scholarly journals How to best smash a snail: the effect of tooth shape on crushing load

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (92) ◽  
pp. 20131053 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. B. Crofts ◽  
A. P. Summers

Organisms that are durophagous, hard prey consumers, have a diversity of tooth forms. To determine why we see this variation, we tested whether some tooth forms break shells better than others. We measured the force needed with three series of aluminium tooth models, which varied in concavity and the morphology of a stress concentrating cusp, to break a shell. We created functionally identical copies of two intertidal snail shells: the thicker shelled Nucella ostrina and the more ornamented Nucella lamellosa using a three-dimensional printer. In this way, we reduced variation in material properties between test shells, allowing us to test only the interaction of the experimental teeth with the two shell morphologies. We found that for all tooth shapes, thicker shells are harder to break than the thinner shells and that increased ornamentation has no discernible effect. Our results show that for both shell morphologies, domed and flat teeth break shells better than cupped teeth, and teeth with tall or skinny cusps break shells best. While our results indicate that there is an ideal tooth form for shell breaking, we do not see this shape in nature. This suggests a probable trade-off between tooth function and the structural integrity of the tooth.

Author(s):  
Harshkumar Patel ◽  
Saeed Salehi ◽  
Catalin Teodoriu

Abstract Cement sheath is an important barrier element for maintaining well integrity. Poor quality cement has often been cited as one of the major causes for loss of well control events. This paper presents a useful approach for quick assessment of fitness for service and mechanical integrity of cement sheath. For this study, three dimensional finite element models consisting of concentric casings and annular cement sheath were created. Different wellbore and annular pressure loads were applied. Performance of cement sheath was assessed by analyzing radial, hoop, axial, and maximum shear stresses for mechanical failure. The FEA model was validated by analytical calculation of the stresses. Parametric study was performed by individually varying influencing factors such as — cement sheath material properties, its dimensions, and wellbore pressure loads. Sensitivity response curve was developed by normalizing influential parameters and representing them against a mechanical stress on the same plot. The plot can be used to estimate whether cement will structurally fail due to various operational wellbore pressure changes, or variation in material properties caused by aging or temperature changes. The plot can also be utilized to identify the most critical factors influencing cement’s performance. This paper presents a simple and effective approach of developing sensitivity response curves for a set cement sheath. Industry standards or guidelines can be improved by adding sensitivity response curves for standard cement recipes. This can help design engineers, and regulators alike in quickly evaluating short-term or long-term “fitness for service” of cement sheath from structural integrity perspective.


Author(s):  
M. Zangeneh

This paper is concerned with the design of a high speed, 5 inch diameter radial-inflow turbine for medium-sized diesel engine turbocharger applications. The turbine was designed by a newly developed fully three dimensional compressible inverse design method, in which the blade shapes are computed for a specified distribution of rV¯θ. The designed blades had non-radial blade filaments and therefore the impeller was carefully analysed for its structural integrity. This was achieved by the iterative use of a three dimensional structural and vibration analysis program and the design method. The impeller was made by a casting process. The performance of the new impeller was measured and then compared with three other impellers, one conventional and two experimental. The new impeller performed substantially better than all the baseline turbines and showed a 5.5% improvement in the total-to-static efficiency over the conventional turbine, 2.5% of which was attributable to the aerodynamically superior blade shape computed by the three dimensional inverse design method. The improvement in efficiency was not just confined to the design point and an appreciable improvement could be observed at off-design conditions.


2008 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Passini

The relation between authoritarianism and social dominance orientation was analyzed, with authoritarianism measured using a three-dimensional scale. The implicit multidimensional structure (authoritarian submission, conventionalism, authoritarian aggression) of Altemeyer’s (1981, 1988) conceptualization of authoritarianism is inconsistent with its one-dimensional methodological operationalization. The dimensionality of authoritarianism was investigated using confirmatory factor analysis in a sample of 713 university students. As hypothesized, the three-factor model fit the data significantly better than the one-factor model. Regression analyses revealed that only authoritarian aggression was related to social dominance orientation. That is, only intolerance of deviance was related to high social dominance, whereas submissiveness was not.


2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 210-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. L. Al-Qadi ◽  
M. A. Elseifi ◽  
P. J. Yoo ◽  
I. Janajreh

Abstract The objective of this study was to quantify pavement damage due to a conventional (385/65R22.5) and a new generation of wide-base (445/50R22.5) tires using three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) analysis. The investigated new generation of wide-base tires has wider treads and greater load-carrying capacity than the conventional wide-base tire. In addition, the contact patch is less sensitive to loading and is especially designed to operate at 690kPa inflation pressure at 121km/hr speed for full load of 151kN tandem axle. The developed FE models simulated the tread sizes and applicable contact pressure for each tread and utilized laboratory-measured pavement material properties. In addition, the models were calibrated and properly validated using field-measured stresses and strains. Comparison was established between the two wide-base tire types and the dual-tire assembly. Results indicated that the 445/50R22.5 wide-base tire would cause more fatigue damage, approximately the same rutting damage and less surface-initiated top-down cracking than the conventional dual-tire assembly. On the other hand, the conventional 385/65R22.5 wide-base tire, which was introduced more than two decades ago, caused the most damage.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junxia Ren ◽  
Yaozu Liu ◽  
Xin Zhu ◽  
Yangyang Pan ◽  
Yujie Wang ◽  
...  

<p><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a>The development of highly-sensitive recognition of </a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a>hazardous </a>chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), is of significant importance because of their widespread social concerns related to environment and human health. Here, we report a three-dimensional (3D) covalent organic framework (COF, termed JUC-555) bearing tetraphenylethylene (TPE) side chains as an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) fluorescence probe for sensitive molecular recognition.<a></a><a> </a>Due to the rotational restriction of TPE rotors in highly interpenetrated framework after inclusion of dimethylformamide (DMF), JUC-555 shows impressive AIE-based strong fluorescence. Meanwhile, owing to the large pore size (11.4 Å) and suitable intermolecular distance of aligned TPE (7.2 Å) in JUC-555, the obtained material demonstrates an excellent performance in the molecular recognition of hazardous chemicals, e.g., nitroaromatic explosives, PAHs, and even thiophene compounds, via a fluorescent quenching mechanism. The quenching constant (<i>K</i><sub>SV</sub>) is two orders of magnitude better than those of other fluorescence-based porous materials reported to date. This research thus opens 3D functionalized COFs as a promising identification tool for environmentally hazardous substances.</p>


Author(s):  
Bahador Bahrami

Evidence for and against the idea that “two heads are better than one” is abundant. This chapter considers the contextual conditions and social norms that predict madness or wisdom of crowds to identify the adaptive value of collective decision-making beyond increased accuracy. Similarity of competence among members of a collective impacts collective accuracy, but interacting individuals often seem to operate under the assumption that they are equally competent even when direct evidence suggest the opposite and dyadic performance suffers. Cross-cultural data from Iran, China, and Denmark support this assumption of similarity (i.e., equality bias) as a sensible heuristic that works most of the time and simplifies social interaction. Crowds often trade off accuracy for other collective benefits such as diffusion of responsibility and reduction of regret. Consequently, two heads are sometimes better than one, but no-one holds the collective accountable, not even for the most disastrous of outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 168781401985284
Author(s):  
Meiliang Wang ◽  
Mingjun Wang ◽  
Xiaobo Li

The use of the traditional fabric simulation model evidently shows that it cannot accurately reflect the material properties of the real fabric. This is against the background that the simulation result is artificial or an imitation, which leads to a low simulation equation. In order to solve such problems from occurring, there is need for a novel model that is designed to enhance the essential properties required for a flexible fabric, the simulation effect of the fabric, and the efficiency of simulation equation solving. Therefore, the improvement study results will offer a meaningful and practical understanding within the field of garment automation design, three-dimensional animation, virtual fitting to mention but a few.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-219
Author(s):  
Iris J Holzleitner ◽  
Alex L Jones ◽  
Kieran J O’Shea ◽  
Rachel Cassar ◽  
Vanessa Fasolt ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives A large literature exists investigating the extent to which physical characteristics (e.g., strength, weight, and height) can be accurately assessed from face images. While most of these studies have employed two-dimensional (2D) face images as stimuli, some recent studies have used three-dimensional (3D) face images because they may contain cues not visible in 2D face images. As equipment required for 3D face images is considerably more expensive than that required for 2D face images, we here investigated how perceptual ratings of physical characteristics from 2D and 3D face images compare. Methods We tested whether 3D face images capture cues of strength, weight, and height better than 2D face images do by directly comparing the accuracy of strength, weight, and height ratings of 182 2D and 3D face images taken simultaneously. Strength, height and weight were rated by 66, 59 and 52 raters respectively, who viewed both 2D and 3D images. Results In line with previous studies, we found that weight and height can be judged somewhat accurately from faces; contrary to previous research, we found that people were relatively inaccurate at assessing strength. We found no evidence that physical characteristics could be judged more accurately from 3D than 2D images. Conclusion Our results suggest physical characteristics are perceived with similar accuracy from 2D and 3D face images. They also suggest that the substantial costs associated with collecting 3D face scans may not be justified for research on the accuracy of facial judgments of physical characteristics.


e-Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 346-354
Author(s):  
Guoquan Qi ◽  
Hongxia Yan ◽  
Dongtao Qi ◽  
Houbu Li ◽  
Lushi Kong ◽  
...  

Abstract The chapter deals with the performance evaluation of the polyethylene of raised temperature resistance (PE-RT) and polyethylene (PE) using autoclave test under sour oil and gas medium conditions. The analyses of performance changes showed that PE-RT has good media resistance at 60°C. As the temperature increases, its mechanical properties decrease, accompanied by an increase in weight. Comparative analyses showed that no matter what temperature conditions are, PE-RT media resistance is better than PE80. The better media resistance of PE-RT depends on its higher degree of branching. Short branches are distributed between the crystals to form a connection between the crystals, thereby improving its heat resistance and stress under high-temperature conditions. PE-RT forms an excellent three-dimensional network structure through copolymerization, ensuring that it has better media resistance than PE80. However, the mechanical performance will be attenuated due to the high service temperature.


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