Bearing capacity of strip foundation on geogrid-reinforced sand

Results of small-scale laboratory model tests to determine the ultimate bearing capacity of a strip foundation supported by sand with multiple layers of geogrid reinforcement are presented. Tests were conducted with only one type of geogrid and a sand compacted to one relative density. The embedment ratio of the foundation was varied from zero to 0.6. It is found that, for the given reinforcement-depth ratio, the bearing capacity ratio with respect to ultimate load increases with embedment. The relationship between the bearing capacity ratio at ultimate load and at limited levels of settlement (less than or equal to 5% of foundation width) is also presented. The bearing capacity ratio at limited levels of settlement is smaller than the value at ultimate load.     

Study of weathering and erosional status of basaltic rocks using remote sensing data

In the present study an attempt has been made in order to evaluate the weathering and erosional status of a part of the Konkan coast stretching between Mumbai and Rajpuri, using IRS-IB, LISS-II data supported by spectral reflectance and thin section study of the rock samples collected from the coastal plains. The study revealed that extensive erosion has been taking place in few pockets along the Konkan Coastal plain, which is evidenced by the presence of more weathered rocks in the coastal plains as compared to that of the hinterland, siltation of the coastal wetlands due to the deposition of eroded materials and high-suspended sediments in the coastal water. The thin section study of the basaltic rock samples collected from the coast also shows evidence of physical and chemical weathering. The lineaments of the coastal tract are found to exist in clusters mostly trending towards NNE—SSW and a few N—S trending, this supports the presence of a N-S trending fault parallel to the Konkan coast along the Western Ghats. It has also been found that remote sensing, in association with other conventional techniques is ideal for such type of studies.     

Detection of seismic reflections from seismic attributes through fractal analysis

The concept of fractals is used here for the identification of seismic reflectors with special emphasis on thin‐bed delineation, which is generally overlooked during standard data processing. A new fractal analysis scheme is applied to both synthetic and real field seismic data. The fractal dimensions of the three seismic attributes – amplitude, phase, and instantaneous frequency – have been analysed and evaluated. A change in fractal dimension is found to occur whenever there is a reflection. However, the resolution in the delineation of reflectors varies, depending on the attribute under consideration and the method of fractal dimension estimation used. Fractal analysis is performed on both noise‐free and noisy synthetic data to establish the noise tolerance limit for both the ‘divider method’ and the ‘Hurst method’. It is then tested with different peak frequencies of the source wavelet to establish the criteria for using the divider method and the Hurst method. The divider method is found to be suitable for high peak frequency source wavelets (> 25 Hz), while the Hurst method is best suited for low peak frequency source wavelets (< 25 Hz). Finally, when applied to the digitally processed and migrated field seismic data, it could even delineate reflectors which otherwise went undetected on the migrated time section.     

Passive diffusion sampling of sulfur dioxide in India: Impact assessment on arid areas

Environmental constraints have drastically limited options of sustainable developmentand have severely offset many developmental schemes. In this paper, possibilities of acidic depo-sition, as a counter measure of desertification, are analyzed. Seasonal data of ambient sulfur di-oxide, pH of rain water and soil acidity are collected for over an year and analyzed. Arid environ-ment of surrounding areas of Delhi is considered and analyzed. Though ambient sulfur depositionis well below critical level, it might not be truly indicative of plant survival in arid areas. Results maybe useful in arid area afforestation, and polluting industries relocation, which holds tremendouspotential vis-a-vis sustainable development.     

Response of an anisotropic liquid-saturated porous medium due to two dimensional sources

Eigenvalue approach, following Laplace and Fourier transforms, has been employed to find the general solution to the field equations in an anisotropic liquid-saturated porous medium, in the transformed domain. The results of isotropic liquid-saturated porous medium can be derived as a special case. A numerical inversion technique has been applied to get the solutions in the physical domain. To illustrate the utility of the approach, an application of infinite space with impulsive force at the origin has been considered. The results in the form of displacement and stress components have been obtained and discussed graphically for a particular model.     

Linear stability and the resonance cases for the triangular libration points for the doubly photo-gravitational elliptic restricted problem of three bodies

In the present paper we have found the range of values of μ ande for the linear stability of the triangular points for the doubly photogravitational elliptic restricted problem of three bodies. It has been shown that some resonances of the third and the fourth order exist which will need special investigation for the determination of complete stability of the libration points under our terms of reference.     

Basin‐scale stream‐flow forecasting using the information of large‐scale atmospheric circulation phenomena

It is well recognized that the time series of hydrologic variables, such as rainfall and streamflow are significantly influenced by various large‐scale atmospheric circulation patterns. The influence of El Niño‐southern oscillation (ENSO) on hydrologic variables, through hydroclimatic teleconnection, is recognized throughout the world. Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) has been proved to be significantly influenced by ENSO. Recently, it was established that the relationship between ISMR and ENSO is modulated by the influence of atmospheric circulation patterns over the Indian Ocean region. The influences of Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) mode and equatorial Indian Ocean oscillation (EQUINOO) on ISMR have been established in recent research. Thus, for the Indian subcontinent, hydrologic time series are significantly influenced by ENSO along with EQUINOO. Though the influence of these large‐scale atmospheric circulations on large‐scale rainfall patterns was investigated, their influence on basin‐scale stream‐flow is yet to be investigated. In this paper, information of ENSO from the tropical Pacific Ocean and EQUINOO from the tropical Indian Ocean is used in terms of their corresponding indices for stream‐flow forecasting of the Mahanadi River in the state of Orissa, India. To model the complex non‐linear relationship between basin‐scale stream‐flow and such large‐scale atmospheric circulation information, artificial neural network (ANN) methodology has been opted for the present study. Efficient optimization of ANN architecture is obtained by using an evolutionary optimizer based on a genetic algorithm. This study proves that use of such large‐scale atmospheric circulation information potentially improves the performance of monthly basin‐scale stream‐flow prediction which, in turn, helps in better management of water resources. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Soret effects on free-convection and mass transfer flow in the stokes problem for a infinite vertical plate

An analytical study is performed to examine the free-convection and mass transfer flow for the Sokes problem for an infinite vertical plate on taking into account the Soret effect (thermal diffusion effect). The Laplace transform technique is used to obtain the expressions for velocity and skin-friction. The effect of Soret numberS on velocity field and skin-friction is extensively discussed with the help of graphs and table.     

Bearing capacity tests of strip footings on reinforced layered soil

The ultimate bearing capacity of strip footings resting on subsoil consisting of a strong sand layer (reinforced/unreinforced) overlying a low bearing capacity sand deposit has been investigated. Three principal problems were analysed based on results obtained from the model tests as follows: (1) the effect of stratified subsoil on the foundations bearing capacity; (2) the effect of reinforcing the top layer with horizontal layers of geogrid reinforcement on the bearing capacity; (3) effect of reinforcing stratified subsoil (reinforced and unreinforced) on the settlement of the foundation. It has been observed that reinforcing the subsoil after replacing the top layer of soil with a well-graded soil is beneficial as the mobilization of soil-reinforcement frictional resistance will increase.