Soil wettability in ground engineering: fundamentals,methods, and applications

Wettability is a fundamental property controlling the extent of wetting in flat and granular solids. In natural soils, wettability affects a wide variety of processes including infiltration, preferential flow and surface runoff. In mineral processing, wettability is paramount in enhancing the efficiency of separation of minerals from gangue. The manipulation of surface wettability is equally crucial in many industrial applications. For instance, superhydrophobic surfaces are those on which water drops roll off easily and as such are used for self-cleaning applications. Therefore, while wettability is strongly cross-disciplinary, its evolution has been discipline-specific with a direct extrapolation or transfer of concepts, approaches, and methods to ground engineering unlikely to remain valid. This paper synthesizes relevant aspects from surface chemistry, materials science, mining engineering, and soil science, and discusses their implications within the context of new granular materials that resist wetting, for use in barriers or ground improvement and, in unsaturated soils, where the effects of wettability have been documented.     

豫西地区早二叠世碳酸盐岩台地沉积环境及地球化学特征

焦作-禹州地区下二叠统太原组沉积相可划分为5类：开阔台地相、局限台地相、障壁岛相、泻湖-沼泽相和潮坪相,海相碳酸盐岩地层中风暴沉积事件普遍发育。开阔台地主要发育生物碎屑灰岩,生物碎屑含量高且较为破碎,以LREE明显富集,∑REE、(LREE/HREE)N值与Fe含量正相关为特点,反映古水体开阔、动荡且富含生物碎屑和胶体。局限台地主要沉积泥晶灰岩,古水体环境表现为受限、相对安静的特点。研究区太原组下部灰岩段的底部灰岩形成于海侵体系域(TST),生物碎屑含量、∑REE相对较高且轻重稀土无显著分异,Sr/Ba比值小而Ba丰度高;顶部灰岩形成于高水位体系域(HST),显示台地水体逐渐受到限制,陆源控制作用减弱,演化为更加安静低能环境。不同体系域中局限台地灰岩的对比分析,可为恢复南华北二叠纪陆表海盆地古地理特征及演化提供重要资料。     

基于SuperMap的松花江流域地理信息系统

松花江流域地理信息系统利用地理信息系统技术,以组件式GIS-SuperMap为基础,对松花江全流域空间信息进行管理,不仅实现了松花江全流域的污染模拟分析功能,还融合遥感影像、数字高程模型,实现了松花江全流域三维动态模拟功能.松花江流域地理信息系统的开发,对于实现水资源的可持续开发利用和流域的可持续发展具有重要意义.     

Strength and stability of frictional sliding of gabbro gouge at elevated temperatures

To investigate the strength of frictional sliding and stability of mafic lower crust, we conducted experiments on oven-dried gabbro gouge of 1 mm thick sandwiched between country rock pieces (with gouge inclined 35° to the sample axis) at slip rates of 1.22 × 10^− 3 mm/s and 1.22 × 10^− 4 mm/s and elevated temperatures up to 615 °C. Special attention has been paid to whether transition from velocity weakening to velocity strengthening occurs due to the elevation of temperature.Two series of experiments were conducted with normal stresses of 200 MPa and 300 MPa, respectively. For both normal stresses, the friction strengths are comparable at least up to 510 °C, with no significant weakening effect of increasing temperature. Comparison of our results with Byerlee's rule on a strike slip fault with a specific temperature profile in the Zhangbei region of North China shows that the strength given by experiments are around that given by Byerlee's rule and a little greater in the high temperature range.At 200 MPa normal stress, the steady-state rate dependence a − b shows only positive values, probably still in the “run-in” process where velocity strengthening is a common feature. With a normal stress of 300 MPa, the values of steady-state rate dependence decreases systematically with increasing temperature, and stick-slip occurred at 615 °C. Considering the limited displacement, limited normal stress applied and the effect of normal stress for the temperatures above 420 °C, it is inferred here that velocity weakening may be the typical behaviour at higher normal stress for temperature above 420 °C and at least up to 615 °C, which covers most of the temperature range in the lower crust of geologically stable continental interior. For a dry mafic lower crust in cool continental interiors where frictional sliding prevails over plastic flow, unstable slip nucleation may occur to generate earthquakes.     

Investigating soil thermodynamic parameters of the active layer on the northern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The soil thermodynamic parameters, including thermal conductivity, diffusivity and volumetric capacity within the active layer on the northern Tibetan Plateau, were calculated using the measured data of soil temperature gradient, heat flux, and moisture at four stations from October 2003 to September 2004. The results showed that the soil thermodynamic parameters exhibited clear seasonal fluctuation. The thermal conductivity and diffusivity in summer and autumn at Beiluhe, Kexinling, and Tongtianhe were larger than those in winter. The volumetric thermal capacity causes an opposite change; it was larger in autumn and winter than in summer. In spring, the soil thermal conductivity at the Kekexili station was larger than that in summer. Generally, fine-grained soils and lower saturation degrees in the topsoil might be a reason for the lower soil thermal conductivity in winter. For a given soil, soil moisture was the main factor influencing the thermodynamic parameters. The unfrozen water content that existed in frozen soils greatly affected the soil thermal conductivity, whose contribution rate was estimated to be 55 %. The thermodynamic parameters of frozen soils could be expressed as a function of soil temperature, volumetric ice content and soil salinity, while for the unfrozen ground the soil moisture content is the dominant factor for those thermal parameters. As for the soil thermal diffusivity, there exists a critical value of soil moisture content. When the soil moisture content becomes less than a critical value, the soil thermal diffusivity increases as the soil moisture content rises.     

The calculation of mine water yield using the non-continuous flow theory

Large amounts of groundwater are discharged during underground mining operations. As a result, the drawdown of groundwater, known as aquifer dewatering, is common in mining areas. Because of variability in permeability between different media in mines, mine drainage occurs primarily as non-continuous flow. However, calculations of mine water yield are usually made based on the continuous flow theory, and therefore often produce erroneous results. This study predicts the water yield of a mine using the module MODFLOW and incorporating the non-continuous flow theory into the calculation. Using this method, the predicted water yield of a mine was approximately 50 % lower than that predicted using the continuous flow theory. The model also demonstrates that the rate of mine drainage varies over time; there is initially a decrease in the rate of drainage which gradually approaches a constant value. Double level flow occurs when there is non-continuous flow in continuous media, which can effectively minimize the influence of mine drainage on upper aquifers and relieve the conflict between groundwater supply and drainage in the mining area.     

地面预注断层破碎带井筒工艺研究

地面预注断层破碎带研究采用控制性高压劈裂、小段高、水玻璃预处理、钻孔分叉综合技术和工艺，成效显著。     

Effects of different soil and water conservation measures on hydrological extremes and flood processes in the Yanhe River,Loess Plateau,China

The runoff and sediment load of the Loess Plateau have changed significantly due to the implementation of soil and water conservation measures since the 1970s. However, the effects of soil and water conservation measures on hydrological extremes have rarely been considered. In this study, we investigated the variations in hydrological extremes and flood processes during different periods in the Yanhe River Basin (a tributary of the Loess Plateau) based on the daily mean runoff and 117 flood event data from 1956 to 2013. The study periods were divided into reference period (1956–1969), engineering measures period (1970–1995), and biological control measures period (1996–2013) according to the change points of the annual streamflow and the actual human activity in the basin. The results of the hydrological high extremes (HF1_max, HF3_max, HF7_max) exhibit a decreasing trend (P?<?0.01), whereas the hydrological low extremes (HBF1_min, HBF3_min, HBF7_min) show an increasing trend during 1956–2013. Compared with the hydrological extremes during the reference period, the hydrological high extremes increased during the engineering measures period at low (<?15%) and high frequency (>?80%), whereas decreased during the biological control measures period at almost all frequencies. The hydrological low extremes generally increased during both the engineering measures and biological control measures periods, particularly during the latter period. At the flood event scale, most flood event indices in connection with the runoff and sediment during the engineering measures period were significantly higher than those during the biological control measures period. The above results indicate that the ability to withstand hydrological extremes for the biological control measures was greater than that for the engineering measures in the studied basin. This work reveals the effects of different soil and water conservation measures on hydrological extremes in a typical basin of the Loess Plateau and hence can provide a useful reference for regional soil erosion control and disaster prevention policy-making.

     

Effect of wool fiber addition on the reinforcement of loose sands by microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP): mechanical property and underlying mechanism

Acta Geotechnica - Animal fibers with α-keratin had obvious advantages of mechanical strength and durability on reinforced microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP)-cemented loose...