Damage Estimation in Masonry Buildings Based on Excavation-Induced Ground Movements

Excavation-induced ground movements and the resulting damages to adjacent structures and facilities is a source of concern for excavation projects in urban areas. The concern will be even higher if the adjacent structure is old or has low strength parameters like masonry building. Frame distortion and crack generation are predictors of building damage resulted from excavation-induced ground movements, which pose challenges to projects involving excavations. This study is aimed to investigate the relation between excavation-induced ground movements and damage probability of buildings in excavation affected distance. The main focus of this paper is on masonry buildings and excavations stabilized using soil nail wall method. To achieve this purpose, 21 masonry buildings adjacent to 12 excavation projects were studied. Parametric studies were performed by developing 3D FE models of brick walls and excavations stabilized using soil nail wall. Finally, probability evaluations were conducted to analyze the outputs obtained from case studies. Based on the obtained results, simple charts were established to estimate the damage of masonry structures in excavation affected distance with two key parameters including “Displacement Ratio” and “Normalized Distance”. The results also highlight the effects of building distance from excavation wall on its damage probability.

     

Effect of Drain Pipes on Uplift Force and Exit Hydraulic Gradient and the Design of Gravity Dams Using the Finite Element Method

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The effects of diameter and location of drain pipes on the uplift force and exit hydraulic gradient for a gravity dam are investigated. A numerical model...     

Constraints on unconsolidated pyroclastic flow sediments related REE enrichments originated from potassic-alkaline Gölcük stratovolcano: Darıdere-Direkli-Yakaören (DDY) table 4deposits,southwestern Anatolia of Turkey

Acta Geochimica - In the last five decades, Rare Earth Elements (REE) are mostly produced from carbonatite complexes and alkaline magmatic environments. In this respect, pyroclastic flows produced...     

Pore-water pressure development in a frozen saline clay under isotropic loading and undrained shearing

Acta Geotechnica - A systematical testing program on frozen Onsøy clay under isotropic loading and undrained shearing at different temperatures...     

An effective stress-based DSC model for predicting the coefficient of lateral soil pressure in unsaturated soils

Acta Geotechnica - In this study, an analytical model is developed to establish a framework for predicting the coefficient of lateral soil pressure in unsaturated soils. To this end, the disturbed...     

Prediction of riverine suspended sediment discharge using fuzzy logic algorithms, and some implications for estuarine settings

The ability of fuzzy logic algorithms to model relationships between stream flow and suspended sediment discharge was investigated using daily measurements of stream flow and suspended sediment discharge for the Escanaba River mouth station, situated on the shore of Lake Michigan and operated by the US Geological Survey. Three different configurations of inputs were applied, whereby the inputs were fuzzified into fuzzy subsets of variables by means of triangular membership functions. The relationships between inputs and suspended sediment discharge (output) were represented by a set of fuzzy rule expressed in IF–THEN format. The weighted average method served for defuzzification. The commonly used sediment rating curve was also applied to the data, and its performance compared with that of the three models by means of statistical analyses. For all three models, suspended sediment discharge predicted by the fuzzy logic algorithm was in satisfactory agreement with observations. Furthermore, the fuzzy logic algorithms performed better than the sediment rating curve, particularly at higher rates of suspended sediment discharge (in this study, more than 50  × 10⁶ g/day). Considered collectively, the use of fuzzy logic algorithms is suggested as a simple and effective approach for better prediction of suspended sediment discharge, also for estuaries.     

The use of optimization to construct critical accelerograms for given structures and sites

In this paper a methodology has been presented for constructing the most critical accelerogram from among a be class of candidate accelerograms for a given site and structure. This most critical accelerogram could be used to assess seismic resistance of a structure with a high level of confidence. Specifically, the method superimposes accelerograms recorded at similar sites to create the candidate accelerograms, then uses optimization and approximation techniques find the most critical accelerogram. The most critical accelerogram is defined as the one which maximizes damage is structure, as computed by non-linear dynamic structural analysis, as well as satisfies constraints on ground parameters to ensure credibility. The damage has been defined as cumulative inelastic energy dissipation or sure of interstorey drifts. The method is applied to ten examples in the paper.     

Tectonic evolution of the basement complex in the central eastern desert of Egypt

The Egyptian basement rocks are gathered into three major rock groups, viz. Meatiq Group (oldest), Abu Ziran Group and Hammamat Group (youngest); the last two groups belong to the Pan-African orogenic cycle. The Meatiq Group is an old crystalline basement cropping out in gneiss domes. The Abu Ziran Group comprises the geosynclinal association which is formed of a lower ophiolite unit overlain by metasediments, volcanoclastics and locally intermediate volcanics having clear island arc characters. The Hammamat Group comprises molasse-type clastics, and penecontemporaneous Dokhan Volcanics of andesite to rhyolite composition; syn to late-tectonic calc-alkaline granites are the plutonic equivalents of the Dokhan Volcanics.The studied area lies within the foreland fold and thrust belt of a continental margin orogen. Ophiolites, particularly serpentinites, crop out along the trace of the sole thrust between the Meatiq infrastructure and the imbricated Abu Ziran nappe.Swells, developed along two geanticlines, were centers of marked calc-alkaline magmatic activity associated, at least, with gold mineralization.

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Zusammenfassung Die Gesteine des ägyptischen Kristallins sind in drei Hauptgruppen unterteilt: Meatiq Group (älteste), Abu Ziran Group und Hammamat Group (jüngste); die letzten zwei Gruppen gehören dem Pan-Afrikanischen Zyklus an. Die Meatiq-Gruppe stellt einen alten Sokkel dar, der in Gneisdomen auftritt. Die Abu-Ziran-Gruppe umfaßt die Geosynklinal-Assoziation, die aus einer unteren ophiolitischen Einheit besteht, überlagert von Sedimenten, volkanoklastischen Sedimenten und lokalen intermediären Vulkaniten mit ausgeprägten Inselbogen-Eigenschaften. Die Hammamat-Gruppe besteht aus Molassetyp klastischen Sedimenten und zeitlich assoziierte Dokhan Volcanics andesitischer bis rhyolitischer Zusammensetzung. Die synbis spät-tektonische Kalkalkaligranite sind die plutonischen Aequivalente der Dokhan Volcanics.Das untersuchte Gebiet liegt im Vorland-Falten- und Decken-Gürtel eines Kontinentalrand-Orogens. Ophiolite, insbesondere die Serpentinite, treten entlang dem Ausbiß der Überschiebungsfläche zwischen dem Meatiq-Sockelstockwerk und der Abu-Ziran-Decke auf.Schwellen in Form zweier Geantiklinalen waren Zentren aktiver kalkalkaliner magmatischer Tätigkeit, begleitet zumindest von Goldvererzungen.

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Résumé Les roches du socle égyptien se répartissent en trois groupes majeurs: Meatiq Group (le plus ancien); Abu Ziran Group et Hammamat Group (le plus récent); les deux derniers groupes appartiennent au cycle orogénique Pan-Africain.Le Meatiq Group est un socle cristallin ancien affleurant en dômes gneissiques. Le Abu Ziran Group comprend une association géosynclinale formée d'une unité ophiolitique inférieure suivie par des métasédiments, des volcanoclastites et localement par des roches volcaniques intermédiaires à caractere d'arc insulaire. Le Hammamat Group comprend des roches clastiques du type molassique, et des roches volcaniques pénécontemporaines de composition andésitique à rhyolitique (Dokhan Volcanics); des granites calco-alcalins syntectoniques à tardi-tectoniques sont les équivalents plutoniques des «Dokhan Volcanics».Le terrain étudié se situe dans l'avant-pays plissé et charrié d'un orogène de marge continentale. Des ophiolites, particulièrement des serpentinites, affleurent le long de la surface de charriage entre le massif autochtone de Meatiq et la nappe complexe d'Abu Ziran.Des dômes, développés le long de deux géanticlinaux, ont été les centres d'une forte activité magmatique calco-alcaline associée, au moins, à une minéralisation aurifère.

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