Damage sequence and safety margin assessment of expansion joints by shake table testing

The performance of nonstructural components has attracted attention, and previous large earthquakes have resulted in widespread damage to expansion joints. In contrast to the main structural components, for which ductility beyond the design tolerance is ensured, the safety margin of nonstructural components classified as the product of mechanical engineering, such as expansion joints, is uncertain. This paper investigates the damage sequence and safety margin of expansion joints through shake table testing. The expansion joints were installed to connect 2 rigid steel frames with short and long natural periods. Four commonly used types, high-performance and standard-performance floor and wall expansion joints, were tested. Seven damage patterns of the 4 expansion joints were observed, and most of the damage patterns were considered displacement dependent. The damage mechanisms and relative displacements at the moment of damage were identified by using strain gauges attached near collision and damage locations. The high-performance expansion joints showed only minor damage beyond the design motion range, whereas the standard-performance expansion joints exhibited minor damage below the design motion range and failure at the design motion range or slightly beyond. For each damage state, repair information was obtained through a questionnaire to an expansion joint manufacturer, and the sum of the initial cost and repair cost for high-performance and standard-performance expansion joints was compared. The results will be useful for the selection of expansion joints in the design process.     

Spatial Simulation and Characterization of Three-Dimensional Fractures in Gejiu tin District,Southwest China,Using GEOFRAC

Natural Resources Research - Fracture is an important factor controlling mineralization and ore distribution in metallic deposits. Fracture also affects mechanical stability of drifts. A plausible...     

Energy efficiency potentials for global climate change mitigation

Energy efficiency is one of the main options for mitigating climate change. An accurate representation of various mechanisms of energy efficiency is vital for the assessment of its realistic potential. Results of a questionnaire show that the EMF27 models collectively represent known channels of energy efficiency reasonably well, addressing issues of energy efficiency barriers and rebound effects. The majority of models, including general equilibrium models, have an explicit end-use representation for the transportation sector. All participating partial equilibrium models have some capability of reflecting the actual market behavior of consumers and firms. The EMF27 results show that energy intensity declines faster under climate policy than under a baseline scenario. With a climate policy roughly consistent with a global warming of two degrees, the median annual improvement rate of energy intensity for 2010–2030 reaches 2.3 % per year [with a full model range of 1.3–2.9 %/yr], much faster than the historical rate of 1.3 % per year. The improvement rate increases further if technology is constrained. The results suggest that the target of the United Nations’ “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative is consistent with the 2-degree climate change target, as long as there are no technology constraints. The rate of energy intensity decline varies significantly across models, with larger variations at the regional and sectoral levels. Decomposition of the transportation sector down to a service level for a subset of models reveals that to achieve energy efficiency, a general equilibrium model tends to reduce service demands while partial equilibrium models favor technical substitution.     

Demonstration of crystalline forsterite grain formation due to coalescence growth of Mg and SiO smoke particles

Abstract— Experimental studies of coalescence between Mg grains and SiO grains in smoke reveal the direct production of crystalline forsterite grains. The present results also show that different materials can be produced by grain‐grain collisions, which have been considered one of the models of grain formation in the interstellar medium. The fundamentals of coalescence growth in smoke, which have been developed in our series of experiments, are presented in this paper. Mg₂Si polyhedral grains were obtained in a Mg grain‐rich atmosphere. Mg₂SiO₄ polyhedral grains were obtained in a SiO grain‐rich atmosphere. The IR spectra of the resultant grains showed the characteristics of crystalline forsterite.     

Properties of simulated cosmic matters after gamma-ray and neutron irradiation

Interstellar and circumstellar matter is known to be strongly irradiated by cosmic radiation and several types of cosmic ray particles. The effects of irradiation on simulated interstellar and circumstellar matter such as CaCO₃, MgCO₃, SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ are investigated. Especially, thermoluminescence (TL) spectra after γ-ray and neutron irradiation are compared carefully. It is shown that the thermoluminescence after neutron irradiation appears significantly in the wavelength of blue region. On the reflectance in infrared region, the irradiation effect appears scarcely.     

Low-temperature single crystal reflection spectra of forsterite

The infrared reflectivities of crystalline forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄) were measured for the temperature range 295–50 K for each crystal axis, between wavenumber 5000 and 100 cm⁻¹. The reflection spectra show clear dependence of temperature; most of the bands become more intense, sharper and their peak positions shift to higher wavenumber with decreasing temperature. Reflection spectra were fitted with dispersion formula of damped oscillator model of the dielectric constants and the oscillator parameters in the model were derived. The absorption spectra of forsterite particle are calculated with the derived dielectric constants to show that the forsterite features are good thermal indicator for cold temperature range below 295 K.     

The photoionization effect of the ultraviolet background on the colour–magnitude relation of elliptical galaxies

We have examined the effects of the ultraviolet background radiation (UVB) on the colour–magnitude relation (CMR) of elliptical galaxies in clusters of galaxies in the hierarchical clustering scenario by using a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. In our model the UVB photoionizes gas in dark haloes and suppresses the cooling of the diffuse hot gas on to galaxy discs. By using a semi-analytic model without the effect of the UVB, Kauffmann & Charlot found that the CMR can be reproduced by strong supernova heating because such supernova feedback suppresses the chemical enrichment in galaxies, especially for small galaxies. We find that the CMR also becomes bluer because of the UVB, in a different way from the effect of supernova feedback. While supernova feedback suppresses the chemical enrichment by a similar mechanism to galactic winds, the UVB suppresses the cooling of the hot gas. This induces suppression of the metallicity of the intracluster medium (ICM). In our model we find that the existence of the UVB can plausibly account for an observed ICM metallicity that is equal to nearly 0.3 times the solar value, and that in this case we can reproduce the CMR and the metallicity of the ICM simultaneously.     

Regional landslide susceptibility following the Mid NIIGATA prefecture earthquake in 2004 with NEWMARK’S sliding block analysis

This study proposes a calculation method for regional earthquake-induced landslide susceptibility that applies the permanent seismic displacement calculated using Newmark’s sliding block analysis with estimated vertical and horizontal seismic motions. The proposed method takes into account the direction of slope failure based on the specified slope azimuth. The study results reveal the importance of predominant slope failure direction using a simple infinite slope model subjected to earthquakes. The target area for the earthquake-induced landslide susceptibility analysis constituted a region of more than 2000 km² surrounding the epicenter of the Mid Niigata prefecture earthquake in 2004. An earthquake-induced landslide susceptibility map was created based on the proposed method with a specific combination of friction angle and cohesion, and the resulting data were compared to the landslide inventory map produced from aerial photographs following the Mid Niigata prefecture earthquake in 2004. To create the susceptibility map, geomaterial cohesion values for the slope were back-calculated to satisfy the minimum safety factor in the static state. This study also proposes a calculation method for the prediction rate and determines the back-calculated strength parameters of geomaterials. The proposed regional landslide susceptibility map will be useful for understanding potential slope failure locations and magnitude of damage, as well as for planning field investigation and preventing secondary disasters immediately after earthquakes.