Two-dimensional Cross-section Research Articles

Stability of floating objects at a two-fluid interface

We explore the stability of floating objects at a two-fluid interface through mathematical modeling and experimentation. Our models are based on standard ideas of center of gravity, center of buoyancy, and Archimedes’ Principle extended to the two-fluid scenario. We investigate floating shapes with uniform, two-dimensional cross sections and identify analytically and/or computationally a potential energy landscape that helps identify stable and unstable floating orientations. We compare our analyses and computations to experiments on floating objects designed and created through 3D printing. Additionally, the paper includes open problems for further study.

An Innovative Pipe Inspection Tool Utilizing Electromagnetic Resonance Coupling and Machine Learning

This paper describes an advanced tool that uses electromagnetic resonance coupling and machine learning techniques to detect and characterize metal loss on the inner surface of a metallic pipe. The proposed tool uses a transmitter coil placed along the axis of the pipe and four sensor coils installed around the transmitter coil. Any defect on the pipe surface leads to changes in the impedance of the transmitter and sensor coils as well as in the mutual coupling between them, thus creating a detectable variation in the outputs of one or multiple sensor coils. An artificial neural network is developed to reconstruct two-dimensional pipe cross sections and to completely characterize the defects using these variations. The proposed tool is tested and validated via simulations and data collected using an experimental prototype. Results show that the tool can fully characterize the size, location (azimuthal angle), and level (thickness) of metal loss.

Analysis of 3D pathology samples using weakly supervised AI

Human tissue, which is inherently three-dimensional (3D), is traditionally examined through standard-of-care histopathology as limited two-dimensional (2D) cross-sections that can insufficiently represent the tissue due to sampling bias. To holistically characterize histomorphology, 3D imaging modalities have been developed, but clinical translation is hampered by complex manual evaluation and lack of computational platforms to distill clinical insights from large, high-resolution datasets. We present TriPath, a deep-learning platform for processing tissue volumes and efficiently predicting clinical outcomes based on 3D morphological features. Recurrence risk-stratification models were trained on prostate cancer specimens imaged with open-top light-sheet microscopy or microcomputed tomography. By comprehensively capturing 3D morphologies, 3D volume-based prognostication achieves superior performance to traditional 2D slice-based approaches, including clinical/histopathological baselines from six certified genitourinary pathologists. Incorporating greater tissue volume improves prognostic performance and mitigates risk prediction variability from sampling bias, further emphasizing the value of capturing larger extents of heterogeneous morphology.

Physics-informed machine learning of multi-source monitoring data sparsely measured within a 2D vertical cross-section

Conventional machine learning (ML) methods suffer from several limitations, e.g., overreliance on large training datasets and poor performance in extrapolating beyond observations. Geotechnical monitoring data at specific sites are multi-sourced (e.g., settlement and horizontal displacement data). Moreover, each source of monitoring data may vary temporally and be sparsely measured, e.g., within a two-dimensional (2D) geological cross-section. Thus, effectively learning multi-source and limited monitoring data is difficult using existing ML methods. To address this challenge, this study proposes a physics-informed ML method combining geotechnical numerical models (e.g., the finite element model (FEM)) with sparse dictionary learning (SDL) methods. It uses a range of probable numerical model results corresponding to multiple, temporally varying responses in a 2D spatial range to construct a “dictionary” in SDL and employs multi-source and limited monitoring data to identify a few “atoms” from the constructed dictionary to improve model predictions. An engineering project for embankment construction is used to illustrate the proposed approach. Our results indicate that the proposed approach effectively integrates FEM results with multi-source and sparsely measured monitoring data and improves the predictions of multiple spatio-temporally varying geotechnical responses significantly, particularly those at subsequent time steps and unmonitored spatial locations within a 2D vertical cross-section.

Determination of optimal technological parameters of a horizontal mixer of loose compound feeds

The quality of the compound feeds for animals and poultry directly depends not only on the components included in it but also on the type of mixer used. Horizontal mixers as compared to the vertical ones allow for a shorter period of time to obtain high-quality mixtures due to the intensification of the process of material movement by belt working bodies. The aim of the research is to determine optimal technological parameters of a horizontal mixer with a 0.3 m3 mixing chamber with a belt working body. The mixer is designed to produce mixed compound feeds of high uniformity in production lines, workshops or can be used as an independent machine for mixing loose components. The research was carried through multifactorial experiment. As the result, mathematical models of the mixer working process were obtained, two-dimensional cross sections of the response surfaces were built. The obtained mathematical models make it possible at the design stage to identify the dependence of qualitative and energy indicators on factors at the considered levels of variation. According to the results of the multifactorial experiment, it has been established that the best mixing quality of 94.8 % is achieved when the mixing chamber is loaded by 58 % at a speed of rotation of the mixer shaft of 30 min-1, mixing time of 6 minutes with simultaneous supply of the control and the main components. At the same time, the throughput is 0.78 t/h, and the specific energy consumption is 2.04 kWh/t.

Investigation of the stability of a fly ash pond facility using 2D and 3D slope stability analysis

A numerical investigation of the effect of pore pressure regime on the safety factor and the critical failure mechanism is presented for fly ash storage facility. Pore pressures’ measurements from standpipe piezometers and pore pressure estimated from seepage analysis are used to compare the factor of safety for a fly ash slope. This was applied for considering static and seismic scenarios. A probabilistic approach was applied to account for the uncertainties resulting from the limited data available and support a qualitative risk assessment evaluation. Slope stability analysis is conducted in two and three dimensions, adopting the limit equilibrium analysis approach, and also a finite element seepage analysis, to assess the stability of the slope. The two-dimensional cross-sections were extruded to three-dimensional models to estimate the factor of safety and associated shear failure. The results from the performed analysis suggest an increase in safety factor values of 5%.

Visualization of water transfer channel in sludge dewatering conditioned with skeleton builders by X-ray micro-computed tomography

Skeleton builders were normally deemed to improve the high porosity and newly-generated permeability of sludge cakes by building water transfer channel during high pressure filtration, thus enhancing sludge dewaterability. However, currently a direct visualization proof of water transfer channel was still lacking. This study provided the direct proof for visualizing water transfer channel in dewatered sludge cakes conditioned with a typical skeleton builder (i.e., phosphogypsum (PG)) by X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) for the first time. After the addition of PG, the pixel value and image luminance increased significantly, indicating the presence of high density substances from both two-dimensional (2D) cross section and three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction CT images. Moreover, the CT numbers showed strong and negative correlations with specific resistance to filtration (SRF) (R = − 0.99, p < 0.05), capillary suction time (CST) (regression coefficient (R) = − 0.87, probability (p) < 0.05), and water content of the dewatered sludge cake (R = − 0.99, p < 0.05), respectively. These results indicated that the X-ray micro-CT could be a potential technique for analyzing the water distribution in sludge samples conditioned with skeleton builders.

Representation and interpretation about underwater sound speed gradient field in the GNSS-A observation

SUMMARY The Global Navigation Satellite System—Acoustic ranging combination technique (GNSS-A) is a seafloor geodetic observation technique that achieves an accuracy of centimetres by combining high-rate GNSS data with acoustic ranging. The technique determines the seafloor position by acoustic ranging between the sea surface and multiple seafloor stations, using GNSS data from the sea surface station. Here, the gradient state of the underwater sound speed structure (SSS) is a significant source of error. The open-source software GARPOS can reduce the effect from underwater gradient structures by retrieving the underwater disturbance as a parameter projected onto the sea surface and seafloor. To evaluate the effects of underwater disturbances, a quantitative comparison of the model parameters is necessary. In this study, we developed a representation method to evaluate features of the ocean field. Here, the expression method was described in the order of a formulation and an interpretation in the case of a 2-D cross-section and extension to the case of an actual 3-D field. This method makes it possible to evaluate SSS states in the GNSS-A observations. As an example, we showed the correlation between the anomaly of the expressed ocean state and the anomaly of the seafloor station position, showing that this expression method is an effective index for correcting bias errors. Additionally, we used the data from sites located in the Kuroshio area, a strong current near Japan, to show that the ocean state can be quantitatively interpreted using this expression method.

Analysis of two-dimensional magnetotelluric inversion for the delineation of the petroleum system in the Kutai basin, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

The Kutai Basin in East Kalimantan is known as a potential area for oil and gas exploration. Two-dimensional magnetotelluric (MT) analysis is applied to investigate the geological structure and distribution of subsurface resistivity. This study aims to delineate the petroleum system using MT data and identify zones with potential for the accumulation of hydrocarbons. MT data has been collected at several strategic locations in the Kutai Basin, and two-dimensional cross-sections have been constructed to obtain vertical resistivity imaging at several depths. In this study, there were nine measurement points located on one line. The data is then inverted to obtain a two-dimensional resistivity model, which qualitatively represents the subsurface structure. The results of this study indicate that there is a low resistivity anomaly zone that identifies the presence of source rock with a resistivity value of 1-12 Ωm. In this line, it is suspected that the petroleum system that allows trapped hydrocarbons is found in the area, below the KT36 and KT13 measurement points. In this area there are folded structures in the form of synclines and anticlines, which raises suspicions about the types of traps formed from structural traps.

Research on the conductivity and self-sensing properties of high strength cement-based material with oriented copper-coated steel fibers

In this paper, a cement-based sensor for monitoring the performance of high-strength concrete was prepared by adding 0.5 vol%, 1.0 vol%, 1.5 vol%, and 2.0 vol% copper-coated steel fibers (CCSF) as conductive fillers. The fresh cement-based mixture was poured into a funnel-type fiber alignment device, which used its fluidity of the mixture to achieve an aligned distribution of shear-induce fiber within the cementitious matrix. The analysis results indicate that the cement-based sensor with fiber oriented distribution exhibits enhanced electrical conductivity and lower percolation threshold. In addition, the aligned CCSF in the cement matrix mitigates the impact of temperature on resistivity. The resistivity and temperature of the copper-coated steel fibers cement-based sensors (CSFCS) between 5 °C and 70 °C conform to the Arrhenius relationship. The specimens with aligned fibers demonstrate greater flexural strength compared to those with randomly distributed fibers. Additionally, they also reflect greater piezoresistive response, including higher sensitivity, better repeatability as well as less hysteresis time. Through the two-dimensional cross-section analysis, the angle between CCSF and the cross-section of the fiber-aligned specimen is significantly reduced, and the fiber orientation factor and fiber orientation coefficient increased considerably. The funnel device for preparing fiber-reinforced cement-based materials can effectively improve fiber orientation.

A Modified Approach to the Rack Generation of Beveloid Gears

The purpose of this paper is to present an easier and more efficient method for the determination of the geometry of a bevelled gear tooth. Based on a method that provides an easier way for the rack generation of involute helical gears, the mathematical model of a beveloid gear is studied. The mathematical procedure for developing two-dimensional cross-sections has been extended to three-dimensional gear models. A computer programme is developed to obtain generating and generated surfaces. The proposed algorithm is compared with the previous studies for verification and validation. The results demonstrate that the coordinates obtained from the given method are nearly the same on the start and end points of the main gear parts, such as the involute and root fillets regions. Also, between the limits, the values can be considered acceptable. A coordinate deviation of the gear profile has been observed in the mathematical model, because of the profile shift. Modifications have been developed in the equations to eliminate these cases. The main advantage of the proposed method is to obtain mathematical models without carrying out some of the calculation steps used in previous studies. Eventually, this feature will provide an easier and faster method to develop computer-aided models of the beveloid gear types.

Investigating the occurrence of flow instabilities in coastal unconfined aquifers using sand tank experiments

Subterranean estuaries form the land-sea transition zone in coastal aquifers and are relevant for coastal freshwater management and coastal ecology. Tidal fluctuations typically lead to the formation of upper saline plumes, where denser saltwater circulates on top of the discharging, less dense freshwater. Extensive numerical simulations and only a few experimental trials previously demonstrated that these saline plumes may become unstable and exhibit salt fingering flow. This work used laboratory sand tank experiments to study the formation and evolution of tide induced flow instabilities in homogenous, unconfined coastal aquifers in a systematic manner, addressing the combined effects of relevant parameters such as sediment type, beach slope, fresh groundwater inflow, tidal amplitude, and tidal period variation. Some of these parameters have never been targeted in laboratory-based studies before and a comparable systematic and comprehensive approach has so far not been conducted. The resulting flow patterns were studied visually through the application of a colour tracer to the saltwater. The results show that the upper saline plume may be stable, unstable, or transitional, whereby the beach slope predominantly defines its state. When salt fingers form, they amplify the mixing zone between ground- and saltwater and force the freshwater to discharge at multiple locations along the beach. The processes were best visible in the coarsest sediment (1.02 × 10-2 m s−1). The finer grained the sediment was, the smaller the upper saline plume that formed. The present study further reveals the possibility of three-dimensional fingering flow, even though the physical model was intended to represent a two-dimensional cross-section. The application of a previously proposed non-dimensional stability diagram yielded reasonably accurate predictions of stability behaviour in coastal unconfined aquifers under laboratory settings. This further supports the plausibility of flow instabilities in subterranean estuaries within specific ranges of influencing hydrogeological factors.

Immersive visualization of 3D subsurface ground model developed from sparse boreholes using virtual reality (VR)

Analytics and visualization of multi-dimensional and complex geo-data, such as three-dimensional (3D) subsurface ground models, is critical for development of underground space and design and construction of underground structures (e.g., tunnels, dams, and slopes) in engineering practices. Although complicated 3D subsurface ground models now can be developed from site investigation data (e.g., boreholes) which is often sparse in practice, it remains a great challenge to visualize a 3D subsurface ground model with sophisticated stratigraphic variations by conventional two-dimensional (2D) geological cross-sections. Virtual reality (VR) technology, which has an attractive capability of constructing a virtual environment that links to the physical world, has been rapidly developed and applied to visualization in various disciplines recently. Leveraging on the rapid development of VR, this study proposes a framework for immersive visualization of 3D subsurface ground models in geo-applications using VR technology. The 3D subsurface model is first developed from limited borehole data in a data-driven manner. Then, a VR system is developed using related software and hardware devices currently available in the markets for immersive visualization and interaction with the developed 3D subsurface ground model. The results demonstrate that VR visualization of the 3D subsurface ground model in an immersive environment has great potential in revolutionizing the geo-practices from 2D cross-sections to a 3D immersive virtual environment in digital era, particularly for the emerging digital twins.

Research on Multibeam Bathymetric Strategy Based on Optimization Algorithm and Geometric Analysis

This paper presents a comprehensive examination of the application of multibeam bathymetric strategies, specifically focusing on the transition from two-dimensional cross-sections to three-dimensional space. Firstly, a two-dimensional bathymetric model is established through geometric and mathematical analysis, considering the influence of the seabed slope. This allows for accurate calculation of the coverage width and overlap rate. Secondly, the model is expanded to incorporate three-dimensional sea conditions, considering multiple factors such as the relative angle between the survey line direction and the seabed slope. Lastly, an optimization algorithm is employed to minimize the total length of the survey line. The optimal solution is determined to be 206 survey lines with a spacing of 36.05m between them, resulting in a total length of the shortest survey line of 7425.7m.

Photoelectron spectra of benzene: Can path dependent diabatic surfaces provide unique observables?

While carrying out Beyond Born-Oppenheimer theory based diabatization, the solutions of adiabatic-to-diabatic transformation equations depend on the paths of integration over two-dimensional cross-sections of multi-dimensional space of nuclear degrees of freedom. It is shown that such path-dependent solutions leading to diabatic potential energy surface matrices computed along any two different paths are related through an orthogonal matrix, and thereby, those surface matrices should provide unique observables. While exploring the numerical validity of the theoretical framework, we construct diabatic Hamiltonians for the five low-lying electronic states (X̃2E1g, B̃2E2g, and C̃2A2u) of benzene radical cation (C6H6+) along three different approaches of contour integration over two dimensional nuclear planes constituted by seven non-adiabatically active normal modes. Three different diabatic surface matrices are further employed to generate the photoelectron spectra of the benzene molecule (C6H6). It is interesting to note that the spectral peak positions and intensity patterns for all three cases are almost close to each other and also exhibit very good agreement with the experimental results.

Determination of the dependencies of the wear influence of the cylindrical brush on the operational characteristics of the garbage truck’s mounted sweeping equipment

The article is dedicated to the establishment of dependencies of the influence of the wear of the cylindrical brush on the operational characteristics of the mounted sweeping equipment of the garbage truck. By using the planning of the second-order experiment with the first-order interaction effects, using the Box-Wilson method, the adequate dependencies of the influence of the wear of the cylindrical brush on the performance characteristics of the mounted sweeping equipment of the garbage truck were determined. It was established that, according to the Student's criterion, among the investigated factors of influence, the wear of the cylindrical brush has the greatest effect on the deformation of the cylindrical brush, and the width of the contact spot has the least influence. The required pressing force of the cylindrical brush is most affected by the width of the contact spot, and the least by the wear of the cylindrical brush. The response surfaces of the target functions are shown – the amount of deformation and the required pressing force of the cylindrical brush and their two-dimensional cross-sections in the planes of influence parameters, which make it possible to visually illustrate the specified dependences of target function data on individual influence parameters. It was established that the wear of the cylindrical brush of 50% of cases leads to an increase in the deformation of the cylindrical brush by 1.3 times, and the necessary force of pressing of the cylindrical brush – by 3.1...3.6 times, depending on the width of the contact spot. It is shown the expediency of conducting further researches of the effect of antifriction materials on the wear of the friction pairs of the mounted sweeping equipment of the garbage truck.

A Comparative Study of Finite Element Method and Hybrid Finite Element Method–Spectral Element Method Approaches Applied to Medium-Frequency Transformers with Foil Windings

This study aims to improve the computational efficiency of the frequency domain analysis of medium-frequency transformers (MFTs) with the presence of large clearance distances and fine foil windings. The winding loss and magnetic energy in MFTs in the medium-frequency range are calculated utilizing a finite element method (FEM) using common triangular and alternative rectilinear mesh elements. Additionally, in order to improve the computational efficiency of the calculations, a spectral element method (SEM) is coupled with a FEM, thus creating a hybrid FEM–SEM formulation. In such a hybrid approach, the FEM is used to calculate the current density distribution in the two-dimensional (2D) cross-section of the foil conductors to achieve reliable accuracy, and the SEM is adopted in the nonconducting clearance distances of the winding window to reduce the system of equations. The comparative analysis of the calculated resistance and reactance of the under-study models showed that the FEM with rectilinear mesh elements and the FEM–SEM model outperformed the FEM with triangular mesh elements in terms of accuracy and computational cost. The hybrid FEM–SEM model enables a reduced system of equations for modeling the electromagnetic behavior of MFTs. This research provides valuable insights into both the computational approaches and meshing challenges in the analysis of MFTs and offers a foundation for future research on the design and optimization of MFTs.

Ultrastructure and Nanoporosity of Human Bone Shown with Correlative On-Axis Electron and Spectroscopic Tomographies.

Mineralized collagen fibrils are the building block units of bone at the nanoscale. While it is known that collagen fibrils are mineralized both inside their gap zones (intra-fibrillar mineralization) and on their outer surfaces (extra-fibrillar mineralization), a clear visualization of this architecture in three dimensions (3D), combining structural and compositional information over large volumes, but without compromising the resolution, remains challenging. In this study, we demonstrate the use of on-axis Z-contrast electron tomography (ET) with correlative energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) tomography to examine rod-shaped samples with diameters up to 700 nm prepared from individual osteonal lamellae in the human femur. Our work mainly focuses on two aspects: (i) low-contrast nanosized circular spaces ("holes") observed in sections of bone oriented perpendicular to the long axis of a long bone, and (ii) extra-fibrillar mineral, especially in terms of morphology and spatial relationship with respect to intra-fibrillar mineral and collagen fibrils. From our analyses, it emerges quite clearly that most "holes" are cross-sectional views of collagen fibrils. While this had been postulated before, our 3D reconstructions and reslicing along meaningful two-dimensional (2D) cross-sections provide a direct visual confirmation. Extra-fibrillar mineral appears to be composed of thin plates that are interconnected and span over several collagen fibrils, confirming that mineralization is cross-fibrillar, at least for the extra-fibrillar phase. EDX tomography shows mineral signatures (Ca and P) within the gap zones, but the signal appears weaker than that associated with the extra-fibrillar mineral, pointing toward the existence of dissimilarities between the two types of mineralization.

Fast simulation of 3D elastic response for wheel–rail contact loading using Proper Generalized Decomposition

To increase computational efficiency, we adopt Proper Generalized Decomposition (PGD) to solve a reduced-order problem of the displacement field for a three-dimensional rail head exposed to different contact scenarios. The three-dimensional solid rail head is modeled as a two-dimensional cross-section, with the coordinate along the rail being treated as a parameter in the PGD approximation. A novel feature is that this allows us to solve the full three-dimensional model with a nearly two-dimensional computational effort. Additionally, we incorporate the distributed contact load predicted from dynamic vehicle–track simulations as extra coordinates in the PGD formulation, using a semi-Hertzian contact model. The problem is formulated in two ways; one general ansatz which considers the treatment of numerous parameters, some of which exhibit a linear influence, and a linear ansatz where multiple PGD solutions are solved for. In particular, situations where certain parameters become invariant are handled. We assess the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed strategy through a series of verification examples. It is shown that the PGD solution converges toward the FE solution with reduced computational cost. Furthermore, solving for the PGD approximation based on load parameterization in an offline stage allows expedient handling of the wheel–rail contact problem online.

Designing impact-resistant bio-inspired low-porosity structures using neural networks

Biological structural designs in nature, like hoof walls, horns, and antlers, can be used as inspiration for generating structures with excellent mechanical properties. A common theme in these designs is the small percent porosity in the structure, ranging from 1 to 5%. In this work, the sheep horn was used as an inspiration due to its higher toughness when loaded in the radial direction compared to the longitudinal direction. Under dynamic transverse compression, we investigated the structure-property relations in low porosity structures characterized by their two-dimensional (2D) cross-sections. A diverse design space was created by combining polygonal tubules with different numbers of sides placed on a grid with varying numbers of rows and columns. The volume fraction and the orientation angle of the tubules were also varied. The finite element (FE) method was used with a rate-dependent elastoplastic material model to generate the stress-strain curves under plane-strain conditions. A gated recurrent unit (GRU) model was trained to predict the structures’ stress-strain response and energy absorption under different strain rates and applied strains. The parameter-based model uses eight discrete parameters to characterize the design space and as inputs to the model. The trained GRU model can efficiently predict the response of a new design in as little as 0.16 ms and allows rapid performance evaluation of 128,000 designs in the design space. The GRU predictions identified high-performance structures, and four design trends that affect the specific energy absorption were extracted and discussed.