Mechanical behaviors of conjugate-flawed rocks subjected to coupled static–dynamic compression

Conjugate flaws widely exist in rock masses and play a significant role in their deformation and strength properties. Understanding the mechanical behaviors of rock masses containing conjugate flaws is conducive to rock engineering stability assessment and the related supporting design. This study experimentally investigates the mechanical properties of conjugate-flawed sandstone specimens under coupled static–dynamic compression, thereby providing insight into how conjugate fractures interact to produce tracing tensional joints. Results indicate that the coupled compressive strength and the dynamic elastic modulus of conjugate-flawed rock specimens show remarkable loading rate dependence. For a fixed strain rate, the specimen with a static pre-stress equal to 60% of its uniaxial compressive strength has the highest coupled strength. Besides, both higher static pre-stress and strain rate can induce smaller mean fragment size and greater fractal dimension of the specimen, corresponding to a more uniform distribution of the broken fragments with smaller sizes. When the static pre-stress is lower than 80%UCS, the flawed specimen under a higher strain rate is characterized by higher absorbed energy. However, when the pre-stress equals 80%UCS, the value of the energy absorbed by the specimen in the dynamic loading process is negative due to the release of the preexisting considerable elastic strain energy input from the static pre-loading. As for the failure modes, cracks always penetrate the preexisting ipsilateral flaw tips to form anti-wing cracks. Under dynamic loading, the conjugate-flawed specimen generally shows tensile failure at a low strain rate, while the shear failure dominates at a high strain rate. In addition, based on progressive failure processes of the conjugate-flawed rock specimens, the evolution of tracing tensional joints in the field is discussed.

     

Enhanced anisotropic bounding surface plasticity model considering modified spacing ratio of anisotropically consolidated clay

Acta Geotechnica - The critical state of anisotropically consolidated clay is not well captured by the classical anisotropic bounding surface plasticity model without considering the real...     

Interpreting the Influence of Reservoir Water Level Fluctuation on the Seepage and Stability of an Ancient Landslide in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area: A Case Study of the Outang Landslide

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The periodic reservoir water level (RWL) fluctuation on bank slopes during water impoundment in Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) may lead to the reactivation...     

Trends in northern midlatitude atmospheric wave power from 1950 to 2099

In a warming climate, atmospheric wave activity and associated weather patterns may change, although conflicting results have been reported on this topic. Additionally, atmospheric wave changes in a future climate have mainly focused on waves of a specified spatial scale, rather than a particular spatiotemporal scale. Here, changes in the variability of Rossby waves of multiple spatiotemporal scales are analyzed using the wavenumber-frequency power spectrum, a tool commonly applied to analyze atmospheric equatorial waves. Daily 500 hPa geopotential height data over 40°–60°N from historical (1950–2005) and future (2006–2099) simulations from 20 models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) under the RCP8.5 scenario were analyzed. When compared to the historical period, the late 21st century climate projections showed a decline in spectral power for both eastward and westward propagating waves with wavenumbers greater than 8 that spanned over all frequencies in all seasons, but an increase in mean power for eastward propagating waves with wavenumbers 1–7 over all frequencies was shown in winter and spring. This increase in power was accompanied by increased variance, i.e., an increased meridional extent of 500 hPa ridges and troughs, and was the result of increases in the mean number of high amplitude events and duration of activity within this wave band. These results indicate that large-scale (~ 104 km) eastward propagating weather systems may intensify with higher amplitudes for ridges and troughs, while short-scale (102–103 km) weather systems may decrease in their intensity due to reduced variability in the late 21st century under the high emissions scenario. Potential mechanisms for these changes are discussed, including enhanced Arctic warming and midlatitude-tropical interactions.     

Improved methods for estimating equilibrium climate sensitivity from transient warming simulations

Climate Dynamics - Equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) refers to the total global warming caused by an instantaneous doubling of atmospheric CO2 from the pre-industrial level in a climate system....     

2017年8月萍乡地区连续性雷暴大风过程分析

利用常规观测资料、探空资料、多普勒天气雷达基本产品及导出产品,分析了2017年8月中旬萍乡地区雷暴大风天气过程,并选取了其中最强的一次过程进行了细致的分析。结果表明,“北低槽、南副高”的环流形势是此次长时间雷暴大风的环流背景,萍乡受“上下一致”的西南急流控制,中低层切变线、西南急流导致了强对流不稳定;低层逆温、“上干冷、下暖湿”以及风垂直切变的垂直结构,为雷暴大风的产生提供了层结条件和能量条件;地面热低压和地面辐合线、干线等是此次雷暴大风的触发机制。飑线过境,气象要素变化剧烈,在“人”字形回波附近,回波断裂处等区域容易产生强雷暴大风天气。强回波高度迅速下降、拖曳作用、动量下传、中层干暖空气的夹卷及蒸发作用、一定强度的中层径向辐合等多种因素导致了此次地面大风。垂直累积液态含水量、最大反射率因子、风暴顶高的持续下降,对地面大风天气的预报具有一定的指示意义。