Laboratory study of shear strength response of Chlef natural sand: Effect of saturation

Abstract

The study of the unsaturated soils is a very complex field to which several researches in laboratory and on site are directed these last years. An experimental study aims to quantify the influence of the Skempton coefficient B characterizing the degree of saturation on the behavior of the granular sand to the liquefaction resistance of sand. The study is based on undrained triaxial tests performed on natural Chlef sand carried out at an initial relative density Dr = 50% under a confining pressure of 50, 100 and 200?kPa for Skempton coefficient B?=?10 to 92%. The results of the tests show that an increase of confining pressure leads to an increase of the shear stress of the samples. For the lower value of the degree of saturation results of our findings indicate an increase of the resistance to liquefaction; our results are in good agreement with others observed in several research projects conducted with other sands. The increase of Skempton coefficient B induces an increase of pore water pressure and a decrease of the shear strength. The pore pressure (u) increases with an exponential manner with the increase of the degree of saturation; while the residual shear strength (Rs) decreases with logarithmic manner with the increase of degree of saturation (B).     

南黄海辐射沙脊群海域的水深遥感

南黄海的辐射沙脊群海域地形地貌复杂多变,应用遥感技术来测量其水下地形不仅有可能,而且势在必行。在对沿海及长江口门内外遥感反演水下地形研究的基础上,选择沙脊群海域中有代表性的一块水域为研究区,同步测量其水下地形和水流、悬沙含量,用实测地形和MODIS影像数据建立水深反演模型,同时分析该区域的悬沙光谱特征,选择悬沙遥感参数,以MODIS数据的水深反演模型和沙脊群水域的悬沙遥感参数为依据,建立削弱悬沙影响的水深遥感模型,从而反演出1.5×104km2的辐射沙脊群水下地形。从反演结果看,所建模型的相关系数二次方的值为0.664,F-值为18662,平均绝对误差为1.52m,平均相对误差为24%,5~15m水深段的平均相对误差只有18%,反演效果较好。     

Anchors in sand bed: delineation of rupture surface

Anchors of very large uplift capacities are required to support offshore structures at great water depths. The capacities of plate and mushroom type anchors are generally estimated based on the shape of rupture surface. An attempt has been made in the present investigation to delineate the rupture surfaces of anchors embedded in submerged and dry sand beds at various depths. The results exhibited two different modes of failure depending on the embedment ratio, namely, shallow and deep anchor behaviour. The load–displacement curves exhibited three- and two-phase behaviours for shallow and deep anchors, respectively. Negative pore water pressures recorded in submerged sand also exhibited variation similar to that of pullout load versus anchor displacement.     

Numerical investigation on evolving failure of caisson foundation in sand using the combined Lagrangian-SPH method

Caisson foundations are often used in offshore engineering. However, for an optimum design understanding the failure process of a caisson during its installation and the subsequent external loadings is crucial. This paper focuses on the evolving failure of a caisson foundation in sand by advanced numerical modeling. A combined Lagrangian-smoothed particle hydrodynamics method is adopted to deal with the large deformation analysis. The method with parameters are first calibrated and validated by a simulation of cone penetration test in sand. The results of an experimental campaign of a caisson in the same sand are selected and validated for the numerical model. Then, more representative loading combinations are designated for numerical modeling of failure process and mode. Furthermore, three additional caisson dimensions D/d?=?0.5, 1.5, and 2.0 (changing the ratio of caisson diameter D to skirt length d while keeping the same soil-structure surface contact area) are simulated under six representative combined loading paths. Based on that, the influence of caisson dimension to the failure process and mode is investigated. All results are helpful to estimate all possible sliding surfaces under different monotonic combined loading paths for further limit analysis.     

北部湾地区不同相对密度的海砂力学特性分析

为探究相对密度和有效围压对饱和海砂力学特性的影响,利用GDS动态三轴试验仪,对广西北部湾地区海砂开展了一系列固结排水三轴剪切试验,分析了相对密度、有效围压对饱和海砂强度特征、体变特征、割线模量以及摩擦角的影响规律。结果表明：随着围压的减小或相对密度的增大,试样体积应变不断增大,而相对密度或有效围压的增加均会提高试样的峰值强度,有效围压与峰值强度之间呈现良好的线性增长关系。随着围压的减小或相对密度的增大,应力相对软化系数、剪胀系数均不断增大,且有效围压与应力相对软化系数、剪胀系数分别呈线性和半对数线性相关。割线模量随轴向应变的增加整体呈衰减趋势,各试验工况下轴向应变为5%时试样的割线模量相比于轴向应变0.164%衰减了80%~90%。饱和海砂的峰值摩擦角随相对密度的增加而增大,随有效围压的增大而减小,相对密度D_r为50%时有效围压σ_c为50 kPa对应的峰值摩擦角是σ_c为200 kPa的1.098倍。     

潮汐作用下的海滩风沙运动若干特征研究——以福建平潭岛远垱澳海滩为例

海岸风沙是海岸带陆-海-气相互作用的突出产物。本文通过福建平潭岛远垱澳海滩风沙全环境要素观测,从海滩风沙垂向分布、滩面风沙起动和搬运等方面,探讨并总结自然海滩潮汐动态作用下的风沙运动过程。主要研究结论为:（1）海滩湿沙表面风沙流绝大部分（98.9%）在离滩面30 cm高度层内运动,不同粒径组沙粒的垂向分布形式不同;（2）潮汐旋回中的海滩起沙风速显著高于同等粒径内陆沙漠地区,其变化过程主要为滩面平均表层湿度与风区长度相互"博弈"的结果;（3）海滩风沙输送量主要受风速、滩面平均表层湿度与风区长度耦合作用,涨落潮不同阶段输沙量变化的主导影响因素不同;（4）"干沙起动+湿沙表面传输"为典型的海滩风沙搬运模式之一,滩面风沙运程较短,总体呈"接力"式特征向海岸前缘沙丘搬运。     

Changes in Geotechnical Properties of Sediments from the Central Indian Basin Induced by Disturbance Experiment

During the Indian Deep-sea Environment Experiment (INDEX) conducted in the Central Indian Basin to simulate nodule mining activity, the sediments were physically disturbed, lifted from the seafloor, and then redeposited to study the effects of sediment redistribution on geological, chemical and biological characteristics of benthic environment. The first monitoring cruise, 44 months after the experiment, was part of long-term observations for restoration of conditions. This study describes the effects of the experiment on geotechnical properties of sediments measured in predisturbance, postdisturbance and monitoring phases. To compare the effects, sediment cores were collected from the same locations during the three phases. Siliceous, fine-grained sediments from the study area showed change in geotechnical properties induced due to the disturbance. Marginal increase in natural water content and significant reduction in undrained shear strength at the 0–5 cm sediment layer of cores from the tow zone during postdisturbance was observed. However, during the monitoring phase, an increase in shear strength and reduction in water content was noticed, which might indicate that the sediments are gradually acquiring predisturbance characteristics. The study also revealed that the meiofaunal density has a positive correlation with the water content, but a negative relationship with the shear strength of these siliceous sediments. Specific gravity of solids and porosity showed marginal change, whereas wet density remained unchanged.     

Ecological implications of biomass and morphotype variations of bacterioplankton: an example in a coastal zone of the Northern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean)

This study had the objective of quantifying the variability in abundance, cell volume, morphology and C content of a natural bacterioplankton community in a coastal zone of the North Adriatic Sea during two periods (February and June) of two consequent years (1996 and 1997). We used epifluorescence microscopy with Acridine Orange staining procedures and a microphotographic technique. Low variability in bacterial abundance (range 0.3–3.1 × 10⁵ cells ml^?1) occurred between summer and winter periods. Conversely, the cell volume and the calculated carbon content changed greatly with warm and cold periods (ranges: 0.015–0.303 μm³ and 5.83–42.17 fg C cell^?1, respectively). Elongated bacteria were dominant while coccoid cells prevailed only in February 1997. Biomass showed high variability (range 0.12–10.21 μg C l^?1) whilst the abundance did not show noticeable differences among the sampling periods. As a consequence, quantification of bacterial biomass based solely on cell abundance must be considered with caution because the true biomass could depend on variability in cell volumes and morphotypes.     

New type of pycnostad in the western subtropical-subarctic transition region of the North Pacific: Transition Region Mode Water

A new type of pycnostad has been identified in the western subtropical-subarctic transition region of the North Pacific, based on the intensive hydrographic survey carried out in July, 2002. The potential density, temperature and salinity of the pycnostad were found to be 26.5–26.7 σ _θ , 5°–7°C and 33.5–33.9 psu respectively. The pycnostad is denser, colder and fresher than those of the North Pacific Central Mode Water and different from those of other known mode waters in the North Pacific. The thickness of the pycnostad is comparable to that of other mode waters, spreading over an area of at least 650 × 500 km around 43°N and 160°E in the western transition region. Hence, we refer to the pycnostad as Transition Region Mode Water (TRMW). Oxygen data, geostrophic current speed and climatology of mixed layer depth in the winter suggest that the TRMW is formed regularly in the deep winter mixed layer near the region where it was observed. Analysis of surface heat flux also supports the idea and suggests that there is significant interannual variability in the property of the TRMW. The TRMW is consistently distributed between the Subarctic Boundary and the Subarctic Front. It is also characterized by a wide T-S range with similar density, which is the characteristic of such a transition region between subtropical and subarctic water masses, which forms a density-compensating temperature and salinity front. The frontal nature also tends to cause isopycnal intrusions within the pycnostad of the TRMW.