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The opening and closing of pine cones is based on the hygroscopic behavior of the individual seed scales around the cone axis, which bend passively in response to changes in environmental humidity. Although prior studies suggest a bilayer architecture consisting of lower actuating (swellable) sclereid and upper restrictive (non‐ or lesser swellable) sclerenchymatous fiber tissue layers to be the structural basis of this behavior, the exact mechanism of how humidity changes are translated into global movement are still unclear. Here, the mechanical and hydraulic properties of each structural component of the scale are investigated to get a holistic picture of their functional interplay. Measurements of the wetting behavior, water uptake, and mechanical measurements are used to analyze the influence of hydration on the different tissues of the cone scales. Furthermore, their dimensional changes during actuation are measured by comparative micro‐computed tomography (µ‐CT) investigations of dry and wet scales, which are corroborated and extended by 3D‐digital image correlation‐based displacement and strain analyses, biomechanical testing of actuation force, and finite element simulations. Altogether, a model allowing a detailed mechanistic understanding of pine cone actuation is developed, which is a prime concept generator for the development of biomimetic hygromorphic systems. This contribution describes the hygroscopic opening and closing mechanism of pine cones in terms of mechanical and hydraulic properties of the individual seed scales. Through a combination of mechanical, structural, and chemical analyses, a mechanistic model of pine cone actuation and hydraulics is proposed.

Until now, the comprehensive structural analysis of single crystals of zeolite ECR-1, an aluminosilicate with the EON topology, has been hindered owing to the submicron dimensions of the obtained crystals. Additionally, this zeolite, which is characterized by a topology comprising alternating periodic building units of MAZ and MOR layers, exhibits stacking faults that impede accurate refinement through the Rietveld method. In this report, we present, for the first time, the structure of ECR-1 elucidated by studying a nanocrystal with a significantly reduced number of stacking faults. The sample used was synthesized hydrothermally using trioxane as the organic structure-directing agent. The structure determination was conducted using precession electron diffraction (PED) at 103 K. Partial dehydration occurred owing to the high vacuum conditions in the TEM sample chamber. From the dynamical refinement (Robs = 0.097), 8.16 Na+ compensating cations were localized on six distinct crystallographic sites, along with approximately four water molecules per unit cell. Furthermore, a canonical Monte Carlo computational study was conducted to compare the experimental cationic distribution and location of water molecules with the simulation.

A field analysis of kink bands developed in slates from three areas (Grandas, Boal and Luarca areas) of the Westasturian-Leonese Zone (Iberian Variscan belt) is presented. The analysis of the main parameters that characterize the geometry of the studied kink bands shows that those of the Grandas and Luarca areas exhibit a different evolution than those of the Boal area. In this latter area, the interlimb angle of the kink bands has lower values than those developed in the former areas and it involves rotation of the foliation inside and outside the band. In the areas with higher bulk shortening associated with the development of kink bands, chevron folds formed by juxtaposition of kink bands. Slip between folia and their rotation was probably the dominant mechanism in the formation of the kink bands, as deduced from the different values of the angle between the kink plane and the foliation inside (φK) and outside (φ) the band, and the occurrence of fractures along the kink planes and small steps between folia cross-cutting these fractures planes. The fractures along the kink planes prevented subsequent hinge migration. Geometrical analysis of kink bands formed by slip between folia and their rotation provides an estimation of the changes in area and thickness, and the strain inside the kink band. For angles of folia rotation ψ<50°, the ratio between the strain ellipse axes is <3 inside the band; this ratio is almost independent of the orientation of the kink planes with respect to the foliation outside the band (angle φ).

This study carried out detailed structural analyses of the plane structural deformation pattern and sectional structur- al deformation styles of the Fauqi Anticline by the 3D seismic section with full cover collection, and carried out the kinemati- cal simulation of the Fauqi anticlinal deep decollement coupling shallow growth folds and faults based on the fault decol- lement fold model and the forward balanced geological section technique. The study subsequently evaluated the differentiated petroleum enrichment mechanism of the Fauqi Anticline by utilizing the results of the structural analysis and combining the spatial-temporal relationship analysis of the source, the reservoir, and the caprock. The results showed that the differentiated plane structural deformation pattern and hierarchical sectional structural deformation style were developed by the superposed coupling of deep decollement, syntectonic sedimentation of shallow growth strata, and the compression of the south-west hor- izontal tectonic stress from the Zagros Mountains. It was found that the differentiated structural deformation caused the differ- entiated enrichment of petroleum in the Fauqi Anticline. It was also found that the horizontal slip distance of the Fauqi Anti- clinal Folds reached around 3.5 km by the simulation of deep decollement coupling the movement of the shallow growth folds and the faults.

When granular materials are subjected to proportional strain loading paths, they manifest a variety of behaviors depending on the initial void ratio of the specimen as well as the imposed dilatancy/contractancy rate. In some cases, the stress components may vanish over the duration of the test, and the specimen may progressively liquefy. To investigate this behavior, the authors have developed a kinematic approach to be deployed in two parts. First, numerical simulations are performed by means of a discrete element method. Secondly, two micromechanical models have corroborated the DEM results. The performance of these models may explain a number of microstructural mechanisms responsible for the macroscopic constitutive behavior.

This paper undertakes to analyze the research problem of vibration of a tall building with a Pendulum Tuned Mass Damper (PTMD). The vibration of the building-damper system is due to kinematic excitation representing seismic load. It was assumed that during an earthquake the ground can move horizontally and vertically. An analysis of various earthquakes reveals that, sometimes, the vibration has comparable amplitudes in both these directions. It is usually the horizontal vibration that is catastrophic to structures. Vertical vibration is therefore often omitted. As this paper will show, in cases where the TMD model is a pendulum, the vertical ground motion can be transmitted through the building structure to the pendulum suspension point. In such cases, parametric resonance may occur in the system, which is especially dangerous as it amplifies vibration despite the presence of damping. Taking this phenomenon into consideration will make it possible to better secure the structure against earthquakes. As the teams carrying out theoretical and experimental analyses differed, the paper was purposely divided into two parts. In the first part, the idea was formulated and the MES model of the building-TMD system was created. The second part contains an experimental verification of the theoretical analyses.

This paper reports the field evidence and the kinematical study of the motion of two blocks (A and B) mobilised by a rockfall in Lavone (Valtrompia, northern Italy) on 14th February 1987. The two sequences of impact marks left by the blocks on the ground surface were measured and the lithostratigraphical features of the debris slope were surveyed. On the basis of the field-collected input data, several computer simulations were carried out to calculate the coefficients of restitution ( E ) satisfying the trajectory conditions. The computed output values, obtained by running a specific automatic program for rockfall modelling, show that rebound trajectories require high coefficients of restitution (0.8 ≤  E  ≤ 0.9). Back-calculated impact velocities range from 9.2 to 19.8 m/s. Trajectory heights vary from 0 to 2.4 m above the slope surface. Block trajectories differ considerably according to the circumstances of initial air projection, i.e. to the initial rebound angle ( α r ). The calculated values of α r denote a considerable range (36°), emphasising the high variability and the random nature of this parameter. The described case history shows that rockfall computer analyses can be an effective tool to describe the bouncing propagation of single blocks, but care must be taken in choosing the restitution coefficient E and the geometrical parameters of initial air projections.

Kinematical and fractal analyses were conducted on a fracture network in a well-exposed granite outcrop in SE Korea. The objective of this study is to examine the temporal and spatial evolution of the fracture network. From the orientation and abutting relationships of fracture sets, six fracturing events and their relative ages were established, several of which included strike-slip reactivations of earlier formed fractures. These events may be correlated with the Cenozoic to Recent evolution of the Yangsan Fault and surrounding areas. 2-D box counting analyses were performed on maps of the fracture network at the six stages of its evolution. For the earliest event D = 1.11, and represents a clustered development of fractures. Event 2 leads to a large increase of D = 1.51, with subsequent events producing a gradual increase up to 1.55 after the final event. This stabilization of the fractal dimension involved a change from the widespread development of new fractures (event 2) to the greater importance of reactivation of existing fractures, with only localized development of new fractures, usually as tip and linkage damage around pre-existing fractures. Fracture density was greatest for the event 2 fractures and increased only gradually after that. This pattern is similar to that of the fractal dimension and a good linear correlation was found between these two parameters. Although fractal dimensions and density show little change during the late stages of deformation, the fracture connectivity continued to increase due to the formation of local secondary fractures developed during reactivation of earlier formed fractures.