Fabric evolution and liquefaction resistance in multiple-liquefaction process: a micromechanical study using DEM-clump

Acta Geotechnica - Recent earthquake case histories in Japan and New Zealand revealed that soil sites can experience liquefaction multiple times under a sequence of earthquake shaking. Field...     

A 2D mixed fracture–pore seepage model and hydromechanical coupling for fractured porous media

A novel two-dimensional mixed fracture–pore seepage model for fluid flow in fractured porous media is presented based on the computational framework of finite-discrete element method (FDEM). The model consists of a porous seepage model in triangular elements bonded by unbroken joint elements, as well as a fracture seepage model in broken joint elements. The principle for determining the fluid exchange coefficient of the unbroken joint element is provided to ensure numerical accuracy and efficiency. The mixed fracture–pore seepage model provides a simple but effective tool for solving fluid flow in fractured porous media. In this paper, examples of 1D and 2D seepage flow in porous media and porous media with a single fracture or multiple fractures are studied. The simulation results of the model match well with theoretical solutions or results obtained by commercial software, which verifies the correctness of the mixed fracture–pore seepage model. Furthermore, combining FDEM mechanical calculation and the mixed fracture–pore seepage model, a coupled hydromechanical model is built to simulate fluid-driven dynamic propagation of cracks in the porous media, as well as its influence on pore seepage and fracture seepage.

     

基于小波包和空间相关性分析的人工地震波仿真技术

考虑强震作用下地震动参数的空间相关性,是生命线工程、道路、桥梁等呈空间分布的大型结构抗震设计的重点问题。由于强震观测历史和观测设备的限制,符合设计标准的地震波较为匮乏。因而,人工地震波成为结构抗震时程计算分析的一个重要技术。小波包技术将地震波进行时域和频域分解及合成并通过区域化的强震记录,得出小波包参数在时域和频域的统计特征及其空间相关性。进一步采用克里格插值法对无观测记录场址的地震动小波包参数进行最优估计,从而合成人工地震波。能较好地模拟人工地震波的区域空间相关特征,将为重大工程结构的防灾抗震仿真计算和动力优化设计提供实用可靠的地震波输入。     

A new procedure to best-fit earthquake magnitude probability distributions: including an example for Taiwan

Since the year 1973, more than 54,000 M _w ≥ 3.0 earthquakes have occurred around Taiwan, and their magnitude–frequency relationship was found following with the Gutenberg–Richter recurrence law with b value equal to 0.923 from the least-square calculation. However, using this b value with the McGuire–Arabasz algorithm results in some disagreement between observations and expectations in magnitude probability. This study introduces a simple approach to optimize the b value for better modeling of the magnitude probability, and its effectiveness is demonstrated in this paper. The result shows that the optimal b value can better model the observed magnitude distribution, compared with two customary methods. For example, given magnitude threshold = 5.0 and maximum magnitude = 8.0, the optimal b value of 0.835 is better than 0.923 from the least-square calculation and 0.913 from maximum likelihood estimation for simulating the earthquake’s magnitude probability distribution around Taiwan.     

Stochastic simulation of regionalized ground motions using wavelet packets and cokriging analysis

Performance‐based earthquake engineering often requires ground‐motion time‐history analyses to be performed, but very often, ground motions are not recorded at the location being analyzed. The present study is among the first attempt to stochastically simulate spatially distributed ground motions over a region using wavelet packets and cokriging analysis. First, we characterize the time and frequency properties of ground motions using the wavelet packet analysis. The spatial cross‐correlations of wavelet packet parameters are determined through geostatistical analysis of regionalized ground‐motion data from the Northridge and Chi‐Chi earthquakes. It is observed that the spatial cross‐correlations of wavelet packet parameters are closely related to regional site conditions. Furthermore, using the developed spatial cross‐correlation model and the cokriging technique, wavelet packet parameters at unmeasured locations can be best estimated, and regionalized ground‐motion time histories can be synthesized. Case studies and blind tests using data from the Northridge and Chi‐Chi earthquakes demonstrate that the simulated ground motions generally agree well with the actual recorded data. The proposed method can be used to stochastically simulate regionalized ground motions for time‐history analyses of distributed infrastructure and has important applications in regional‐scale hazard analysis and loss estimation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fabric evolution of granular soils under multidirectional cyclic loading

Acta Geotechnica - Cyclic behavior of granular soils under multidirectional shaking is significantly different from that under unidirectional loading. In this study, a series of undrained simple...     

Energy‐compatible and spectrum‐compatible (ECSC) ground motion simulation using wavelet packets

A stochastic ground‐motion simulation and modification technique is developed to generate energy‐compatible and spectrum‐compatible (ECSC) synthetic motions through wavelet packet characterization and modification in both frequency and time domains. The ECSC method significantly advances traditional spectral matching approaches, because it generates ground motions that not only match the target spectral accelerations, but also match Arias intensity build‐up and significant durations. The great similarity between the ECSC simulated motions and the actual recorded motions is demonstrated through one‐to‐one comparison of a variety of intensity measures. Extensive numerical simulations were also performed to validate the performance of the ECSC ground motions through nonlinear analyses of elasto‐plastic oscillators. The ECSC method can be easily implemented in the generalized conditional intensity measure framework by directly simulating a set of motions following a targeted distribution of multiple intensity measures. Therefore, the ECSC method has great potential to be used in performance‐based earthquake design and analysis. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A numerical coupling scheme for nonlinear time history analysis of buildings on a regional scale considering site‐city interaction effects

Seismic damage simulation of buildings on a regional scale is important for loss estimation and disaster mitigation of cities. However, the interaction among densely distributed buildings in a city and the site, ie, the “site‐city interaction (SCI) effects,” is often neglected in most regional simulations. Yet, many studies have found that the SCI effects are very important in regional simulations containing a large number of tall buildings and underground structures. Therefore, this work proposed a numerical coupling scheme for nonlinear time history analysis of buildings on a regional scale considering the SCI effects. In this study, multiple‐degree‐of‐freedom models are used to represent different buildings above the ground, while an open source spectral element program, SPEED, is used for simulating wave propagation in underlying soil layers. The proposed numerical scheme is firstly validated through a shaking table test. Then, a detailed discussion on the SCI effects in a 3D basin is performed. Finally, a nonlinear time history analysis of buildings on a regional scale is performed using the Tsinghua University campus in Beijing as a case study. The Tsinghua University campus case results show that the SCI effects will reduce the seismic responses of most buildings. However, some buildings will suffer much more severe damage when the SCI effects are considered, which may depend on the input motions, site characteristics, and building configurations.