Three-dimensional analysis of surface crack-Hertzian stress field interaction

The results are presented of a stress intensity factor analysis of semicircular surface cracks in the inner raceway of an engine bearing. The loading consists of a moving spherical Hertzian contact load and an axial stress due to rotation and shrink fit. A 3-D linear elastic Boundary Element Method code was developed to perform the stress analysis. The element library includes linear and quadratic isoparametric surface elements. Singular quarter point elements were employed to capture the square root displacement variation and the inverse square root stress singularity along the crack front. The program also possesses the capability to separate the whole domain into two subregions. This procedure enables one to solve nonsymmetric fracture mechanics problems without having to separate the crack surfaces a priori. A wide range of configuration parameters was investigated. The ratio of crack depth to bearing thickness was varied from one-sixtieth to one-fifth for several different locations of the Hertzian load. The stress intensity factors for several crack inclinations were also investigated. The results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the Boundary Element Method. Moreover, the results can provide the basis for crack growth calculations and fatigue life prediction

A preliminary assessment of the feasibility of deriving liquid and gaseous fuels from grown and waste organics

The anticipated depletion of our resources of natural gas and petroleum in a few decades has caused a search for renewable sources of fuel. Among the possibilities is the chemical conversion of waste and grown organic matter into gaseous or liquid fuels. The overall feasibility of such a system is considered from the technical, economic, and social viewpoints. Although there are a number of difficult problems to overcome, this preliminary study indicates that this option could provide between 4 and 10 percent of the U.S. energy needs. Estimated costs of fuels derived from grown organic material are appreciably higher than today's market price for fossil fuel. The cost of fuel derived from waste organics is competitive with fossil fuel prices. Economic and social reasons will prohibit the allocation of good food producing land to fuel crop production

Preliminary assessment of systems for deriving liquid and gaseous fuels from waste or grown organics

The overall feasibility of the chemical conversion of waste or grown organic matter to fuel is examined from the technical, economic, and social viewpoints. The energy contribution from a system that uses waste and grown organic feedstocks is estimated as 4 to 12 percent of our current energy consumption. Estimates of today's market prices for these fuels are included. Economic and social issues are as important as technology in determining the feasibility of such a proposal. An orderly program of development and demonstration is recommended to provide reliable data for an assessment of the viability of the proposal

ANG - a combination of Apriori and graph computing techniques for frequent itemsets mining

The Apriori algorithm is one of the most well-known and widely accepted methods for the association rule mining. In Apriori, it uses a prefix tree to represent k-itemsets, generates k-itemset candidates based on the frequent (k−1)-itemsets, and determines the frequent k-itemsets by traversing the prefix tree iteratively based on the transaction records. When k is small, the execution of Apriori is very efficient. However, the execution of Apriori could be very slow when k becomes large because of the deeper recursion depth to determine the frequent k-itemsets. From the perspective of graph computing, the transaction records can be converted to a graph G(V,E), where V is the set of vertices of G that represents the transaction records and E is the set of edges of G that represents the relations among transaction records. Each k-itemset in the transaction records will have a corresponding connected component in G. The number of vertices in the corresponding connected component is the support of the k-itemset. Since the time to find the corresponding connected component of a k-itemset in G is constant for any k, the graph computing method will be very efficient if the number of k-itemsets is relatively small. Based on Apriori and graph computing techniques, a hybrid method, called Apriori and Graph Computing (ANG), is proposed to compute the frequent itemsets. Initially, ANG uses Apriori to compute the frequent k-itemsets and then switches to the graph computing method when k becomes large (where the number of k-itemset candidates is relatively small). The experimental results show that ANG outperforms both Apriori and the graph computing method for all test cases

Cosmic holographic bounds with UV and IR cutoffs

We introduce the cosmic holographic bounds with two UV and IR cutoff scales, to deal with both the inflationary universe in the past and dark energy in the future. To describe quantum fluctuations of inflation on sub-horizon scales, we use the Bekenstein-Hawking energy bound. However, it is not justified that the D-bound is satisfied with the coarse-grained entropy. The Hubble bounds are introduced for classical fluctuations of inflation on super-horizon scales. It turns out that the Hubble entropy bound is satisfied with the entanglement entropy and the Hubble temperature bound leads to a condition for the slow-roll inflation. In order to describe the dark energy, we introduce the holographic energy density which is the one saturating the Bekenstein-Hawking energy bound for a weakly gravitating system. Here the UV (IR) cutoff is given by the Planck scale (future event horizon), respectively. As a result, we find the close connection between quantum and classical fluctuations of inflation, and dark energy.Comment: 15page

Undetermined states: how to find them and their applications

We investigate the undetermined sets consisting of two-level, multi-partite pure quantum states, whose reduced density matrices give absolutely no information of their original states. Two approached of finding these quantum states are proposed. One is to establish the relation between codewords of the stabilizer quantum error correction codes (SQECCs) and the undetermined states. The other is to study the local complementation rules of the graph states. As an application, the undetermined states can be exploited in the quantum secret sharing scheme. The security is guaranteed by their undetermineness.Comment: 6 pages, no figur

An experimental study on Γ\Gamma(2) modular symmetry in the quantum Hall system with a small spin-splitting

Magnetic-field-induced phase transitions were studied with a two-dimensional electron AlGaAs/GaAs system. The temperature-driven flow diagram shows the features of the $\Gamma$(2) modular symmetry, which includes distorted flowlines and shiftted critical point. The deviation of the critical conductivities is attributed to a small but resolved spin splitting, which reduces the symmetry in Landau quantization. [B. P. Dolan, Phys. Rev. B 62, 10278.] Universal scaling is found under the reduction of the modular symmetry. It is also shown that the Hall conductivity could still be governed by the scaling law when the semicircle law and the scaling on the longitudinal conductivity are invalid. *corresponding author:[email protected]: The revised manuscript has been published in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Renminbi Internationalisation: Precedents and Implications

While it is commonly assumed that there are no known precedents against which to benchmark the internationalisation of the Renminbi (RMB), this paper argues that the PRCs own development experience provides a useful perspective on the internationalisation debate. In particular it indicates that lessons can be learnt from both the successes and the shortcomings of efforts to internationalise the RMB in the 1970s. During this period state-owned banks in Hong Kong played a central role in mobilising finance for foreign trade. Access to Hong Kong’s developed financial institutions allowed the PRC to maximise receipts from foreign trade as well as minimise the risks of undue swings in capital flows. The paper shows that although China no longer faces foreign exchange scarcity, economic reforms have not yet resolved vulnerabilities in China’s financial institutions and as such Hong Kong’s role in mitigating the risk of undue capital swings remains