Dynamic response of buildings due to trains in underground tunnels

The interaction of a tunnel-soil-building system due to trains is investigated by a substructure technnique. The soil medium is assumed to be a viscoelastic halfspace. The method of wave function expansion is used to construct the displacement fields in terms of potentials. The total soil-structure interaction problem is decomposed into a foundation radiation problem and a tunnel radiation problem. The impedance matrices for the corresponding substructure problems are obtained using a collocation technique. The steady state response of buildings for a given tunnel-foundation geometry is determined using the impedance matrix. Hence, the response of the building to train loading at different speeds is evaluated and compared with allowable vibration limits.     

Three-dimensional finite element analysis of the seismic behavior of inclined micropiles

This paper presents a thorough study of the behavior of inclined micropiles under seismic loading. Analysis is carried out using a full three-dimensional finite element modeling. The soil media is assumed to be elastic with Rayleigh damping, while micropiles are modeled as 3D elastic beam elements. The structure is described by a single degree of freedom system composed of a concentrated mass and a column. The paper is composed of four parts. The first part includes a literature survey on the behavior of inclined micropiles. The second part presents the numerical model used in this study. The third part concerns analysis related to the influence of micropiles inclination on the seismic behavior of a group of micropiles embedded in a homogeneous soil with a uniform stiffness. The last part deals with the seismic behavior of inclined micropiles embedded in a soil layer with a depth-based increasing stiffness. The results of this study provide valuable information about the influence of micropiles inclination on dynamic amplification and on the seismic-induced internal forces in micropiles.     

A semi-analytical method for predicting the outflow hydrograph due to dam-break in natural valleys

The paper presents a semi-analytical method for predicting the flow rate hydrograph due to a hypothetical sudden and total dam failure in a natural valley. The method generalizes the approach proposed by Hunt for the dam-break problem in a rectangular frictionless sloping channel to a valley with a cross-section area expressed by a power-law function of water depth, in order to take into account the most common shapes of natural valleys. The parameters of the deriving model can be set by exploiting data usually available concerning the dam section geometry and the reservoir storage-depth curve. The application of the technique to three different reservoirs is discussed. The results show that the flow rate hydrographs obtained at the dam site agree with the ones calculated by means of a finite volume numerical code based on two-dimensional shallow water equations. The method requires moderate computational and data collecting effort, so it can be regarded as a useful alternative to other procedures commonly adopted in the practice.     

Morphotectonics of the Mongolia-Siberian mountain belt

The mountains of north-eastern Inner Asia comprise the Mongolia-Siberian orogenic belt which has a complex structure. The southern flank of the belt consists of a chain of large domal uplifts. The Baikal rift zone is located on the northern flank. The central segment is composed of zones of linear warping. The tectonic landforms rest on a large domal basement uplift. The morphology of the latter is paragenetically connected with the shape of the asthenolith underlying the belt. The neotectonic zones are also connected with the deep structure elements.The Mongolia-Siberian mountain belt is a group of orogenic forms typical of intracontinental mountain areas.     

Magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a solar flare: 1. Current sheet in the corona

The results of modeling the preflare situation in the solar corona, obtained using a numerical solution for a complete set of three-dimensional MHD equations, are reviewed. Any assumptions concerning the flare development character or the active region’s behavior before a flare are not introduced. The initial and boundary conditions on the photosphere are specified from magnetic field measurements before a flare. The photospheric field sources are approximated by magnetic dipoles. The usage of the PERESVET program indicated that a current sheet is formed in the vicinity of a singular magnetic field line in the corona. The sheet is formed due to disturbances coming from the photosphere. The energy necessary for a flare is stored in the current sheet magnetic field during 2–3 days. The main construction principles of the PERESVET program, which makes it possible to use the maps of a measured photospheric field as boundary conditions, are presented.     

Dynamic response of single-span beam bridges to a series of moving loads

The paper makes a contribution to the problem of a stream of loads crossing a single-span beam bridge. There are considered the basic load models, in the form of a stream of fixed amplitude forces, unsprung masses and viscoelastic oscillators. The matrix equations of motion of the system are formulated and discussed. The problem of dynamic stability and steady-state response of a bridge carrying a periodic stream of inertial loads is formulated and solved. The paper also includes a vibration study of a beam bridge subjected to a uniform stream of moving loads, of a limited or unlimited number of load cycles.     

Determination of the Cole-Cole parameters in polarizable media from logging data

The paper presents the solution to an axially symmetric problem of the electromagnetic field excited by an electric dipole and a current in a half-infinite cable in a cylindrically layered polarizable medium. The polarization of the medium is described by the Cole-Cole formula, including such parameters as the conductance, polarizability, response time, and attenuation coefficient. The spatiotemporal structures of the field in polarizable and nonpolarizable homogeneous media are compared. The apparent Cole-Cole parameters are defined and determined for a model problem of a cylindrically layered medium.     

Bidirectional shaking table tests of a low-cost friction sliding system with flat-inclined surfaces

A novel low-cost friction sliding system for bidirectional excitation is developed to improve the seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers. The sliding system is a spherical prototype developed by combining a central flat surface with an inclined spherical segment, characterized by stable oscillation and a large reduction in response accelerations on the flat surface. The inclined part provides a restoring force that limits the residual displacements of the system. Conventional steel and concrete are employed to construct a flat-inclined spherical surface atop an RC pier. The seismic forces are dissipated through the frictions generated during the sliding movements; hence, the seismic resilience of bridges can be ensured with a low-cost design solution. The proposed system is fabricated utilizing a mold created by a three-dimensional printer, which facilitates the use of conventional concrete to construct spherical shapes. The concrete surface is lubricated with a resin material to prevent abrasion from multiple input ground motions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the system, bidirectional shaking table tests are conducted in the longitudinal and transverse directions of a scaled bridge model. The effect of the inclination angle and the flat surface size is investigated. The results demonstrate a large decrease in response acceleration when the system exhibits circular sliding displacement. Furthermore, the inclination angle that generates the smallest residual displacement is identified experimentally.     

Influence of the head and tip connection on the seismic performance of micropiles

This paper presents a study of the influence of connection conditions at the head and tip of micropiles on their response to seismic loading. The study is carried using a fully three-dimensional finite element modeling. The soil is assumed to be elastic with Rayleigh damping. The superstructure is modeled by a single degree of freedom system composed of a concentrated mass and a column. The study is carried out for both vertical and inclined micropiles. The results of analyses show that a pinned connection between the micropiles and the cap leads to a reduction in the axial force and bending moment in micropiles, in particular for inclined micropiles. They also show that the embeddement of the tip of micropiles in a stiff substratum layer leads to a dramatic increase in the internal forces in the micropiles.     

Mixed multiscale finite elements and streamline methods for reservoir simulation of large geomodels

We present a new approach to reservoir simulation that gives accurate resolution of both large-scale and fine-scale flow patterns. The method uses a mixed multiscale finite-element method (MMsFEM) to solve the pressure equation on a coarse grid and a streamline-based technique to solve the fluid transport on a fine-scale subgrid. The MMsFEM is based on the construction of special approximation velocity spaces that are adaptive to the local properties of the differential operator. As such, MMsFEM produces a detailed subgrid velocity field that reflects the impact of the fine-scale heterogeneous structures. By combining MMsFEM with rapid streamline simulation of the fluid transport, we aim towards a numerical scheme that facilitates routine reservoir simulation of large heterogeneous geomodels without upscaling. The new method is applied to two different test cases. The first test case consists of two (strongly) heterogeneous quarter five-spot problems in 2D. The second test case is a 3D upscaling benchmark taken from the 10th SPE Comparative Solution Project, a project whose purpose is to compare and validate upscaling techniques. The test cases demonstrate that the combination of multiscale methods and streamlines is a robust and viable alternative to traditional upscaling-based reservoir simulation.     

Regionalization of low flows in southwest Germany

Abstract

The hydrogeological conditions of a region strongly influence the low flow behaviour of river systems. The quantification of the hydrogeological conditions of a catchment and the application of hydrogeology for estimation purposes is very difficult. Up till now only a few solutions are found in the literature. This paper discusses a river network approach using hydrogeological conditions to estimate mean annual ten-day minima of discharge. The new method allows one to estimate flow parameters not only at a single site in a river stretch but also in space. The method has been tested on a data set in southwest Germany. The results showed a good agreement between the estimated discharges and the empirical data. The new method is therefore considered to be a useful tool, in particular for water management problems.     

Spectral analysis of oscillations with a time-variable frequency

Summary The paper presents a method of evaluating oscillations with a time-variable frequency using a computer. The given function is first interpolated at points which are not distributed equidistantly in time, but the digitizing step varies with time according to a known optional regularity. The spectrum of the obtained function is computed for various of these interpolations and tests are run to determine when the interpolation best compensates the time variation of the frequency. The initial and terminal frequency in the given sample is then determined. The usability of this method with respect to various types of oscillations with a variable frequency and its accuracy in comparison to sonagrams are discussed.     

西湖叶绿素a周年动态变化及藻类增长潜力试验

通过1999年1－12月对杭州西湖主要湖区叶绿素a含量及水量理化指标的逐月测定,分析了西湖主要湖区叶绿素a含量周年动态变经特征及各种环境生态因子对叶绿素a的影响,并对湖水进行了藻类增长潜力试验,研究结果表明,西湖主要湖区叶绿素a含量总体保持在同一水平,年变化在41．16－191．26mg/m^3之间,年均值为为99．98mg/m^3。叶绿素a妗有明显的季节变化特征,夏季和初秋为高峰、冬季最低,水体总磷浓度与叶绿素a年周期动态变化一致,叶绿素a含量的季节变化与水温变化呈显著正相关,西湖为典型的蓝藻型湖,叫氮年均值为2．08mg/L总磷年均值为0．121mg/L,N:P大于17,水体中磷对藻类增长的促进作用比氮更加明显。     

Frequency-independent impedances of soil-structure systems in horizontal and rocking modes

The frequency-independent foundation impedances, commonly used in soil-structure dynamic interaction problems, are developed for a circular footing resting on a homogeneous halfspace. As they ignore the structure attached to the foundation, the error introduced in the structural response may be 50 per cent or more in the neighbourhood of the fundamental frequency of the soil-structure system. The present study proposes a new method developed for most dynamic soil-structure interaction problems. The key idea is to retain for the frequency-independent impedances values computed for the fundamental frequency of the soil-structure system; thus these values include the dynamic characteristics of the whole soil-structure system and lead to a satisfactory approximation of the exact solution over a wide frequency range. The method is developed here for the horizontal and rocking modes of a structure with a circular base resting on a homogeneous halfspace. Numerical applications are given for a simple linear oscillator in order to make possible a thorough parametric study. The response of some idealized building-foundation systems to harmonic excitation or to a seismic input is next examined in order to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed model.     

Contamination of a well in a uniform background flow

In this paper we describe the transport of pollution in groundwater in the neighbourhood of a well in a uniform background flow. We compute the rate at which contaminated particles reach the well as a function of the place of the source of pollution. The motion of a particle in a dispersive flow is seen as a random walk process. The Fokker-Planck equation for the random motion of a particle is transformed using the complex potential for the advective flow field. The resulting equation is solved asymptotically after a stretching transformation. Finally, the analytical solution is compared with results from Monte Carlo simulations with the random walk model. The method can be extended to arbitrary flow fields. Then by a numerical coordinate transformation the analytical results can still be employed.     

Barotropic instability of a boundary jet on a sloping bottom

Abstract

The stability of a shear flow on a sloping bottom in a homogeneous, rotating system was investigated by means of a laboratory experiment.

The basic flow was driven near a vertical wall of a circular container by a ring-shaped plate that contacted with a free surface of the working fluid and rotated relative to the fluid container. The velocity profile was asymmetric in the radial direction and had only one inflection point. The velocity profile was well expressed by a linear theory for the vertical shear layer.

The effect of the circular geometry was checked by comparing experimental results obtained in two fluid systems in which only the sign of the curvature was opposite and it was confirmed that circular geometry was not essential for the shear flow on the sloping bottom in this experiment.

It was found that the sloping bottom stabilizes the basic flow only when the drift direction of the topographic Rossby wave is opposite to that of the basic flow. The viscous dissipation in both the Ekman layer and the interior region was also important in determining the critical Rossby number.

The eddy fields caused by the instability can be classified into two types: One is the stationary eddy field in which a row of eddies moves along the basic flow without changing form. The other is the flow pattern in which eddies have finite life times and their configuration is not well organized. When the sloping bottom does not stabilize the basic flow, the former flow pattern is realized, otherwise the latter flow pattern appears.

The wave numbers of the eddies in the regular flow pattern were observed as a function of the Rossby number. The relation did not fit to linear preferred modes predicted by an eigenvalue problem.     

Statistical characterization of temporal structure of storms

The authors present a statistical procedure to estimate the probability distributions of storm characteristics. The approach uses recent advances in stochastic hydrological modeling. The temporal dynamics of rainfall are modeled via a reward alternating renewal process that describes wet and dry phases of storms. In particular, the wet phase is modeled as a rectangular pulse process with dependent random duration and intensity; the global dependence structure is described using multidimensional copulas. The marginal distributions are described by Generalized Pareto laws. The authors derive both the storm volume statistics and the rainfall volume distribution within a fixed temporal window preceding a storm. Based on these results, they calculate the antecedent moisture conditions. The paper includes a thorough discussion of the validity of the assumptions and approximations introduced, and an application to actual rainfall data. The models presented here have important implications for improved design procedures of water resources and hydrologic systems.     

Numerical and analogue model results for electromagnetic induction for an island situated near a coastline

The behaviour of time-varying electromagnetic fields near an island situated in a shallow ocean is investigated using both a three-dimensional finite-difference numerical method and a scaled analogue model method. The effect of a coastline located at some distance from the island is included in the study. The numerical model results and the scale model results are compared for various traverses across the island. The results indicate a high degree of compatibility between the two methods for studying problems involving three-dimensional conductivity structures.     

An iterative method for finding small magnetic objects in the subsurface by linear and non-linear inversion1

A method to determine the position and magnetization vector of buried objects producing a magnetic anomaly is described. The data used were collected in boreholes. Since the anomaly is due to a number of objects, a ‘stripping’ procedure is employed for finding them, and therefore the process of inversion for finding all objects causing the anomaly consists of a few inversion steps. In each inversion step, two dipoles are considered as a model which approximates an object. The position and magnetic moments of the dipoles are the unknown parameters. The initial parameters are optimized by minimization of an objective function. The optimization procedure consists of a combination of linear and non-linear inversion. The solution of the linear inversion is obtained by singular value decomposition and that of the non-linear inversion by a six-dimensional simplex method (polytope algorithm). After finding one object, its effect is subtracted (‘stripped’) from the data and a new inversion step is started with new initial models and with a reduced data set. The inversion steps for finding different objects are continued until the absolute norm of the data becomes less than some adjustable value. The data will also be inverted assuming a three-dipole model in order to find the effect of using a more complex model in the inversion. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated using synthetic and real borehole data.     

Cretaceous radiolarian fauna from the Kiselyovsky subterrane, the youngest accretionary complex of the Russian continental far east: Paleotectonic and paleogeographic implications

Abstract The Kiselyovsky subterrane is the northeastern section of the Kiselyovsko-Manominsky terrane, a distinguishable tectonic unit in the north of the Sikhote-Alin Range. The terrane has been treated as part of the accretionary wedge belonging to the Khingan-Okhotsk active continental margin, but its structure and stratigraphy have been poorly understood. This paper presents new data on the subterrane structure, lithology and radiolarian biostratigraphy. The following lithostratigraphic units are established in the terrane: a ribbon chert unit, a siliceous mudstone unit and a elastics unit. Abundant Valanginian to late Hauterivian-early Barremian radiolarian assemblages are obtained from the upper part of the chert unit in addition to the known Jurassic radiolarians. The radiolarian age of the lower part of the siliceous mudstone unit (red siliceous mudstone) is determined as early Hauterivian-early Aptian. The unit's upper part (greenish-gray siliceous mudstone and dark-gray silicified mudstone) and the clastics unit contain Albian-Cenomanian assemblages. The arrangement of the units is treated as a chert-elastics sequence, whose vertical lithologic variations indicate environmental changes from a remote ocean to a convergent margin, reflecting an oceanic plate motion towards a subduction zone. The subterrane structure is a stack of imbricated slabs composed of various lithostratigraphic units, and is complicated by folding. The structure's origin is related to subduction-accretion, which occurred in the Albian-Cenomanian. The data presented provide a unique basis for accretionary wedge terranes correlation in the circum-Japan Sea Region, and the Kiselyovsky subterrane is correlated in this study with the synchronous parts of the East Sakhalin, Hidaka and Shimanto terranes. The Albian-Cenomanian radiolarian assemblages were deposited in the Boreal realm, while Valanginian ones are Tethyan; this indicates a long oceanic plate travelling to the north. The former assemblages contain an admixture of older species, redeposited by bottom traction currents and turbidite flows in trench environments.