheffield CoBL facility.
Secondly, it describes some of the continued developments since the success of those early trials, resulting in a new optical diagnostics for blast capability at the University of Sheffield. This article demonstrates the usefulness of improved diagnostics and techniques in blast experiments and shows the efficacy and versatility of high-speed imaging and DIC for determining impulse profiles and transient structural behaviour. Ultra-high speed imaging is also shown to be a useful tool for visualising detonation fronts in explosive charges and the expanding fireball
Herschel-ATLAS: The angular correlation function of submillimetre galaxies at high and low redshift
Original article can be found at: http://www.aanda.org/ Copyright The European Southern ObservatoryWe present measurements of the angular correlation function of galaxies selected from the first field of the H-ATLAS survey. Careful removal of the background from galactic cirrus is essential, and currently dominates the uncertainty in our measurements. For our 250 μm-selected sample we detect no significant clustering, consistent with the expectation that the 250 μm-selected sources are mostly normal galaxies at z 1. For our 350 μm and 500 μm-selected samples we detect relatively strong clustering with correlation amplitudes A of 0.2 and 1.2 at 1', but with relatively large uncertainties. For samples which preferentially select high redshift galaxies at z~2–3 we detect significant strong clustering, leading to an estimate of r0 ~ 7–11 h-1 Mpc. The slope of our clustering measurements is very steep, δ ~ 2. The measurements are consistent with the idea that sub-mm sources consist of a low redshift population of normal galaxies and a high redshift population of highly clustered star-bursting galaxies.Peer reviewe
Herschel*-ATLAS: correlations between dust and gas in local submm-selected galaxies
We present an analysis of CO molecular gas tracers in a sample of 500
μ
m-selected
Herschel
-ATLAS galaxies at
z <
0
.
05 (
cz <
14990 km s
−
1
). Using 22
−
500
μ
m photom-
etry from
WISE
,
IRAS
and
Herschel
, with H
i
data from the literature, we investigate
correlations between warm and cold dust, and tracers of the gas in
different phases.
The correlation between global CO(3–2) line fluxes and FIR–submm fl
uxes weakens
with increasing IR wavelength (
λ
&
60
μ
m), as a result of colder dust being less
strongly associated with dense gas. Conversely, CO(2–1) and H
i
line fluxes both ap-
pear to be better correlated with longer wavelengths, suggesting
that cold dust is more
strongly associated with diffuse atomic and molecular gas phases, co
nsistent with it
being at least partially heated by radiation from old stellar populations
. The increased
scatter at long wavelengths implies that sub-millimetre fluxes are a po
orer tracer of
SFR. Fluxes at 22 and 60
μ
m are also better correlated with diffuse gas tracers than
dense CO(3–2), probably due to very-small-grain emission in the diffu
se interstellar
medium, which is not correlated with SFR. The FIR/CO luminosity ratio a
nd the
dust mass/CO luminosity ratio both decrease with increasing luminosit
y, as a result
of either correlations between mass and metallicity (changing CO/H
2
) or between CO
luminosity and excitation [changing CO(3–2)/CO(1–0)].Web of Scienc
Molecular simulation study of the glass transition for a flexible model of linear alkanes
Making things happen : a model of proactive motivation
Being proactive is about making things happen, anticipating and preventing problems, and seizing opportunities. It involves self-initiated efforts to bring about change in the work environment and/or oneself to achieve a different future. The authors develop existing perspectives on this topic by identifying proactivity as a goal-driven process involving both the setting of a proactive goal (proactive goal generation) and striving to achieve that proactive goal (proactive goal striving). The authors identify a range of proactive goals that individuals can pursue in organizations. These vary on two dimensions: the future they aim to bring about (achieving a better personal fit within one’s work environment, improving the organization’s internal functioning, or enhancing the organization’s strategic fit with its environment) and whether the self or situation is being changed. The authors then identify “can do,” “reason to,” and “energized to” motivational states that prompt proactive goal generation and sustain goal striving. Can do motivation arises from perceptions of self-efficacy, control, and (low) cost. Reason to motivation relates to why someone is proactive, including reasons flowing from intrinsic, integrated, and identified motivation. Energized to motivation refers to activated positive affective states that prompt proactive goal processes. The authors suggest more distal antecedents, including individual differences (e.g., personality, values, knowledge and ability) as well as contextual variations in leadership, work design, and interpersonal climate, that influence the proactive motivational states and thereby boost or inhibit proactive goal processes. Finally, the authors summarize priorities for future researc
H-ATLAS/GAMA: magnification bias tomography. Astrophysical constraints above ~1 arcmin
An unambiguous manifestation of the magnification bias is the cross-correlation between two source samples with non-overlapping redshift distributions. In this work we measure and study the cross-correlation signal between a foreground sample of GAMA galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 0.2<z<0.8, and a background sample of H-ATLAS galaxies with photometric redshifts gsim1.2. It constitutes a substantial improvement over the cross-correlation measurements made by Gonzalez-Nuevo et al. (2014) with updated catalogues and wider area (with S/Ngsim 5 below 10 arcmin and reaching S/N~ 20 below 30 arcsec). The better statistics allow us to split the sample in different redshift bins and to perform a tomographic analysis (with S/Ngsim 3 below 10 arcmin and reaching S/N~ 15 below 30 arcsec). Moreover, we implement a halo model to extract astrophysical information about the background galaxies and the deflectors that are producing the lensing link between the foreground (lenses) and background (sources) samples. In the case of the sources, we find typical mass values in agreement with previous studies: a minimum halo mass to host a central galaxy, Mmin~ 1012.26 M⊙, and a pivot halo mass to have at least one sub-halo satellite, M1~ 1012.84 M⊙. However, the lenses are massive galaxies or even galaxy groups/clusters, with minimum mass of Mminlens~ 1013.06 M⊙. Above a mass of M1lens~ 1014.57 M⊙ they contain at least one additional satellite galaxy which contributes to the lensing effect. The tomographic analysis shows that, while M1lens is almost redshift independent, there is a clear evolution of increase Mminlens with redshift in agreement with theoretical estimations. Finally, the halo modeling allows us to identify a strong lensing contribution to the cross-correlation for angular scales below 30 arcsec. This interpretation is supported by the results of basic but effective simulations
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