Countermeasures for breakwater foundation subjected to foreshocks and main shock of earthquake loading

Coastal protective structures, such as composite breakwaters, are generally vulnerable to earthquake. It was observed that breakwaters damage mainly due to failure of their foundations. However, the seismically induced failure process of breakwater foundation has not been well understood. This study describes failure mechanism of breakwater foundation as well as a newly developed reinforcing model for breakwater foundation that can render resiliency to breakwater against earthquake-related disasters. Steel sheet piles and gabions were used as reinforcing materials for foundation. The experimental program consisted of a series of shaking table tests for conventional and reinforced foundation of breakwater. Numerical analyses were conducted using finite difference method, and it was observed that the numerical models were capable to elucidate the seismic behavior of soil–reinforcement–breakwater system. This paper presents an overview of the results of experimental and numerical studies of the seismic response of breakwater foundation. Overall, the results of these studies show the effectiveness of the reinforced foundation in mitigating the earthquake-induced damage to the breakwater. Moreover, numerical simulation was used for parametric study to determine the effect of different embedment depths of sheet piles on the performance of breakwater foundation subjected to seismic loading.     

Equivalent continuum strain calculations based on 3D particle kinematic measurements of sand

Constitutive modeling of granular materials has been a subject of extensive research for many years. While the calculation of the Cauchy stress tensor using the discrete element method has been well established in the literature, the formulation and interpretation of the strain tensor are not as well documented. According to Bagi, 1 researchers mostly adopt well‐known continuum or discrete microstructural approaches to calculate strains within granular materials. However, neither of the 2 approaches can fully capture the behavior of granular materials. They are considered complementary to each other where each has its own strengths and limitations in solving granular‐mechanics problems. Zhang and Regueiro 2 proposed an equivalent continuum approach to calculating finite strain measures at the local level in granular materials subjected to large deformations. They used three‐dimensional discrete element method results to compare the proposed strains measures. This paper presents an experimental application of the Zhang and Regueiro 2 approach using three‐dimensional synchrotron microcomputed tomography images of a sheared Ottawa sand specimen. Invariant Eulerian finite strain measures were calculated for representative element volumes within the specimen. The spatial maps of Eulerian octahedral shear and volumetric strain were used to identify zones of intense shearing within the specimen and compared well with maps of incremental particle translation and rotation for the same specimen. The local Eulerian volumetric strain was compared to the global volumetric strains, which also can be considered as an averaging of all local Eulerian volumetric strains.     

Erodibility of low‐compaction steep‐sloped reclaimed surface mine lands in the southern Appalachian region,USA

The use of loose spoils on steep slopes for surface coal mining reclamation sites has been promoted by the US Department of Interior, Office of Surface Mining for the establishment of native forest, as prescribed by the Forest Reclamation Approach (FRA). Although low‐compaction spoils improve tree survival and growth, erodibility on steep slopes was suspected to increase. This study quantified a combined K_C factor (combining the effects of the soil erodibility K factor and cover management C) for low compaction, steep‐sloped (>20°) reclaimed mine lands in the Appalachian region, USA. The combined K_C factor was used because standard Unit Plot conditions required to separate these factors, per Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) experimental protocols, were not followed explicitly. Three active coal mining sites in the Appalachian region of East Tennessee, each containing four replicate field plots, were monitored for rainfall and sediment yields during a 14‐month period beginning June 2009. Average cumulative erosivity for the study sites during the monitoring period was measured as 5248.9 MJ·mm·ha^?1·h^?1. The K_C ranged between 0.001 and 0.05 t·ha·h·ha^?1·MJ^?1·mm^?1, with the highest values occurring immediately following reclamation site construction as rills developed (June – August 2009). The K_C for two study sites with about an 18–20 mm spoil D₈₄ were above 0.01 t·ha·h·ha^?1·MJ^?1·mm^?1 during rill development, and below 0.003 t·ha·h·ha^?1·MJ^?1·mm^?1 after August 2009 for the post‐rill development period. The K_C values for one site with a 40 mm spoil D₈₄ were never above 0.008 t·ha·h·ha^?1·MJ^?1·mm^?1 and also on average were lower, being more similar to the other two sites after the rill development period. Based on an initial K_C factor (K_e) measured during the first few storm events, the average C factor (C_e) was estimated as 0.58 for the rill development period and 0.13 for the post‐rill development period. It appears that larger size fractions of spoils influence K_C and C_e factors on low‐compaction steep slopes reclamation sites. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of hydraulic fracturing operation and fracture propagation simulation in reservoir rock

For many decades most oil wells in Iran have produced using their natural flow potential and haven’t needed to be fractured. As time goes by, the reservoir pressure depletes and the need for hydraulic fracturing as a stimulation practice arises. Nonetheless there is no record of successful hydraulic fracturing in Iran.

The Bangestan reservoir with a suitable amount of oil in place and good rock reservoirs, has been selected for the present research work. In this work, the in situ stress profile was calculated by using the available petrophysical data. This is achieved by using poroelastic theory for the stresses, and the Mohr–Coulomb criterion to predict failure. The model leads to easily computed expressions for calculating the pressure required to maintain hydraulic fracturing. Then the appropriate depth for treatment was determined. The results indicate that Ilam and Sarvak formations could be good candidates for hydraulic fracturing. Then, for two layers, a hydraulic fracture was designed and the production was predicted and the Net Present Value (NPV) resulting from the fracture of both layers was investigated.     

Performance of a Pier Group Foundation in Swelling Rock

Foundations on claystone with swell potential may experience upward movement and failure. In this case study, the cause of 58 mm upward movement of drilled-in piers is analyzed using survey data, extensometer readings, and moisture content monitoring of claystone at the site. Laboratory swell tests were conducted to characterize the swelling characteristics of the weathered rock. A swell potential analysis for the pier group foundations is presented. The interaction of the pier group with the swelling rock is considered in analyzing the initiation of the upward movement. Furthermore, a novel inverse analysis method is presented to integrate the laboratory swell test results and numerical modeling to identify the representative swell pressures acting on the pier group as well as upward movement of the pier system. The numerical analysis indicates that the studied pier system is expected to have 135 mm heave and its rate of upward movement is compared with field observations. The behavior of the pier group foundation in swelling rock under various pier spacings and superstructure pressures shows that the uplift is considerably less for piers with smaller center-to-center spacing. The results of pier group numerical modeling provide the correlation of upward deformation changes due to center-to-center spacing of the piers, pier diameters and superstructure pressures.     

Investigation of moment-rotation relation in different joint types and evaluation of their effects on segmental tunnel lining

This paper presents the results of a numerical study that has been performed to investigate the different joint types that affect the moment-rotation relation and ultimate bending moment capacity of a joint. A 3D finite element method was adapted to establish elaborate numerical models of segments. To evaluate the possible differences in moment-rotation behavior between different joint types, 10 different joint types were simulated. Additionally, the effect of different joint types on behavior of a lining ring was investigated. The validity of the peridynamic simulation was tested by comparing results obtained in this paper against the results obtained in a study performed by Hordijk and Gijsbers. Observations of the results demonstrate that in a flat joint, the expanding of joint height increased the rotation stiffness of the joint in the linear branch, and accordingly, the ultimate bending moment of the joint increased. In the ring model, it was observed that the expanding of joint height led to the decreased of ring displacement and stress concentration in the joint. Whenever there were full surface contacts (contact two segment in total cross section) in the joints, the rotation stiffness of the joints in the linear branch became equal, and, as a result, the displacement in the ring model was the same in all joint types. In addition, it was observed that using a convex joint in the ring model increases the displacement of the ring. The ultimate bending moment of bolted joints was higher than that of joints without bolts, especially in the case of a negative moment.     

Comparing seven candidate mission configurations for temporal gravity field retrieval through full-scale numerical simulation

The goal of this contribution is to focus on improving the quality of gravity field models in the form of spherical harmonic representation via alternative configuration scenarios applied in future gravimetric satellite missions. We performed full-scale simulations of various mission scenarios within the frame work of the German joint research project “Concepts for future gravity field satellite missions” as part of the Geotechnologies Program, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation. In contrast to most previous simulation studies including our own previous work, we extended the simulated time span from one to three consecutive months to improve the robustness of the assessed performance. New is that we performed simulations for seven dedicated satellite configurations in addition to the GRACE scenario, serving as a reference baseline. These scenarios include a “GRACE Follow-on” mission (with some modifications to the currently implemented GRACE-FO mission), and an in-line “Bender” mission, in addition to five mission scenarios that include additional cross-track and radial information. Our results clearly confirm the benefit of radial and cross-track measurement information compared to the GRACE along-track observable: the gravity fields recovered from the related alternative mission scenarios are superior in terms of error level and error isotropy. In fact, one of our main findings is that although the noise levels achievable with the particular configurations do vary between the simulated months, their order of performance remains the same. Our findings show also that the advanced pendulums provide the best performance of the investigated single formations, however an accuracy reduced by about 2–4 times in the important long-wavelength part of the spectrum (for spherical harmonic degrees ${<}50$ ), compared to the Bender mission, can be observed. Concerning state-of-the-art mission constraints, in particular the severe restriction of heterodyne lasers on maximum range-rates, only the moderate Pendulum and the Bender-mission are beneficial options, of course in addition to GRACE and GRACE-FO. Furthermore, a Bender-type constellation would result in the most accurate gravity field solution by a factor of about 12 at long wavelengths (up to degree/order 40) and by a factor of about 200 at short wavelengths (up to degree/order 120) compared to the present GRACE solution. Finally, we suggest the Pendulum and the Bender missions as candidate mission configurations depending on the available budget and technological progress.     

Parameters affecting the occurrence of quicksand and the drying up of large diameter wells that gain water from the bottom: a case study from Iran

Large diameter fully cased wells that gain water from the bottom are often dug in sandy and collapsible aquifers. They have cylindrical vertical walls lined with brick or concrete. The well bottom is partially filled with aquifer material through which the flow is vertically upward. When the vertical hydraulic gradient reaches a critical value, quicksand occurs and the well structure can be destroyed. Another difficulty encountered is drawdown in the wellbore and the drying up of the well. To overcome these problems, the flow around and beneath these wells is numerically simulated. The simulation results are used to investigate the effect of well and aquifer parameters on quicksand and drawdown. For practical purposes, the dimensionless drawdown-time and dimensionless vertical gradient-time curves are developed. It was found that the ratio of filling material thickness to well radius affects the shape of these type curves. The type curves may be used to predict the time after pumping commences when quicksand occurs and the well dries up. They are also useful to design the safe pumping rate and duration as well as the optimum well radius. These are demonstrated by analyzing the pumping test data from a case study in the arid Chah Kutah region, southern Iran.     

Fast linearized forecasts for subsurface flow data assimilation with ensemble Kalman filter

Ensemble methods present a practical framework for parameter estimation, performance prediction, and uncertainty quantification in subsurface flow and transport modeling. In particular, the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) has received significant attention for its promising performance in calibrating heterogeneous subsurface flow models. Since an ensemble of model realizations is used to compute the statistical moments needed to perform the EnKF updates, large ensemble sizes are needed to provide accurate updates and uncertainty assessment. However, for realistic problems that involve large-scale models with computationally demanding flow simulation runs, the EnKF implementation is limited to small-sized ensembles. As a result, spurious numerical correlations can develop and lead to inaccurate EnKF updates, which tend to underestimate or even eliminate the ensemble spread. Ad hoc practical remedies, such as localization, local analysis, and covariance inflation schemes, have been developed and applied to reduce the effect of sampling errors due to small ensemble sizes. In this paper, a fast linear approximate forecast method is proposed as an alternative approach to enable the use of large ensemble sizes in operational settings to obtain more improved sample statistics and EnKF updates. The proposed method first clusters a large number of initial geologic model realizations into a small number of groups. A representative member from each group is used to run a full forward flow simulation. The flow predictions for the remaining realizations in each group are approximated by a linearization around the full simulation results of the representative model (centroid) of the respective cluster. The linearization can be performed using either adjoint-based or ensemble-based gradients. Results from several numerical experiments with two-phase and three-phase flow systems in this paper suggest that the proposed method can be applied to improve the EnKF performance in large-scale problems where the number of full simulation is constrained.