The modified Reynolds equation for power law fluid is derived from the viscous adsorption theory for thin film elastohydrodynamic lubrication (TFEHL). The differences between classical non-Newtonian EHL and non-Newtonian TFEHL are discussed. Results show that the proposed model can reasonably calculate the pressure distribution, the film thickness, the velocity distribution and the average viscosity under thin film lubrication. The thickness (δ), the viscosity (m1), and the flow index (n1) of the adsorption layer influence significantly the lubrication characteristics of the contact conjunction. Furthermore, the film thickness increases with the increase of n1 and the film thickness affected by m1 is greater than that affected by n1, but the effect of n1 produces a very small difference in the pressure distributions. In addition, the greater n1, the smaller the change of velocity distribution in the adsorption layer, and the greater the change of velocity distribution in the middle layer. The larger δ and n1, the larger the deviation on log (film thickness) vs. log (speed) produced in the very thin film regime. In the region of the flow index ratio between 1.0 and 1.3, the difference in film thickness is significant. When the flow index of the adsorption layer is 1.6 times greater than the flow index of the middle layer, the adsorption layer is generally looked upon as a “solid-like”.

Generally, the Force-State Mapping (FSM) is an effective method to identify the parameters of nonlinear joints provided that the joint model is exactly known in advance. However, the variation of the non-linear joints is so large that the mathematical models of non-linear joints generally are not known in advance. Therefore, the model and the parameters of a non-linear joint should be identified simultaneously in practice. In this work, a new identification procedure which was based on the FSM method in frequency domain was proposed to identify the mathematical model and parameters of a non-linear joint simultaneously. Generally, there are many feasible combinations of models and parameters which can satisfy the measurement data within an allowable range of error. In this work, an iteration procedure was used to update the feasible models to result in an optimal model with its parameters. The simulation results show that a proper mathematical model and accurate parameters can be identified simultaneously by the new procedure even that the measurement data are contaminated by noise.

This research proposes a straightforward and efficient method to optimize a sandwich monocoque car body with the developed equivalent shell element based on stiffness equivalence. The fact that stiffness rather than strength is dominant constraint for ordinary car body optimization is demonstrated. A simple but heavy flat chassis plate is utilized as upper bound, while an ideal monocoque is used as lower bound for an actual car body optimization. Convergence hours can be significantly reduced with the equivalent element and the initial-bounded method. A novel electric car body optimization is presented, fulfilling UltraLight Steel Auto Body (ULSAB) stiffness requirements and showing similar optimal weight results as a conventional approach with a much lower analysis time cost.

It is believed that a dynamic analysis is urgently required to provide a more reliable numerical method for seismic evaluation of a full system, which includes foundation, super structure, and ground in earthquake zones such as Taiwan and Japan. A centrifugal model test of pile foundation is simulated numerically using a three-dimensional finite-element model (3D-FEM) code in this study. In the numerical simulation, parameters of the sandy soils in tij model that are derived from accumulated experiences in static tests are first calibrated by centrifugal vibration tests of sandy ground. Model tests of a single pile foundation installed in grounds of same unit weight of soil as in the static tests are then simulated using the calibrated parameters. The numerical simulation resulted in a good agreement with the corresponding physical model tests. By comparing the computed and the observed results, one can find and confirm that it is necessary to employ an appropriate soil model to reproduce dynamic soil behavior due to major vibration. Representation of pile by beam element in the numerical analysis is applicable when attention is paid on the response acceleration of top of pile foundation, on soils at some distances to the pile foundation, and on bending moment of the pile in a stiffer ground. Equal-displacement boundary condition for two-side boundaries is proven to be efficient. To reduce the computation time, the assumption of a constant damping of viscous matrix is acceptable.

The extension of the hybrid flux-splitting finite-volume (HFF) scheme to the shallow water equations with source terms is presented. Based on the monotonic upstream schemes for conservation laws (MUSCL) method, the scheme is second-order-accurate both in space and time. An accurate and efficient surface gradient method (SGM), in conjunction with the HFF scheme, is adopted for the discretization of source terms, including the bed slopes and friction slopes. The resulting scheme has several desirable properties: ease of implementation, satisfaction of entropy condition, sharp shock resolution and preservation of well-balancing. The HFF scheme with SGM is verified through the simulations of steady transcritical flow over a hump and steady flow over an irregular bed. Besides, the effects of the limiter functions, the grid sizes and the Manning roughness coefficients on the simulated results are investigated for the steady transcritical flow problems. Using the laboratory measurements, the scheme is also applied to the dam-break flows: with an adverse slope, with a triangular hump, and with a constriction. Furthermore, the HFF scheme is employed in the simulation of typhoon flood flow with natural-irregular river topography to demonstrate the practical engineering application. The results show good agreements compared with the exact solutions, the experimental data and the field measurements.

The coalescent behaviors in collisions between two droplets respectively made of different alkanes, water and alkane, methanol and alkane, and ethanol and hexadecane were experimentally studied. The coalescent results between two droplets of different alkanes are qualitatively the same as that with the same material, which simply form a spherical droplet. However, it took time to have the concentration within the droplet to become uniformly distributed. The collision results of water and alkane droplets collision become slightly more complex, in most cases, the water droplet was either inserted into or adhesive to the hexadecane droplet while only insertion was observed if the target droplet was dodecane or heptane. The inserted water droplet tends to partially expose to the environment as the volume fraction of water is sufficiently high, say, ∼0.62 for hexadecane, > 0.70 for dodecane, and > 0.78 for heptane; and the limit is lowered with the decreasing of water or merged droplet size. For the cases of methanol and alkanes, and ethanol and hexadecane, the two colliding droplets were adhesive to each other in all the studies. Furthermore, in most conditions, air bubbles were observed immediately after the collisions, while only few or even none of them might be trapped within the final merged droplet.

In this paper, the drag force on a sphere moving constantly along the centerline of a circular pipe filled with viscous fluid (the falling-sphere problem) under low Reynolds number condition is investigated via numerical calculation. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are formulated in a pseudocompressibility form. The numerical scheme makes use of finite-volume method and the numerical flux terms are evaluated using the Total-Variation Diminishing (TVD) strategy commonly applied to the compressible flow. Steady solution is obtained by marching (iterating) in time until the artificial time derivative of pressure term in the continuity equation drops to zero.

In the calculation, six different Reynolds number (Re) ranging from 0.1 to 1 and seven different pipe-to-sphere diameter ratios (D/d) ranging from 5 to 40 are selected to study the pipe-wall effect. In each case, the drag force on the sphere is evaluated and the results are compared with the existing approximate theoretical values derived from correcting the Stokes' formula. Both results agree in trend, but with noticeable deviation in values, particularly for cases with large pipe-to-sphere diameter ratios. The deviation is due to the fact that theoretical values were based on the solution to the linearized Navier-Stokes equations (Stokes' creeping-flow equations), while the fully nonlinear form of the Navier-Stokes equations are adopted in the present calculations. Finally, a least-square regression technique is applied to collapse the calculated results into a single expression exhibiting the functional relationship between the drag force, Reynolds number (Re), and the pipe-to-sphere diameter ratio (D/d).

In this paper, an endochronic theory of cyclic viscoplasticy with damage is established based on the irreversible thermodynamics of continuous media with internal state variables containing an isotropic damage parameter. The constitutive equations derived have the same mathematical form as those of convectional endochronic theory without damage, except the effective stress with damage is used. This result coincides with the Lemaitre's statements of stain equivalence principle.

Using the experimental cyclic stress-strain curves of 63Sn/37Pb solder bars, corrected from the uniaxially constant displacement amplitude cyclic tests under MTS Tytron microtester, the computational results of cyclic stess-strain curves with several degrees of damage can reproduce the experimental data quite well. Based on compressive buckling appeared in the vicinity of the compressive end parts of the hysteresis loop, the critical values of damage are determined between 0.3 and 0.4.

The evolution equation of damage proposed in terms of the intrinsic damage time scale and its results in the modified Coffin-Manson LCF law can be extended in the future research for a statistical theory of life distribution under low cycle fatigue tests.

The behaviour of vortices induced by a single square cylinder in an oscillating flow was investigated. The flow patterns in the vicinity of square cylinders were visualized using an in-house numerical model. Meanwhile, force coefficients exerted on the square cylinder were determined numerically. In terms of various Keulegan-Carpenter (KC) numbers, it turns out that the flow patterns for an oscillating flow past a single cylinder can be divided into three modes: (i) no vortex, (ii) pairs of symmetric vortices, and (iii) asymmetric vortex shedding. Reynolds (Re) number did not affect the flow field apparently in this study. In addition, the in-line force coefficient decreases exponentially as KC increases. Spectrum analysis of in-line force coefficients for various KCs was provided. It can be found that the flow system was at a periodic state at small KC for the first two modes. Variations of the flow system from a periodic state to a highly nonlinear state in which asymmetric vortex shedding appeared were demonstrated for increasing KC. The relationship between the in-line force and KC was provided for future applications.

Tunnel stress path during excavation was investigated in the study scope. The triple-center section is commonly designated for highway tunnels, but the analytical solution of the stress state for a non-circular tunnel section with multiple bench excavations is difficult to obtain. Our investigation provides an algorithmic procedure which reliably evaluates stress adjustment of a bench excavation with respect to the three-dimensional state of stress. Evaluation of a safety factor at the tunnel face during advancement is performed following the stress path and principal stress space.