Initiation and Propagation of Compaction Bands in Dry and Wet Bentheim Sandstone

We investigated initiation and propagation of compaction bands (CB) in six wet and four dry Bentheim sandstone samples deformed in axial compression tests with strain rates ranging from 3.2 × 10^?8 s^?1 to 3.2 × 10^?4 s^?1. Circumferential notches with 0.8-mm width and 5-mm depth served to initiate CB at mid-sample length. Wet samples were saturated with distilled water and deformed at 195 MPa confining pressure and 10 MPa pore pressure. Dry samples were deformed at 185 MPa confining pressure. Twelve P-wave sensors, eight S-wave sensors and two pairs of orthogonally oriented strain-gages were glued to the sample surface to monitor acoustic emission (AE), velocities and local strain during the loading process. Nucleation of compaction bands is indicated by AE clusters close to the notch tips. With progressive loading, AE activity increased and AE hypocenters indicated propagation of a single CB normal to the sample axis. CB propagation from the sample periphery towards the centre was monitored. Microstructural analysis of deformed samples shows excellent agreement between location of AE clusters and CBs. In both dry and wet samples the lateral propagation of CBs was about 100 times faster than axial shortening rates. At the slowest displacement rate, AE activity during band propagation was reduced and CB nucleation in wet samples occurred at 20% lower stresses. This may indicate an increasing contribution of stress corrosion processes to the formation of the compaction bands. In dry and wet samples inelastic compaction energy per area ranged between 16 and 80 kJ m^?2. This is in good agreement with previous estimates from laboratory and field studies.     

高温作用后砂岩力学性质研究

对临沂市莒南县砂岩进行经历25~850℃高温作用后的力学试验。结合扫描电镜技术对高温作用后砂岩试样的物理力学性质和微观结构的变化规律进行观察。研究表明:砂岩的峰值强度在25~400℃间存在一定的波动,但整体上变化不大;在400℃以后,试样的峰值强度开始迅速下降;砂岩试样的变形位移总体上随处理温度升高而增大,在400℃以前变化不大,当温度高于400℃后峰值强度对应的位移迅速增加。扫描电镜图片显示当加热温度越高时砂岩微观孔隙越多,特别是在500℃时,部分颗粒胶结物已经遭受破坏。     

Microstructural Inhomogeneity and Mechanical Anisotropy Associated with Bedding in Rothbach Sandstone

This study present the result of conventional triaxial tests conducted on samples of Rothbach sandstone cored parallel, oblique (at 45 degrees) and perpendicular to the bedding at effective pressures ranging from 5 to 250 MPa. Mechanical and microstructural data were used to determine the role of the bedding on mechanical strength and failure mode. We find that samples cored at 45 degrees to the bedding yield at intermediate level of differential stress between the ones for parallel and perpendicular samples at all effective pressures. Strain localization at high confining pressure (i.e., in the compactive domain) is observed in samples perpendicular and oblique to the bedding but not in samples cored parallel to the bedding. However, porosity reduction is comparable whether compactive shear bands, compaction bands or homogeneous cataclastic flow develop. Microstructural data suggest that (1) mechanical anisotropy is controlled by a preferred intergranular contact alignment parallel to the bedding and that (2) localization of compaction is controlled by bedding laminations and grain scale heterogeneity, which both prevent the development of well localized compaction features.     

A Modified Cyclic Cracking Model for RC Structural Walls Behaviour Under Dynamic Excitation

In this paper, a simple cyclic cracking model incorporating crack dilatancy effect is proposed to model the behaviour of reinforced concrete structures under earthquake-like dynamic loading. This model has been implemented into a FE programme [LUSAS (2004) Luscas User Manual (version 12.3), FEA Ltd., London, England] to simulate reversed and cyclic loading. A shaking table test performed in Switzerland at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Zurich (ETHZ) has been chosen for comparison. The test performed on the shaking table simulated a wall of a 3-storey building. The natural frequency and the crack pattern have been calculated and show reasonable agreement with the experimental results     

Ground Motion Modeling for Seismic Hazard Analysis in the Near-source Regime: An Asperity Model

—A new, yet simple, method using the asperity model to estimate ground motion in the near-source regime for probabilistic seismic hazard analyses is proposed in this study. This near-source model differs from conventional empirical attenuation equations. It correlates peak ground motions with the local contributing source in terms of the static stress drop released non-uniformly on the causative fault plane rather than with the whole seismic source in terms of magnitude. Here the model is simplified such that ground motions at a rock or firm soil site near extended vertical strike-slip faults are dominated by direct shear waves. The proposed model is tested by comparing its predictions with strong ground motion observations from the 1979 Imperial Valley and the 1984 Morgan Hill earthquakes. The results have revealed that ground motions in the near-source region can be adequately predicted using the asperity model with appropriate calibration factors. The directivity effect of ground motion in the near-source region is negligible for high-frequency accelerations. The cut-off frequency (?_max?) at a site is an important parameter in the near-source region. Higher values of ?_max yield higher estimates of peak ground accelerations. For high-frequency structures, ?_max should be carefully estimated. In the near- source region both non-uniform and uniform source models can produce non-stationary high-frequency ground motions. Peak motions may not be caused by the nearest sections of the fault (even if the uniform source model is considered).     

Engineering Ground Motion Modeling in the Near-Source Regime Using the Specific Barrier Model for Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis

—The specific barrier model is used for the first time to simulate ground motion accelerations for the purpose of probabilistic seismic hazard analyses at sites near a dominant fault system. It incorporates the simulation of fault geometry and the relationship between the stress drop and seismic moment to estimate the number of cracks on the fault for the specific barrier model. Radiated direct shear waves are established following Boore’s (1983) procedure. The simulated peak ground accelerations (PGA) are then calibrated by strong-motion data. Basically, the model is of uniform source, and the directivity of the source is not taken into consideration. The results show that the calibrated PGA values are not sensitive to the relationship between the stress drop and seismic moment. However, the calibrated PGA values may increase about 20 percent for sites near the fault when the cut-off frequency,?f _max?, is raised from 5 Hz to 10 Hz. The variability of the simulated ground motion is, in general, smaller than that of the empirical strong-motion data shown in the literature. This may be improved by adding randomness into the parameter of ?f _max and uncertainties into the empirical relationships adopted in the model. The simulated attenuation curves may be used to judge which types of conventional attenuation equations are better at representing the attenuation of PGA for sites near the fault, especially for large earthquake events.     

Generic Prediction Rules for Regime Change in Bimodal Processes

Several bimodal complex processes having great socio-economic impact exist in nature, yet more often than not it is non-trivial to find prediction rules for their regime change. Generic prediction rules for regime transition and duration of subsequent regime are given for several two-regime models. It is demonstrated that prediction rules are a universal property of a large class of bimodal processes. An effort is made to explore the applicability of generic prediction rules to real-world bimodal processes, namely the Indian summer monsoon rainfall and the Indian Ocean Dipole event. Time series representative of these phenomena are analyzed to establish their bimodality and to show that prediction rules hold well for these time series also.     

True Triaxial Stresses and the Brittle Fracture of Rock

This paper reviews the efforts made in the last 100 years to characterize the effect of the intermediate principal stress σ ₂ on brittle fracture of rocks, and on their strength criteria. The most common theories of failure in geomechanics, such as those of Coulomb, and Mohr, disregard σ ₂ and are typically based on triaxial testing of cylindrical rock samples subjected to equal minimum and intermediate principal stresses (σ ₃=σ ₂). However, as early as 1915 Böker conducted conventional triaxial extension tests (σ ₁=σ ₂) on the same Carrara marble tested earlier in conventional triaxial compression by von Kármán that showed a different strength behavior. Efforts to incorporate the effect of σ ₂ on rock strength continued in the second half of the last century through the work of Nadai, Drucker and Prager, Murrell, Handin, Wiebols and Cook, and others. In 1971 Mogi designed a high-capacity true triaxial testing machine, and was the first to obtain complete true triaxial strength criteria for several rocks based on experimental data. Following his pioneering work, several other laboratories developed equipment and conducted true triaxial tests revealing the extent of σ ₂ effect on rock strength (e.g., Takahashi and Koide, Michelis, Smart, Wawersik). Testing equipment emulating Mogi's but considerably more compact was developed at the University of Wisconsin and used for true triaxial testing of some very strong crystalline rocks. Test results revealed three distinct compressive failure mechanisms, depending on loading mode and rock type: shear faulting resulting from extensile microcrack localization, multiple splitting along the σ ₁ axis, and nondilatant shear failure. The true triaxial strength criterion for the KTB amphibolite derived from such tests was used in conjunction with logged breakout dimensions to estimate the maximum horizontal in situ stress in the KTB ultra deep scientific hole.     

设计变截面交叉柔性力学的模型在装配式钢构建筑梁柱预应力中的分析

为了提高装配式钢构建筑梁柱的抗震性能,设计一种变截面交叉柔性力学模型进行截面抗震性的预应力评估。方法中采用极限承载力约束进行抗震性分析,引入抗弯刚度软化系数进行误差修正,求出钢构建筑梁柱的荷载作用力矩,通过应力评估和结构解耦性设计,实现钢构建筑梁柱的抗震性评估。构建以钢材强度、延性指标和钢框架地震易损特征为约束参量的抗震性能分析函数,建立装配式钢构建筑梁柱开裂初始预应力预测方法,实现装配式钢构建筑梁柱预应力的准确评估。试验结果表明,所提模型能够对装配式钢构建筑梁柱的应力应变关系、屈服强度以及极限承载力进行准确计算,提高配式钢构建筑梁柱的抗震性能。     

Regularities in the Formation of Groundwater Level Regime in Moscow Region

The need to study and take into account regularities in the formation of groundwater regime and runoff, especially in the context of current climate changes, is demonstrated. Typical plots of groundwater level regime, the dependence of the amplitudes of their variations and the major statistical parameters on the depth to groundwater, and histograms of the occurrence time of extreme positions of its level are shown. Long-term trends in precipitation and groundwater levels are established and their statistical significance is estimated. The presence of cyclicity in groundwater level regime is analyzed.__________Translated from Vodnye Resursy, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2005, pp. 399–405.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Yakimova.     

Simulation of the Hydroecological Regime of the Nizhnekamskoe Reservoir

Water Resources - The hydroecological simulation model GMV-MGU is applied to the Nizhnekamskoe Reservoir. The results of a series of diagnostic model calculations, which characterize the ecological...     

State Vector: A New Approach to Prediction of the Failure of Brittle Heterogeneous Media and Large Earthquakes

The concept of state vector stems from statistical physics, where it is usually used to describe activity patterns of a physical field in its manner of coarsegrain. In this paper, we propose an approach by which the state vector was applied to describe quantitatively the damage evolution of the brittle heterogeneous systems, and some interesting results are presented, i.e., prior to the macro-fracture of rock specimens and occurrence of a strong earthquake, evolutions of the four relevant scalars time series derived from the state vectors changed anomalously. As retrospective studies, some prominent large earthquakes occurred in the Chinese Mainland (e.g., the M 7.4 Haicheng earthquake on February 4, 1975, and the M 7.8 Tangshan earthquake on July 28, 1976, etc) were investigated. Results show considerable promise that the time-dependent state vectors could serve as a kind of precursor to predict earthquakes.     

Assessing Amur Water Regime Variations in the XXI Century with Two Methods Used to Specify Climate Projections in River Runoff Formation Model

A regional numerical physico-mathematical model of river runoff formation is used to study the possibility to assess long-term variations of water regime characteristics in the Amur R. in the XXI century. Two methods were used to specify climate projections as boundary conditions in the hydrological model: (1) based on the results of calculations with an ensemble of global climate models of CMI5 project, (2) based on data obtained by linear transformation of series of actual meteorological observations with the use of normal annual climate parameters calculated by climate models. The results of numerical experiments were used to analyze the sensitivity of the anomaly of Amur normal annual runoff to changes in the climate normals of air temperature and precipitation. The anomalies of normal annual runoff were shown to respond similarly (within the accuracy of sensitivity coefficient estimates) to changes in the appropriate climate normals, whatever the way of specifying climate projections.     

Unitary Variation in the Seismic Regime of the Earth: Carnegie-Curve Matching

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - According to data on earthquakes with a magnitude of М ≥ 4.5 recorded on the planet in 1973–2017, a UT variation in the number of earthquakes with an...     

Regime of water balance components of the Caspian Sea

The results of studying the hydrological regime of the Caspian Sea and its basin climate in observation period 1945–2010 are generalized. The results of analysis of the regime of precipitation, air temperature in the Caspian Sea basin and its level, as well as Volga runoff in periods of Caspian Sea level rise and drop are given. The conformity in variations of the trends in Caspian Sea level its basin climate is demonstrated, and the direction of further studies is substantiated.